Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday again which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds and this time it's track 09 "You've Got A Lot To Say". This track is one of the more serious ones I've written (with less ska vibes and a more alternative rock feel), all about loss and being there for loved ones in hard times. I feel like "I hope you enjoy it" isn't the right thing to say, but I hope you get something out of it at least and take the message to heart. Check it out via the player below:

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

It's onto the final track of the album next week, and what a journey it's been over these past few months. Also, with the BTTB discography all on Patreon now, the $5+ / $10+ rewards have started up again today to start sharing the back catalog of my other main music project: Jabun (electronic / cinematic), starting with my debut track from back in 2012 "Bergamot"! Check it out and read more about it in the post below and I hope you enjoy this other side of my musical personality! Don't worry if it's not your jam though as more exciting things from Better Than The Book are already in the works!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/29106006

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

You can also listen to Bergamot here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons too, I'll also be continuing with the monthly behind the scenes articles, this time taking a deep dive into the creation of track 05 from Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams album, "Brighton". I hope you enjoy it, and again feel free to check out the finished track here on Newgrounds:

Finally this week, not a whole lot more news to report, but it sounds like Better Than The Book is getting some love over on Button Down Radio, which is always nice to hear! Check out the post below for some more ska radio fun:

https://www.facebook.com/buttondownradio5446/photos/a.1712323415706155/2389026961369127/

And that's it for this post! Until the final track and the next post (where the next $1+ Patreon rewards will be released too), have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday again which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds and this time I'm sharing track 08 "GG" all about fun times playing video games! Check out the player below for a fun pop-punk anthem filled with nostalgic video games references and some chip-tune inspired extra sounds! Enjoy :D

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

It's onto track 09 of the album next week, but I'm sure there'll be more exciting news to share before then! Speaking of which, the Hopes and Dreams album turned 1 month old earlier this week and what a month it has been! Check out all the press, radio and podcast features so far over on the Better Than The Book website! Exciting times!

https://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/press.html

That's it for this post, and until the next track and the next post, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music :)

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday which means another track from Better Than The Book​'s new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds​ and this time I'm sharing track 06 "Get A Haircut" all about un-fun times and people being pricks! Check out the player below for a rage filled pop punk anthem about bullying and my first week in a town which shall remain nameless! At least I got a song out of it :D Enjoy!

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

It's also been another exciting week for radio features and more! The Ska Show with Beefy on Southern FM​ is back again for another re-run and this time track 05 "Brighton" from the Hopes and Dreams album played right after my favourite ska track of all time "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones​! Such an honour and thanks so much to Beefy for having it up on the show (playing alongside, Reel Big Fish, The Specials and Madness too)! Listen in via the Facebook link below and "Brighton" plays at -18:16 from the end followed straight on by a shout out! Amazing stuff :)

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/2421871267901264

That makes 5/10 tracks to have been featured on the radio worldwide so far too! Crazy feeling!

But the radio news doesn't stop there! All 10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album are now on Seattle based internet radio station Bob's Ska Radio​'s rotation! You can even request any of the songs to be played with a dedication if you wish too: just search "Better" or "Book" and choose which track you'd like played! Check it out and listen in below! Thanks Bob's Ska Radio!

http://www.bobskaradio.com/index.php/playlist-requests

Next, some more press news to share today as the Hopes and Dreams album has been featured in Broken Arrow Magazine​! Check it out and read more in the link above, and thanks so much to Broken Arrow Magazine for featuring the new music!

http://www.brokenarrowmagazine.com/have-you-heard-better-than-the-book/

Finally this week, yesterday was a historic day for BTTB as for the first time since its conception in 2012, 4 guys (including myself) got together to jam the tunes live! Super fun and exciting times, and we'll see where it all goes from here! Who knows!

That’s it for the news this week (so far)! Next week we'll be onto track 08 of the album (another pop punk one), but I'm sure there'll be many more pieces of news to share before then! Until the next one, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds! This time it's track 05 "Brighton" all about my favourite city by the sea! Check out the link below for nostalgic and summery vibes about fond memories growing up on England's south coast! Enjoy!

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

On top of that, it’s been another crazy week for radio features! Better Than The Book made its debut on Button Down Radio on Sunday, and there’s still a few more chances to catch “Artificial Ignorance” in the Featured This Week segment before they refresh the playlist this Sunday. Check out the Facebook post below for more details:

https://www.facebook.com/BetterThanTheBookUK/posts/2293233827459546?__tn__=-R

Additionally, the opening track from the Hopes and Dreams album "The Hardest Part" has been added to Fresh Picks on idobi Radio too! Tune in and read more in the Facebook post below:

https://www.facebook.com/…/a.87174076627…/2295408820575380/…

That makes 4 out of 10 tracks from Hopes and Dreams to have been featured on the radio so far! Amazing times, and a huge thanks to all the shows and stations who have been playing them! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the new music!

Finally this week some major updates on my Patreon page: "Announcing REWARD ARCHIVE posts for 4/10/2018 -> 7/8/2019 including the full Better Than The Book Discography & more!"

Today I announce the first set of "Reward Archive" posts for the convenience of Patreon supporters and new patrons!

You can now use the tag "REWARD ARCHIVE" to access posts which summarize and collect all the rewards for your tier from October 4th 2018 to August 7th 2019, instead of having to search through posts manually to find the past rewards for your tier when you sign up!

These months' rewards cover the full discography for my ska punk / pop punk project Better Than The Book (as of August 2019), and the posts are there for your convenience so you can pick up all these rewards (Mp3s, WAVs, artwork and more depending in your tier) in one place!

Become a monthly patron for as little as $1 to access all the music so far (including a few Patreon exclusive downloads) as well as all the music to come in the future while you remain a patron!

Check out the full post on Patreon for all the details and thanks so much for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various music projects on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/28928832

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That’s it for the news this week (so far)! Next week we'll be onto track 06 of the album and the beginning of Hopes and Dreams side B, but before then, I'm sure there'll be many more pieces of news to share! Until the next one, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! It's Wednesday which means I'm sharing another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album and this time it's track 03: "And I Fear"! Check out the player below for an honest and no holding back ska punk anthem about the fear of not being able to live up to other people's expectations! I hope you enjoy it!

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

On top of that, this week's been crazy in terms of news and press features for the new album! Better Than The Book made its debut on the UK internet radio station Tonic Ska Radio on Saturday, and made its Californian Radio debut on idobi Radio's Spinning Thoughts show (pop punk), as well as being featured again in Australia on The Ska Show with Beefy! You can check out the podcast reruns of those show via the links below:

Spinning Thoughts Episode 182 Podcast (I'm the first of the full tracks to play)

The Masita Ska Show with Beefy July 23rd (-9:09 from the end following with a shout out)

BTTB is also set to make its debut on another UK ska station Button Down Radio this Sunday at 11:30 BST, with a twice daily repeat of the segment for the following week! More details to come for that so head over to the BTTB Facebook page for more updates closer to the time if you're interested! Exciting times!

That's it for this post! Next week we'll be onto track 05 of the album and the end of the first side, and I'm sure there'll be many more pieces of news to share too! Until the next one, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my projects! Take care!

Hello again fellow Newgrounds peeps and hope you're having a great week so far!

As you may already know, my 2nd album as Better Than The Book "Hopes and Dreams" was released last Friday, and today I'm uploading the first of the non-single tracks to YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds! There'll be a new track coming out each Wednesday until mid September and the first of the bunch is the opening track of the album "The Hardest Part"! Get ready for a motivational ska punk anthem to get you pumped for the rest of the new music, and hope you enjoy it:

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

"Hopes and Dreams" is now also available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google, and all the other places you'd expect to find digital music in this day and age! Hope you enjoy it!

That's it for this post, and next week, I'll be moving onto and uploading track 03 of the album "And I Fear"! Until then, enjoy the new music, hope you have a great week, and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care :)

Hello fellow ska-punks, rockers and headbangers!

The time has finally come and I cannot tell you how excited I am today to announce that Better Than The Book's 2nd full-length album "Hopes and Dreams" has finally been released! You can check out the teaser / launch video (featuring track 01 "The Hardest Part") as well as listen to the full Hopes and Dreams album, pick up a copy, and see the full album credits and special thanks on Bandcamp via the links below! I hope you enjoy it all!

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g3oKzyrmkw

Or get even more from Better Than The Book when you become a patron for as little as $1 a month today, and boy is there a lot to share this time! With such a big event as this album launch, all patrons will be receiving:

1)     A full download of the brand new Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album in mp3 and WAV format as well as high resolution album art ($1 Patrons will only receive the mp3s and artwork, not the WAVs)

2)     A selection of high resolution photos from the press shoot for the album, including photos used for the album's press releases and marketing campaign

3)     High resolution lyric sheets for the album

4)     A behind the scenes studio photo and story from the Hopes and Dreams album production

Not only that, but I'm once again hosting a Patreon exclusive Ask Me Anything / Q & A session to celebrate the album's launch! Hope to hear some interesting questions from you all!

And remember that on top of all that when you sign up, you'll gain access to the entire history of rewards for your tier including the complete Better Than The Book discography (including the One Small Step EP and Two Years On albums) + many Patreon exclusive bonus tracks and more! If you're a $10+ patron too, then you'll have access to the entire series of monthly behind the scenes and demo posts too! There's never been a better time to sign up to Patreon than today! 

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

And that wraps things up for this post which was the final post for the Hopes and Dreams album launch period! I hope you've enjoyed this journey over the past few months and with the Hopes and Dreams album finally out, I think it's time for a well earned break! What’s next for BTTB? Who can say for sure but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of stuff to share over the next few months, and I’ll be sharing new tracks from the album weekly here on Newgrounds until mid September too! Until the next post I hope you enjoy all the new music and extra rewards and I want to express my biggest thanks to all the patrons and readers for supporting Better Than The Book and the Hopes and Dreams album, and my various other music projects! Hope to see you over on the Patreon Q & A post, and until next time, take care :)

All the best and keep those horns blaring,

Nick

Better Than The Book / Jabun

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hello fellow Newgrounds people!

Some amazing news to share today as not only is my 2nd album as Better Than The Book, "Hopes and Dreams" coming out tomorrow, but the latest single "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)" also made it onto Australian FM Radio!!!

The podcast re-run for the radio show which featured Better Than The Book on it last week is up now too! Thanks so much to Beefy for giving "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)" its Australian FM radio premier as well as for the amazing shout out for the "Hopes and Dreams" album which comes out TOMORROW! Check out the Ska Show's podcast re-run via the link below for ska covers, new and old tunes, and a tonne of skankin' fun! Great show!

(BTTB's on -20:37 before the end with the shout out at -15:33)

The Masita Ska Show with Beefy, July 9th 2019 (2nd Hour)

And head over to Bandcamp to hear the other singles!

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

Big day tomorrow! Exciting times and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects here on Newgrounds!

Hello fellow Newgrounds ska-punks, rockers and headbangers!

The time has come once again! The 3rd and final pre-release single from the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album, "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)", has just been released accompanied once again by an animated visualizer courtesy of the one and only Vladimir Kuznetsov of World Beyond! Cheers again Vlad! Check out the song via the video link below, and I hope you enjoy this lighthearted track about distance, love, and National Rail, featuring BTTB's first organ solo! Fun times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwyH6VLKEl8

And of course you can check it out on NG too!

Pre-orders for the Hopes and Dreams album are open on the Better Than The Book bandcamp page, so head over to Bandcamp to pick up a download of "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)", 2nd single "Artificial Ignorance", and lead single "Meteor Shower", and pre-order the Hopes and Dreams album today:

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

Or get even more value when you become a monthly subscriber on Patreon! Today patrons will receive:

$1+ tier - Mp3 downloads of all 3 pre-release singles from the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album.

$2+ tier - Mp3 and WAV downloads of all 3 pre-release singles from the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album.

$5+ tier - The ENTIRE Hopes and Dreams album (artwork, mp3s and WAVs) right now, 2 weeks before the public release on July 19th, as well as press photos for the album launch campaign, lyric sheets, and a behind the scenes photo and story from the album's production too! 

$10+ tier - All the above rewards + an in depth look into the making of track 03 from the upcoming album, "And I Fear"! This is also the last chance to get your name / alias included in the special thanks section of Hopes and Dreams album credits on Bandcamp (as I'll be setting the credits in stone when the album goes out on the 19th) so if that's something you're interested in, act now before the album goes out and I'll add you to the list!

Not only that, but when you sign up, you'll gain access to the entire history of rewards for your tier including the complete Better Than The Book discography (including the One Small Step EP and Two Years On album) + many Patreon exclusive bonus tracks and more! There's never been a better time to subscribe to Patreon than today!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That's it for this post and the next one (and set of rewards for the $1+ / $2+ patrons) will be coming in 2 weeks time on July 19th coinciding with the big launch of the Hopes and Dreams album! Lots of new music coming soon and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care until the next one and hope you enjoy the new single :) 

All the best and keep those horns blaring,

Nick

Better Than The Book / Jabun

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to the week!

Some more interviews / features to share with you today from Breathing The Core about Better Than The Book and the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album! Exciting times! The first one today is a behind the scenes look at the artwork! Check it out via the link below:

http://www.breathingthecore.com/2019/06/behind-artworks-better-than-book-hopes.html?fbclid=IwAR1I65VwSrLLiImeupXn5amOv5Bo1La5Ao2LDXKeV8ff5zM-J9v-5YIgcqo

They've also shared the project biography in another featured post! This is the same biography which has appeared in the press releases from the album, and was written in collaboration with PR manager for the album Meg from Live A Little Bit Louder. A huge thanks for all the hard work and help getting the message out! Check out the feature via the link below:

http://www.breathingthecore.com/2019/06/band-biographies-better-than-book.html

And finally, Better Than The Book now has its own dedicated section on Breathing The Core's website, as well as being added to their list of bands! That's pretty darn cool if you ask me, and feel free to catch up with all the past interviews / features on that special page below:

http://www.breathingthecore.com/search/label/Better%20Than%20The%20Book

That's all for today's post, but there are still more interviews and things to come soon, so stay tuned for more! Hope you have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Until the next one, take care!

All the best until then,

Nick

Better Than The Book / Jabun

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding