Third Time Lucky!
Second Person have raised the full 50K!
With so many things going on on SellaBand, and the extreme tension in the final minutes of the CD competition, earlier today, we could almost forget that this was a historical week on our platform. Second Person became the third act to raise the full $50,000 on SellaBand. Gutwrenching final hours aside, these are exciting times for the U.K. act. And this is their official reaction:
"This has been an amazing few months for us, and when we first signed up none of us really believed we'd actually make it to the $50k! In the time we have been on SellaBand we've made so many new friends and the support from the believers has been incredible! As a result we found ourselves working more efficiently and with greater confidence, essentially we have been working like a professional band. Our aim has always been to make everything we do a little bit better than it's been done before, and for the first time in our lives we've been given the opportunity to do this on a level playing field with other bands in the world.”
Fortunate position
"We're not going to wait around: we hope to start pre-production by the beginning of April and move on to recording and mixing over the following two months. We're in a very fortunate position that most of the vocals and lead instruments have been recorded but our aim to record professional drums, choirs and solo stringed instruments means that we will have to spend many hours in the studio. With SellaBand's help we'll be able keep the Second Person sound but add a depth that only real instruments can achieve - we're very excited!”
Wonderful experience
”SellaBand has been a wonderful experience for us and we're confident that this is only the beginning. We love the concept so much that committed to supporting it in any way we can...we will start by working as hard as we can to make this album and these videos something truly special. Thank you so much to the people who really put us here, the believers.
Second Person loves you!"
www.sellaband.com/secondperson
I’m a Believer
There are those that are seriously addicted to SellaBand, and then there is Walter M. In the short time he has been with us until now he has arguably become our most active Believer. So, who is he and what drives him to spend hours online, everyday?
Who is Walter M.?
“Before I start telling about myself I wish to congratulate Tribune with its first six months and take the opportunity to thank Pim, Johan V. and Dagmar for creating SellaBand. And let’s not forget Christiaan and the technical team, you are all working so hard to make great things happening. Thank you!... Well, I’m just a regular guy…30 years old and living in a town near Rotterdam. I work part-time for an insurance company and I’m also an internet entrepreneur and communication advisor. I’ve always been attracted to everything that has to do with music. I can’t sing, nor play an instrument but I have good ears :) As a teenager I was DJ on some high-school parties and I had my own programs on local radio stations, since then I did several things that had to do with broadcasting, recording and media marketing.”
What attracted you to SellaBand?
“I’m an adventurer and the first thing I thought when I read about SellaBand in a business magazine was ‘I want to be part of this adventure’. My first visit to the site made me very enthusiastic and within a few days I was addicted. The music here is diverse (much to discover) and I like the community aspect. It is great to see bands and believers working together to make this really work. I see buying Parts as an investment. I might be spending money now, but I’ll get money out of it in the future (and buy more parts). Although it’s great fun being here, and real friendships are developing, I’m also a business minded person and hope my ‘addiction’ will turn out to be a good investment in the future.”
You joined us in January. Are you sorry you missed out on the fun with Nemesea & Cubworld?
“I wish I had joined SellaBand right from the start. It must have been so exciting to see SellaBand grow and shout the first artists to 50k. I heard a lot of stories about it from other Believers and I think that if I had been here in that period I would have learned some important lessons as well, like not spending all your money at the beginning of the competition for a new Sellaband CD and be more realistic in predicting the way to 50k (I lost the bet on how fast Second Person would reach 50k from Lily).”
What does it mean to be a SellaBand addict?
“It means that SellaBand changes your whole life! You’re always thinking of SellaBand and what you can do with it. As soon as you get out of bed the first thing you do is start your computer to see what happened while you were sleeping. You try to visit the site as much as you can. And of course, for a real addict sellaband.com alone is not enough and also visits Lucretia’s unofficial sellaband forum, Netvalar’s blog and websites like Onno’s longwaytorock.com and EmpireOfOne’s SABmarketplace.com. It also affects your biological clock as the people on the other side of the world live on different times and you want to communicate with them 24/7.To make most out of my SellaBand adventure I started a website as well, some artists have mentioned the web address in former editions of Tribune. (www.imasellabandaddict.com – ed.)”
You've already bought quite a few Parts. What are your criteria for spending money?
“In the first weeks I thought I could create some sort of an “Investment Policy”, something like “I’ll buy two Parts as soon as your band reaches 10k”’ but I found it impossible to stick with. Buying parts is an emotional thing, it’s impossible for me to create an objective system. Now I try to create a mixed “investment portfolio” in which I include popular bands, creative bands and young artists. When listening to new bands I try to look at hit potential of the songs and look on how active the band really is on SellaBand. I’m also looking for young talent and try to help some young people that need to grow (for example: the artistic brothers Imre Griffioen and Matty). ” 
Who, if push came to shove, would be your absolute favourite?
“This is a difficult question as I wish to support all the artists I believe in as much as I can. The choice would be between So What, Vegas Dragons and Trail. Brian from Vegas Dragons has become a great SellaBand friend, I’m going to see Trail on March 30th when they perform with Francis Rodino in London. But the band I have seen already and whose performance totally blew me away was So What, and as they are Dutch they will probably be my absolute favourite. Or would I change my mind and would it be rocking Tiffany or turn to wonderful Nearfield? Please may I skip this question?”
Is there anything you'd like to change/add to the website?
“Sellaband.com is a relatively new website. I understand that it is still under development and that amazing new features will be added in the (near?) future. What I would like to see is a flexible lay out with the possibility to personalise the content that is easy to update. I’m also looking forward to the official forum and a shop front to sell all the Second Persons limited edition CD’s I will own soon. The focus so far has been on bands earning money, now it’s time to create more value for Believers.”
Loser takes all
Well, not exactly, but we do feel sympathy and compassion for the artists that lost out on the cd competition. Takes us back to October of last year, when Kane Sole missed out on the first SellaBand Presents... album. This time the battle was far more fierce and intense, and there are more artists who ended just outside the top 10. Well, for some of those we will try to ease the pain somewhat.
SellaBand has just finished a deal with very popular Dutch website www.flabber.nl. Their new music section Flabber M is a new place for discovering and discussing new music. As of April 1, SellaBand will be officially represented on Flabber M. Five SellaBand acts will go into a so called ‘Poll’ and the Flabber community (but our community is welcome to participate as well, of course!) will decide which SellaBand artist will become SellaBand of the Month on FlabberM. Free publicity on Flabber, airplay on Dutch alternative radio station Kink FM and other (to be announced) exposure will be part of the winner’s treat. And we will throw in some free Parts as well.
The first Poll on Flabber will start on April first and more details will be announced shortly, but we wanted to make an official statement today, to give an incentive to those 5 acts who missed out on the final Top 10 in the CD competition. So, T-ka, Lily, Radio Orange, GD Allan and So What will be offered the opportunity to go into the first ever SellaBand Poll on Flabber M.
Sad but determined
There are not only winners, this week. The race was close and there were some very active artists who did not make the final Top 10 of the competition. Well, you know what they say: you lose a battle but you may still win the war. We applaud some of them for giving us their initial reaction so soon after those final, disappointing moments...
Lily:
What's your initial reaction to not making it on the album?
Disappointment, yet I know this CD will bring overall promotion not only to sellaband but the rest of the artists since it will attract more believers to the site.
You may have lost a 'battle' but are you still determined to reach the 50k, no matter what?
Of course, nothing is stopping me from making it!
T-Ka:
What's your initial reaction to not making it on the album?
”SORROW! But well it's a competition, with losers & winners...”
You may have lost a 'battle' but are you still determined to reach the 50k, no matter what?
”Oh yeah! More than ever!
GD Allan:
What's your initial reaction to not making it on the album?
“My initial reaction is excitement! I put in a lot of extra hours, wrote two new songs, mixed and mastered them and posted them on the site, along with a video to show what I do. And I did it in record time J. The nature of the competition itself was to gain investment, and I did my best to compete by writing songs and showing people how I do it. At the end of the day, I did what I do, which is make music – and I had a good time doing it. The response I received was amazing! There are so many people that showed their support and showed that they are really into my music! (I love my believers!) That's what matters to me and I am very grateful to them. Thanks guys!”
You may have lost a 'battle' but are you still determined to reach the 50k, no matter what?
“What I will do is keep making music. And I'm determined to reach 50K. I believe in myself and in doing the right thing. That's my dream, and I'm living it everyday.”
Q + A Nemesea
This is edition 26 of the SellaBand Tribune. Those six months really came and went very quickly, didn’t they? Well, in that very first edition of the Tribune the Q+A was for Dutch band Nemesea, who were then around $10,000 in budget. So much has happened to both SellaBand and Nemesea, that we thought it would be more than appropriate to dedicate the 26th Q+A to the return of Nemesea! Singer Manda answers the questions...
Nemesea were featured in the first ever Q+A in the Tribune. How do you look back on the six months since that interview?
“Well, a lot has happened since august 15th 2006. After reaching 50K we didn’t know what to expect at all! It all went a bit faster than expected, so it felt like we had stepped into a rollercoaster. Right now everything is going very well! The songs are finished, we just entered the studio and we are working with fantastic people!”When you reached $50,000 as soon as November it took you a bit by surprise. How has the songwriting been coming along?
“Thank you for asking. Actually, that was our greatest concern. We only had 3 songs that were completely finished when we reached 50K so we had to write the rest of the songs quite fast. But HJ is an extremely talented songwriter and he has written some amazing songs in the past couple of months!”Are you convinced you will have 10 killer tracks on your album?
“Yes of course!!! They all will be unique and totally our own thing! Together with Ronald Molendijk we will put in a new flavor. We think people will like this album very much.”
How is the whole recording process working out?
“Two weeks ago we did the pre-production and that was great. We learned a lot during that week. We figured out which songs worked already quite well and what needed to be changed. Steven went into the studio this week and he’s doing a great job so far! I’m looking forward to work with Tony Platt! I think I’ll have to work very, very hard, but I can learn so much from him.”When do you think the album will be finished?
“The recordings will be done in May. After that it needs to be mixed and mastered. We hope it will be ready in June.”Do you still check out SellaBand from time to time?
“Yes, almost every day! It’s so exciting with all the talent at the top of the list. I’m very curious about who will be on the new Sellaband CD! I’m still amazed by the enthusiasm of some believers! Man! There are a lot of REAL believers out there!”Are there any other SellaBands you particularly like?
“I really like Daniel Ward-Murphy. He sounds wonderful! Smooth and emotional. And of course Wetwerks. Steady rock, with a warm voice. Symeon Cosburn’s also caught my attention. He sounds a bit like Robbie Williams (that’s good!) and looks a lot like Justin Timberlake (that’s even better!)….perfect combination in my opinion! There are a lot of artists I like and there are still a lot I haven’t listened to yet but I will. Good luck to all of them!”What are your plans for after the album has been released?
“Taking over the world…what else should we do! ;-)”
The latest edition of Nemesea's video diary is now live on their profile page!
Weekly Update
Our best week yet!
Over $75,000 invested in SellaBand in one week. Well, it had to happen, or so it seems. Because, this week it all came together. First that very exciting final rush for Second Person to help them get to $50,000 (and just like it happened with Cubworld and Nemesea, that final 15k was a matter of only a few days) and before we had the chance to take a deep breath and relax a bit, there was the grand finale of the CD competition. Yes, it has been an exciting week, but we are fully aware of the pressure some people (and their credit cards!) have been under. And yes, we will take all of your comments to heart before we launch the next competition. If truth be told, we were actually about to launch a new and spectacular competition today (not to run another compilation, but something else that we think should be equally useful and exciting) but have decided to wait at least another week. Yes, we too are in need for a few ‘quiet’ days on SellaBand...
A big number!
We're very proud to inform you that over 50,000 Parts have now been sold officially on SellaBand. That is a total of 500,000 US dollars. It took us (or rather: it took YOU) less than 7 months to pass that impressive half-a-million-mark and we really want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your faith, trust and most of all for the community spirit that has been created!
Chart analysis
May we skip that one this week? No? Alright then, but let’s keep it short. Second Person are at #1 for a second week in a row, and the rest of the Top 10 is made up of all the contenders for the next SellaBand CD, with the exceeption of controversial newcomers Radio Orange at #4. We do feel a bit sorry for Belgian youngsters Garlic, who added a whopping $1,000 to their budget this week, which normally would’ve guaranteed them a Top 5 position on the weekly Chart, but now only gets them a new entry at #14. When all is back to normal, next week, there will also be a more extensive chart analysis!
A logical link
More and more Believers are showing their support for SellaBand, by opening up their own weblogs or SellaBand related sites. In a very altruistic move, prominent Believer Logical One has been working very hard on a brand new site that features the 5 artists she Believes in most. So, next to their SellaBand profiles, you can now find extra information on Maitreya, Simeon, Mua’Dib & The Awakening, Mesa Street Exit and Kane Sole on Logical’s new place that has just opened up. The site is called www.beyondtheprofiles.com and we’ve been their ourselves already. It’s a cool place to check out!
Adam’s Apples
Spring has certainly sprung in London Town. I’m sitting on my balcony with Maybelline the pussycat and a tall glass of cider (naturally!) while picking through this week’s new crop to select some fresh apples for your delectation and enjoyment.
The first of our three golden apples of the sun is Radio Orange, the amalgamation of two hot Dutch bands from the 1980s - I-SPY and Weekend At Waikiki. They own Studio Spitzbergen in Groningen where Nemesea are currently recording their Sellaband album with co-writer, co-producer and Radio Orange member Bauke van der Laaken (and it’s sounding pretty damn hot too). But there are no politics involved – Radio Orange are on this list purelty on merit as you can readily hear from “Sunshine” which could just become my #1 song of the coming weeks. This is thoughtful, well produced rock that although is causing a great deal of controversy among Believers deserves to find support. Remember that everyone can be a winner here and this really can be a place where nice guys (and girls) finish last.
Yasolo
Next we have the singer/composer/arranger Yaso Romero Fernandes, otherwise known as Yasolo. The first thing that hits you when first track “The Time Has Come” starts is her gorgeous voice but within a few seconds the beautiful, lush arrangement really carries you away until the song comes to a shuddering halt at 1:12. The second song “ Take Your Leave” is sparser, possibly even better but shorter and only lasting 0:52! Now, I appreciate the bite-size entertainment culture is here and Yasolo herself mentions that “its gonna be a great project to make little pieces of music. On the album they will sound like one. Together but different, lovely, crazy, sweet, melodic and groovy.” I’d like to hear more music in that context before I’m totally convinced, but what I am sure of is that Yasolo is an artist with a huge talent that you really should discover for yourself.
The Blend is a terrific hip hop oriented but genre-defying band from the US Midwest. They are very much a live band and that experience really shows in their great playing and tight arrangements – it’s all muscle, there’s no fat here. Front man Morrison has a larger than life persona and writes strong lyrics too. And they’re well organized – you can even get ringtones from their myspace site. Of the three songs here I suggest you start off with the excellent riffing “She Says” then watch the video of the same song. The audio clip sounds much better but the video really gets the look and feel of the band across. 
A couple of apples that I missed recently were So What (who are doing really well) and Acelsia who are yet to get off the mark but deserve support. Come on you Norwegians – get out your credit cards and support your local band!
And finally, special mentions for Quincey who play high quality and well performed contemporary jazz, the singer Beatrice Lang who has a wonderful voice and sings beautiful songs and State Of Mind who is building a wonderful house (I’m serious!) and makes music with a gorgeous relaxed groove. And if there are any artists you think deserve a mention just let me know at Adam@sellaband.com
So until next week Bands ‘n’ Believers………Adam Out!
Fight to the finish!
Official results for the ...Part2 Competiton!
It is now official: these are the names of the bands that will all have the right to have one track included on our new compilation CD: 1. Second Person. 2. Clémence. 3. Elleanore 4. Vegas Dragons 5. Maitreya 6. Luna Assassins 7. Tiffany Gow 8. Mandyleigh 9. Trail 10. Wetwerks. Read on, as we are now starting the procedure of making 'SellaBand Presents... Part 2'!
The dust has barely settled in, but now is the time to look back on the competition. We knew it could be an exciting race with a close finish, but what we didn’t know was that the battle would be really fierce and that there would be controversy along the way as well. A mere three days before the close of the competition, a new band arrived on the scene and rose in budget with a speed that no other band had ever achieved before them. It wasn’t until they had actually reached the Top 10 of Chart2 when some people started to feel uncomfortable. Bands of course, feeling threatened in their own attempt to make it onto the CD, but Believers also, claiming that this particular band’s tactics were false and even unethical.
Poker game
So Radio Orange decided to withdraw from the competition. With less than 60 minutes to go, Lovely Lily was still at #4, but one hour later it was all over and she and T-ka, who had also experienced strong backing from her Believers during the 4 weeks of the 'race', were both left outside the Top 10. And so were GD Allan and Sowhat Mind you, the latter were still at #7 over the weekend and finished at #15. Almost from out of nowhere came Luna Assassins, and once it was clear there was no stopping them, it seemed the mighty Vegas Dragons were going to lose out. Like a real poker game, the Vegas backers waited until the very last minute to guarantee their favourite Sellaband a place in the final Top 10.
Tough competition
And then it was all over. $20,000 had been added in the final 100 minutes of the competition. When we launched the damn thing, we felt it could be quite a race (much tougher than back in October when we did the first edition) and predicted you might need up to $3,000 to be in the Top 10. We were so wrong. Wetwerks ended at #10 with a whopping $6280. More tellingly, T-ka missed out with only $60 short and Lily at #12 was also well over $6,000.
Pressed and ready
We will now officially approach the Top 10 artists to submit a track for the album. The tracks will be mastered, artwork will be designed and should be pressed and ready within the next month. We will keep you all posted of course, especially on how to get your hands on this CD and what SellaBand is going to do with it for promotion purposes!
Official reactions
It goes without saying that we asked some of the artists involved in this competition for their official reaction. As in every game, there are winners and losers. Such is a fact of life in any competition. We are very fortunate that most of our artists have a level of professionalism that does them and their Believers proud. So, here are the first reactions, from the horses’ mouths...
Second Person:
What’s your initial reaction?
“On February 13th we were just below the half-way point on Sellaband and now as it closes we have reached the $50,000 mark! The wonderful thing about this competition was that all the parts had been reset to zero, and lots of new bands would have an equal chance against bands higher up in the charts. It would also be an incentive for Believers to show which bands they really cared about and allowing them to vote by purchasing parts. All the bands who
made into the top 20 were amazing so we had no idea that our Believers would not only help us to win the competition but also to reach the $50k target in the same week. What an amazing feeling it is and we're still in a state of shock from yesterday! We can't wait to make this album now.”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
“We've decided that we'd like to include Four Leaf Clover on the SellaBand Presents CD. We like to write songs in lots of different styles but at the same time keeping the Second Person "sound", the only problem with choosing a track that best represents that sound is choosing which style it should come from. Gone Fishing seemed a great choice for ‘Sellaband
Presents...Volume 1’ as it showcases some of our stronger Electronica elements and in the same way we think that Four Leaf Clover will demonstrate some of our more spacious and organic styles of tracks. Tony Platt helped us get this demo mixed, and despite not being completely finished (as we'd notfinished recording for it), we think he's done an amazing job and would like to share it with everyone.”
Clémence:
What’s your initial reaction?
“It's a wonderful news to learn that soon, the first 10 of us will be gather round the CD SellaBand presents ... part 2 I'm very excited at the prospect of this compilation that will be yet a magnificent gift for artists and Believers. Through the little I know about all of you, I understood that music touches above all your heart and your soul... Deeply many many thanks to this big new family that is SellaBand .”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
“I think that "Où es-tu" , that was welcomed with great enthusiasm by all the believers, will be the song that I will submit for the compilation, because it will be the best ambassador of my future album.
Elleanore:
What’s your initial reaction?
“We’re speechless. Still shaking from what just happened to us. It’s hard to describe what we feel with all this supprt. It’s simply incredible.”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
“We want to ask our Believers which songs should be on there, so we will have a poll up and running later today. It’s going to be their decision, because they got us on that CD...
Vegas Dragons:
What’s your initial reaction?
I have mixed reactions. I feel very sad for the artists that missed out. They are so talented and dedicated, it really hurts that they are not on there. I know how I would have felt if I had missed out and I really am sorry for them. On the other hand I am blown away by the support which has been given to Vegas Dragons. Thank you to all our Believers! It really touched me. To be on this CD is really a dream come true. There are so many wonderful artists on the CD, which include some of my dear SellaBand friends.”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
”I don’t know. Vegas Dragons said that the leading purchaser of parts during the competition would choose the song. As I was the biggest Believer it is my choice. However, I am asking all Believers to let me know their opinion or their thoughts. Thank you so much to everyone who has ever invested in Vegas Dragons. It is so great to be here on Sellaband. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of
this. The friendships I have made here are worth more than anything.”
Maitreya:
What's your initial reaction?
”Kia Ora! To make the CD is just awesome, it is such a great opportunity to spread the word about SellaBand and the get some exposure for the artists on it. Thank you to all the Believers and Artists who have worked so hard to make this competition so exciting! I personally wanna thank my Believers for supporting me so strongly throughout and getting me to 20K on Sunday!! I can't wait to get my
copy ... and send my mum hers!”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
”I am having quite a hard time choosing between two right now. I think I'll hold a vote on Logical One's awesome new website which I'm a featured artist on www.beyondtheprofiles.com and let the Believers
decide.”
Luna Assassins:
What's your initial reaction?
"We are so excited and feel overwhelmed by being a part of this amazing opportunity. There is nothing more rewarding than this privilege our believers have given us. Our music is about to be heard by people across the Globe and we cant wait for them to get funky!"
Which song will you submit for the CD?
"Our song choice is 'I Remember'"
Tiffany Gow:
What is your initial reaction?
”I am over the moon with joy! At the start of the year, never ever in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be in the Top 10, especially during the Sellaband cd No.2 competition! I have been quietly confident but this has definitely exceeded my expectations. I am so truly grateful to all of my Believers, they have so much faith and support. They all have hearts of gold and have definitely shown this. A huge thank you to Mr Martin Nicholas, he has been so supportive and like many believers,would truly like to see me on the SellaBand CD.”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
”I have many songs I would love to include on the album but I feel that that is the honour of the kind hearted soul who has believed in me the most throughout the competition. It is my thank you very much to them. They have been supportive and generous, that is the least I could do. So, it is my
pleasure to let my awesome believer have the honour of choosing the song.”
Mandyleigh:
What's your initial reaction?
"I'm humbled by my teams belief in me. The past 4 weeks have been very stressful, time taking. There are many great artists that deserved to be on the CD too. I`m just so happy that our team is included on that CD. I haven`t cried yet but I know I will. The past few hours I was on pins. I have only just got my breath back. I have only just started to have a normal heartbeat and I`m sure that I had more sweat than usual... :)"
Which song will you submit for the CD?
"I have a song in mind. We are still doing it in the studio (but with our new studio dude being sick at the moment, its been delayed!), at the moment. But I am asking each of my team to let me know (of all the ones they know and have heard) what track should be on the CD. I want my team to be there every step of the way, and involved with everything we do. They are trusting in me and that is the least I can do for them.Thank-you the "Mandyleigh Team". You are all wonderful beings. XXX Thank-you to sellaband for this wonderful creation and journey. My goodness it is that!!! :)"
Trail:
What's your initial reaction?
"Thanks so much to everyone who gave us their support on this, in the last month we've seen the largest increase in online awareness of us as well as investment. It will be great to feature along side some of sellaband's finest. We are very honoured!
Which song will you submit for the CD?
"We haven't made up our minds yet. But if you need an answer we choose "City" for now."
Wetwerks:
What is your initial reaction?
”We are immensely humbled because there are many more deserving artists than there are available slots on the disc. So many artists and believers have put their heart and soul into this and they all deserve to be promoted and recognized for it. That being said, we are so grateful to have made it (if only just barely!) The last few minutes of the competition were completely insane and no one could have expected the results.”
Which song will you submit for the CD?
“At the moment it is a toss-up between ‘Further Than My Eyes’ and ‘Brave For Me’ but we're open to suggestions.”