SellaBration 08


Wanna play? Sign up now!


The line-up for SellaBration 08, our annual birthday bash, looks like a SellaBand All Star cast. In 2 weeks time (June 10) all the names of performing artists will be revealed, but today we are happy to announce that there is still one slot to be allocated. Sellabands, wanna play? Submit your candidature today...

 

 

 


The aim of SellaBration 08 will be threefold: to showcase quality music, to expose what SellaBand can do for your career and to say thank you to our community for all your commitment and dedication. The latter element has inspired us to let our community decide on at least one pre 50K band/artist who will get the opportunity to perform in the main hall of Paradiso on August 15.

The competition:
This is what the competition looks like: Bands/artists not yet at $50,000 in budget are invited to submit their candidature as of today, to concert@sellaband.com. A special jury will then make the first selection, after which 10 finalists will compete for the opening slot at SellaBration 08. The winner will be chose by our community. SellaBand will take care of their/his/her travel costs and accomodation.

The timeline:
Submit your candidature as of NOW
Entries  will be accepted until and including May 31.
Tuesday June 10: the 10 finalists will be announced in the SellaBration Tribune Special.
Wednesday June 11: The voting begins
Monday June 30: last day of voting.
Tuesday July 1: Winner will be announced in the SellaBand Tribune

The Jury:


Erwin Sjoerdsma           Jan Willem Sligting


Although we all have our favorite SellaBands, SellaBand HQ will not have any influence on this competition. Our Global Head of A&R will be the impartial chairman of the SellaBration Jury. The jury itself consists of:
Jan Willem Sligting - Paradiso: a man with 30 years of experience of programming festivals and booking artists on the most prestigious club stage of the Netherlands, Amsterdam’s legendary Paradiso.
Erwin Sjoerdsma - AT Concerts: Responsible for the impressive touring and live-roster of AT  Productions, including platinum selling acts such as Anouk, Within Temptation, Kane and Direct.

 

Q + A: RAZA 

 



After the success of Julia Marcell, another Eastern European act is making waves on SellaBand. Raza from Romania were #3 on the Weekly Charts last week and have just rounded their first 10% in budget. Oh and of course we have to ask Elena about her incredible voice...

 

Who are Raza?

RAZA is radius, beam, ray. RAZA is a special sense of humour, receptivity, sensibility, courage, irony, pain, life. RAZA is expression, attitude, fight, poetry, hope, fright, darkness and light. RAZA is a good investment, and RAZA WILL be famous.

How did you find out about SellaBand and what made you join?

We found out about SellaBand from a friend of ours on MySpace. He listened to our songs and advised us to give it a shot here, too. This happened about 2 years ago, when our plans were all strictly related to Romanian music industry. We weren’t ready to attack the markets from abroad and we didn’t have any songs in English. However,  the songs which we posted then attracted some believers, who expected English lyrics, though.

Any regrets so far?

Unfortunately, at that time, we didn’t realize the huge opportunity SellaBand could offer. This could be one of our greatest regrets. Another thing to regret is that David is very busy with school and that the great distance between our hometowns forces us to make music only in weekends. We regret the fact that circumstances don’t allow us to make the best of our capabilities.

 

So Elena, tell us a bit more about that incredible voice of yours...

A part of it comes as a gift from up above, and if you take into consideration my 18 years’ work you might hear something pleasant. Unfortunately, I discovered in all these 18 years, that voice is not of the highest importance in music. I will try to use this gift as much as possible to make my dream come true.

What's the musical climate like in Romania?

As Elena said above, in our country, music is mostly represented by boobs and butts. Biggest success comes with lightest clothing. We are very scared to catch a cold, so success in Romania is very far away from us.

What are your ambitions?

Our biggest ambition is to become such a popular band,  that we will also be paid for the next interview :P

Do you have special tactics planned to speed up the road to 50k?

Our first plan is to reach the 10K using the same strategy as until now: making good songs, and a constant activity on Sellaband. When we reach this barrier, we will organize a strong campaign in Romanian newspapers (we have enough connections), then we will play some of our songs live in some important Romanian TV shows, then we will make partnerships with some radio stations (FM and online), and we hope that these kind of actions will help us attract a lot of Romanian believers. We planned a gig in the “Hard Rock Café” here in Bucharest in October, where we will invite one or two bands from Sellaband. The money gathered from tickets will be converted in parts on Sellaband, split between the bands coming here. We intend to organize, on our expense, a European tour in which we will promote RAZA and, of course, Sellaband.

Why should people believe in Raza?

Because people should believe in value.

 

Adam's Apples 

 

 

Dreadnut Inc

 

11 piece “reggae and more” band who have been busy building a solid live reputation in their native Germany. Not surprising, as they have really good vocals and tight musicianship as well as plenty of energy. The dancehall style Ragga Jam swings like crazy too.
Playlist: Money Pollution

Eleanor Angel

 

It’s hard to judge an artist on just one song, but “Out Of Temptation” shows real potential. Eleanor sings beautifully over a well constructed string arrangement, and if her songwriting is this consistent she’ll definitely be one to watch.
Playlist: Out Of Temptation

Phonica

 

Italian rock band with a strong melodic pop edge and powerful songs that would all work just as well sung in English. Deserve support if the language barrier can be overcome - over to you guys!
Playlist: Dove Sei

Dan Boyer

 

Young American singer and fine acoustic guitarist with some fine songs and passionate performances. The demos may be rough but there’s real talent emerging here. Will be interesting to see what happens next.
Playlist: Rose Was 

 

 

My 50K Plan: Tiffany Gow


Currently in third position and well on her way to $35,000 in budget. Australia’s leading lady and SellaBand’s reigning rock siren Tiffany Gow is proud to present her 50K plan. You decide when she gets the opportunity to execute it...


By Tiffany Gow


The Prime Objective and Goal:

The primary objective is to produce an exceptionally high quality standard Sellaband CD , which will consist of 9-10 hard Rock/Metal tracks (depending on budget allocations- aiming for 10).
The CD will be produced by an experienced and first class Producer - either within Australia or overseas, the final decision will be confirmed closer to the 40K milestone.
The budget is currently being closely anaylsed and scrutinised with all aspects considered to ensure maximum value and quality for myself and my Investors.

The Musical Direction of the album:

The overall sound of the album will be quite diverse and have a generally harder edge to it, in contrast to my debut album "No Fear".
My utmost priority is to incorporate a fresh sound that is very contemporary, as to be marketed efficiently and commercially on a global scale.I will be including many different instruments and vocalist Brian Taylor from Vegas Dragons will be doing backing vocals on one of the tracks.The album will have a sound in comparison to such established acts as Karnivool, Cog, Metallica and a fusion of Linkin Park.The combination of hard sounding guitars and symphony will be featured throughout the album.

Track Inclusions:

Tracks will include a higher quality and remastered version of my previously successful release "Liar Liar".
My collaborations "Stronger" with Dandelium and "Cry my love" with EdenLord are being considered for inclusion on my SAB album, however the focus is primarily on Tiffany Gow originals.The final decision will be concluded closer towards the pre-production stage.


Extra Feature No.1:

A filmclip will be created using one of my SAB album songs.The filmclip will be distibuted to local, community and International video programs/networks and will also be included on future DVD releases.
The filmclip will only be available on the Limited Edition CD and will not appear on any future regular duplications.

Extra Feature No.2:

A full length documentary of the recording process, which shall include interviews and studio footage.
This your opportunity to share an insight into the daily involvements of recording process and to share the experience and journey with me.
You will get to know Tiffany Gow - the Artist as well as the person.An intimate and personal documentary.

The Album Launch:

An official album launch will be conducted at a Sydney venue after its completion.
Local press, fans,friends, family, A&R,Industry personnel,marketing experts,managers and the general public will be invited to attend this event.
The launch will extensively be publicised through many forms of media including the internet, my personal website (Due for release in 2008) ,Sellaband, print media, community and commercial radio, community television and the issuing of flyers.
The launch will be inclusive of a 60 - 90 minute live set and the airing of my debut filmclip will occur.
Please note : This venture will be financed solely by myself.

Maximum profit and return on Investment:

I will be investing extensive time in ensuring  my Investors receive maximum profit/return through mass promotion of the album and continually directing publicity back to sellaband to increase the awareness of site, thus enticing new Artists/Believers to SAB and as a result increase your opportunity to sell and financially profit from your Limited Edition CDS.It is of incredible importance to me to put 100% effort into repaying your faith and loyalty.


 

Future European Tour:

I am the official support act for the exciting, up and coming Vegas Dragons Live Tour - anticipated in 2009.As a result , your album sales are anticipated to dramatically increase and be further encouraged.
It is indeed a tremendous honour to be involved in this project and I will pursue every avenue in promoting my music throughout Europe.
CDs and general merchandise will be readily available at each show for sale.

The Album title:

The album title has been decided but will be kept for release upon achieving 50K. It is a strong indication of not only how I have considerably evolved musically but personally too.The songs are written and ready to be recorded and I am looking very much forward to be recording an amazing album for you.

Tiffany Gow 50K Mission Statement:

To continually and extensively work to promote my album in order to maximise exposure of your Limited Edition CDS and in turn provide you with a promising financial return.I will continue to be ever present on Sellaband after 50K , aiming to encourage new artists and believers to the site.It is of utmost priority to ensure the spreading of awareness of Sellaband.Networking has been a vital component to my success and I will continue to network daily.
I will endeavour to consistently correspond with my believers and strive to maintain friendships, to keep communication very open and honest with the wonderful friendships that have already flourished.
I will continue to produce high quality music and ensure that it is marketed effectively with the best interests in mind of both myself and my Investors.
Thank you sincerely for your wonderful faith and support.I am truly very successful because of your faith.
50K is soon approaching and I am looking so very much forward to Thanking each and every one of you in person one day soon.



ARTIST ADVENTURES

 

Thomas Boissy: Recording session Part 1

 

Currently in the process of recording his SellaBand album, French chanteur Thomas Boissy really has the feeling that this is a dream come true for him. When he wrote an e-mail to us to express his heartfelt thanks, we asked him to write about his experiences in the Tribune. After all, our Believers are the people who’ve made all of this possible...

 

By Thomas Boissy


On Sunday 11th of May, Adam met me at St Pancras Station in London and we drove over to meet my producer Ralph Salmins at Abbey Road studios where he was recording the soundtrack for the new Coen Borthers movie. I had the pleasure of visiting the famous studio 2 where the Beatles recorded their almost all of their finest work.

Then we went to Ralph’s studio to begin work on the pre-production with Pete Murray. We discussed the songs and the arrangements and Pete wrote out the charts for the musicians. Then we ran through some of the songs to check the tempo and key.

From Tuesday 13th to Wednesday 14th we recorded the tracks with Trevor Barry on bass, John Parricelli on guitar, Pete on keyboards, Ralph on drums and engineer Steve Cooper. The sound of the band was really amazing. I sang guide vocals along with them the and the energy was really great. 



On Thursday 15th, Pete recorded grand piano, organ and strings on the tracks. Then on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th, we recorded the lead and background vocals. It was a great pleasure to sing on these arrangements and to feel the energy everyone gave during the recording.

I knew that this band would be incredible but I didn’t know we would also have so much fun working together. I would like to thank everyone once again, they’ve been so involved in this album.
And I would also like to thank Ralph’s family. I really felt at home and their support has been very important for me.
This album is exactly the album of my dreams and with this great team, it’s even more than I could have imagined.