The $1 & $10 rewards have been sent out: an exclusive download of Better Than The Book's bonus track "Mark Your Wall" + another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming 2nd album for the $10+ patrons!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to April! It's the first Wednesday of the month which means the $1 Patreon rewards have just been sent out, and this time I have something extra special for you, an unreleased bonus track from the 2016 Better Than The Book album "Two Years On"! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liE7nsRbgJY

... is what I would say, if there were such a thing! Anyway, here's Wonderwall...

and happy April Fool's Day!

This silly mashup has been sitting half finished in my projects folder since about September 2018 but now seemed like the right time to finish it up ready for some April Fool's fun! I hope you get a kick out of it and sing along loud and proud!

Songs used:

Better Than The Book - Make Your Mark [Instrumental]

Oasis - Wonderwall [Acapella]

This bonus mashup track is a Patreon exclusive download so if you want to pick up a copy, come join this lovely Patreon community! Remember that you'll be getting not just this mashup 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 (Sign up and find out more)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/34612394 (Exclusive download)

And for the $10 patrons, you've 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 early access to all the upcoming music later this month! Become a $10 patron to access that article and music and much more now!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/34612377 ($10 rewards)

That's it for this post, but as it's my 30th birthday on April 24th, there'll be new rewards including 2 more Patreon exclusive mashups coming early next time! I'll leave all the details as a surprise for later this month, but until then, I hope you enjoy the new music and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Enjoy the new tune(s) and see you on the 24th!

A full song play-through of Better Than The Book's "Cathode Ray Days" from the first full-band LIVE and loud practice in December!

Hi everyone and another LIVE & LOUD full song play-through video to share with you today from Better Than The Book's first full band rehearsal back in December! This time we're back to the Two Years On album for "Cathode Ray Days" again, this time in full for the finale of this live rehearsal video mini-series! Enjoy some TV nostalgia (amongst other things) below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_iRw3lsJrg

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: Harmonica + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drums

"Cathode Ray Days" and the rest of the Two Years On album are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter on Patreon, complete with the full Better Than The Book discography and more when you sign up! Another set of $5 early access rewards was just posted last week too so come join the community:

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

This unfortunately brings us to the end of the current video series taken from BTTB rehearsals I can share with you, and with the coronavirus stuff going around at the moment, it may be a while until we can practice together again and record some more... Fret not though, there's still some more non-live videos and new music to come next week so subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for something a little different! 

That's it for today's update and I'll be back this time next week with more things to share as well as another set of $1 and $10 Patreon rewards! Looking forward to it and until then, thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, and my various music projects and I hope you have a great week to come! Stay safe, take care and keep on skankin'!

An unfortunate update: Better Than The Book's debut gig on April 11th has been indefinitely postponed due to COVID19...

Hi everyone and hope you're staying safe and healthy in these rapidly changing and uncertain times. It is with mixed emotions that I must report less than a week after I excitedly announced it, that Better Than The Book's debut gig on April 11th in Haywards Heath (Sussex, UK) has been indefinitely postponed by the event organisers due to COVID19 concerns.

Given the current times, I fully support their decision for the safety and comfort of the attendees, staff and entertainers for the evening, though of course it saddens me that it'll be longer until we can hit the stage.

I'll be sure to share updates as and when I receive them and hopefully we'll be able to make the future rescheduled date when it comes around. Keep up to date on the events page for the time being:

https://www.facebook.com/events/892633854540874/

And until then and always, stay safe, be kind to each other, and keep on skankin'! All the best!

A full song play-through of Better Than The Book's "And I Fear" from the first full-band LIVE and loud practice in December!

Hi everyone and another LIVE & LOUD full song play-through video to share with you today from Better Than The Book's first full band rehearsal back in December! This time we're moving onto the Hopes and Dreams album for "And I Fear" and as with the last track, this would have been literally the 2nd time we'd have played this together (the first being a few minutes before). Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OgLGLfms0

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: Harmonica + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drums

"And I Fear" and the rest of the Hopes and Dreams album are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter on Patreon, complete with the

full Better Than The Book discography and more when you sign up! With the project going live, we could use all the support we can get to push it as far as possible, and another set of $5 early access rewards was just posted on Monday too so come join the community:

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Just one more of these videos to come next week before we move onto something different! Subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for another one! 

That's it for today's update and I'll be back this time next week with the final LIVE video (for now)! Looking forward to it and until then, thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, and my various music projects and I hope you have a great week to come! Take care!

$5 rewards have just been sent out: early access to 3 Patreon exclusive bonus tracks to be released in April + an updated rewards schedule for March / April / May!

Hello everyone and hope you're having a great March so far! You may be thinking, wait... it's not the final Wednesday of the month and indeed you're right, but it's time once again to mix up the Patreon rewards schedule for some new music which means the $5 & $10 patrons have just been granted extra early access to not 1, not 2, but 3 Patreon exclusive bonus tracks! 

Become a $5+ patron for instant access to all those tracks on top of all historic rewards for your tier:

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

Get these rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34612358

I'll not be saying what the tracks are here (that's for the $5+ patrons to know), but with a new batch of tracks completed comes a diversion from the usual first and last Wednesday of the month Patreon reward schedule, so here's an update on what's to come over the next few months!

Firstly with this new $5 reward out which covers March and April's rewards there will be no new $5 rewards in April, only new $1 and $10 rewards as follows.

First Wednesday of April:

$1 patrons will receive the 1st of the Better Than The Book bonus tracks

$10 patrons will receive another demo & article from the upcoming Jabun album (delayed March reward)

Friday April 24th:

$1 patrons will receive the 2nd of the Better Than The Book bonus tracks + another bonus track (early May reward)

$10 patrons will receive another demo & article from the upcoming Jabun album (early April reward)

There will also be no extra $1 reward in May since it was given at the end of April.

You may be wondering why April 24th, and that's because the reason for these bonus tracks is that it's my 30th birthday! They're nothing too special (or extra special depending on how you view it) but all 3 tracks will be exclusive downloads only for patrons (though they will be available for streaming on YouTube as well)! I hope you enjoy something slightly different and fun to start my 3rd decade of living and look forward to seeing what I'll create in the next decade to come!

With that schedule lined up, it should be back to the usual schedule and the Jabun back catalogue for the end of May with $5 & $10 rewards on May 27th and $1 rewards on June 3rd. There are still however 2 new and bonus pieces of music currently in the works with the aim of releasing this summer, so I'll keep you updated on any changes to the schedule! It's certainly set to be an exciting few months!

And that wraps things up for this post! Become a $5+ patron to be among the first to listen to these 3 new bonus tracks (and grab all previous rewards for your tier when you sign up including the full Better Than The Book discography), and I'll be back with another post and Better Than The Book LIVE video on Wednesday! Until then, I hope you have a great few days and thanks as always for supporting Better Than the Book and my various projects! Enjoy the music and take care!

HUGE NEWS: Better Than The Book will be playing its first EVER gig on April 11th at the United Services Club in Haywards Heath (Sussex, UK)!

***Update: event has been indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19. I'll post updates as and when I receive them***

It's set to be a great night with a load of other pop punk bands from the local scene and all proceeds going towards Macmillan Cancer Support! All the details can be found (or asked for) on the following Facebook event page so if you're interested in going, go grab your tickets from Ben or Bex before they're all gone (all tickets must be bought in advance due to the venue's guest-list policies):

https://www.facebook.com/events/892633854540874/

I realise that many of you reading will be halfway around the world and unable to make it, but for those of you in the area, I hope to see you on April 11th for a night I'm sure will be spectacular! And with the gig less than a month away now, I guess I should get back to practicing some songs ready for the big night! Exciting times and until then I hope you have a great month to come and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects here on Newgrounds! Just one month to go until showtime!

A full LIVE & LOUD play-through of BTTB's "Undead Education" + "GG" featured on the Best Indie Pop Punk Spotify playlist by NeverEnoughMusic.com

Hi everyone and another LIVE & LOUD full song play-through video to share with you today from Better Than The Book's first full band rehearsal back in December! This time we're moving onto the Two Years On album for "Undead Education" and truth be told, this would have been literally the 2nd time we'd have played this together (the first being a few minutes before) so please excuse the roughness around the edges! We definitely messed up the ending a bit but hope you enjoy it nonetheless, it was fun times anyhow! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICptI6D7Q9M

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: Harmonica + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drums

"Undead Education" and the rest of the Two Years On album are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/ 

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter on Patreon, complete with the full Better Than The Book discography and more when you sign up! With the project going live, we could use all the support we can get to push it as far as possible, so come join the community and grab some tunes:

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Only 2 more of these videos to come over the next month! Man how time flies... Subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for another one! 

Next and finally this week, some more cool news to share: looks like GG from the Hopes and Dreams album made it onto a Spotify playlist! Thanks so much to NeverEnoughMusic.com for sharing the tunes, and check out the playlist below: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZAVMLJco8G18mT3stwPfG 

And that about wraps things up for this post! Lots of exciting stuff is in the works currently, so hopefully I'll be able to reveal more by this time next week, but if not, there'll still be another video to share at least! Until then, thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects, enjoy the music and videos and take care :)

A full song play-through of Better Than The Book's "Backseat Phobia" from the first full-band LIVE and loud practice in December + some $1 Patreon rewards!

Hi everyone and another LIVE and loud video to share with you today, but this time (and for the next 3 videos too) it'll be full song play-throughs from the first full band Better Than The Book rehearsal back in December! This week we're back to the One Small Step EP again for some "Backseat Phobia"! Buckle up your seats and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNgfm0jJHYI

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, 1st guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: 2nd guitar + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drums

"Backseat Phobia" and the rest of the One Small Step EP are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter here on Patreon, complete

with the full Better Than The Book discography and more when you sign up! With the project going live, we could use all the support we can get to push it as far as possible, and another set of $1 rewards was just posted this morning too (mp3s and art of last week's $5 rewards) so come join the community:

Read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33331416

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33331414

Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

3 more of these videos to come over the next month, all full song play-throughs from the first LIVE and loud rehearsal session! Subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for another one! 

That's it for today's update! I'll be back this time next week with the next video as well as some more exciting news (if all goes to plan)! Looking forward to it and until then, thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun, and my various music projects and I hope you have a great week to come! Take care :)

A mini rehearsal video clip of "Cathode Ray Days" + the $5+ rewards have been sent out: Jabun - "Home" + another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming 2nd album for the $10+ patrons!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great final week of February! Another LIVE video clip to share with you today, this time from a mini Better Than The Book rehearsal in January 2020! This time we’re playing "Cathode Ray Days" from the Two Years On album and the main purpose of this practice was to go over vocal harmonies, of which Cathode Ray Days has a lovely 3 part section in the 2nd verse! Hope you enjoy this more intimate practice and check out the video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m74tWk9zcn8

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, Guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: Harmonica + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drumsticks + sofa

"Cathode Ray Days" and the rest of the Two Years On album are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter on Patreon! Easy peasy with a side serving of the full Better Than The Book discography and more when you sign up, and with the project going live, we could use all the support we can get to push it as far as possible! Another set of $5 rewards was just posted this morning too so come join the community (more on that in a moment):

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Just 4 more of these videos to come over the next month, and next time we’re moving from short clips to some full song play-throughs from the first LIVE and loud rehearsal session! Subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for another one!

And onto those $5+ Patreon rewards, it's the final Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $5 and $10 patrons are out, and this time we have the next track from Jabun's discography and the only one to be released in 2014: Home!  

Read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33331415

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33331411

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33331409

Home is another track which holds a special place in my heart as I wrote and released it in the weeks coming up to Eva and I's 1st anniversary. It's a wonderful expression of the amalgamations of my musical history and various influences, piano combining with full orchestra and many synths, a parallel to the wonderful new life I'd discovered over the past year (excuse the soppiness)! The main plucky synth was a Moog Prodigy emulator, the Prodigy (synth) being probably my all-time favourite mono-synth and my go-to for all my analogue mono-synth sounds even to this day. Amazingly enough, on our first anniversary, Eva and I went to London where we first confessed our feelings and I found and played on a REAL vintage Moog Prodigy on Denmark Street! Home was my first track as Jabun to be given a Front Page award here on Newgrounds, and as with its predecessor Distance would go on to be remastered for the 2017 Jabun album: Daydream! I hope you enjoy Home:

For those of you interested too, the artwork for Home was based around a picture my mum took in the back garden of our family home in Sussex, UK! Thanks for letting me use the photo, Ma!

For the $10 patrons, you've 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! 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 and today's update! There aren't any 2015 Jabun tracks to share, so next time we'll be moving onto the 2016 Jabun discography, or perhaps something entirely different, or maybe even both; I've not quite decided yet, and I'll be back this time next week with the first of the full song LIVE rehearsal videos too as well as the $1 Patreon rewards! Whatever the case I hope you have an excellent time whatever you're up to until then and thanks as always for supporting Better Than the Book, Jabun and my various projects here onPNewgrounds! Take care and enjoy the tunes :)

A LIVE & LOUD video clip of "Hearts Racing" from the very first Better Than The Book full-band rehearsal + I NEED YOUR HELP for "And I Fear"'s potential radio debut tonight on Union JACK Radio!

Hi everyone and another LIVE and LOUD video clip to share with you today from Better Than The Book's first full-band rehearsal + I NEED YOUR HELP for tonight's radio show on Union Jack Radio where “And I Fear” could be making its radio debut (more on that in a moment)!

Starting with the video clip, this time it's "Hearts Racing" (again) and again this would have been the 2nd time ever that we'd have played this song together as a full band. It's still a little rough around the edges, but I think you'll enjoy the step up in energy since the small jam meet-up previously! Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bph7A9UbZs8

Line-up:

Nick Standing: Composer, 1st guitar + lead vocals

Eamon Standing: Harmonica + backing vocals

Sam Brown: Bass + backing vocals

Andy Forman: Drums

"Hearts Racing" and the rest of the Two Years On album are available on all major digital distributors as well as the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/ 

Or of course you can pick them up if you haven't already when you become a supporter on Patreon! Easy peasy with a side serving of the full Better Than The Book discography and more, and with the project going live, we could use all the support we can get to push it as far as possible! Come join the community:

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

5 more of these videos to come over the next 2 months, and it just keeps getting better from here (IMO)! Subscribe to the BTTB YouTube channel to get them fresh off the press, and I'll see you next week for another one here on Newgrounds!

Onto the radio show news, if you hadn't heard yesterday on social media, "And I Fear" from Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams album made the Underdogs show shortlist and so COULD be making its radio debut tonight (Wednesday) at 7pm (UK time) on Union JACK Radio! If it plays, that would make 8/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have made onto the radio worldwide, which would be phenomenal!

The trouble is, it's only a 1 hour show and so listeners must vote to push the tracks they want up the playlist during the show to ensure they get played, which means if we're going to make this happen we've gotta tune in and vote for Better Than The Book's And I Fear on the playlist tonight when the show goes live at 7pm! Hope you can make it for the show, many thanks in advance, and you can tune in and vote for Better Than The Book's "And I Fear" here when the show goes live at 7pm: 

https://unionjack.co.uk/vote/ 

Come listen to some great upcoming British music and let's make it 8/10 tracks from Hopes and Dreams to make it onto the radio! That would be awesome!

That's it for today's update, and I'll be back this time next week with another video clip and more $5 Patreon rewards if you don't hear from me before! Looking forward to it and until then, thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various music projects! Hope you can make it tonight and take care :)

EDIT:

We did it folks! "And I Fear" just had its radio debut half an hour ago which makes 8/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have made it onto the airways! Thanks so much for all the BTTB love!