Artist Adventures...

 

...In which the ever growing roster of SellaBand Recording Artists uses the opportunity to update you from time to time on their whereabouts. This week we have a little Australia special for you, as Vegas Dragons wrote a short update on their recording status, Mandyleigh submits a (not so short) diary about her wonderful time in London, and we have gig news from Francis Rodino and Second Person. But first and foremost : the 11th artist goes to the studio..

 

50k for T-ka!

 

“The first thing I wanna say in the video is THANK YOU... I'll never say THANK YOU enough. It was a collective adventure with a lot of hope and also anxiety when seeing parts down on my side and a lot of enthusiasm and love on your side... I really thought I would never make it the first day I registered... And there I am, bewildered to have been able to do it with not 1 but 684 A&R people...
I came back from Sananda Maitreya's gig yesterday night and immediately connected to SAB... I just had the time to witness the ultimate rise... In 2 seconds that was it... 1000 parts...
It went so fast and it felt so slow even a week before... We were already in the chatroom counting down.... I think I've got the record for the longest time to get to 50k...lol
Priority one is now to detox from SAB after having thanked a last time all the people I didn't have time to thank yesterday evening...
Priority 2 is to finish collecting T-ka's top 5 songs that will be rerecorded & included on SAB's CD and deciding which new songs will be on SAB's CD too...
Priority 3 is to meet SAB's team and get ready to work very fast...
And Priority 4 is to choose the team and make a fantastic first album...
And to keep u updated of course... You can subscribe to my newsletter on www.t-ka.fr to get news from me... I will try to raise some interest from the French media too...

Anyway... Again I want to say THANKS to all of you... For those who will be in Amsterdam on December 16th, I'll be at the Zwoel party and I will sing a few songs... I'll try to organize a meet-up with you all before...

THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart again... This is just the beginning....
Take care,
T-ka”

And in the words of T-Ka's first ever believer, Tjalling De Vries: "I just can't believe I've been lucky enough to be part of this incredible journey.  T-Ka has such a bright future (I just can't believe it's taken the rest of you so long to realise) and I hope to be part of it every step of the way on SellaBand".

 

Mandyleigh:

Making it happen!

 

By Mandyleigh Storm

 

“When Johan asked me to write for the Tribune, I was wondering... "How long, how Short does he want this...? I can only give an answer that may seem a tad boring to some as they read through this, but this is the honest truth. Apart from my marriage to Gary, giving birth to our beautiful girls and then our next little bub on the way, this has been the most extraordinarily awesome f***ing experience in my life. I have had only happy and totally fulfilled days since arriving in London 14 days ago. I can’t remember ever feeling totally fulfilled like this with something that ‘I’ have been achieving. It has been a hard climb through the years of my life and without the support, love and faith of Gary, my family and a close friend, I would not have been here today. I never would have believed  that ‘my’ dreams would be answered, I thought the boat had sailed away long ago. I began to totally believe that the 50K target would be achieved from all of my beautiful believer/friends about May time. I knew that then all of this was possible. It’s been since that time I have not looked back.


This great journey started off with two days pre-production with Johnny on the acoustic guitar at Micks studio. We worked out structures and feel, tempos and then recorded it. We then did 4 days rehearsal with James, Tim and Liam and Johnny at Bush Studios. We have just finished 3 days recording (but really it was only two days of recording due to setting up and making sure that everything was exactly right to then record altogether as it always happened in the late 60`s early 70`s) at Dean Street Studios in the West End. Mick assembled only the best musicians, Johnny who normally is Van Morrisons guitarist and MD (music director). 10 songs have been recorded. 1 song only took one take. Others took 2-4 takes. There has been an instrument (not used too often), in 2 songs which adds a new wonderful character to them. The next 8 days will be overdubs of acoustic guitar, keyboard, some percussion and some vocals and backing vocals/harmonies. Then Mick will start mixing the album. I love it, I hope you will too.


Look at me... I have been able to return to my ‘home’,[England – ed.] work with a Top Class producer Mick Glossop, work with professional and absolutely brilliantly clever musicians, Johnny Scott, James Lasceles, Tim Harries and Liam Genockey, and feel this content, peaceful feeling within myself. It’s the feeling that allows you to feel happy within yourself, the one that rests your soul because you know you are doing  exactly what your heart wants you to do. I can keep these feelings within me forever now.


I am literally searching for words to say because `words` are only mere words, but it’s is the `feeling` within that is the `real` explanation...That is the real deal.

If you hear the lyrics to ‘Alive’ it will tell you some of how I feel. It may give you a better explanation than this. I`m ‘up’ all of the time now. I feel like a bouncy person inside. Things are bright and hopefully in all ways. It’s almost sticky sweet. :) I`m all of the `up` words you can thinks of and more...

I am peaceful in the knowledge that our girls are happy and safe. That Gary is cool. This allows me to give myself totally to the music. Bare my voice and soul through the music. I don`t have to be strong being away from them, I have a very good understanding and I believe the girls do somehow of what is going on. I thank them for allowing their Mummy to live her dreams, finally.

I have every day to be thankful for so many things. My life is wonderful and "my life’s changed in so many ways. You know you lighten up my day. You know you do, ain’t it good, ain’t it good, ain’t it good, to be alive!

Read my blog with up to date details. www.mandyleigh.com/blog”



Vegas keeping it short…

 

By Brian Taylor 

 

“Vegas Dragons have completed preproduction on all songs and are delighted with the results. There are many songs which we believe will help take our band to a new level of success. The band members are now learning all the songs and will start rehearsals in a week. Drums will be recorded later in the month at Sony BMG Sydney. Guitars will be recorded in December.
Next week Vegas Dragons celebrates one year on Sellaband. We would like to thank everyone who has been so kind to us in this life changing year. In 2008 we hope to deliver a heavy, dark and high quality CD that will be enjoyed by all our Believers and rock fans around the world.
Thank you so much for Believing in Vegas Dragons.”

 

A Grand Night for Francis Rodino

 

It seems a fitting tribute to his recent $50K success, that Mr Rodino will be headlining the famous London venue, Clapham Grand, this Friday 9th November.

This, the biggest gig of Francis’ career to date, should be an historic night for his believers to share in the celebrations, and get their fix before their favorite Artist disappears into the depths of the recording studio.
Francis will be on stage at 9.30pm but urges you all to be there before to get into the spirit of things. You can get your tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk

 

Second Person's IndigO2 feedback:

 

After their much anticipated gig, as part of Much Moore Music at the Millenium Stadium complex just over a week ago, we asked Second Person for their thoughts on how the evening went:

 

"The O2 gig was great fun, we were playing in the smaller venue which is about 2500 people. We didn't fill it as the headline act, and never expected to, but we had a big enough crowd to have a great time and it was probably our best show yet! We did meet a number of believers from Sellaband after the show, including two people who'd flown in from Berlin just to see us play (thank you!).

It's an amazing experience playing on such a big stage with such an amazing sound and lighting system. The engineers themselves said the venue owners had overspent (in a good way), but the benefit to us was that we could hear every note of every other instrument on stage and it meant that we could really get into it from the first beginning of the first song.

We opened with "Wood" from the Elements album and played songs from our first album as well as some new ones. We ended the show with "Demons in the
Scenery" and "Come to Dust" both of which sounded better than they ever had before. We could very much get used to playing stages that size and the venue promoters said they'd love to have us back. We are going to take a little bit of time to go into the rehearsal studios to work out how best to play songs like "Metal", "Water" and "Another Girlfriend" live. These will require a slightly different set up and us moving around on instruments. It'll be a whole new dimension to our live performace. We can't wait!"

 


Q + A

MoRRis

 

Scandinavia has a very rich history in pop Music. It is one of the European regions where we hoped SellaBand could do well. So far this hasn’t happened and with the exception of Slim Void, Scandinavian successes on this platform are few and far between. Enter a young man from Denmark. Ambitious, eager, talented and full of confifdence. Meet MoRRis, who would be more than happy to be the first Northern European artist at 50K…

 

Who is MoRRis?

“MoRRis is my nickname and the name of my band. I’m a Danish singer/songwriter - I write the melodies and the lyrics, sometimes with help and inspiration from my musicians. As a band we represent a smooth kind of acoustic jazzpop. I’ve always had a passion for music. I play the piano and the guitar – but singing is special to me. It’s a way of expressing my feelings, in a way, which can be difficult in everyday life. I had some very tough teenage years, and I guess I found out that it felt good and healing when I expressed feelings through singing. My songs always start as a feeling and then transform into stories inspired by life around me. Since I’m a perfectionist I used many years to improve my technical skills and improve as a singer. I was asked to teach singing at a very young age, and I seemed to have a certain gift for teaching. Therefore I’ve been teaching lots of professional singers both in Denmark and in many other countries. I’ve been the vocal coach in many different TV-programs as Popstars, Showtime etc. I’ve been producing, doing lectures, master classes, teambuilding, teaching teachers, emergency aid (for singers who get hoarse just before a concert) etc. During the years, along with the vocal coaching, I’ve been singing all kinds of genres on the Danish scene. The last couple of years, I’ve been determined and focused finding out in which direction to go. I think I’ve succeeded in finding my true self and the specific artistic universe of MoRRis. It’s a great relief finding out that even though I love to help others, I have something inside me that I can’t ignore – that I must share with the world…”
 

How did you find out about SellaBand and what made you sign up?

“I read about SellaBand in a Danish newspaper, during lunch break. I went straight home and signed up, mostly to get some feedback on my music. MoRRis was just about ready to be launched and I thought it would be nice to see if somebody out there liked it. I must say I didn’t know what kind of world I entered. Now I’m a bit wiser, but at the same time completely addicted. I’m still in it for the feedback, but I’ve also got in contact with so many competent and great people and have received so much help with all kinds of stuff – from pictures to business plans etc., and I’m deeply grateful to SellaBand and to all the wonderful believers for being with me on my journey. And now I definitely go for the 50k!!”
 

No regrets, so far?

“I regret that I was not more prepared to begin with. I didn’t upload a picture and I only put up two songs initially – this was clearly a mistake. I realize now that it’s a good thing to start with a blow on SellaBand – and I could have used a more detailed welcome in Adam’s Apples… On the other hand I took my time to develop and I learned a lot from all the other wonderful artists around here, and I must say when I think about all the encouraging feedback I got from my believing friends here on SellaBand, that I got more than I could ever want and I will always feel deeply connected to you…”     
 

What's the musical climate like in Denmark?

“In Denmark it seems like everyone is trying to play it safe … since there is some crisis in the record industry, nobody dares to take any chances. We have had a wave of jam bands as well, which means, it’s a bit difficult to get paid jobs. But hey … Life as a musician has always been a struggle in the beginning. And I love the way the Internet has opened up the market and brought the whole world (and SellaBand) into our living room. Denmark is a small country and if you are just a little bit beside the mainstream, and not already known, then it’s very difficult.”


What are your ambitions?

“To reach 5k… and so on to 50k, and in the end I will do a fantastic record – which is already ready to be recorded. Then I will tour around the world, with a little bit of help from my Believers. Actually I’m already working on a tour in 2008 – and hopefully I will team up with other artist from SellaBand on the way.”
 

How much time do you spend on your SellaBand account?

“Far too much … before I eat my breakfast, before I go to bed and every time I get near a computer. If I’m somewhere without the Internet I get a feeling of claustrophobia, and I start calling different people and ask them to check for me. If this wasn’t so good for me at the same time, I would definitely try to get some help!”
 

Tell us about your 50K plan...

“When I reach the 50K I will pick 10 tracks for the CD, and add two extra tracks on the Limited Edition CD. I will put some extra stuff on the LE CD’s, and of course I will sign them all! I expect the expenses on the recordings to be limited, since the musicians do 'live' takes (all together) - two or three takes per song. So the recording phase can be down to about 3 days! Therefore I expect to use some money on promoting the CD. I will also invest in promotion, fundraise and dedicate all my waking hours to promoting the CD.”
 

Why should people believe in MoRRis?

“First of all because I will bring you all a lot of joy and consideration through my music, and second because you will get all your investment back many times, when we show the world that yet another star is born on SellaBand.”   

A thousand believers for BPM

 

They’ve gone and done it!  BPM, true to their promise, have 1,000 believers (1,003 to be precise, and climbing). In an unprecedented initiative, they persuaded those believers who had several  parts to relinquish all but one of them so others could have the chance to get a piece of the action. It’s worked, and with the 1 part limit lifted our guess is that it won’t be long before they too hit the $50k jackpot…and what a position of strength they’ll be in when they do.

 

Community Singing

The place to write about new collaborations, special events, competitions and everything else you may find newsworthy. Just drop us an e-mail at: info@sellaband.com and we’ll be in touch.

 

 

SellaJam: This song is about YOU!

By Nolio (Snelle Fellas)


What the fudge!? About WHO!? About YOU! Whether you're a Believer, an Artist or even a Sellaband staff member, this new Snelle Fellas song is about you. And it's not just Snelle Fellas who have worked on this funky track. Sellaband's top Artists Delco, Simeon and Jesse David have helped to make it even funkier with their extraordinairy rapping skills. Big thanks to all three of them!

Another thank you goes out to Johan V, Pim and Chris, who welcomed us at Sellaband's HQ in Amsterdam. They're really nice and enthusiastic and busy guys, we tell you! We were allowed to abuse their office audio system to present our new track called 'We in it together (Sellajam)'. And we've cranked up the volume! Their feet were tapping to the beat, which we read as a good sign. Johan V mentioned the hit potential, but you should check that out for yourselves. So go, play our new tune at our profile, while you read on about how this song concerns you.



Well, the title of the song is 'We in it together (Sellajam)' by Snelle Fellas (feat. Delco, Simeon & Jesse David). The lyrics are about SellaBand and its community. It's completely dedicated to and inspired by the people at the SellaBand office, all SellaBand Artists and all SellaBand Believers. So thank you very much for having inspired us to create this! With this song we're aiming to add even more positivity to the Sellaband community. We Believe in Sellaband, in its Artists, and in its Believers. That's what 'We in it together' is all about, you see... er... you hear? You can find the lyrics at the Blog section on our profile.

You like the song, don't you? Statistical research tells us that at least 20% of all Believers really, really like this track! If you belong to that 20%, then don't hesitate and get yourself one little Part in us, or Delco, or Simeon, or Jesse David. Imagine what that will do to us! Such a mass Believer action would bring 50K, our dream, really in sight! Thanks to you all! Well, how about it? We in it together!”