The Final Update!


Sellabration '08 is now literally just around the corner. Three more days 'till party time. We're still on schedule, are you? Here's the latest of what is and will be going on...


Ticket count: still a few available

At the time of going to press, the ticket count for SellaBration was 1731. This includes all our guests, members of the SAB community and tickets sold. So, the Paradiso will be pretty full, but there is still some room on the list. In fact we're 269 short of the 2,000 packed room we targeted! We're expecting more people to apply for tickets in the last few days running up to SellaBration, but in the mean time also wanted to make sure that Artists and Believers on SellaBand have until Thursday 1 PM CET, to click the button on their profile page and apply for tickets. You will then receive an e-mail from us with a code. Print the e-mail and you won't have to stand in line to get in on Friday but can get straight in...

Get Your Free 'Refreshing Sounds' CD @ SellaBration!

 

We have already informed you that early birds will receive a free SellaBration t-shirt (while stock lasts), and we can now add to that that all visitors of SellaBration '08 will receive a copy of 'SellaBand Presents... Refreshing Sounds Vol. 1'. Courtesy of our friends at Heineken, you will be able to pick up your own, FREE, personal copy of this official SellaBand compilation as you exit the venue on Friday night (or in the early hours of Saturday morning...).

Running Time

The running time of the line-up of SellaBration has now been confirmed. However, since we will be working with two stages and a total of 10 different acts, this time-schedule is still subject to change and we may be running late or early on the night. Just be there on time if you don't want to miss a single sound, or tune in to www.fabchannel.com to watch SellaBration live in its entirety online. All we know 100% is that the first artist will be on stage at 19.30 and that the final note of music must be produced before midnight;-)

SellaBration '08, August 15, 2008

Paradiso Amsterdam

Doors open: 18.45




Your Feedback Matters!


There are still a few seats left for the SellaBand Seminar that will take place in the afternoon of August 15, at the Sugar Factory in Amsterdam. All speakers, moderators and presenters have been confirmed and it promises to be a very interesting event where all things SellaBand will be discussed. It is also the event where we will be very happy to get your feedback on some of the 'outstanding issues' we still have. They include: The status of the Limited Edition CD, the 50K budget ($ versus €), SellaBand's role (facilitator versus label) and whatever YOU want to add to the discussions. The Seminar starts at 13:30 with a presentation of what can be expected in Year 3 from www.sellaband.com and we should be finished in time to get you all to the Paradiso (which is literally a hundred yards away from the Sugar Factory) to collect your Early Bird SellaBration T-shirt... Send an e-mail to seminar@sellaband.com to confirm your attendance at the Seminar and you will receive an e-mail from us this Thursday to confirm your participation.

Looking Back

“Nothing really compares to the Paradiso”

 

It was one year ago this week, when we staged our first ever anniversary party, better known as SellaBration. While the anticipation for SellaBration ’08 is even higher -more bands, bigger audience- we thought it would be nice any way to look back on how it was, in August ’07, way back when...

 

 

Interview: Julia Johnson (Second Person)

Chris Martin was recently quoted as saying it took Coldplay seven years to play theParadiso, how does it make you feel knowing that as a SellaBand artist it took you less than a year?

“Very, very proud. It's an incredible space”.

 

How did you feel as you stepped on to the stage, in front of all the believers?

“Privileged to be there”.

What was the best part of the experience?

“I think it was being abroad, as a band - sightseeing and meeting people and taking photos. And the delicious Dutch Breakfasts at one of the beautiful canalside cafes”.

Do you have any advice for any of the artists performing at SellaBration'08?

“Those performances are so full of adrenaline that they are almost over before they begin, so be conscious of every minute, and have a supply of pens for CD-signing. (We kept losing ours!)”

 

What has been your biggest career highlight since playing at the Paradiso?

“Nothing really compares to the beauty and grandeur of the Paradiso, but we enjoyed headlining the IndigO2 in October. We're playing the Edinburgh Festival this week, which I'm hoping we'll think of in retrospect as a highlight as well”.

 

If you could sum up SellaBration in one sentence, what would it be?

“The physical embodiment of the SellaBand ethos”.

 

SellaBration’07 Highlights

With just over three days to go until SellaBration‘08, we thought this would be perfect opportunity to show new believers what Friday night will be like and share happy memories with everyone who attended or performed at SellaBration’07. The night exceeded everyone’s expectations; outstanding music, fun, laughter, (beer) and a celebration of everything that had been achieved in SellaBand’s first year – and there was rather a lot to celebrate!


At SellaBration’07, over 1,400 people attended, including over 700 Believers. People travelled from all over the globe to join us and we were able to ‘trace’ at least 22 different nationalities.

The night was unique and a couple of highlights included; Francis Rodino busking outside the Paradiso for Believers before the show, the much anticipated performance from SellaBand’s first 50k artist Nemesea, the collaboration between Cubworld and Maitreya and Second Person’s amazing vocals.


This year, we have even more reasons to celebrate! Not only do we now have 23 artists at $50k and have either released or are currently producing their SellaBand album, we are attracting more believers, partnering with more innovative companies and generally growing at a consistent rate. However, this hasn’t just happened overnight. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into building SellaBand from the believers, artist and the team at SellaBand HQ. So this is a night to celebrate and say thank you.

Today’s Tribune tells the story of the night with pictures. We hope this gives you a taste of what’s to come on Friday and we look forward to seeing you there!

Nemesea (Manda)

“At SellaBration’07 I got to meet so many people, so many Believers. It was an honor to meet them all and talk to them!”

Cubworld

“Being able to share my album with Believers and with not just any band but a band of my best friends. When we were 12 we never thought we would be playing a huge show in our 20’s at the PARADISO!!! Not just a night highlight but a life one as well.”

Clemence

 

“Sellabration‘07 was for me an unforgettable moment, so full of emotions. In this mythical venue, in front of public so enthusiastic, fantastic musicians, talented singers, all supported by our incredible Believers and the whole team of SellaBand I really thank. If I had to describe this big event in only one word, the only one that occurs to me is ‘magical’".

Mandyleigh

“Highlight for me was to sing to the many faces of my Believer friends I know now and the ones I was yet to meet. Without them I wouldn`t have been standing up there in the Paradiso”.

Daniel Ward-Murphy

“It was an awesome night, fantastic to play that beautiful venue and great to meet more Artists and Believers.  I think all the acts put on one hell of a show for those who travelled to see it and one year on I think everyone connected with SellaBand should be proud.”

 

Adam's Apples

 

Mamuschka

 

The gorgeous operatic voice of Sanne Mus makes this exotic electronica trip hop really special. With co-conspirator Daniel Ortgeiss these tracks ooze confidence and sheer class. As for reaching $50K, it’s a question of when, not if.
Playlist: Feels So Good

Ariel

 

A strong and assertive vocalist with quality songwriting and a strong retro 70s & 80s feel  - “Little Miss Hyperactive” has an obvious but likeable Bowie connection. New material to follow soon and expect high standards to continue.
Playlist: Drive Into The Sun

Nuages

 

Hot guitar slingers including Nemesea’s HJ exchanging his 7-string metal axe for an acoustic Maccaferri to play the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. Plenty of skill on show but a light on soul. Once more with feeling perhaps?
Playlist: Tiger Rag

Marie Dance

 

Ex Tonic Rays singer/songwriter with a pleasant easy-grooving beach hippy vibe. Shame the tracks cut off rather abruptly, or maybe Marie hasn’t written any endings yet.......
Playlist: Home

Feedback: Adam@sellaband.com

 

 


The cover of Francis Rodino's upcoming album
 

Expert Interview: Steve Bush

 

Sometimes, while in the process of recording an album, magic happens. Such was the case when, earlier this year, SellaBand Recording Artist Francis Rodino teamed up with producer Steve Bush to work on an album that will be known as ‘Circles & Squares’ and which is just about to be completed. Mr. Bush became so fascinated by both the talents of Francis Rodino and the concept of SellaBand that his involvement in his project now goes way beyond the call of duty. In this lengthy interview Steve Bush explains all there is to know about what makes his work so special and how this ‘magic’ actually happens...

 

Steve, you recently came to Mark Angelo’s Studio for the first time working with, Francis Rodino, an artist from SellaBand.  Can you tell us a bit about how you hooked up with Francis?

“As with most fruitful contacts, it came via a circuitous route. I had been doing the odd speaking gig for Focusrite and Sound On Sound magazine at the music trade show at Olympia (never can remember what it’s called these days), and at one of these I ran into an engineer friend Tony Platt, who was representing for the Music Producers Guild there and he wrote me a wee note with the web address of Sellaband and gave me a brief outline on the concept. As is the way, when I got back to my studio I pinned the note to the corkboard and stared right past it for a couple of months. I then finally checked in with the Sellaband website and predictably it started to dawn on me that this was a “new music business model” concept and that I should be paying closer attention. I gave Tony a call to say thanks for the tipoff and give him my thoughts. Funny you should call, he says, Sellaband have a new 50K artist that you would be perfect for and the rest of the story slides along under it’s own steam from there.”

Steve Bush

What about the Sellaband concept?  How do you feel about becoming involved with that?

“There were a few key reasons I decided to take on this project. Primarily, having been fortunate enough to catch the end of the old model (ie: making a living shifting a few units through the traditional distribution channels), I was keen to see how a version of the new model might pan out and there’s no better way to feel every victory and/or stinging defeat than actually having some “skin in the game”. As for fan based funding, I have mixed feelings. The idea of pre selling albums to genuine fans to raise money to fund the album is brilliant (I believe Marillion were one of the first to pioneer this idea via the web), and taking the myspace concept to a level beyond being just a talking shop/contact point seems obvious in hindsight, but I worry that the budgets are just not sufficient to facilitate quality record making. At the end of the day, all I care about is quality recorded music (obsession is the word my girlfriend uses with a spit). If the album format is going to die, so be it, but that doesn’t change the fact that record making is a very deep and challenging art form and like all worthwhile human endeavour, requires dedication and expert experience which comes only from turning a highly specialised and essential skill set into a fully fledged profession. This has been the case for the past 40-50 years and has progressed quite naturally to a very high level (specialised mix engineers, programmers, session musicians, state of the art studios etc), but is now threatened by extremely low budgets. I have maybe, 500 artists in my album collection and I will never see more than 0.1% of them live, which means it’s the recorded music which lives on, has meaning to me and is the legacy that most artists deeply strive for. Many people are rightly saying that this is a good time for artists to reclaim control of their careers and are positioned to do well from gigging and merchandise, but there’s only so many gigs a band can physically do (the road has a habit of grinding poor souls down mercilessly) and even then, they won’t reach a fraction of the audience that they might otherwise enjoy if they can only do it the relentless grinding way. Is that a sensible use of an artist’s valuable time and energy? Question then: Who is going to invest in the quality of record making in the future?”
 

You’ve been involved with many very successful artists.  Is there one you are most proud of?

“Very hard to single out just one. Anyone like to pick the favourite of their children? I am always extremely grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to work with high quality artists (always tempered with the number of sessions I’ve done which are the polar opposite), so from that perspective I would have to cite my work on the first 3 Stereophonics albums. I also made a really special luvlee album with a Belgian band called K’s Choice a few years ago, which I’m particularly proud of. Working with Ronnie Wood has been a real “experience”, and great to be associated with even if sales are not important with this type of artist (made up for by the stories and glimpse into a day in the life of…). Writing and producing on the debut Corinne Bailey Rae album is probably my most satisfying project musically so far.

Mark Angelo’s Studio

 

What musical plans do you have for the second half of 2008?

“Finish the Francis Rodino album to the highest standard I possibly can, because that will tell me some of what I need to know about the future of quality product. If the album doesn’t do the job of pushing Francis forward as an artist, then maybe he could’ve made it with less attention to detail and it wouldn’t have changed much in the grand scheme of his career. As music makers we offer up our wares via the play button, and the audience votes with the stop button. Simple equation and the only one I care about. Also, I’m planning on working on some library music projects, as this seems to be a more viable way to launch artists ie: TV and advert exposure. Witness Snow Patrol with “Chasing Cars” on ER, Aqualung etc.”

All of the young people want to know . . . . . .what was your first studio job and how did you get your ‘foot in the door’? (of course, you’re still quite young  . . .!)

“I never went the traditional route to engineering and producing. I was fortunate to land a job with a studio rental company called Dreamhire when I first arrived in the UK from New Zealand and they were part of the larger Zomba group of companies which included Battery Studios. In those days, the studios were not expected to rent every day of all 5 studios out come hell or high water, as the facility was more focussed around supporting Zomba’s various other music companies, Jive records, Zomba publishing etc. By the good grace of all the staff and management at the studios over the years, I took full advantage of the studio’s downtime and basically taught myself the ropes. I took every minute available, night, day or weekend, recording anything I could rustle up, musician friends, random bands etc and simultaneously tried to kill myself holding down the day job at the same time. After years of trying and failing with all types of music, I was lucky to stumble across Sterephonics before they were signed up and then managed to hang on for dear life to their coat tails through their first three albums. I would have been happy with making it to the end of just one. Chuffed. But that’s when the real challenge began. How to repeat the feat. It’s a troubadour’s life. I would say to anyone young or old (of which I’m equal amounts of both, thanks for noticing) and interested in recording, to check themselves very closely for an obsession with this mysterious dark craft. If you aren’t prepared to commit yourself to it 110%, run for your life right now. You’ll buy me a beer in a bar in years to come when you’re a successful city banker or widget salesman making 10 times as much as me ‘cause I saved you from a half hearted pipe dream that could’ve ruined your life, but if you are really consumed with making music, you will get out and make something, anything happen. As I like to quote Richard Branson, when asked if he felt he has been lucky with the breaks he’s had over the years replied, “It appears the harder I work, the luckier I seem to get”.


Precisely. Any top tips for future knob twiddlers??

“Get busy recording at every possible opportunity. Hustle up opportunities. By that I mean, if you have some basic equipment of your own, offer to record anyone and everyone you can. If you’re going to pursue work in professional studios (and you can manufacture yourself that kind of break given the shrinking numbers of opportunities for that traditional path), know when to keep your mouth zipped. There’s nothing worse on a session than a lippy assistant or runner. No one cares if you’ve just graduated with honours from engineering school and can program the latest synth module to within an inch of it’s life, if you’re not right there like a silent Ninja ghost ready to glide into smooth and efficient action when a mic needs changing or a patchcord needs swapping and/or the coffee’s gone cold.  Session dynamics are a very delicate balancing act between different personalities and the people who show up on your session have a long history with the music they are about to record and your opinion should only be offered sparingly and ONLY if asked. Be an asset to the collective. And that goes for any situation you find yourself in. Figure out what it is that will make the session go smoothly, even if that means making tea at a furious rate and missing out on watching the engineer EQ’ing the bass drum, the key is to be asked back to the next session where you will do something different and more satisfying. Small steps. Without sounding like a name dropping ass, Peter Gabriel once sagely said to me, “Slow build, long burn”.

Many thanks to Mimi Kerns at Mark Angelo Studios
http://www.markangelo.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/markangelostudios
 


Producers and A&R - What do they do?


Every month we receive mail from artists and believers wanting to know more about the role of Music Producers and A&R at SellaBand, how they work and what the benefits are. So, here’s a brief overview.


1. A&R - finding the right Producer

 

Every recording artist needs help. Let’s be honest about this - no one can really expect to be able to do it all alone. The key is finding the right musically and technically equipped professionals to help artists and musicians translate their ideas into an album that totally achieves both their creative and commercial goals. And no two projects are ever the same. As the needs of each artist are totally unique, so choosing the right producer for a project is a decision that can make a dramatic difference to the final results. And that’s where the A&R role starts - by using musical knowledge, experience and contacts to identify and suggest the best producers for each recording project.

2. The Team - Planning the Recording

Once the artist has made the decision who will produce their album, the team get to work on planning and budgeting the project way before any recording starts. To get the best out of any budget it’s crucial to make good use of connections and relationships, and often producers and A&R will be able to pull in deals from studios and hire companies they use regularly. This is a crucial period and allows artist and producer to get to know the music and each other before the studio dates with preproduction, writing/rewrites, editing, auditioning musicians and checking out studios all taking place during this time.

3. In the Studio

 

It’s all about making music with everyone focused towards the same goal, allowing the artist to relax and concentrate fully on his art and the producer to take the responsibility to make decisions and manage the sessions in the most productive way. A&R is there for backup and support to both artist and producer, as well as overseeing the budget and invoicing in association with the assigned music managers.

4. Mixing and Mastering

The mix is the time when all the individual tracks of a song are finally balanced, equalized and assembled while mastering is making a collection of finished songs sound like a complete album. The producer will often mix tracks with a particular mastering engineer in mind to finish the job exactly the way they want.

So, to sum up: The role of a producer is to help the artist make exactly the album that they want to make, and to push them into reaching performances they didn’t know that they were capable of giving. And the role of A&R is to put the artist and producer together and give them the all backup and support, with all projects individually tailored to each artist’s needs.