Recording Artist Update (Part 2)


Tours, press & Competitions


Last week, we brought you an update on the status of the 11 artists yet to release their SellaBand albums, so this week it is the turn of the 12 artists that have already released their albums. These artists have really pushed the SellaBand concept during the last two years and shown just what can be achieved. Now, they are taking their next steps. All artists who have an album out were keen to participate in this article, only Clemence has yet to write a reply...


Nemesea (Dutch)

 

Nemesea are currently touriing throughout The Netherlands, and you can watch the video from their performance at the Bevrijding Festival here

The band are picking up plenty of interest in South America and are involved in a competition on the Brasilian Orkut website.
 

Cubworld (USA)

 

Jake Kongaika, aka Cubworld, is currently working on a number of local collaborations and staying creative by writing plenty of new material for his next album project. Jake is talking about working on a heavier rock sound and using more island 'wise words'. He is also working on a live DVD of the current album step lightly, create out loud. Finally, Jake has also just auditioned for American idol, so watch this space!
 

Second Person (UK)

 

Second Person are preparing for a prestigious gig at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on the 13th August. They are playing at the Roxy Art House which is actually a theatre - so any Believers in Edinburgh, who'd like to drop in, see Second Person's SellaBand page for more details.

The band have played plenty of gigs this summer, including a sold-out run at Pizza on the Park in Knightsbridge, the Vibe Bar in Shoreditch, and one in support of the Big Issue, with the Levellers headlining, at the Proud Gallery in Camden. Alongside singer Julia Johnson, bassist Mark Maclaine  and drummer Alvaro Lopez are session guitarist Neil Athale and pianist/cellist Angus Havers.

Other news - 'Wood' is officially being released as a video single on iTunes the week of the 11th  August.

In addition, the band have produced a new song 'Paper Umbrella' for the British feature film "City Rats" starring Danny Dyer and released in cinemas in early 2009.


Lily Vasquez (USA)

 

Lily has been working hard on a promotional campaign across Latin America which has proved to be very successful, especially in Colombia. Thanks to all the national and international radio, television and newspaper interviews, Lily's songs are currently being played on Latin Radio stations in the US and Colombia.

Lily is also focusing on getting a licensing deal for physical distribution in the USA. In addition to all the networking Lily has been doing, she has gained lots of new fans who are going above and beyond to help her; one new fan, from Colombia, is currently redesigning and hosting her new website, which will be live in the next few weeks. Also, a producer who works at Univision, a national Latin news channel, has offered to shoot the video for Lation Reggae.
 

Maitreya (New Zealand)

 

Maitreya has been extremely busy in his native New Zealand promoting his SellaBand album close to home and has just released his first single, Waitaha. He has also started the waitaha winter tour and has been busy carrying out plenty of interviews with TV and radio stations, and newspapers. He makes a welcome return to the Lockside Lounge in Camden, London on Thursday August 7th, and for  more information on tour dates, visit the club section of the SellaBand website.

 

MandyLeigh Storm (Australia)

 

Now that her third child is a few months old Mandyleigh is very much back in business and has just re-launched and redesigned her website – www.mandyleigh.com. She has also been busy promoting her album to commercial radio stations and the national media in Australia – check out her interview on radio 6PR on Friday 8th August by visiting the club section.  Mandyleigh is also is currently featured in an article in the glossy magazine, VITA. In addition, she is planning a music video and is sourcing video personnel.

 

Julia Marcell (Poland)

 

It has been a very busy time for Julia, who recently moved to Berlin and played her first show there. On 7thAugust she will be playing alongside Jenny Owen Youngs, the American singer/songwriter. And in a major coup, Julia will be performing at Popkomm, the biggest music convention in Europe (www.popkomm.com).

Julia's album recently featured on Luisterpaal and is currently the most highly rated album in the charts. Radio 3voor12 has been playing night of the living dead and selected the album for its top 10. In addition, it has been chosen as single of the day on Amie Street in July. There has also been some very promising reviews of her SellaBand album it might like you, especially on the www.melodic.net blog

 

SolidTube (Austria)

 

Since coming out of the studio with Pete Strobl, the album 'the running time' has been well received – especially the great vocals by Mandana. The band is currently performing across The Netherlands and promoting their album.

 

Vegas Dragons (Australia)

 

Vegas Dragons are currently working hard promoting their SellaBand album 'loving cruel.' The band's short term goal is to increase its profile in Australia and to help achieve this aim a self-financed film clip will be produced shortly to be combined with a promotional blitz on rock/metal radio stations, magazines and local music media.

Brian and his band are also actively working on increasing their global fan base online and are distributing press kits. SellaBand SuperBeliever Walter M is assisting the band by sending the album and press kits to the media in Holland.

The medium term goal for Vegas Dragons is to tour as many regions of Australia as possible and to take the band overseas to gig internationally in the near future.

 

T-ka (France)

Tka photo: Sarah Bastin

T-ka is busy promoting her album and maybe a tree will rise out of me that she recorded in California with Sylvia Massy and arranging for a distribution deal in her local territory of France. On 1st September she will be taking part in a two hour interview on the French Radio station 89.2FM (www.radio-plus.fr), which broadcasts to Paris,

She is also busy with a schedule of live shows and a residency in Paris until the end of the year.

 

ConFused 5 (Austria)

 

Confused 5 are riding the media wave following the release of their album out of confusion. The band has been focusing on promoting their album to radio and TV stations, and national newspapers.  They feature in this month's Wellness magazine in Austria and are currently in contact with Austria music TV channel 'Go' regarding airplay for their video don't hide your blues.

The band is developing an online marketing campaign They have just concluded a deal with German distributors Rebeat for physical distribution in Austria and Germany.

In response to their successful media campaign, Confused 5 is being accompanied by a journalist from Kronen Zeitun for a piece on SellaBration, also featuring fellow Austrian band SolidTube.

 


List of panelists & moderators announced

Apply for tickets now


The first official SellaBand Seminar will be held in Amsterdam on August 15. This auspicious event will take place at the Sugar Factory, a venue close to the Paradiso which will be the home of SellaBration ‘08 later that evening. All things SellaBand will be discussed during the Seminar, and in this article we unveil the cast of moderators and panelists that will be taking part. We're happy to announce an assembled company of true music industry heavyweights that come from both within and outside the SellaBand community.


"Deals, Directions & Discussions" is the Seminar’s tagline, but perhaps we should discretely add "Dilemma" too. There are so many things that should be discussed, and even many more that could be discussed! But it is going to be a long day and an even longer night, so the running time of the Seminar is limited to a maximum of 4 hours.

1:00 PM - Doors Open

The doors of the Sugar Factory will open at 1.00 and the Seminar will start promptly at 1:30. Opening the proceedings will be a presentation of the long awaited and much anticipated new website. Also featured will be the announcement of a number of exciting new partnerships, which will give a clear indication of where we’re headed and what can be expected during our third year online.


Jonas Woost  (LastFM)

2:15 - 3:15 - Artist Panel

Subject: Album out.....now what?
Moderator: Jonas Woost (Last.FM)
Panelists: SellaBand Recording Artists Mark Maclaine (Second Person), Francis Rodino, Thomas Boissy, and Julia Marcell.
Theme: So your SellaBand album is finally ready and you realize that in the real world the hard work has only just begun. What exactly are our artists’ needs anyway? What are their expectations and what kind of support do they expect from SellaBand? What can Believers do to help and what do artists expect from them? Moderator Jonas Woost, one of the founding members of leading online radio station Last.FM will be keen to hear what our artists have to say about their careers so far, and how they plan to take them to the next level. Julia Marcell is already beginning to create a stir with “It Might Like You”, while Francis Rodino and Thomas Boissy’s albums are being prepared for release in the autumn. And Second Person’s Mark Maclaine is rapidly becoming a sought after producer in his own right, recently producing Maitreya’s “Close To Home.”

3:15 - 3:30: Coffee Break


Paul Brindley (Music Ally)

 

3:30 - 4:30: Expert Panel

Subject: The Future of the Music Industry and Where Does SellaBand Fit in?
Moderator: Paul Brindley (Music Ally)
Panelists: Will Paton (Sales Manager, Amazon.co.uk), Veronika Dann (Music Manager, The Orchard Europe), Robert Horsfall (Lawyer, Sound Advice & Business Manager, Connected Artists), Tony Platt (Music Producer)
Theme: Paul Brindley, Managing Director of Music Ally, the renowned digital music information and strategy company, was one of the moderators at the Midem music trade fair earlier this year. Paul has a clear vision of where the music industry is headed, and will want to discuss with representatives from a number of our strategic partners what SellaBand can and should add to the ever changing landscape of a business that is desperately trying to escape a downward spiral. Veronika Dann from The Orchard handles all our global digital distribution, and Will Paton at Amazon is responsible for our exciting relationship with the trailblazing retailer. Robert Horsfall heads up one of the most creative management and artist support operations in the UK. And finally, Tony Platt is a master music producer who has been involved with SellaBand from day one.


Mawa

4:30 - 5:30: Open Dialogue

Subject: "If you have no criticasters, you have no success."
Moderator: Martin Wassmann (MaWa)
Theme: Artists, Believers & SellaBand. Do we really make music and money together? SellaBand says it wants to be transparent and is open to change. Martin Wassmann, better known as Believer MaWa and one of our more outspoken criticasters, has accepted the challenge to tickle SellaBand’s management with some intriguing questions. Martin has also been given carte blanche to ensure the participation of the audience during the Seminar’s grande finale, so miss it at your peril!

The Sugar Factory has room for a maximum of 125 audience members. Admission for the SellaBand Seminar is free - all you have to do is send an e-mail with a request to be put on the list of participants to: seminar@sellaband.com. Requests will be treated on a first come first served basis.

Q + A
AlexJoe Marczak


The fact that we can enjoy the talent of the UK's AlexJoe Marczak on SellaBand, is a direct result of the partnership with Amazon.co.uk. It was his brother who discovered our concept there and pointed him into our direction. The rest, as they say, is history...

 

 


Who is Alex Joe Marczak?

I'm Alex Marczak, but I keep the name Joe on SellaBand so that friends and family who know me as Joe won't get confused.  At least, that's the idea, in reality everybody gets confused!  But anyway, I'm 23, live in Manchester, UK, and I'm in two bands and play acoustic solo gigs as well.  I've spent the last 10 years writing and recording increasingly elaborate music on my own, but nowadays I'm more focused on playing live as much as possible.


What made you sign up to SellaBand?

It was pure chance. My brother is an Amazon Vine Voice, and he received a Cubworld CD. Then he recommended it to me, and it went from there.  I try to take every opportunity that's available to spread my music so this just seemed like another avenue I could use.  People have been incredibly responsive on SellaBand though, some of the comments left by believers almost embarrass me they're so positive!


You've had some great recognition for your song writing, what inspires you to write?

People inspire me to write. I have a deep need to write, and for people to hear what's in my head, but it's mainly about the things people do and why they do them. "Elliot's Song" is about the crazy phenomenon of when you get so involved in the life of fictional characters that you start to confuse them with people in real life. "(Alice) I Hate You" is about girls who let things go too far and then punish themselves in strange ways. I'm fortunate to have some weird and wonderful friends so their thoughts and actions are a great inspiration to me.


You started recording music at the age of 10, how did that come about?

I always loved to write poems, even when I was tiny. At age 10 I participated in a school music performance during which I stood up and sang the first song I'd ever written in front of the whole school.  I'm sure it must have been rubbish! I always had two great desires as a kid; the desire to create and the desire to perform.  Given how much I loved music, it was really only a matter of time before I started writing songs and singing them.


What are your musical ambitions?

I have a few specific ones, like to record a professional album, and to headline Glastonbury. More generally I just want to be able to play live to a loyal fanbase that really loves my music and wants to see me perform. Quite egocentric really!

 

What will your SellaBand album sound like?

I take my influences and styles from a range of artists, so it is not easy to pinpoint an exact sound, but it will definitely be melodic.  I've produced all my music up to this point by myself, so the idea of recording some of the more popular tracks with a full band is exciting. It'll sound quite listener-friendly but quite complex and layered; I like to create songs that grow on people, ones where you notice new things about it with each listen.


Why should people 'believe' in you?

I'm dedicated to the SellaBand ideal, and I love being in this international community. If people like my music, they should believe in me, because it's tough for a songwriter to make progress in the music industry. The faith that people have already shown drives me to producing the highest quality music for my Believers and my fans. Ultimately, however, I will get where I want to go because I want it so much. I work extremely hard, I'm motivated and as long as I can still sing and write songs I know I will be successful eventually.