Believer’s Convention

 

Like so many other things we do here at SellaBand, the first Believer's Convention was very much a ‘spur of the moment’ thing. If so many people are willing to travel all the way to Amsterdam, we said to ourselves, we may as well invite them for a small get together. And you know what, wouldn’t it be cool if we could get some feedback from them as well, on how we are doing so far and if there’s anything they would like us to change or improve? And so it happened...


The old Heineken brewery in the heart of Amsterdam was a perfect location for this intimate meeting, where sixty or so of our Believers turned up. Pim Betist, creator of the SellaBand concept gave a short introduction about how it all started and where we stand now, after which it was time to discuss a number of issues.

First of all: 1250 Bands on SellaBand: Good or Bad? The more the better, was Pim’s point of view, but SellaBand’s Johan stated bluntly that he hates laziness and wants to do away with all those inactive bands without any Believers. “If you haven’t been able to find at least 10 Believers after 3 months, then I’m afraid SellaBand is not for you.” Whilst at SellaBand we sometimes live by the notion that we agree to disagree, most Believers felt that it’s not a bad thing to have many artists on the site, even when there are 10,000 or more, as long as we provide an improved search engine, publish more extensive charts and a way to draw attention to all new arrivals. But artists should have the decency to upload at least one picture and a bit of information. And perhaps, somebody suggested, there can be a ‘Baby SellaBand’, where all of those acts van be found that have not been able to attract enough Believers yet.

 

Marketplace for CD’s

Next issue: Do you want to receive 100 CD’s, if you buy 100 Parts from an artist? The solution to this dilemma seemed quite easy: Give us the option to choose what we want, said most of our Believers. “I’d rather have an extra T-shirt than 50 CD’s”, quipped England’s Utterly B. Groovy. “I haven’t thought about what I’m going to do with my 50 Nemesea CD’s”, said Peter Kuipers, the first Believer to buy 50 Parts in any artist. “I just wanted to support the band and the concept of SellaBand and that’s how I still look at it.” Another Believer suggested if it would be possible in the future to start a marketplace for CD’s, where you can trade you limited copy of Cubworld’s album with a Second Person CD, your Maitrey album for a Fakes record, etcetera. Cool idea, surely much friendlier than e-bay...



Functionality

What else do we need to improve? It’s safe to say that everybody asked for a feature where they can select and store their favourite artists, especially those artists that they are keeping an eye on but haven’t put money in yet. Another interesting functionality would be: People who bought this have also bought Parts in... Believers want to be informed when their artists have uploaded new music, artists want to be notified when new Parts have been sold or new messages have been posted. “More SellaBand events, please”, was the final comment of the afternoon, before we all moved into the next room for drinks and a delicious dinner.

Real people

We feel that the most important thing of the day was that a lot of people (Bands, Experts and Believers), finally got the chance to meet each other, meet the people behind SellaBand, and get the opportunity to watch some of the best bands we have on the site in concert. We feel that if there is one thing we wanted to put across, it is that SellaBand is made by real people and is aimed at real people as well. We want to do away with all the fences that the traditional music industry has put up over the years.
 
There was no official backstage area at the concert venue; whoever felt the need to go and meet the artists before or after their show could do so and after their performances the bands came out and met with their Believers. This New Year’s Party was the first of what should become a fine tradition. In the meantime we’ll be working on our next event. Watch these pages for more news, we’ll bring it to you as soon as we have it...
 

 

A Night to Remember


Outside, the rain poured and the cold wind blew, inside there was pure magic. Sunday, 8 PM and it was the moment we had all been waiting for. Here’s a detailed account of what went down at the SellaBand New Year’s Party. It was a fine case of Beer, Bands & Believers...

 


8 PM sharp on a Sunday night. A packed but still very cosy room in Amsterdam, the so called Upstairs at Paradiso. SellaBand MD Johan climbs the stage to welcome Bands and Believers from all over the world to witness SellaBand’s first ever In Concert. None other than Jake Kongaika, better known to our community as Cubworld, is the first artist to grace the stage of Paradiso. Visibly moved by this opportunity to present himself in front of a live crowd, Cub prepares himself for his first song, only to remind himself that... he forgot to plug in his guitar. But as his clear, fragile voice sings the first words to ‘Lights Fade’, you can hear a pin drop. And is that an emotional tear in the corner of his left eye? Who knows. Cub himself is touched by the moment and he in turn touches the hearts of all of us. “I have an ace up my sleeve”, he then says, smilingly and introduces Maltese chanteuse Sasha Vella.
Together they perform her song ‘Melody’, and their voices work so well together that this duet is clearly one of the highlights of the evening. Jake then continues by himself with the wonderful ‘My World’ and finishes off on a lighter note with ‘Wise words’. A mesmerising performance from our big hero, who travelled all the way from Salt Lake City in Utah, to be with us tonight. Intimate and with an intensity that was almost tangible. “A star in his own right”, commented one of the SellaBand Experts who was watching this performance from the back of the room, and who are we to disagree...Check out his performance here

Sophisticated Sound

Next up were Second Person from London, England. Bassplayer/mastermind Mark Maclaine, drummer Alvaro Lopez and singer Julia Johnson make up the nucleus of the group. Assisted by a guitarplayer Neil Athale and keyboardist Jessica Maryon-Davies, the band have prepared a short but sharp set of four songs.

Kicking off with ‘Gone Fishing’, it turns out that the band is supported by a huge screen where a video runs in sync with the music. In fact, all four songs have their own video, making the performance a feast for the eyes as well. With a crisp, sophisticated sound, and the very charming Miss Johnson in fine form, the band manage to convert all of those who perhaps though that Second Person was very much a studio affair. We overheard one conversation after this impressive performance: “How come this band are not signed by a major label, I can’t believe how good they are”, said one Believer. “Perhaps they don’t want to be signed”, replied his friend. Whatever move Second Person decide to make next, their future is a clear blue sky that reaches as far as the eye can see... 

Check out their performance here 

Fearless & Furious

A hard act to follow, but the fearless and furious Fakes decided to dive in head first. Such is the beauty of tonight’s performances, all the bands are so different that there is something for everyone. The Fakes play loud, fiery pop songs with a modern edge. Headed by Emmanuel Pujol, the songs tell personal stories and are played with great intensity.

Backed by Olivier Masselis, Ivan de Lepinay and Alexandre Bulcourt, Emmanuel uses the first song “Mind Losing Hyperdays”, to get his emotions under control, but then sparks confidence. The female voice of Agathe Lefebvre is almost like the secret weapon of the Fakes. The band play five songs in total, closing with a wonderful rendition of their brand new SellaBand favourite “Glory Times”. Still shaking from this fantastic experience, bandleader Emmanuel confesses that this was actually the band’s first ever proper gig. “Yes, we’ve done it”, he smiles before he and his bandmates head off to the bar for a well-deserved drink...

Check out their performance here 

Musical Virtuosity

It turns out we are actually ahead of schedule. And the band that many of tonight’s visitors have been waiting for is just about ready to please their fans with a very special performance. Usually Nemesea rock out loud and are a six strong force to be reckoned with, but tonight the band play an acoustic set and it is just singer Manda, guitarist HJ, drummer Steven and bassist Sonny  who appear on stage. Taking no prisoners, Nemesea include all their SellaBand songs in their set. ‘No More’ and ‘In Control’ sound just great, even without the keyboards and loud guitars. The acoustic setting gives Manda the opportunity to shine even more.

Everybody already knew that Nemesea are a great band and can actually play, but their musical virtuosity comes out best in the song “Spain”, where Manda’s voice races up and down and HJ plays a simply fantastic guitar solo. “Like The Air” is the final song of the evening and Nemesea leave us all with the promise that they will soon start recording their SellaBand-album. If tonight’s performance is anything to go by, this upcoming CD will surely be one of the most anticipated records of 2007.           Check out their performance here

Amsterdam Nightlife

And then we’re all off to the bar. There’s at least another hour to go until the Paradiso curfew. We see Bands and Believers meet and mingle, just like we hoped they would. And it’s not only Cubworld, Second Person, The Fakes and Nemesea who meet up and have a drink together, Sasha Vella is still there as well and so are Elleanore’s Joyce Dijkgraaf, Dutch band MaYor MYx and our German friends Kirt and Simeon. Our Experts Adam Sieff, Tony Platt and Dennis van Leeuwen are enjoying drinks and Believers who we’ve come to know under monickers such as Dushi A, Arnis, Utterly B Groovy, Janosch, Dolly, Onno Hoogendoorn and Campuslegend turn out to be people of real flesh and blood.

Smiles all around, a great night was had by all. As the Paradiso closes for the evening, we see Bands and Believers exchanging phone numbers and addresses. Some of us go home, others decide that the New Year’s Party has only just begun and together they disappear into the Amsterdam nightlife...