Better Than The Book's "GG" makes its radio debut on PunkRockRadio.ca, making it 9/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have been featured on the radio (+ more updates)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to July! Some amazing news to share with you today as yesterday Better Than The Book was featured on the Welcome to PRR show on PunkRockRadio.ca with not 1 or 2, but 3 tracks!

Along with the usual favourites of "Artificial Ignorance" and "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)", "GG" also made its radio debut which means that as of yesterday's show, a whopping 9/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album have now been featured on the radio somewhere around the world! Amazing, and it's still not quite a year since the album came out! A huge thanks to Paco for getting in touch and having me on the show and if you missed it, the show will be repeated on Wednesday and Friday this week at 12pm ET (5pm BST) before the tracks are added to the 24/7 mix between shows on the station. Tune in via the website below:

https://www.punkrockradio.ca/

In other news, I've finally finished another mystery metal cover song (due for release soonish) and have been back to work doing the final tweaks on the upcoming Jabun album too! More updates on those as and when but it sure feels good to be back to it! Until the next post, thanks as always for supporting my music and I look forward to sharing more new tracks in the coming months! Take care!

An exclusive bonus Patreon reward: A cover of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" for my dad's 60th birthday!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great final week of June! Got a special bonus Patreon reward to share with you today in celebration of my dad's 60th birthday earlier this week, a cover of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters"!   

So quick backstory, this track was a request (and challenge) by my dad as a 60th birthday present for him. He asked simply for me to record my own version of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" and do whatever I want with it production-wise. With that said, I started on this about a month ago recording in my free time when I could, and after presenting it to him earlier this week, he's kindly let me share it on YouTube as well as giving an exclusive download to my supporters on Patreon! The cover features vocals, acoustic guitar, the doubleneck electric guitar I built with him in my teen years, as well as cello, my first time recording with it since 2015 and Better Than The Book's Two Years On album! As with all the musical presents I've given in the past, this cover is also free of tuning correction and "elastic audio" timing correction. In James Hetfields words: "Couldn't be much more from the heart"! Without further wait, I present to you my version of "Nothing Else Matters"! Listen via the YouTube player below and grab the downloads below when you become a supporter on Patreon! I hope you enjoy it:

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38637501/

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38637502/

And remember that you'll be getting not just this track, but all past rewards for your tier including the complete Better Than The Book discography and a whole lot more when you sign up. Hope to see you in the community!

That's it for this surprise bonus reward! The next reward post will be on July 19th when Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album is launched, but I'm sure there'lll be more stuff to share before then! Until next time, hope you enjoy the new music, and thanks as always for supporting my projects on Patreon! All the best, stay safe, and take care!

Awesome news! Better Than The Book makes its Canadian radio debut on "Le Big Bro Show" on PunkRockRadio.ca!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great day so far (and keeping cool)! Some awesome news to share with you today as on Monday Better Than The Book made its debut on Canadian radio on "Le Big Bro Show" on PunkRockRadio.ca with not one, but 2 tracks: "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)" followed by "The Hardest Part"! Thanks so much to Paco, Chris, and Le Big Bro Show for having me on and sharing the music! Have a listen to the replay of the show below and enjoy:

https://www.mixcloud.com/punkrockradio/le-big-bro-show-22-juin-2020/

And I'm told by Paco that there's a big chance for more radio features in a few weeks too! Looking forward to sharing the news when the time comes!

That's about it for today, but it looks like there'll be a surprise bonus Patreon reward coming very soon, so keep your eyes out for that! Until then, hope you have a great end to June and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various music projects! I'll be back shortly with another post! Take care!

BIG NEWS: Better Than The Book announces the "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album + lots of Patreon rewards are out in celebration!

Hi everyone and some huge news today as Better Than The Book announces its "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album to be released on July 19th 2020 in celebration of 1 year of "Hopes and Dreams" and everything the album achieved!

With 8/10 tracks featured on the radio worldwide from the USA to UK to Australia including on idobi Radio, BBC Introducing, and The Ska Show with Beefy (the number 2 ska music show in the world), dozens of web blog and zine features, and the subsequent formation of the Better Than The Book LIVE band, "Hopes and Dreams" was my most successful album to date and made a mark I couldn't have even imagined when I first launched it! A huge thanks to everyone who helped make all this happen with a huge shoutout to Meg, the album's PR extraordinaire, Beefy and Melita for their continued radio support and great vibes, the BTTB live band's Eamon, Sam and Andy for their boundless enthusiasm to take these tunes to the stage, and of course to the patrons who keep my music going with special mention to Nathan, David, and Michael! Thank you all so much!

"Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]", much like I did for "Two Years On" will be a complete off-vocal version of the album for you to sing along to, make silly mash-ups, or simply listen to when you want some BTTB but without any vocals! I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to sharing it with you at 10am (BST) on July 19th 2020!

Check out "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" on Bandcamp to explore the full album credits, listen to / pick-up the pre-release single "Artificial Ignorance [Instrumental]" (the clear the fan favourite of the album), and pre-order the album now:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams-instrumentals

Also, if you pre-order the album today on June 19th (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), Bandcamp will be donating 100% of its sales share (about 15% of the price you pay) to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, an organisation fighting for racial equality. Read more about their fundraiser here:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-naacp-ldf-fundraiser

Of course you can also listen to "Artificial Ignorance [Instrumental]" on NG as well!

With such a big announcement comes rewards for my supporters on Patreon and there are a whole lot of rewards for today:

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814853

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814852

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814797

For the $1+ patrons, you're getting all that publicly launched good stuff right now: downloads of the full resolution album artwork and the pre-release single "Artificial Ignorance [Instrumental]" (mp3)! I hope you enjoy them!

For the $5 & $10 patrons, you'll be getting the entire full album right now over a month before it goes out to the public, with the $10+ patrons getting an exclusive first look at the final album artwork for the upcoming 2nd Jabun album too!

If that sounds good to you, then become a patron to grab those rewards below! Remember that you're not just getting these things when you sign up, you'll also be gaining access to all past rewards for you tier too including the full Better Than The Book discography, a tonne of Jabun, many Patreon exclusive downloads and a whole lot more! Hope to see you in the community!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

And that's it for this post! The next one will likely be when the "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album is launched on July 19th, but until then I hope you enjoy the new(ish) music and artwork and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Cheers!

Hi everyone!

Hope you're having a great week so far. Just a quick post today:

In support of musicians impacted by the corona virus, Bandcamp is waiving its revenue share fees on the first Friday of the month from midnight to midnight PDT (that's today)! That means that if you purchase anything from Bandcamp today, the artists you support (including myself) will get more of the sales revenue than usual since Bandcamp doesn't take its cut, and you'll be able to support the music you love more directly than ever on the platform!

If you've been thinking of picking up Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams", or Jabun's "Daydream" or one of my other tracks or albums, now's the best time to do so! Feel free to check out the Better Than The Book and Jabun Bandcamp pages below and thanks for supporting my music in any way you can:

Better Than The Book

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Jabun

https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Nick Standing (< The sillier old stuff)

https://nickstanding.bandcamp.com/

All the best, stay safe, take care, and enjoy the music!

"The $1+ Patreon rewards have been sent out: Verlies Projekt - (Feels Like) Heaven [Jabun Hardcore Remix] (Mp3 + Art)!"

It’s the first Wednesday of the month which means another set of $1 Patreon rewards​ has just been sent out (mp3 + art of last week's $5 rewards)! After a few months' break we're finally back to the Jabun back-catalogue of tracks too, and this time we're starting on the 2016 discography with another remix track: "Verlies Projekt - (Feels Like) Heaven [Jabun Hardcore Remix]"! Read more and become a supporter on Patreon to grab the rewards below and I hope you enjoy the music:

Read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611526

Get the $1 reward: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611524

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding​

"The $5+ Patreon rewards have been sent out: Verlies Projekt - (Feels Like) Heaven [Jabun Hardcore Remix] (Mp3, WAV + Art) + another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming albums for the $10+ patrons!"

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611523

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611529

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great May so far! It's certainly been a while since the last one, but it's once again the final Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $5 and $10 patrons are out! After a few months' break we're finally back to the Jabun back-catalogue of tracks too, and this time we're starting on the 2016 discography with another remix track: "Verlies Projekt - (Feels Like) Heaven [Jabun Hardcore Remix]"!

This one was a fun remix for a competition back in September 2016, just after I'd moved out of my parent's place but before I had a dedicated studio room set up. My "studio" at the time was an IKEA coffee table in the living room / kitchen with my laptop, some Logitech speakers and Sennheiser headphones, and a couple of synths and my MPC, and it was an interestingly limited time for making music to say the least! Anyway, along came a remix competition and it sounded like fun so I thought, let's try something completely different to my usual sound: a hardcore remix! After ironing out some crazy mixing anomalies I didn't expect due to my less than ideal listening environment, I'm super pleased with the way this one turned out, and I hope you enjoy something fun and different from me this month!

Listen on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrFhWqrLoLY

For the $10 patrons, you've got another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming albums to look forward to as well as an article on the composition/production process for it! Become a $10 patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :)

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That's it for this month's rewards! Next time is looking to be something (sort-of) new again from Better Than The Book, and possibly a little earlier than usual too for the $5+ patrons? We shall see how the timing goes but until then, I hope you have an excellent time whatever you're up to and thanks as always for supporting Better Than the Book, Jabun and my various projects on Patreon! Take care and enjoy the music!

Another 2 bonus mashup tracks to celebrate my 30th birthday (Listen on YouTube; download on Patreon)!

Hello everyone and hope you're having a splendid April so far! Today happens to be my 30th birthday so as an extra special treat and thanks for all the support over the years, not only am I releasing 2 new Patreon exclusive bonus mashup tracks, but also patrons will be getting them right now on my birthday instead of having to wait for the first Wednesday of the month like usual! Woot woot! For those of you not on Patreon you can listen to them on YouTube! Check them out below:

The first bonus track is another Better Than The Book mashup and although I didn't think it would work initially, I'm actually super pleased with the way it turned out! Check out "The Bigger Call, Maybe..." via the video link below and hope you get a kick out of it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ5Fi1kI2gw

Songs used:

Better Than The Book - The Bigger Picture [Instrumental]

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe [Acapella]

The second mashup doesn't feature any of my own music (apart from putting it together) but was equally super fun to make. A little back-story: on my first date with my S.O. Eva, I bought the "Significant Other" album by Limp Bizkit on vinyl, and a few years later, I started her vinyl collection with Ed Sheeran's "Divide" album. Seemed like a fun challenge to mash them up, and if you just imagine Ed Sheeran's having a really bad day, I think it works really nicely! Have a listen via the YouTube link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXUFKfFN2rU

Songs used:

Ed Sheeran - Eraser [Instrumental]

Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff [Acapella]

These bonus mashup tracks are Patreon exclusive downloads so if you want to pick up a copy, come join the lovely community on Patreon! Remember that you'll be getting not just these mashups but all historic rewards for your chosen tier when you sign up too including the full Better Than The Book discography and much more! With the REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

And again for the $10 patrons, you've also got another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming 2nd album to look forward to as well as an article on the composition/production process for it (and I really think this articles one of the most interesting production pieces yet!)! Become a $10 patron to access that article, music, and much more now!  

That's it for this post, and as these rewards are really an early May reward for the $1 patrons, I'll be seeing you next time at the start of June to continue with the Jabun back catalogue of tracks unless something else comes up beforehand (last week of May for the $5+ patrons)! Until then, I hope you have a great rest of April and May, enjoy all the silly mashups which have been released this month, and thank you so much as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun, and my various other projects! Take care, and I look forward to seeing what this next decade of my life brings and sharing it with you!

Better Than The Book just reached 1000 followers on Twitter + some upcoming project updates!

Hello everyone and hope you're having a good time despite the isolation and lock-down and all that jazz that's going on at the moment. Just checking in today to report that Better Than The Book just passed 1000 followers on Twitter! Thanks so much for all the support and if you're not yet following you can find BTTB on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/BTTB_UK

In other news, with not much else to do while on lock-down, I've been busy composing demos and recording for new projects and my oh my has it been a productive time! With almost 2 and a half HOURS of Jabun demos completed since November last year as of this week, I'm taking a break from composition now to focus on what I've currently got and polish them up for some new releases! As it currently stands here's what's lined up for the near(ish) future (in approximate order though with no timescales just yet):

1) A mystery metal cover song (Just waiting on a final green light, then artwork and admin stuff to do)

2) A 33 minute Jabun "LIVE" album (all recorded, needs final mixing and mastering, then artwork and admin)

3) A 37 minute Jabun studio album (fully composed and demoed, needs final recording, and all the rest)

4) A ~70 minute Jabun studio (double) album (Roughly demoed, with possible additions to come) 

5) A bonus album with alternative versions, (eg: instrumentals) from the album above

(+2 more miscellaneous leftover demos I'll likely release as Patreon exclusive bonuses)

And on top of that there will definitely be a Better Than The Book bonus album coming in July! Aiming to have projects 1, 2 & 3 out before the end of the year (maybe beginning of 2021 for #3), and more details to come as and when I can share them! In any case it's looking to be an exciting time for music for the foreseeable future (and I've still got the rest of the Jabun back catalog to upload too)! Hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

That's it for this post and more Patreon rewards (2 exclusive bonus tracks) will be coming on my 30th birthday this Friday! Become a $5+ patron now for early access to those, and get all past rewards for your tier when you sign up including the full BTTB discography and more!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Until then, thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and all my projects and I hope you have a great week! Stay safe, wash your hands, and I can't wait to share all this new music with you soon(ish)!

Update: PayPal Tip Jar + Better Than The Book's "Brighton" featured again on The Ska Show with Beefy (alongside Less Than Jake too)!!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to April so far (despite all that's going on in the world). Just a couple of quick updates to share with you today:

First of all, after much consideration and suggestions from various social media platforms due to the corona virus disruptions over the last month or so, I've decided to set up a PayPal tip jar for anyone who wants to throw some spare PayPal pennies my way, especially during this crazy time.

I realise that while Patreon is a great platform for people who want to support my music on a regular basis, many people aren't in that position to do so, and since I try to keep as much of my music as possible free to listen to for everyone on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, and of course Newgrounds, there's not much incentive these days for people to actually buy digital downloads anymore (a huge thank you to everyone who does though)! With this being the case, I thought setting up a separate PayPal tip jar would be a good alternative for those who want to support my music with one-off tips or the occasional support without the commitment of Patreon, or simply buying the same digital album over and over again. If Newgrounds (etc...) is my busking street, think of this tip jar as my open guitar case for your spare change. Every little bit makes a difference!

With the UK on lock down at the moment, all I can really do is make more music, so you can bet that I'll be working on a whole plethora of new tunes for the foreseeable future (and more intensely than usual)! If you're enjoying the music and have some pennies you won't miss (whether a Patreon supporter already or not), feel free to send them my way via the new PayPal Tip Jar below:

https://www.paypal.me/NickStanding

Next and lastly for this post, some super cool news to share as Better Than The Book's "Brighton" was back on The Ska Show with Beefy this week playing alongside Less Than Jake's "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" (a track I requested for the show and one of my all time favourites)! Thanks for sharing the tunes and the lovely shout out, Beefy!

Check out the replay of the show below: Less Than Jake is on at -37:03 followed by a lovely shout out, then "Brighton", then more tunes and another shout out!

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/2923405277747858​

And check out the full playlist for the show below! Lots of great stuff this week! 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-ska-show-with-beefy-on-southern-fm/playlist-31st-march-2020/2914311901990529/

Remember you can grab "Brighton" and the rest of the Hopes and Dreams album in all the usual digital places including the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

Or grab the full BTTB discography, bonus tracks and all when you become a supporter on Patreon if that’s your jam. Next set of rewards will be on April 24th (my 30th birthday) including 2 new Patreon exclusive bonus tracks! Hope to see you then!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

And that about wraps up this post. Thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various music projects in all the ways you can, many thanks for listening, and I can't wait to take Better Than The Book live once this corona virus thing is all over! Stay safe and sensible!