NINJA STATUS:

There will be many wonderful benefits benefits - including we will be having some cool EES Ninja patches made which will mean Bob Slayer can find you and look after you at gigs! As well as giving you discount, offers and freebies on EES gig merchandise...

It has just been pointed out to me that out of the 334 believers so far - 87 have over 10 parts and have become EES Ninjas - well done - If the remaining 247 of the 334 believers topped up to 10 parts and became Ninja then EES would reach the $50k total today!

Now wouldn't that be a great record!!

So you have to ask yourself - I

s it time to become an EES Ninja?

Just 10 EES parts for Ninja stats! (And a long and happy life!)

Please all go and check out the NEW EES video

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Believers (Ninjas on EES Album Artwork)

Just to let you know that the last two albums (and one EP and one single) that EES have released since 2006 have contained all the names of the EES Samurai in the artwork... This next album will also contain a list of all the EES Selaband believers (Ninjas!)...
Also as Shogun I will be consulting with the Samurai to see if we can elect the top believers to also become honorary Samurai - thus getting EES guest list for life (just so we are clear on this - it is Bob Slayer's life - this is a kind insurance policy to ensure that at least 100 people are sad when my liver finally says enough is enough and I am packed off to meet Lucifer)

WHY EES & BOB SLAYER BELIEVE IN SELLABAND - by BOB SLAYER
Originally posted in a Forum Thread about: "Are big bands good for SAB"

I think the starting point for this discussion is not will they be any good for SAB - But how to deal with them onse they arrive.

I think that it is inevitable that Big Bands will come to SAB (Even bigger than EES!!!) As the model is proved to work then bands that are more established / have an existing fanbse etc will come. Maybe even traditional record labels will put new bands through sellaband to help start them off / see if they have or can generate a following before offering them a full contract?

So how can we all be sure that it wont adversely effect what SAB stands for or will SAB become a copy of what it was formed to be an alternative to? Will it be a money driven model where creativity and talent takes a back seat...

Let me speak form my experience and tell you why I think SAB will be good for EES - I have believed in EES and worked very hard for them over the past 5 and a half years, through good times and bad, and will continue to do so. We make an OK living - but hey i used to earn a lot more working in the city (which I hated!). The main reason behind my working hard for EES is that they work incredibly hard for themselves... I often get asked to get involved with many other bands but I mostly decline because they just don't understand how much they need to help themselves.

I have read several angry posts from an artist on here claiming that Sellaabnd is biased towards particular artists (boo hoo - suck it up sister!). There are other posts from artists making a drama about leaving - these artists as far as I am concerened are the large pieces of chaff being seperated from the wheat...

It is easier for some artists to get attention and harder for others - that is a fact that will never change - however I want to see an artist stick to what they believe in and keep going. If they really believe in themselves then I will start to believe in them too.

The traditional music industry model does not operate in this manor. Although there is less money than there was 10 or 20 years ago - the industry still pampers the artist and encourages lazyness - it removes them from all business of the band and so their own measurements of success become based on chart rankings and blue smarties. Bands start to believe their own hype and refuse to gig unless they have luxury travel and 5 star accomodation - I have seen bands go out and do shit gigs because of something as purile as their dressing room wasn't to their liking - or their was no chilled beer (granted warm beer is not nice - and I do get very angry when this happens!) but who pays for these sulks? The poor fans who have shelled out to see the gig only to get a moody performance in return...

These artists totally lose sight of what is important and when their record sales inevitably fall (or just as likely never take off in the first place) and the support from the record label reduces or disapears they don't know how to operate. The inteligent ones wake up or move onto other things. The stupid ones will already be homeless or working in a supermarket by this stage forever moaning that they were fvked over by the system and never recognising that their own actions played a big part in that.

For me I think that a really interesting way that Sellaband is working is that the bands that show that they are prepared to work hard (both on Sellaband and in the 'real' world) do well... I think this is very healthy. I don't think hard work can totally replace talent - but I definately do think that talent is not enough.

Hard work is a pretty good indication of a good attitude and a passion for what you are doing - two atributes which in my experience are equally important for any independent artist.

Sellaband is not perfect - I think HQ have admitted this many times - but I don't see it pandering to lazy artists - So long as the SAB community likes to see artists working hard and having real passion then it doesn't matter if that is a big artist or small artist - all will be welcome and have to show similar attributes to succeed.

This is why I believe in Sellaband being the model of the future...
This is why EES and I intend to stay around here

WHY EES DID NOT SIGN UP TO SELLABAND IN 2006

We were introduced to Sellaband by our Dutch PR lady in 2006, she knew that Electric Eel Shock and I would love the concept - and she was right, we wanted to sign up straight awy, however we were committed to recording another album with a UK record label (who shall remain as nameless as they are clueless... or should that be heartless!)

EES had already proved the concept of 'fan power' as we called it before it was correctly defined as 'believers' - Before we signed our first deal with a record label EES had already toured in over 20 countries around the world averaging over 150 gigs a year and paying our way through merchandise sales and the support of fans we met along the way. Later we set up the Samurai 100 club - which gave 100 fans the opportunity to get guest list for life in return for a little investment - some of the Samurai who have followed the band around on tour have paid for their memebrship many times over and had a lot of fun along the way... We used the money raised to finance a new tour van and other costs incurred supporting The Bloodhound Gang throughout USA and Europe, a tour which saw EES pick up many more new fans...

But back then we were committed to a Record label - then one week before EES were due to go into the studio to record their album the record label turned around to us and said that they did not have the money to pay the producer and the studio. Their first suggestion was laughable - could we push recording back a month? How can you turn around to a Grammy nominated producer who has bent over backwards to accomodate a band that he is really loves and say that we needed to push his schedule back a month. Attie Bauw had found space in his schedule for EES between recording with The Gathering and Rob Halford. The suggestion to just move recording dates was made all the more ridiculous because the label had taken nearly a year after we recorded the previous album to finally pay off the studio fees.

Electric Eel Shock and I made the decision that we had to go ahead with recording, if we passed up this chance to work with Attie bauw it might be months before his schedule would fit us in again, fortunately our publisher advanced us enough money from to make the initial payments so that we could go ahead. We also issued the record label with a breach of contract notice that gave them 30 days to come up with the money or the contract would be annulled. They never did come up with any money - although they did try to claim that the album belonged to them!

When recording was completed EES had to go straight out touring to pay off the producer and studio - which was not necessarily the best plan to promote the new record. We licensed the completed album to large independent P-Vine records in Japan and managed to arrange an advance with a UK distributor to set up the bands own Double Peace Records to release the album in Europe. (We also had a good offer to license the album for Germany that perhaps we should have taken.)

releasing this album ourselves has been a great experience. For the first time we did not have to constantly nag a record label for posters or PR. Of course we didn't have much budget for promotion but we allocated it sensibly and we achieved the best press reviews and features that EES had achived for any album so far... (Some of the reviews are scattered around the info page...)

We were lucky to get out of bad dealings with labels in the past largely because we have always had a really good lawyer advising us. (let me know if you need a good lawyer who understands how bands operate!). We have enjoyed our independence and unless one of those sort of 'offers you cannot refuse' comes along then we want to keep it... Sellaband gives EES that opportunity.

For the upcoming album we know that if we can get the budget in place prior to going into the studio then we can really build on what we have achieved so far... Sellaband is not just a place to start bands careers it is also a concept that can ensure that a band has a long and happy career in partnership with the people that care most - their fans.

ADDITION:
Bob Slayer did sign up for Sellaband in 2006

www.sellaband.com/bobslayer

I managed to get one believer who stayed with me for a few weeks but unfortunately got lonely and left... shame really I was planning to record a rock opera biography! hmmm maybe one day

A simplified look at the music industry from a simpleton (Bob Slayer):
Dave Clarke was a maverick way before his time, as the drummer and manager of his self named Dave Clarke 5 back in the 60's he managed to sign his band to 3 year license deals because the label thought that they would be a flash in the pan. After many hits both sides of the Atlantic he was earning over four times the royalties of the Beatles, owned his own publishing and has always been in total control of his music...

Once bitten twice shy, the music industry was not going to let future incomes of artists slip through their fingers again and so after this unless you had already reached the status of star and had someone like Peter Grant fighting your corner, artists who wanted to get on had little or no choice but to sign away their masters, publishing and control of their own careers.

Of course many artists did well out of this system and will continue to do so but there have been many many more losers, particulalrly in the form of bands that as soon as their million selling hits even look as if they might falter are then thrown on the scrap heap owning very little of what they have created and huge sums of money vanished in recoupment of astronomical costs.

Things have improved slowly over the years with a succession of Artists winning individual victories over the music industry. The most notable being established bands that have taken control of their catalogue again and seen a new lease of life. Marillion, who were possibly the blueprint for the sellaband model, had their first hit in over 10 years (or was it 20) after financing the recording of their own albums through pre-selling them to fans...

Sellaband is a system and concept that provides the functionality for this to all bands new and established and I personbally think that all bands should look at embracing it... As established bands come into the community then they will bring their fans into the community, many of whom will start to look for other bands to believe in. The more the Sellaband concept is adopted and accepted as a viable and credible concept then the stronger it will become and the more believers there will be to go around for all bands...

Sellaband rules KO!

EES Live
05 July 2008 sat - NL Rosrock Rossum www.rosrock.nl

07 July 2008 mon - DE Erlangen @ E Werk - w/ The Dwarves   
08 July 2008 tue - DE Munchen  @ 59 to 1 - w/ The Dwarves   
09 July 2008 wed - DE Frankfurt  @ Nachatleben - w/ The Dwarves   

13 July 2008 sun - NL Streetrock Bakel www.streetrock.nl
13 July 2008 sun - NL Werfpop, Leiden www.werfpop.nl

19 July 2008 sat - DE Turbojugend Festival - Hamburg

UK & IRELAND
22 July 2008 tue - UK Nottingham Rock City
23 July 2008 wed - UK Liverpool Magnet
24 July 2008 thu - IR Mulligar The Stables
25 July 2008 fri   - IR Galway Roisindubh
26 July 2008 sat - IR Dublin Andrew's Lane Theatre
27 July 2008 sun - IR Portrush Retro Bar
28 July 2008 mon - UK Aberdeen Moshulu
29 July 2008 tue - UK Glasgow King Tuts
30 July 2008 wed - UK York Fibbers
31 July 2008 thu - UK LONDON MADAM JO JO's (support from Ten Benson!)

01 Aug 2008 Fri - NL Dicky Woodstock Steenwijkerwold

03 Aug 2008 sun - NL Tipselpop Roggel

15 Aug 2008 Fri - NL Paradisso Main Stage - Sellaband SellaBration

23 Aug 2008 sat NL Geuzenpop Enschede

For all upcoming dates see

www.electriceelshock.com

EES Touruing History:

Electric Eel Shock have been touring around the world pretty much non stop since they first left Japan to go to USA in 1999. In 2003 they came to the UK for the first time with Bob Slayer (who is writing this!) they spent the next 5 years dividing their time between USA and Europe... touring with bands such as Danko Jones, Sepultura, Turbonegro, Bloodhound Gang, Dwarves, The Presidents of USA, Nashville Pussy, The Datsuns, The Subways etc. They have played many major festivals such as Download, Hultsfred, Roskilder (where they headlined a stage), Wacken, Rock Hard, Sizget, Bonnaroo etc. EES also made the odd trip to places like Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and sometimes they got to go home and gig in their native Japan...

In 2006 BEAT ME an album that had come out in USA and Europe the previous year was released on Roadrunner Records in Japan... this was the bands first domestic release, although interestingly on an international label... since then EES popularity has grown back home and latest album Transworld Ultra Rock has been the first EES album to be released on a Japanse label P-Vine Records.
The band have since recorded for Sony Records twice: once for an AC/DC tribute compilation (where they were the only band to have jamed with a real live Acca Dacca! former drummer Chris Slade) and also for a film soundtrack...

www.electriceelshock.com
www.myspace.com/beatme

Many EES Videos can be found at
www.youtube.com/bobslayer

Or
www.bobslayer.com