50K: Who’s next?
For Vegas Dragons the so called ‘final countdown’ has already begun and Bulletproof Messenger are not far behind. Looks like they will be artist numbers 8 and 9, to raise $50,000 on SellaBand. But, who will finish first? We asked both bands’ biggest Believers how they feel about it…
BPM Vegas Dragons
Vegas Dragons, Lucretia:
Why should Vegas Dragons be the next band to reach 50K?
“I've been lucky enough to hear some of the pre-production work on some of the songs being considered for the Vegas Dragons album and I think you're going to be in for a real treat if their full potential is realised. Add to that the fact Brian Taylor has been pretty much slaving away for every part on here every day since Vegas Dragons joined the site and the genuine commitment in wanting to produce the best SellaBand album yet for believers and I hope you'll agree that 50K for Vegas Dragons is well overdue. Plus I'm also getting eager to know what surprises there are in store - if you've been around this site any length of time, you should know life round the Dragon is never dull. As a result I believe Vegas Dragons can deliver something special to believers with this album and so the sooner they raise 50K the better.”
When will they get there?
“My current guess would be 17th September. Unless there's someone hiding a couple of hundred parts out there that they're waiting to declare?”
Bulletproof Messenger, Empire of One:
Why should BPM be the next to reach 50K?
“They make great music. But you already know that, so let me tell you some other reasons you may NOT know about BPM. They have the power. When they first joined I asked them “Do you have what it takes to reach 50k?” I knew SellaBand can be a tough journey and not everyone is up to the challenge. Matt wrote me back the following in his answer that caused me to increase my belief: “We try to treat our fans/believers as our friends. Simply put, we have over 12,000 fans on myspace, and I can say honestly, that EVERY one who writes us a message, gets a reply... and it’s been that way for years. Because well, how I see it, is that it doesn't really matter how good you are without someone believing in you and your stuff. It’s the FANS that make a band what it is.”
They have the experience. They’ve done huge shows, they’ve done studio time, they’ve already made a great album on their own. They’ve done their homework and paid their dues. They are ready for the next level.
They love what they do. I had the good fortune to be walking the streets of London with Scott and Jesse when they spotted a guitar shop along the street. The shop was closed, but these two were still drawn to the window like a magnet! I could feel how much they were into it. These guys just love making music. It isn’t just a hobby, it isn’t a just a career, it’s a passion.
When will they get there?
“It’s getting very close. I think 40k in September, 50k less than a week after that.”
COMMUNITY SINGING…
A new, hopefully regular, column in the Tribune, in which we will write about all kinds of events and newsworthy actions, initiated by our community members. Last week we wrote about the gig in Leek and London Rising, this week we have two other cool suggestions for you to spend an evening out…
Wanna be cool? Go to Zwoel!
With less than a month to go Amsterdam is getting ready to see T-Ka, BBconnected and A Z-Atic perform live on-stage in Toomler. The endless buzz about this evening with unsigned talents from SellaBand is getting bigger each day. The ZWOEL website, 5000 flyers and several beautiful people spotted wearing ZWOEL t-shirts in Amsterdam’s underground party scene will make sure this event is not to go by unnoticed.
Says organizer Diegozer: “When I got introduced to the SellaBand concept I was amazed by the talent of the artists that SellaBand already gathered worldwide. I started digging into my personal favorite music styles (jazz, soul, bossanova, singer- / songwriter) and stumbled upon T-Ka. Her voice, music, stage presence (see her videos) and hard work of promoting... She’s living music! A few days later, right after investing my first parts in the lovely T-Ka, I found BBconnected. And again, I had to invest. This seven people formation band had some of the hottest jazzy tracks to date on SellaBand! I decided to contact SellaBand HQ and proposed a concept to get these artists to play in Amsterdam. Without any doubt an all the effort possible SellaBand decided to help promote ZWOEL. Where else could these artists better showcase themselves other than a hot and steamy stage in Amsterdam? I contacted T-Ka and BBconnected and decided to get A Z-Atic in. They all wanted to play! Things got ZWOEL…”
ZWOEL will be held on the 30th of September in Toomler, Amsterdam. It will be an intimate party with only 140 seats! Drinks and tapas are served throughout the whole evening! (you gotta pay for them though...) Don't want to be disappointed? Get steppin' and reserve those tickets via info@z-w-o-e-l.nl. More info on the date, location and ways to reserve tickets: www.z-w-o-e-l.nl
Meet Miss Marcell
Next week Julia Marcell wil come to the Netherlands to work on some songs. She thought it would be nice to organize a small intimate gig for a select number of believers. This gig will be on Thursday, 13th of September at Studio Spitsbergen (where Nemesea recorded their album!) near the city of Groningen www.studiospitsbergen.nl. Everybody is welcome to join her for a drink at 20.00. Julia will play a couple of songs around 21.00. They will probably call it a day around 23.00. If you want to be a part of this you can send Julia a PM. But be quick because there is only room for a limited number of believers.
You can send your contributions/initiatives for ‘Community Singing’ to: info@sellaband.com
Q + A
Jonatan Cerrada Moreno
He is one of the rising stars on SellaBand, brought a whole new contingency of Believers with him and is showing to way to other newbies: Jonatan Cerrado Moreno, a man with a story to tell and a mission to reach $50,000 before the end of the year…
Who is Jonatan Cerrado Moreno?
“I am a normal young man, passionate about music since my early childhood. I have been lucky enough to grow up in a united family. Although we were worlds apart in the artistic universe, they have always supported me.”
Would consider yourself Belgian, French, European, or...?
“I was born in Belgium, my father and mother are both Spanish. I have always been raised with this Mediterranean culture. Today, in order to work, I live in Paris. Actually I regard myself simply as a world citizen. I have travelled a lot, and I have the great luck to feel well everywhere I go. I am not particularly attached to a special part of the world.”
What made you sign up with SellaBand?
“I bumped into SellaBand by chance. I was on Clémence's Myspace, I noticed the link to her Sellaband page and I clicked on it and with a big surprise, I bumped into a revolutionary concept that immediately seduced me. I do really think that in the music's industry, we are now on a crossroads ... The support is changing. I think that SellaBand is following this movement, and that's why I really like. I also appreciate the great Believers' step. Buying some Parts in an artist may seem nothing for certain people, but for me it represents so much more. It is a magnificent gesture. And I will always be most grateful to them for all their support.”
How do you look back on your 'Pop Idol' experience?
"Pop Idol brought me a lot ... Even today still, now that I have no more support from a big label ... It has allowed me to be a bit well-known, to go on tour, to make 2 albums, to act in a comedy in Spain, to take part in the Eurovison Contest ... well to really live my passion for music - which is a real luxury today.”
When do you hope to have raised the $50,000?
“Like every artist here, I hope I will reach the 50K as soon as possible. But I am really happy for all that happens to me : the fact that I decided to join SellaBand, the big support and the nice comments from all the Believers and also other artists, the fact that I also had the great luck to go to the Big Amsterdam "Sellabration" and to meet wonderful people there .... Things are moving forward so fast ...”
What do you hope to achieve through SellaBand?
“Through SellaBand, I want to work very hard on this album project that is very close to my heart, with a wonderful team of motivated and talented people.”
Are there any other SellaBands you particularly like?
“Well there are a lot of artists I love here. Of course and above all : Clémence. I also like the universe of Julia Marcell, and I was also really amazed by Francis Rodino's performance –on the streets of- Amsterdam.”
Why should people Believe in Jonatan Cerrado Moreno?
“I am not here to do some politics. What I want is to find people who really appreciate my music with their heart, and not only with their wallet! So I invite all curious people to go and visit my profile, and if they are amazed, to Believe in me and why not buy some parts ... I also want to SINCERELY THANK ALL MY BELIEVERS who decided to support me so quickly and who send me such wonderful messages. I feel really affected by this surge of generosity. This is an excellent way that motivates me to work harder and harder on my new tracks.”
My 50K Plan…
With the start of the new season, we wanted to add some spice to the Tribune. Hence, a coulple of new, regular columns. Such as… ‘My 50K Plan’, in which an artist gest the opportunity to share his/her/their plans for making a SellaBand album. Let’s start with T-ka, who’s not only very active and outspoken, but is also moving towards 30K in budget, so her plans may soon become reality…
Well I plan to do a 10 track album with 5 new songs and 5 songs from my self produced album that my believers would choose and that I would re-record. My first goal will be to find one or different producers depending on the songs (I would dream of recording Terror with Missy Elliott or Dr Dre for example lol, I don't know if they would accept though) and to record Muszic with Maxwell or Nicole Willis' team of producers. I don't know if that would be possible with the budget though). I would foremost find an arranger able to create horns & strings parts that I could not really record with my initial budget on my self produced 10 track album and that are terribly missing, I think. In case there was money left, I would love to use it for a video which is a powerful promotional tool if Sellaband is able to find airplay for it of course...
Adam's Apples
OK, so here's the pitch: I pick 'em, you listen to 'em. You savvy?
Five a.m.
An excellent band from Northern California that have deservedly created quite a stir locally. Fronted by singer/songwriter Trent Yaconelli who has a strong ear for killer melodies, five a.m. are as close to the finished article as you can get. And you read it here first.
Playlist: Be Still.
Felicia Devers
If you can't remember the last time listening to someone's voice simply took your breath away, just listen to Louisiana-bred Felicia on "Swing". It only goes to prove that a beautiful and soulful vocal with simple and sympathetic acoustic guitar is all you need. Totally sublime.
Playlist: Swing.
Roberto Vasquez
Even though the summer is slipping away it's never too late to pour the Bacardi and listen to something hot and Latin. Roberto is a fine singer from Puerto Rico and has already established a big reputation. And any friend of our lovely Lily is to be taken seriously!
Playlist: DIME.
Zephyr
Elizabeth Henshaw excels where genres collide - in this case with a fusion of classical, acoustic and world music. The Australian pianist/composer now living in London produces some memorable movies for your ears with some expert musical assistance - check out the liquid guitar solo on "Elegy".
Playlist: Elegy.
Weekly Update
Your income
Again a slow month for ad income, but as we've said 4 weeks ago:"It's summertime!" Well thank god it was. Everybody's back to work, back into their traffic jams and the advertisers are back to spend some money, so we're sure that the coming months you'll see your ad income increase. You'll also see a serious increase on the sales income this month as we're going to add the revenues from third party sales ( e.g. CDBaby, Amiestreet, SellaBration, and others) to the system.
Chart Analysis
Well, Lucretia, your prayers have been answered: Vegas Dragons get the chance to be on top of the Weekly Charts at least once, before their road to 50K comes to a triumphant halt. With Miss Marcell's unstoppable rise to the top of the Artist Search (back at #2 on this Weekly Chart), T-ka and her Believers gave a nice response this week: The French chantreuse is this week's Highest New Entry at #6. Hot on the back of their 'unofficial' SellaBand gig in Leek, the honor of 'Biggest Gainer' of the week goes to Radius. Only one brand new face on the charts this week, as we welcome Rox Clayton Scott (#11) from the U.K. It's nice to see Tiffany Gow (#15), Morris (#18), Kontrust (#19) and Dandelium (#20) back on the Weekly Chart, but the honorable Special Mention of the Week must go to Mua'Dib and the Awakening (in at #17), who's shameless but hilarious tactics to attract new Believers now even included a picture of Claudia Schiffer. Well done Uncle Ben and good to see you back in full swing...
Amiestreet competition
Four SellaBand Artists to 2nd round of Amiestreet competition. Congratulations to Cubworld, Lucia Iman, Marina V and Wetwerks for making it to the second round of the Amiestreet competition. Together with 16 other artists they'll have a chance to make it to the Final round and win a trip to New York to do a CMJ Marathon showcase and $10,000! A panel of judges will now have the difficult task of narrowing it down to the Final Five Semi-Finalists, who will be announced on September 5th. Then it's up to all of you to vote and send your favorite artist to New York City.
Website update
On your profile page under Promotools you will now find the brand new SellaBand Widgets. You can use these to promote the Artists you Believe in, to promote your shop or the biggest gainers on SellaBand throughout the internet. They're pretty easy to use: just copy the code and paste it on your profile(s) on Myspace, blog or other website. We've read the feedback on the forum that the widgets might be too big, and we're not ignoring this feedback. We've decided to put the widgets out there so you can start promoting your artists now. Smaller versions will be updated in the future but in the meantime you can use these. And aren't they beautiful? Well, we like to think so!
The Week That Was
It was the week in which artist #5,000 entered SellaBand. The honor goes to a Swiss band with the name Restock. Appropriate name, especially since this week The Fakes invited their loyal fans to ‘re-stock’ their investments. Band leader Emmanuel informed us that he cannot find enough time to be active on SellaBand and keep his supporters happy. It was also the week in which we initiated the first in a series of Forum threads, to get your valued opinion on certain matters. Funny observation: We asked you why you are a Believer, but some of the replies prompted us to think that the question had been: Why are you leaving? Only half joking –as usual- but we got the message and are aware that among the many happy campers there are also some impatient criticasters around and at the end of the day, we feel that (fair) criticism will help us to progress. Speaking of impatience…. Vegas Dragons are impatient to get to 40K (or 50K for that matter), BPM want to get their final countdown underway and Julia Marcell can’t wait to take poll position. All in all an interesting week with some bumpy intervals (a few spectacular refunds), but also a steady increase in the number of new Believers. We can feel that September has started and the new Season has begun. Happy days are here again…
Office powerplay
This week we have been listening to:
Chris: The Lucky- Same Old Story
Dagmar: Last Days of Lorca - Big Green Parcel Machine
Dolly: The Arrangements- Who Bangs the Drum
Pim: Julia Marcell - Carousel
Yvonne: IGT - Mama said f. M1 of Dead Prez
The Other Side Of…
Solid Tube’s Mandana
In which we offer our artists the opportunity to show you there is more to them than ‘just’ the music. This week we turn to Austria, where Solid Tube’s voice and eye catcher Mandana has no problem to share some of her personal secrets…
Full name:
“Mandana Nikou.”
Date & place of birth:
“I was born on the 30th of October 1982 in Scheibbs, which is a small hospital in lower Austria.”
Occupation:
”I live and work (as a surgical nurse) in Vienna since 2000, but I spend most of my free time in the countryside in Gresten (lower Austria).”
Biggest hobby:
“My hobby is the music! it´s a good balance next to my job.”
Favorite food:
“That includes everything what my mum cooks;)”
Best holiday destination:
“Thailand (pure paradise), but I also love Spain, Greece, Italy and I really enjoyed my holidays this year in Turkey.”
All time favorite artist:
“That’s a difficult one! It depends on my mood.... Tom Waits, AC/DC, Tori Amos, Tracy Chapman, Kaiser Chiefs, Austropop,... do you know what I mean..?”
All time favorite book:
“I’m addicted to thrillers and I love different novels. I can´t specify a single book.”
All time favorite movie:
“I love the movies of Quentin Tarantino - perfect mix of trash and great soundtracks.”
Best friend:
“A very difficult question! My family! Apart from them I have many good friends.”
Love of your life:
“ I got a boyfriend for five years... I think he is also one of my best friends.”
Anything to declare:
“DON´T DREAM IT, BE IT (Rocky Horror Picture Show)!”