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Jabun
Nick Standing AKA Jabun: Multi-instrumentalist, Composer & Mastering Specialist at JabunAudio making dynamic, clean and punchy masters to encourage people to turn up your music, rather than turn it down! Creator of the Skapunk project Better Than The Book
Nick Standing @Jabun

Age 35, Male

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Burgess Hill, England

Joined on 9/13/05

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New Better Than The Book album coming Friday 13th June, radio features, ELLEGARDEN gig and more!

Posted by Jabun - 3 weeks ago

June 2025 Patreon & News Post: Better Than The Book's Bump In The Night single release, less than 2 weeks until album release, CD & Vinyl pre-orders open, Radio features on Beefy's Ska Club and BBC Introducing, and MUCH MORE!


Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to Summer! It's been an incredibly busy month and only set to get busier for the next few weeks too! With Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life album coming next Friday 13th June (in less than 2 weeks), I'll be holding off for $10 DEMOlition Pigeon Patreon rewards this time, but hope to be back to it soon! There is MUCH to share in this post so let's get straight to it!


First of all as I'm sure you're well aware, on May 23rd Better Than The Book released the 3rd and final pre-release single Bump In The Night from the upcoming Side Character In My Own Life album and wooooweee did it go down well! Not only has it racked up over 4500 listens here on Newgrounds alone (on top of a front page award and Takeover Tuesday feature), but the single was also featured on BBC Introducing: The South's radio show too! Thanks so much for the support everyone and you can catch up with the BBC Introducing replay for the next month over on BBC Sounds (I'm on towards the end, but there are some great tracks throughout the show as usual):


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002cxxy



Bump In The Night was also featured on The Punk Site's news feed and on Retweeter Radio! Thanks for sharing the new music peeps!


May 25, 2025 - Better Than The Book's Bump In The Night single and CD/Vinyl announcement featured on ThePunkSite.com

May 25, 2025 - Better Than The Book's Bump In The Night (Radio Edit) added to The Retweeter Hits Radio Rotation


And flipping back to the previous single and title track Side Character In My Own Life, that track received its first international radio play in Australia on the #1 ska show in the world: Beefy's Ska Club (formally The Ska Show with Beefy)! The show is available to listen again as a podcast and what a heck of a show it was! I think it's the best shoutout I've ever been given on a radio show! Thanks so much to Beefy for sharing the music and all the kind words and I hope you love the album when it comes next week!


https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/beefys-ska-club-17th-may-2025-pod-2-ep-613/id1510126760?i=1000708862516


Also In case you hadn't heard, Side Character In My Own Life is now available to pre-order on CD and Vinyl on ElasticStage too and you can read more about the album and listen to and download the pre-release singles over on Bandcamp. Check it out!


https://elasticstage.com/betterthanthebookuk


https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/side-character-in-my-own-life


Finally for BTTB news, I'm pleased to announce that after a little trouble clearing a public domain sample, the album has been fully approved for worldwide digital distribution too and will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Tidal and all those places come Friday 13th as well! Woot woot!


Onto some non-BTTB news, it's been a very busy month in other areas as I've been away on a few trips as well as fixing up some stuff around the studio! Starting with the trip, on May 11th I had the amazing and unforgettable opportunity to see one of my favourite bands ELLEGARDEN play their first European gig EVER! For those who don't know, ELLEGARDEN is a Japanese pop-punk band who started around the turn of the millennium but went on an almost 10 year hiatus before returning just before the pandemic hit. I never thought I'd have an opportunity to see them, but as soon as I found out they were going to be playing in London (alongside local heroes FEEDER) I just had to make sure I could go! I've been using these guys as mixing reference material since the One Small Step EP, and learnt so much from listening to their records! It was an amazing night and I hope they come back again soon! While I was in the pits only a few meters from the front, some other gig goers got some great footage of most of the concert from the balcony (you can even spot me in the crowd if you know who to look for XD)! Check it out below and if you every get the chance, go see them for one hell of a party!



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4oqBMGy2FBglFJttux9g_fGcbltZwDGb


Next on the news for this month, some studio updates! While I was down for the gig I went to visit my long time mentor of sorts Martin, and as tends to happen I ended up leaving with a piece of his studio, this time an old Yamaha 8 channel mixing desk from the 80s! I've been looking for a mixer for a long time, so I was super excited when he offered it! After a clean, some re-soldering of connections and a hefty drench of electrical cleaning solution, it's working great, and I'll integrating into the studio along with Martin's old patch bay very soon! Thanks so much, Martin! Alongside fixing up the mixer, I also finally got around to putting grills on my homemade Leslie rotary speaker and got it put back together and serviced! There's a new YouTube video all about it which I'll get back to in a second. Finally in the studio updates, my main guitar amp for the last 18 years was acting up again and I really thought it was gone for good this time but again, I managed to resurrect it and it seems to be doing much better than even before now! Phew! While I was at it I figured I'd service the bass and organ amps too which were working but not quite as well as they could have been... A can of electrical contact cleaner sure does wonders!


Finally for this month, some more YouTube videos to share! This is the first time in 2 years that I've not been recording 2 videos a week so this time it's just 2 videos to share this month but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless! Check out the updated video below:



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWEmqIhrNPvQTBoOjZdKLgL4ecTvLz6sm


And here's a list of the latest additions:


  • Choppy Glissando and Ghost Notes Organ Practice
  • Leslie got grills!


That about wraps things up for this time! It's just 10 days until Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life album finally releases (I can hardly believe it), so I'm going to be working my butt off to prepare all the promo for that, and trying to get some rest where I can in the mean time. More interesting projects are coming on the horizon now though so it won't be long until there's more music to come! Until then, thanks as always for supporting my work however you can and I'll see you next week for the big album launch! Take care!


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/128920974

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

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Cyberdevil

Do you have any concert footage of your own for this mayhaps? Do you tend to record any?

I've been wondering if I should start doing that myself, feels like all too many people are these days though, and that you miss out on the real experience if you do - not to mention how all those phones block the view, but... at the same time it really is nice to have some mementos of a show, some proof of presence...

Jabun

Naw I don't have any footage of my own. I don't tend to take footage at gigs and stuff (or much in general). I much prefer to live in the moment, and there's so many other people taking videos and stuff that it's rare for me not to be able to find some afterwards anyway XD

I'd say I'm very selective about taking photos in general. I'll take them for record keeping when fixing stuff up for example (to make sure I put it back together the same), but I feel like in the digital age of photography where you essentially have infinite shots to take, there's so much of it which ends up seeming like you'll never look at it or is forgetful (like insta shots of breakfast). It'd have to something pretty special and where I can take my time for me take photos, like the northern lights or a cool snowman we made or something, or if it's really special I'll reach for physical film where I only have 10 shots and have to make them all count. I feel like having less shots to take I make the most of them and apart from a few duds, they all end up being special instead of just another one on the endless stream.

Maybe a bit of a rant there, but hope you got something out of it XD

Cyberdevil

Oh you actually have physical film ready for special occasions? That's cool... sounds like you have your priorities in check there! I wonder how different the concert vibe would be if there were no phones present at all, a lot of people are definitely distracted, I just wonder how much their distractions distract everyone else. It is nice to have footage, so in part I appreciate someone does sacrifice their experience for it, but then again it'd be even better if there was always an official source for it; some kind of standard setup for stage records venues or artists always manage themselves, so the crowd didn't have the same incentive to get involved at all....

I'm split on my everyday documentation habits otherwise. I like saving pictures even on more ordinary occasions, as mementos of good times, or just times, places and people as they change - myself included. Sometimes you get gems in those more ordinary moments too. And the most memorable moments don't always look that special, it's just nice to have a visual connection to trigger said memory. But of course, too much can get tedious...

You do have your YT videos so in a way I guess you are documenting progression as well though, in a different; more intentional but all the more dynamic way. ;)

Jabun

Yeah, Eva's sister got us an instant camera (Instax I think? Like a mini polaroid) as a wedding present so we use it to document some of the extra special moments :D I think there's a balance as with everything. I think I probably don't take enough pictures in general, but I do very much like to live in the moment and for sure phones are a distraction, whether you're own or other people with theirs. Would be super cool for "official gig footage sources"! All comes down to cost and whether they have someone/the equipment to do it I guess?

I know what you mean about those ordinary moment gems :) I really like candid shots :) Hehe, balance is the key as usual!

Oh yeah I do indeed. A different kind of documenting there :)

Cyberdevil

Very true. Up till just a couple years back I actually brought a digital camera with me for pictures most of the time, been reluctant to use the phone for anything but the things a phone's traditionally intended for but... yeah, I gave in, it's too practical!!!

That Instax sounds awesome though. :) I grew up taking pictures with a regular camera too, good memories... someone should've taken some photos of me taking some photos back then. :P

Mmm imagine if all venues just had a single camera installed across from the stage somewhere, centered and ready; didn't need someone to actively film... though course even cooler with multiple angles and a real crew. Just for the gigs that wouldn't get recorded for 'real'. All comes down to cost of course, but seems like there could be a big business to this, if someone actually gets something organized... it seems a lot of venues do save footage, just don't share it all. Or at all.

For sure. :)

Jabun

Same. My old phone didn't have much memory, but Eva gave me her old one when she upgraded and.... it's really just too practical XD

Same again! Those were old reel films with 30ish pics on them :) Had to take them to the chemist to get developed XD Fun times there! These Instaxs have cartridges of 10 photos each, easy to change and of course instant development, but no negatives if you want to blow them up or anything.

That'd be cool! The venue could just include it as part of the backline or lighting rig or something. Maybe less practical for super small venues (pubs etc...) but would be cool :)

Cyberdevil

Aye, the nature of all modern addictions, the practicality of it all! XD Or the comfort, the ease of use, and access, and aspects of life overall... what phones have you had so far, any favorite brand?

Yeaaah those were the days! :D But I don't ever remember going to an actual 'chemist' for 'em, we had envelopes you just sent those reels in with, got the developed pictures back via post. Mmm and no potential copies of each then, just one original image a piece, in a way they're even less infinite than those original reels. :) I wonder how the picture quality compares... how much does a cartridge cost?

Yeaah that'd be perfect! :D I hope someone who can stumbles upon this post and makes it happen!

Jabun

Too true. The only smartphones I've had were iPhones, first a 5C and now Eva's old SE which looks basically the same but with more memory. I knew so many people with iPhones that the Facetime and imessenger system made things very easy and cheap to run :)

Ah maybe there was that option too re the posting? It was a while back so I don't recall all the details XD Indeed just one original image a piece. The pictures are pretty decent quality in their own analog charmy way :) It ends up being ~£15 for 2 cartridges (20 pictures total) so not cheap but fun :)

Woot woot!

Cyberdevil

Oh! Over here my nephew's pretty much the only person I know with an iPhone, interesting... it's definitely a pricier phone initially, but I do like the brand. Very integrity-driven compared to pretty much all others.

Cellphone subscriptions over here these days usually limit data specifically, but have unlimited calls/regular messages, suppose that may influence the overall phone norm, though it hasn't always been that way... well, you can use data-based apps for communication regardless, WhatsApp's still pretty big on Android. ;)

May have been different in the UK though, it would've been cool to actually go to a real place here. :) Or I started a bit later. That's cool. Ah yeah that's a hefty price per pic, but all the more special with each one then! Indeed seems fun.

Jabun

Ah fair, yeah they do get stupidly expensive (especially with the later models etc... mine was an older model when I got it so not too bad). Re the subscriptions, I barely use anything it seems so I get away with only £5 a month on my bill, not unlimited but I just don't use it enough (good I guess XD?) Yup I have WhatsApp too for communicating with groups and friends without iPhones. Very useful :)

Hehe, good way to see it regarding the price per picture! It does give you the incentive to really make every shot count (and not be a perfectionist about it). Still cheaper than train tickets over here too XD

Cyberdevil

Yeaaah that is great, minimizing everyday RF/MW doses too. ;) I also don't use much, even with unlimited quotas on calls/messages. They're cutting our landline this November though, so unfortunately mobile usage is bound to increase drastically... it's a national thing, copper lines are alas deemed old and unnecessary now, not enough people use 'em. NICE re the cross-compatible WA! :D

Aw yeah, and those tickets are perishable too!!! A relatively cheap visual memento over a transient train trip slip anyday amirite. :P

Jabun

Woot woot on the minimizing! Oh dang! I thought it'd happen eventually but a nationwide landline cut! Feels crazy but yeah I guess most calls probably are mobile now... I guess it's much less to maintain which cuts costs etc... I wonder if and when the UK will follow suit?

And another woot woot there too XD

Cyberdevil

Indeed indeed. Of course Sweden wants to be ahead of the game when it comes to IT and innovation too, which now seems to mean: digitization, for good and bad! Any talks of shutting down phones over there? They started cutting out more remote parts of the grid here, up North they took our phonelines years ago, but Stockholm now... it's a big step. The last bastion.

It probably is a cost to maintain but... well, I like traditional lines. Plus they work even when there's a power outage. Wireless isn't as energy-efficient overall either. It is how it is though, gotta get some optical wiring instead.

Woot woot there! :D

Jabun

Yeah UK too, especially when it comes to A.I. (not for the betterment of the arts though...). Apparently they're aiming to turn off analog landlines by end of January 2027 so still a little while off, but I think there'll still be a digital landline system instead, so maybe a long while until it's phased out completely.

Too true about the power outage advantage. I think there's a lot of needless digitization these days. Both analog and digital have their uses and not everything digital is better IMHO (nor everything better is digital).

Cyberdevil

Mmm I heard about the speed cams being testing in the UK recently, that can measure speeds even a kilometer away, facial ID checks too, may be useful but it seems a bit invasive to me... ah but planned there too with the phonelines, unfortunate. :/ Digital as in fiber instead of copper, or something separate entirely?

Agreed, indeed. :) Simple case in point here: they tried swapping out traditional stop buttons with touch-based buttons on buses recently. They switched back. Turns out people weren't always sure if they'd 'pressed' a button or no, or touched them accidentally; the new didn't work as well as the traditional. Feels like it's almost turned into an arms race of innovation of sorts lately; we're just changing things to change things, not really because the new things are better or needed at all...

Then again though, I may be getting unreasonably more and more cynical re: all changes. :P I used to like the new new too...

Jabun

Oh dang I've not heard about those! I wonder how accurate they are at those distances? Not sure regarding the digital but I presume fibre optic cables yeah?

Too true re those buttons. Hehe, I know what you mean re the cynisism too. Is that a sign of us getting old lol XD

Cyberdevil

Accurate enough to see if drivers are wearing seatbelts or speaking in cellphones too it seems. :) The future man... fiber optic cables though, I like those. :) Still hoping they're the future more so than wireless. Higher speeds, less energy...

It may be! XD

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