More Patreon rewards have been sent out: Jabun's "Apollo" + an in depth look into Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams" for the $10+ patrons!

$1 rewards (mp3 + artwork): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102211

$5 rewards (mp3, WAV + artwork): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102206

$10 rewards ($5 rewards + an in depth look into Hopes and Dreams): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102207

Become a patron and find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to December! It's the first Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $1+ patrons are out ($5 and $10 posts were out last week), and this time we're continuing with the 2013 Jabun back catalog of music with another original track: "Apollo"!    

"Apollo" was released back in March 2013, and was another track where I was still experimenting with finding my own voice as Jabun too. It's got a more beat driven chillstep vibe to it, and the instrumentation and overall feel were heavily influenced (perhaps a little too much) by one of my finger-drumming heroes Araabmuzik, known for his lovely MPC performances. Interestingly too, "Apollo" is the only Jabun track to date which features my own lyrical sung vocals, and was the first track which I recorded vocals with my SM27 mic too. Of course having received such a crisp and clear sounding condenser mic for Christmas, the first thing I did was negate all that clarify by running the vocals through a telephone style effects chain XD Whatever the case though, I'm still pretty happy with the way this one turned out, and it was probably the first Jabun track to get a little bit of external attention too, even if that was by someone using it to launch their own YouTube music showcasing channel without asking permission first... oh well! In any case, without further wait I hope you enjoy "Apollo"!  

Listen here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep into the creation of the final and title track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album! 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 :)   

Check out Hopes and Dreams on Newgrounds:

Become a patron and find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That's it for this post! Another Jabun track will be coming next time as we continue with another remix from 2013's Jabun discography, but until the next post, I hope you have a great December to come and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a splendid day! 

Following up from the last few posts, it was another amazing show on BBC Introducing: The South (BBC Sussex / BBC Surrey) last night and thanks so much to Melita for playing that special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" and for the amazing shout-out, reading all my tweets on the air, and more! For anyone who missed the show you can catch it again on the BBC Sounds App / website but as with the last one, it's only available for the next month! Check it out via the links above and below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r91qx

And if you want to hear more from the new "Hopes and Dreams" album, check it out on Bandcamp and in all the usual digital places, or pick it up when you become a patron for as little as $1!

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

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

A big shout-out to my good friend By Hand And Heart who was featured on the show as well this week! Well done bro! 

For some key times in the show keep an eye out for the following, though don't skip through as there are some cracking tracks in the show this week! I hope you enjoy it :) 

0:29:41 - Better Than The Book Tweet readout 

1:26:00 - Better Than The Book Tweet readout  

1:31:40 - Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams [Radio Edit]" + a shout-out before and after  

1:48:56 - By Hand And Heart's "November Freefall" + a shout-out before and after 

As promised I have an extra bonus reward for all the patrons this week too: an exclusive download of that special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" that was featured on the show! As mentioned previously, I may decide to make this radio edit available for streaming and download elsewhere at a later date, but for now, it's a Patreon exclusive download, and patrons at least will be the first to be able to get it! Become a patron for as little as $1 a month to access this track 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 :) 

That's it for this post! The next set of $5+ rewards will be coming in 2 weeks so not long to wait in the grand scheme of things, but until then I hope you have a great time, enjoy the BBC show and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care :D

More HUGE NEWS to share today and hope you're having an excellent day so far!

Tonight at 7-9pm GMT Wednesday 13th, Better Than The Book will be featured again on "BBC Introducing: The South" with a special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" (from the album of the same name)! Check out their Facebook post for all the details of how you can listen in and take part tonight, send in a text or tweet if you're listening LIVE for a shout-out on the radio, and I can't wait to tune in to listen! Awesome news! 

https://www.facebook.com/BBCIntroSouth/photos/a.423129657865927/1345277258984491/ 

And as quoted from the post above, you can listen in and take part via the various methods below!

BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Wednesdays

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey, BBC Sounds app & DAB

Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM

Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM

Listen globally online via the BBC Sounds App

Text in during the show (you need to start texts with the word ‘radio’) on 81333 (normal rates apply)

Twitter/ Instagram/ facebook: @BBCIntroSouth

As with last time, in case you can't make it for the LIVE broadcast, the episode will also be available for a month on the BBC Sounds app and at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r91qx too! If you've still yet to hear the album, it's available in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp, and of course you can pick it up on Patreon along with the rest of the BTTB discography and more when you sign up for as little as $1 a month. Hope you enjoy it!

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

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

With this being a never-before-heard new-and-special radio-edit of the track too, I'll be making it an extra bonus reward for all patrons shortly after the live broadcast! Unlike the censored version of "Get A Haircut" which was a Patreon exclusive download, I may decide to make this Hopes and Dreams radio edit available for streaming and download elsewhere at a later date, but for now, it'll be a Patreon exclusive download, and patrons at least will be the first to be able to get it!

That wraps up this post! Hope you're able to tune in tonight and I can't wait to listen in LIVE! I'll be making more posts about this on Facebook and Twitter today and on here on Newgrounds on Thursday after the broadcast too, so feel free to head to those various places for the latest news and updates! Until the next one, hope you have a great rest of the week, hope you can join in tonight and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you've got a fun weekend lined up!

For those of you interested in the audio production work I do (from a creative, technical or business point of view), I've just put out a new Mastering and Music Production Demo Reel for 2019 featuring music from Better Than the Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album! For each pair of clips, the first version is the final mix made up against a generic limiter (to match loudness with the final master), and the 2nd is the final master as released. As well as being the mastering engineer (as demonstrated in the reel), I was also the composer, performer, recording and mix engineer, and producer for all these tracks, so this serves as a demo reel for those services too.

Check out the description in the audio portal and explore my services and portfolio as JabunAudio for more information, and I look forward to working with you on your own projects!

Listen to and purchase the full “Hopes and Dreams” album here:

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

And find out more about Better Than The Book on the project’s website:

https://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/

Quick bonus post: With JabunAudio open again as of yesterday I've made a special bonus reward post on Patreon: A tour of the new workspace with Q&A in the comments! Join in for as little as $1 and pick up all previous rewards for your tier when you do!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31329452

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

The previous rewards include the entire Better Than The Book discography (+ bonus tracks) too: "One Small Step EP", "Two Years On (+ [Instrumentals])", "Hopes and Dreams" and more all for just $1, with more rewards coming to the $1 patrons tomorrow as well. Hope to see you there and thanks for supporting my projects :)

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to November! It's a little later than anticipated, but after almost 2 months of downtime, I'm super excited to announce that my audio production business JabunAudio is finally relocated, calibrated and open again to help with all your digital mastering, music production, and animation audio needs!

Feel free to explore the portfolio and services list to see what JabunAudio is all about, and if you're a creator who uses audio then I look forward to working with you on your projects soon!

https://www.jabunaudio.com/

Some small website updates as well as a new mastering demo reel for 2019 will be coming soon too. Feels great to be back to it!

That's it for this update post! The next set of $1+ Patreon rewards go out this Wednesday (November 6th) so exciting times ahead this week (see previous post for details)! Until then I hope you have a great few days and thanks as always for supporting my projects!

Patreon post: "The $5+ rewards have been sent out: Jabun's "3rd September 1939", Better Than The Book's "Get A Haircut [Radio Edit]" which was featured on BBC Introducing (Patreon exclusive download) + an in depth look into BTTB's "You've Got A Lot To Say" for the $10+ patrons!" (Mp3s, WAVs & Artwork)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102201

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great October so far (and have fun plans for Halloween tomorrow too if it's your jam)! 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're heading into 2013 continuing the Jabun back catalog of music with another remix-contest track: "3rd September 1939"! I'm also sharing a bonus Patreon/Radio exclusive Better Than the Book track this month: the radio edit of "Get A Haircut" which was featured on BBC Introducing! Just a little extra reward but I hope you enjoy it! 

Onto this month's Jabun track, "3rd September 1939" was created back in February 2013 for a remix context which if I remember correctly was to promote the release of some sample packs. Unlike last month's track which was an actual remix of a pre-existing song, this time contestants were given royalty free stems to compose with and my entry was the track below. Back then I was still experimenting with finding my own voice as Jabun and remix contests like this are always fun opportunities to experiment with new styles in a low-pressure "have some fun" environment. I wouldn't say I'm completely happy with this one but there are a tonne of elements I do like and it was a great learning experience back in the day! I hope you get a kick out of it at least, and without further wait, here's "3rd September1939"!

Listen on NG:

Onto the bonus Better Than The Book Patreon exclusive download: I have the radio edit of "Get A Haircut" which was featured on BBC introducing earlier this month. It's nothing too exciting in that it's the same as the album version apart from having the word "prick" muted (at the request of the BBC) but as my closest supporters I thought the patrons would appreciate a download of it!

Listen to the album version on NG:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep again into the creation of another track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album, the solemn number on the album "You've Got A Lot To Say"! 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 :)

Listen to "You've Got A Lot To Say" on NG:

And that's it for this month's rewards! Another Jabun track will be coming next time as we continue with 2013's Jabun discography, but until the next post, I hope you have a great Halloween and month to come and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music :)

Note: This month's tracks ($5 rewards: Mp3s, WAVs + Art) will be made available to the $1 patrons (Mp3s + art only) next week on Wednesday 6th November.

HUGE NEWS to share with you today and hope you're having an excellent week so far!

Today Wednesday 23rd at 7-9pm BST, Better Than The Book will be making its BBC Radio debut on "BBC Introducing: The South"! Super exciting times! Check out the BBC's Facebook post below for all the juicy details of how you can listen in and take part on Twitter, Facebook and more, and I can't wait to tune into the show tonight:

https://www.facebook.com/BBCIntroSouth/photos/a.423129657865927/1323914041120813/

And as quoted from the post above, you can listen in and take part via the various methods below!

BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Wednesdays

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey, BBC Sounds app & DAB

Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM

Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM

Listen globally online via the BBC Sounds App

Text in during the show (you need to start texts with the word ‘radio’) on 81333 (normal rates apply)

Twitter/ Instagram/ facebook: @BBCIntroSouth

In case you can't make it for the LIVE broadcast, the episode will also be available for a month on the BBC Sounds app and at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7kh too! With the track they'll be playing (which I'll leave as a surprise), that'll be 7/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have been featured on the radio worldwide so far! That's crazy to me!

If you've still yet to hear the album, it's available in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp, and of course you can pick it up on Patreon along with the rest of the BTTB discography and more when you sign up for as little as $1 a month. Hope you enjoy it!

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

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That wraps up this post! Hope you're able to tune in tonight and I can't wait to listen in LIVE! I'll be making more posts about this on Facebook and Twitter today and on Thursday after the broadcast too, so feel free to head to those various places for the latest news and updates! Until the next one, hope you have a great rest of the week, hope you can join in tonight and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects here on NG! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Some cool stuff to share today so check this out!

My buddy @Cyberdevil (who was featured on "Head Above Water" from Better Than The Book's Two Years On album) was a guest on the "A Couple Of Crickets" podcast here on NG and made a lovely shout-out to our collaborations and Better Than The Book too (at 56:55)!

The episode also earned a Front Page Award too! Neat! Give it a listen to hear more about CD, his Newgrounds history and more via the link above and check out CD's Inktober awesomeness, a new rap acapella for each day of October as well as his usual Inktober drawings! You can find all those and more on his profile below: Thanks CD!

https://cyberdevil.newgrounds.com/

And another little bit of news, Better Than The Books new album is still very much getting lots of love around the world including on Tonic Ska Radio in London. Thanks Tonic Ska for playing the music and feel free to read more via their Facebook post below:

https://www.facebook.com/tonicskaradio/photos/a.920763794801085/1117175341826595/

That's it for today's news roundup and as always thanks for supporting my various music projects here on Newgrounds! Hope to have more music to share soon, and take care until the next one!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to October so far! It's the first Wednesday of the month which means the rewards post for the $1 patrons is here, and this time we're continuing the Jabun back catalog of music with my first ever remix as Jabun: "Nine Fifteen Ft. Jess" by Diamond Eyes!

This track was made for the very first remix competition I took part in back in December 2012 only a few weeks after "Bergamot" was released and a few weeks before Better Than The Book's debut EP One Small Step was released too! It's one I hold close to heart and the first of my more experimental and cinematic / electronic fusion tracks, with eastern elements mixed among western orchestra and synth driven electronics! Become a $1+ patron to download the Mp3 and artwork now, or become a $5+ patron for all that as well as the full quality WAV file and early access to all future rewards, and I hope you enjoy this less chill side of Jabun! Listen here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep again into the creation of another track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album, the video game nostalgia trip that is "GG"! 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 and if you've yet to hear it here's GG:

Another Jabun track will be coming for the next set of rewards as we move into 2013's Jabun discography!

In other news, my internet connection after moving house is finally back and it's been an exciting time in terms of news for Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams album while I've been away, so here's a quick round up of what new and awesome things have been happening!

First of all, "Meteor Shower" was featured on the "Distilled Endless Summer" show on Downtown Radio-Tucson! Thanks so much for playing the music, and that makes 6/10 tracks from the album now to have been featured on the radio around the world so far! Amazing stuff and feel free to read more via DJ Testerman's post below!

https://www.facebook.com/DJTesterman/videos/332541597528856/

Next up, a while back I was interviewed by Love It To Death about the Hopes and Dreams album and BTTB in general, and the interview was finally published a few weeks back! Check it out below for discussions about the origins of BTTB and the project name, the themes and influences in the new album, and the future of BTTB! Enjoy the read and thanks to LITD for having me:​

https://loveittodeathreviews.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/__trashed-4/

Finally, "Artificial Ignorance" which seems to be a crowd favorite from the album was featured once again on The Ska Show with Beefy on Southern FM! Always a pleasure to be on your show Beefy and thanks as always for sharing the music! You can listen to the show via Beefy's post below and BTTB plays at -33:13 from the end followed straight on by a kind shout-out by Beefy! Thanks so much!

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/2511672885587768?__tn__=-R

And check out the full playlist for the show below:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-ska-show-with-beefy-on-southern-fm/playlist-10th-september-2019/2485030768251980/?__tn__=HH-R​

That about wraps things up for the news this time and if you've yet to check out Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams, you can find it in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp! Enjoy the tunes, take care until the next post and thanks as always for supporting my music!

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding