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February 2010independent.music.dedicated

M AGAmazing Things Can Happen With A Little Dreaming Interview with Angie Arsenault

Album Updates: Slim Void + Civilized Tears + Gisel de Marco + Tiffany Gow

Interviews: Epyllion + The Nancy Wha + Lindy WaldeckPromising Newcomers: BOA + Benshee + Lee Ann Casey

and a lot more ...

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Editorial

After burning the midnight oil again yesterday I finally finished another issue of 50K MUSIC MAG to deliver it to the community. If you'd like to support the MAG, please spread the word.

In this issue more artists are featured than in any issue before. This is a very positive progress and I hope it will continue over the next months. I hope you also like this issue and have fun reading it.

So, who are the artists spotlighted in this issue? First we have our cover story with a SellaBand repatriate - Angie Arsenault who rejoined SellaBand to raise the budget for a promo campaign. A number of artists update us on their album production projects - as usual Slim Void, Civilized Tears and Katie Thompson. In this issue we get also updated by Gisel de Marco and Tiffany Gow.

Promising newcomers focussed in this issue are BOA, Lee Ann Casey and Benshee (do not confuse them with Banshee from Poland). And we have interviews with The Nancy Wha, John C Fraser, Lindy Waldeck, Deborah Di Nauta and ...

Utterly B Groovy reviewed Daniel Ward-Murphy's gig at The Troubadour last Thursday for us. And not to forget, again Netvalar wrote his article exclusively for the mag.

So enjoy reading the MAG and please give me your feedback. Authors and topic suggestions are always welcome as well. Send your hints and suggestions to mario@50kmusic.com.

Besides I'm still looking for correspondents who like to work for the MAG - get/keep in touch with local SellaBand artists, observing the (SAB) music scene and write articles/reviews/reports for the MAG from time to time. You should live in France, Germany, South America, Japan. So get in touch with me and we can talk about a collaboration soon.

mario@50kmusic.comwww.50kmusic.com

Note/Imprint:

50K MUSIC MAG (www.50kmusic.com) is mainly written and solely published by Mario Putzar, D-99947 Bad Langensalza, Contact: mario(at)50kmusic.de

The parts of the MAG written by other authors are signed as follows:(AM) - Andy Marczak(CM) - Cecile Morel(CS) - Catself (Agnieszka Holm) - member of Talentcast team(CW) - Casee Wilson(FJ) - Fleur Jack - Kiwi FM(ps) - Pete Strobl - posts from his bottom-end blog(Lu) - Lucretia(NV) - Netvalar - Researcher Extraordinaire(PMcM) - Paul McMaster(MC) - Multicorriente - Argentinean magazine(RSV) - Ronny - Slim Void(sab) - posts, news, informations from Sellaband webpage(TC) - information from Talentcast webpage(Th) - Thor(UBG) - Utterly B Groovy

Articles written by other authors do express the opinion of the particular author, not necessarily the opinion of 50K MUSIC.

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be copied or distributed without the permission of the publisher. Copyrights of photos and pictures of artists used in this magazine are owned by the artists. Articles, feedback and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to my e-mail adress.

Friends of 50K MUSIC MAG are:www.sellaband.comwww.multicorrientewww.petestrobl.comwww.talentcast.nlwww.evolutioncoop.comwww.knifelady.blogspot.com

This magazine is made with Scribus - www.scribus.net

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Editorial 2Amazing Things Can Happen With A Little Dreaming 4My Personal Signature 8Strength, Conviction, Passion and Angst 9You Can Hear It Is Radius 10Not Only A Chance Encounter 12Slim Void Album Log 13Civilized Tears Album Update 14Katie Thompson Album Diary 15Teaching What You Know 1650K MUSIC Tee Art Competition 17I'm Almost Never At Home 18Listen. Get Overwhelmed 19Getting Our Place In The Sun 20... With A Punkish Attitude 21Music Played With Honesty 22I'm Just Going To Be Me 23Lindy Jazz & More 24Art Is A Way Of Saving Us 26On Stage With ... Daniel Ward-Murphy @ The Troubadour 28

In this issue

Angie Arsenault ... 4 Gisel de Marco ... 8

Tiffany Gow ... 9

Radius ... 10

Epyllion ... 12

Slim Void ... 13

Civilized Tears ... 14

The Nancy Wha ... 21

Lindy Waldeck ... 24

Lee Ann Casey ... 23BOA ... 22 Benshee ... 20

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I wanted to know what her plans are and about her motivation to rejoin SellaBand. That's why she had to answer the following questions:50K MM: For all those who don't know you yet (if there is anyone at all) please tell us something about you. Where do you come from, what are your roots? Angie: Where to start? Well, I am an Acadian francophone who grew up in rural Prince Edward Island, Canada. I come from a very musical family and as a young girl, I used to step dance to my mom’s fiddle playing. At every family gathering, we would hurry up and eat so the music could begin! I later performed in high school and community plays and toured with a French rock band for a few years. After high school, I studied a few years of Classical music at the Moncton University in New Brunswick and spent my summer breaks singing, acting

and dancing in a dinner theatre. That’s the musical side that probably most people know already, but many are surprised when I say that I was student council president at my school after being treasurer, vice-president and member of countless committees. I wasn’t an extrovert (far from it!), but you could say I loved getting involved. My first year of university studies was actually in … business management! But it was not long before I switched to music! Lol

50K MM: It's almost exactly one year since you released your fan-funded album “Once Upon A Dream”. What happened since then? Angie: It takes my breath away when I notice how fast time flies! Following the album release, I gave a few performances and then began a campaign for radio

Amazing Things Can Happen With A Little DreamingAbout one year after her album „Once Upon A Dream“ came out, Angie Arsenault is back on SellaBand to raise a budget of 25,000 $ to promote this album.

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promotion in the Canadian market. We had a decent success, averaging about 160 plays per week with my song “Turn Around”. I have also kept busy with a few other projects and ideas, including a website that I had been working on with 2 partners for the last 2 years having to do with my teaching career (I give private voice lessons at my home studio). The idea was to give my students a training support system for their practices at home along with a blog and a singer’s forum to stay connected. You can visit the site at www.singg.tv, which was launched a few months ago. At the moment however, the largest percentage of my brain is occupied with finishing up some new songs that are in the works and putting up a brand new show!

50K MM: How come you played a gig at Rotman School of Management last year? Angie: I was asked to participate in the presentation of a study lead by professor Ajay K. Agrawal who has been closely observing Sellaband since the beginning and he wanted to have a real example to show his audience how the platform was working for artists like me. I suppose he was also looking at the entertainment value as well…! Agrawal takes a deeper look into the consumption of art and I found his studies to be quite interesting and… thorough! He knew more about my Sellaband statistics than I did that’s for sure! It was great to be a part of it all and meet some new people (including none other than Sellaband CEO Johan Vosmeijer). A video of the event was nicely put together which can be found on youtube:Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is 8W7uchciMPart 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5 bm295Ez-Q

50K MM: How known is SellaBand in Canada?

Angie: Sellaband is still very new here and not very well known to Canadians. When I was on my way to raising 50K for my album, I had been featured in a very popular Montreal journal called “Le Métro”, but other than that, I have not heard or read much about Sellaband here… yet. Slowly however, word of mouth is getting the news around.

50K MM: How have SellaBand and the album changed your life? Angie: Sellaband was, for me, the missing piece in the puzzle. A few people had approached me in the past with propositions that made me quite weary about the music business and I always new in my heart that it was very important to keep creative control over my music and image. I was able to bathe in that type of freedom with my 50K album production and gathered a team of talents who had my trust and who gave nothing short of their 100%, putting their trust in me as well. The albums existence has changed everything in that it is proof that amazing things can happen with a little dreaming… and a lot of hard work

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and support! It also reminds me that I have a lot to be thankful for and I must keep on pushing forward, for me and for my believers for I do not want to let them down.

50K MM: You are back on SellaBand for a second round. What will the budget be used for? Angie: This time around, my goal is to raise 25K which will be used to promote the album and also to promote a little tour I am putting together for May (Canada) and end of September / early October (France, Netherlands, Germany, and possibly a few more spots…). Jocelyn, my husband and manager, and I are financing the trip

ourselves for our 10 year anniversary treat – and of course it all coincides with wanting to get out there and perform for my followers who are mostly all from Europe – and this is true for followers on Sellaband and off including many from France. The optimal goal is to raise the budget by end of May 2010 in order to begin the promotional activities in the early summer.

50K MM: Who will be the partners for promotion and marketing in Europe? Angie: All funds will be used to hire radio promoters and publicists to help with promotion in the European Countries mentioned before. We are also looking at making a music video for the song that will be launched to radio. Names are being thrown around but it is too early to announce anything official yet.

50K MM: So we may have the chance to see you on stage in Europe too? Angie: Absolutely. I am putting up a brand new solo show to make things easier for my very first tour there. That said, do not expect a singer-songwriter piano only type of performance. I have never been able to express myself fully in that setting and so I am putting together something that will allow for a little more nuance - a type of show that perhaps I could title “Once Upon a Dream; a theatre of music performed by one”. But I do not want to give away too much - you will just have to wait and see! ;-)

50K MM: How can we support you raising your budget? Angie: There are many ways you can support this project. One is by getting on board as a Believer and in return, I will share a small

percentage of Publishing from all songs on the album “Once upon a dream”. As a believer, you will also have access to an exclusive EP of brand new songs I am currently working on. Another way to support the Sellaband project is by helping me spread the word by posting on sites such as facebook, myspace, or even just old-fashioned word of mouth. Even just stopping by to write a few words of encouragement on my wall really helps. Yes, this is a budget raising and investment project, but the terms “believer” and “supporter” can be represented in many ways for an artist whose music you enjoy and I have always truly appreciated the interaction I

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get from the online communities. It helps keep me motivated and focused… and makes it fun! Another big one is that when my performance dates and venues are announced, I will need all the help I can get to promote the events - because a sold out show is always more fun for the audience… and for the artist of course! ;D

50K MM: On your website you can read ten short & strange stories born from the sleep. Please tell us something about that. Angie: Oh boy… lol! Well, this is a project I have had in mind since the conception of my semi-concept album, but the stories have a part of me for a long time now. “Once upon a dream” represents my entire creative process and if you have read my biography, you know that the dreams are often the reason for the existence of my songs. The short & strange stories show a parallel representa-tion of the 10 main songs from the album; in another light, but from the same source in essence. I have been working with illustrator Nicolas Bourges, showing him my drawing ideas and thoughts for the visuals I had in mind for each story, and he puts all that together in his own style which has remained throughout stories 1 to 10. There are also thoughts of revising everything and adding in more illustrations in order to fill a small book format… we’ll see what happens! I have yet to post the very last story, which will coincide with a contest that will take place in March… so stay tuned for more details to be announced on my website! www.angiemusic.com

50K MM: And last question: Please tell us one thing about you and your music everybody should

know. Angie: Well, sometimes I wonder what people imagine of me when they listen to my music, especially after hearing the rather dark, somber pieces! I would want people to know that I am not sad or depressed! Lol … and that is in big part because of music. Having this kind of platform for self-expression has been a blessing and the people who surround me on this musical journey of mine, are also a blessing.

So if you decide to support Angie raising her promo budget go to her SellaBand profile http://www.sella band.com/angie or check out her website

www.angiemusic.com

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50K MM: You have reached 50k on Aug 25th 2008 (my birthday). Please tell us something about what has happened since then.Gisel: Ohhhh!!! so many things!!! Since that Augutst 25th, I feel like in a music rollercoster!! I started to search the "perfect" producer for my album in all around the world and writing songs like crazy! I knew that finding the best producer possible would make a huge difference in the quality and style of the album, which could be the clue to reach bigger audiences, and maybe getting a record deal. That's why I've decided to work with Marcus Bishop an English producer and drummer from Dover, UK. Since then, I had to choose between more than 60 songs that I've wrote specially for my album, and that was such a hard task to do! I had to decide between ballads, mid-tempo songs and up-tempo, but always having in mind what's current, to be able to make this album "big"!

50K MM: When will your album come out? What kind of album can we expect? Please give us some insights.Gisel: Right now, we're finishing the

last details before starting to create the album. The photographer is finishing the pictures, the mastering engineer is mastering the album, and I'm finishing some bonus tracks that will be part of the limited editions. I can guess that the album will be released around mid April, as SAB needs a month and a half to create the cds. It's a lot of work, but I can guarantee that the results will be amazing!!! The album will be a mixture of powerful ballads, current and electronic mid-tempo songs and very catchy and funny up-tempo songs. There will be a song for each taste but always keeping my personal signature. I've made my utmost to give all my believers the best album possible, and I've even hired the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra who did an amazing and beautiful job! I just hope that people will love my album as much as I do!

50K MM: Is there anything we can do to support you at the moment?Gisel: Well, anything that you have in mind would be great to help me promoting the album. I realize that this is the most important and hardest step in a recording process, so telling people about the album,

uploading links of videos and songs and just spreading the word, would be more than enough to take this album further. And, of course! Your messages of love and support!!! there's nothing more beauuuuutiful for me than that!!! :)

50K MM: What are your plans after the album release (listening session, promotion, live gigs, ...)?Gisel: Once the album is released, I'm planning to set up a listening session as I'd love to know how believers like my album and I won't miss the opportunity to answer all their questions. I have a wonderful news and it's that I'll be moving to Switzerland by next week, which will help me a lot on planning gigs and festivals and I'll be able to travel all around Europe to promote the album and meet my believers. And at least, but not less important, I'll get in touch with music business's people to promote the album and eventually achieve a record deal. I don't know what the future might bring but one thing is for sure, I'll do my absolutely best to make my believer's future and mine, a bright and musical one.

www.giseldemarco.com

My Personal SignatureFans and believers are impatiently awaiting her album. It seems like waiting is over now. Gisel de Marco announced the album release in April.

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50K MM: Tiffany, you have reached 50k on October 20th 2008. Please tell us something about what has happened since then.Tiffany: An incredible amount of great milestones have been achieved since reaching 50K.Where do I start !! Immediately after achieving 50K, my co-producer : Phil Tweed and I commenced pre-production. This took approximately 2 weeks to complete. In January 2009, my executive producer : Peter Stevenson co-ordinated and recorded bass and drums. I had the honour of working with infamous Australian drummer : Mitch Farmer and Australian Idol house bassist : Mark Costa. Guitars were the next addition and the highlight for me was watching Stuart Marshall play. Stuart is one of Australia's most renowned metal guitarists. We then proceeded onto recording 10 more amazing musicians for this album , in total there are approximately 13 different musicians used on the album ! Each musician has a certain quality that makes the album first class, we only used the absolute best from in and around Sydney. After editing 13 musicians , it was time for Tiff to hit the microphone ! Vocals were recorded over one week. I was extremely happy with the strength and range of my voice, it has matured such a great deal within the last 2 years. There were a couple of challenges along the way with the entire project but with perseverance and patience we conquered any obstacle in our way positively. The project went on to include recording a trumpet solo, a six piece symphony, a rap section, the addition of sound effects,further editing and to complete the project -mixing and mastering .The mixing done by the talented Bradden Williams from Sony, Sydney and the mastering by Oscar Goana of prolific Studios 301 , Sydney. I am also happy to announce that I have had airplay on 'Women Of Rock' Internet radio and a radio interview during the recording of the album.

50K MM: You posted in your blog that you have finished mastering this week. What will be the next steps now?Tiffany: After the mastering stage my plans for the remainder of 2010 include : Daily marketing/networking via all mediums including the internet, sending out Cds to commercial/community radio, promoters /influential industry personnel/A&R personnel, consistently entering major industry competitions such as the International Songwriting Competition and the USA Songwriting Competition etc.in order to market the album internationally and potentially gain significant funds to facilitate merchandise, filmclips, marketing, advertising,management and future recordings. Then at approximately the beginning of June, my official album launch will be held. Fans, family and industry personnel will be invited. I am confident of significant interest and will consider my options as a result soon after the launch. Obtaining management/representation is high on the

priority list and will be chosen in conjunction with decisions made after the launch. I am aiming to raise funds to make my debut filmclip in the near future.

50K MM: When will the album come out finally? Is there a deadline fixed yet?Tiffany: The mastering of the album was completed on February 12th this year. As a result I anticipate my wonderful believers will receive their album copies in approximately 2-3 months from this date. The cd is also anticipated to also be available online for purchase around the same time. Duplication and packaging will be the major influences in determining the dispatch date. Sellaband headquarters will be able to anticipate an approximate date. Sellaband listening sessions for believers and the public are yet to be determined. A blog will be posted with all of this information once it is determined.No deadline has been fixed. We are working very hard to release the album promptly.

50K MM: What kind of album can we expect?Tiffany: A hard rock album that has strength, conviction, passion and angst. Best described as hard rock/metal, many loyal believers/fans will be very surprised about how different the album is in comparison to my self funded debut album 'No Fear' !! My voice has matured incredibly since the recording of 'No Fear' and this will be very apparent during the listening of the album. Peter and I have used only the absolute cream of the Sydney music crop (the best of the best) to ensure the quality of instrumentation is of the highest standard possible. Rap, trumpet and a small symphony have also featured strongly on the album. I am very confident you will be happy with what you hear.

50K MM: What are your plans after the album release (promotion, live gigs, ...)?Tiffany: As previously mentioned, the options that arise from my official album launch will be seriously considered and soon there after a decision will be made on the best possible action to take in order to strengthen my music career. Promotion will be a strong component , as will live gigs in order to heavily promote and distribute the album.

50K MM: And at last: One thing you want to tell your fans and believers.Tiffany: Each and everyday I am extremely grateful to have had this wonderful opportunity. I am so very proud of the work we have accomplished and honestly cannot Thank you enough for your loyalty, friendship and support. This is only the very beginning of one amazing and successful journey. Thank you so much my dear friends ! xxxxxwww.myspace.com/tiffanygow

Strength, Conviction, Passion and Angst

Tiffany Gow has just finished the mastering of her upcoming album. Expect a real hard rock album coming out this June.

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50K MM: Radius have reached 50k on May 11th last year. Please tell us something about what has happened since then.Johan: A lot of things happened, about planning the recording sessions. Working out the budget plan and make decisions about how to get our music at the right places. Yesterday I finished the vocal sessions for the album and we will start mixing the whole thing the upcoming weeks. Beside of that we just launched our single "Prisoner of your love".

50K MM: You announced your single "Prisoner of Your Love" coming out this weekend (Noorderslag weekend in January). What do you plan to promote it?Johan: 3000 copies have been spread (At the Noorderslag weekend) among professionals in the music industry, like radio DJ's in Europe.....festival and venue bookers....record companies and all othe kind of music professionals in Europe. We also had a chat with some dutch radio DJ's from one of the major radiostations in The Netherlands.

50K MM: Is the single release step one of album promotion?Johan: Yes, it is. A single with only 2 tracks is easy listening stuff for DJ's and other promotors and gives a good preview of our upcoming work. And it's easy and less expensive to spread than a whole album.

50K MM: Studio Spitsbergen played an outstanding role on your way to 50k. Where they also involved in the album production?Johan: Yes, they where. For the recording and mixing

You Can Hear It Is Radius

Talked to Johan Faber about the work on their upcoming album and got some insight photos of studio life

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process. We are working together with Studio Spitsbergen for many years now and have a strong relationship. And the most importent thing....fantastic teamwork to get the best out of it! Mastering will be done by Darius van Helfteren at http://www.amsterdammastering.com/

50K MM: When will your album come out? What kind of album can we expect?Johan: The album will come out somewhere in April or May. It will be an album with a typical sound...the Radius sound. I guess the 2 tracks at www.radiusrock.com will give a good preview of what to expect. In the first 10 seconds of every song you can hear it is Radius, even while the songs are very different they can be on an album

together. That is one of our main goals, to create a so called "sound". Our album will be filled with some ballads, some heavy rock songs and some poprock stuff. All kept together with the Radius sound.

50K MM: What are your plans after the album release (promotion, live gigs, ...)?Johan: We are still working out some plans, but it is very important to have live gigs after the release so that's one of our priorities. And we will try to get some stuff on the radio, that is the most powerful machine to reach a lot of people with our music.

www.radiusrock.com

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50K MM: In November issue we talked about what will be when you're at 10k. Now you reached your goal. How do you feel now?Eric: It's pretty hard to describe how we all feel. The general feeling is that we're pretty amazed that so many of our friends and fans, new and old, have believed in us enough to shell out their hard earned cash to support us in making this album. It also puts a bit of pressure on us (in a good way) to make the best possible product that we can. We don't want to let anybody down with this, and I don't think we will. As of today, all of our parts are finished recorded, and even though we're just listening to really rough mixes, I can tell this album is going to be very special.

50K MM: Please tell us something about what has happened the day you reached 10k.Eric: As we were getting closer and closer, I kept a watchful eye on the status - but unfortunately work called, and I had to attend to a piano lesson. Halfway through the lesson, I left my student to go get him a song off of my computer and I figured "Well, I'm at the computer, might as well check how we're doing on sellaband" and when I checked, we had reached the goal - so I remember the time very specifically. I quickly sent out an e-mail to the guys saying "Guys - we did it - 10k on sellaband!"

50K MM: You are currently recording your album. What will be the next steps after you have finished recording?Eric: Well, we're in those steps right now - the songs, once

we listen through to them for a couple days and make sure everything sounds good, is getting rushed off to be mixed at Studio 169 here in Ottawa, Canada. From there, it's being sent to Toronto, Canada to be mastered at the finest place in the country, while the artwork gets ready. Then the album will be ready for everybody to (hopefully) enjoy!

50K MM: The album is called „Chance Encounters“. Is there a special story behind this title, a special encounter?Eric: The thing about the name "Chance Encounters" is that it's not just one thing - everything that has led us to completing this album has been a chance encounter. There are so many random happenings that have come up along the way to bring us to where we are right now, it's hard to even think of where to begin.

50K MM: You have planned to spend 25% of the budget for marketing. Could you please unveil some details of your marketing plan?Eric: Since our original plan, we've realized we can't quite spend that much on marketing. It's going to cost us a bit more to send out all the prizes that we've promised people. However, we will be marketing it heavily, with an emphasis on licensing agreements. Licensing is the new "Radio" - and radio is dead.

50K MM: And at last: do you have a special message to your fans and believers?Eric: Thanks you all for your support and love. We're going to make you proud, I promise.

Not Only A Chance EncounterEpyllion reached their target on January 26th and the work on their album is almost done. I asked Eric about the time after this important date, the album production, the next steps, ...

www.myspace.com/epyllionband

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(RSV) The long drawn mastering process has finally reached an end.Not without problems. In fact there were nothing but trouble for weeks.

The mastering is the very last stage of the musical side of a cd production. It's purpose to give the music a last touch of magic, polishing the frequencies so everything comes across balanced and fresh, not hidden under a sonic blanket.The mixed files we recieved from producer Dan Swift sounded very good to all of us, just a touch dull compared to fully finished cds used as a reference.

An easy task for the pro mastering wizards in the magic mastering castle, veiled by fairytale fog

somewhere unknown to any ordinairy man, beast or musician. It's a trade surrounded by mystery, not even letting paying customers watch what they do from what I have heard. So, what happened when we got our precious files back? It sounded worse than the files we sent. Brittle and cold in the top frequencises, dull and small at bottom. The singer sounded like a tiny weasel in a freezer with a popcicle up his ass. It made me physichally ill to listen to it. Someone had destroyed what we had spent years on. They wanted money for it as well.

The band and the producer decided to try another mastering company. This time it came back slightly better, but still no real progress from the mix.Nothing putting a smile on our faces, nothing that evoked the deep satisfaction we were looking for.What to do? Just release it half heartedly, hoping time would reconciliate fathers and sons, or risk sonic estrangment and alienation of the poor offspring?

Hell,no. Producer Dan Swift decided to do it himself. Having spent nearly a year on the project he became so involved and grew to love the music, and his contribution has been immense. He shut the iron door to the narrow confinement of his sonic office, delving into the musical matter once again. Determined to make the mastering take it to another level, introducing what he called 'dynamic mastering', using different eq shapes within every single song. Some shapes happening just for seconds to bring out a particular part essential to

the song. It's very hard to pick out listening, everything flowing naturally as it is supposed to. In a trade like this your best work is invisible. Were we satisfied this time? During the playback of the finished master one of the members later admitted he was on the verge of tears from the beauty of it. He wishes to remain anonymous. He's never been seen in tears before, so it really says it all.

The master was finally adding the extra magic to the mix, and is now in the hands of the sellaband staff, ready to be put on the cd. It has taken ages and loads of work, but we are finally extremely pleased and satisfied with the end result! The release concert is set to the 8th of April at 'Blaest' in Trondheim.

Album Log

www.myspace.com/slimvoid

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(TB) It's mid February and Steve Hardy has just finished mixing the new CT album in NY. Steve has done an exquisite job of bringing the very best out of this music and creating some beautiful sound-scapes full of intricate layers and driving beats. We now have ten songs ready for Mastering which will take place at Sterling Sound, New York City by the incredible Ted Jensen.

Ted is a Multi-Platinum, Grammy award winning engineer and one of the most in-demand professionals in the world of music today. He has mastered some of the greatest songs and albums for artists including Green Day, The Police, Madonna, Bob Marley, Bowie, Lenny Kravitz, The Hives, Kings of Leon, the Beatles, Starsailor, REM, Pearl Jam, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, Eric Clapton,Paramore, Alice in Chains, Maralyn Manson, Dave Mathews Band, Norah Jones, The Eagles, Sigur Ros, Bjork, Keane, Travis, Pavarotti, Moby and Frank Sinatra.

As you can imagine, I'm tremendously excited to have him on board. In addition I would like to welcome Mr 'Archie' Graham to the CT team: www.alistairgraham.com.

Archie is a globally renowned Australian artist who works out of his home in Southern France and from his other studio in the Australian Countryside where he has just finished the cover artwork & design for our new album.

He specialises in a genuine Renaissance-style Calli-graphy & Book-binding and has brought a unique element to the look of the Civilized Tears album.

In a continuation of the global feel of this CD I would also like to welcome graphic designer Tamlyn Akahoshi from Honolulu, Hawaii who is designing the album booklet.Tamlyn is currently putting the finishing touches to the artwork & design and we hope to have a finished product by late February.

I have always felt strongly about the visual concept of Civilized Tears and know that the impact of the album's image is especially important.This will be the first impression many

people will have of CT. As David Bowie once said, ' the eyes are hungrier than the ears', therefore I want to make sure that we have created an inspired first impression.Let's hope you agree.

Other News:I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that 'Black Rain' (the demo) has just been voted the Best AOLM Track for 2009 and has also been chosen as the song to advertise Brooklands Radio Fm in England. It is being used as a trailer at the Vue movie theatres outside of London and is receiving rave reviews from audiences and DJs alike. The album version of this song remains true to the demo version with the exception of a new intro.

Next month I hope to update you on the Mastering, Printing and Manufacture of the CD. In the meantime we're working on the promotional strategy for the album which includes market research, planning singles & videos and upcoming tours.

Many thanks again to Sellaband and to all of our incredible Believers & Fans, you have made this all possible !

www.myspace.com/civilizedtears

Civilized Tears Album UpdateLike every month Tim Bennett writes about the latest progress of Civilized Tears album production

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Katie Thompson Album Diary

Here is Katie's short report:

"This month I have been going over my songs making sure they're the best they can be. I have also been talking to different producers and musicians to get the right people on board for my album. I've finished off the demos - my brother Chris has kindly spent alot of time recording and playing on them. Once that was sorted we took some copies and went on a road trip to meet up with a couple of musicians that we think would compliment my songs and help make a great album."

... to be continued ...

On a road trip

Katie's brother Chris

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know your music sucks so bad you still have that damn day job right? It must be bad or people would be buying your music instead of stealing it. Or maybe you are so focused on 1

formula for earning your way out of that day job and are missing other opportunities. I want each and every one of the artists who read 50k music mag to quit there day job this year. Starting this month with teaching your own expertise (rather you are a drummer, guitarist, singer, etc.).

So why do you want to start teaching others? Well you can set your own hours, as long as you set a regular schedule. You decide what to charge, though I have found starting charges between $20 - $50 per hour. You can use your own music to teach your students thus getting the word out too. So do you have any other reasons that teaching could be good for you?

Of course it isn't as easy as deciding to do it and throwing up ads on

Craigslist. You will need to build an outline of step by step processes that helped you. While doing this you also will want to look over each step for hard to duplicate processes. Though you want to keep your course as simple as possible, you also want to be complete. Once you feel good about your outline you should flesh out the 1st few steps enough for lesson plans.

Once you have your initial teaching style planned out you want to look into scheduling. Unless you plan to work on the week-ends you will get to sleep in. Your students will most likely be young enough that you need to schedule classes after school. Another thing to keep in mind is you will be working 1 on 1, so think about your revenue. I would suggest starting out 1 day a week for 3 hours, lets say 3 students then. Along with all this you want to write up your resume, portfolio, or other material that shows why you are the person for the job.

If you feel at this point you are ready then you need to get the word out. Start off by contacting local high schools, colleges in regards to posting fliers or advertising in school paper. Of course Craigslist at this point is a great tool there is the gigs section and musicians section. Network with others in your area with music lessons of their own. Go direct to your local fans and where they hang out. Find local radio or TV stations that may want to interview you regarding your class.

Obviously you can't quit your day job with just this. After all you are only earning what $240/mo. Well just as with your own music you need to expand just a bit. So lets look at a couple more ideas to add in.

Document every lesson if possible audio and video record them too. Review each lesson to see where you can improve how you are teaching. Be on the look out for recordings that could be instructive in and of themselves. If you find these contact the parents (if of legal age the

student) and get permission to use for teaching others. After a while you should be able to build up a package of lessons that can be used without you there.

At this point you will want to organize your new product and make a physical copy. I would hope your package consists of written, audio, and video parts. Now you can add to your bands web-site a section to sell your new music course. Maybe you want to outsource this to say Amazon.com. Guess what you can, CreateSpace.com allows you upto 4 disks per set in their print on demand service.

There is nothing quick and easy about this. Yes now you can start posting on Craigslist and gain students. Yes now you have an additional product to sell to your fans. Yes you might, just might be able to get rid of that damn day job by the end of the year. I wouldn't count on it without the same hard work you put into your music career. In reality all I am suggesting is that you expand your earning potential. What other ideas do you have for me to research and write about this year??

www.evolutioncoop.com

What You Know

by Netvalar

Teaching

I

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celebrates it’s first birthday in March.

That’s why I have thought about a competition for designers (hobby and professional) – the 50K MUSIC Tee Art Competition.

There are two awards to win:1. the 50K MUSIC Customer Award – the community decides by poll – 20 SellaBand Gift Parts* is the prize + 50% of the net earnings of the prize winning tee sales,

2. the 50K MUSIC Special Award – awarded by 50K MUSIC – prize: 10 SellaBand Gift Parts* + 50% of the net earnings of the prize winning tee sales.

And here are the rules of this competition:

- everyone can take part to create an eye-catching indie music artwork t-shirt,- the topic is independent (SellaBand) music (sure you can include 50K MUSIC, the MAG, the first birthday),- artwork in .png, .jpg, .gif or .bmp – min. 50 x 50 px, max. 3,000 x 3,000 px- images/artwork may not infringe third party rights.

The Competition runs until 31st March 2010.

Please send questions and your artwork to mario(at)50kmusic.com

* SellaBand T&Cs do apply

Tee Art Competition

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.John: Hi! My name is John C Fraser. I’m a 24 year old musician from the Netherlands living in the city of Eindhoven. Besides being a musician I’m a teacher on a local high school teaching music to “children” in the age of 12 to 16. I’ve been making music since my 10th and writing songs since I was about 12.

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?John: The first time I joined Sellaband was with my former band Monsieur Cannibale. We had toured a lot of European countries and were ready to record a new CD. Through some creative surfing I ended up on Sellaband.com. Unfortunately we were not meant to become a 50k artist and therefor I withdrew our profile. With the knowledge I gained with the band I rejoined as John C Fraser, pulled back my profile once more and rejoined for the last time in october 2009!

50K MM: Your song „She's Doin' It Again“ got loads of attention in the Netherlands. Please give us some details.John: She’s Doin’ It Again is the follow up to my debut single The Odd One Out. This first single was recieved very well by diverse radiostations throughout the Netherlands. But it was a the first time people heared about John C Fraser. Therefor I’ve decided to release a new single directly 3 months after the first one: She’s Doin’ It Again. Now everybody had met John C Fraser before. The fieldwork had been done and almost every radiostation in the country put it on their playlist! And the listeners of these radiostations seem to like the song too because it ended up at 120 in the overall charts last week.

50K MM: You have raised about 55% of the budget so far, you are near to your target. And you have a very special plan for your album. Please tell us something about that plan.John: My plan is mainly based on the fact that I want to give something in return for an investment. Being on Sellaband for almost 2,5 years with different profiles now I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work. The reason why I withdrew my first John C Fraser profile was because I thought I did not had enough to offer to my believers. Now, with two high rotation singles I think it’s well worthy to invest in John C Fraser. For only $10 you will get a

limited 2CD-set (yes for every part 1 LE CD set!). And every believer will recieve 2 free tickets for a live show that is going to be recorded and is going to be a part of the LE CD! Once the CD will hit the stores it will cost $20 to buy. So this is quite some deal. Besides that I came up with a construction that makes it appealing to order multiple CD’s. I will give investors the opportunity to let me sell their CD’s for them. For every sold CD $10 will go back to the believers. So once all the CD’s are sold everyone will have it’s investment back. That: and 30% revenue share!

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you to raise the rest of your budget?John: I’m always up for some nice competitions. This month I’m giving away loads of nice stuff. The top investor of the month februari will recieve a live performance in his or her living room. The second and third investor with the most parts will receive a VIP-treatment during the live recording, and the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th investor will recieve CD’s and a custom made t-shirt!Besides that I think my 10k plan is well worthy investing. This and all the exposure I’m getting makes John C Fraser somenthing well worth to invest in.

50K MM: And how can we support you to speed up raising your budget?John: You guys help artists getting the exposure they need. And therefor I’m really grateful. Being a part of this magazine alone is more support than I could have ever wished for!

50K MM: And at last: Something you want to tell your fans and believers.John: I’d like to thank all of you for the faith you put in to me. But you must remember that being a musician, doing promotion, record in the studio, giving performances and having a 9 to 5 job besides that, practically means that I’m almost never at home. This could mean that there are days I could not update all of you with my whereabouts and plans. But I’ll try my best to keep all of you updated as much as possible. Because in the end: you are the ones who make it possible for me to reach out there and record one of the most amazing records I’ve ever heard. (Trust me on that one, we are in pre-production right now and the sound of some songs.... wow!)

I'm Almost Never At Home... but I guess meanwhile he feels at home on SellaBand and gets strong support from the community.

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ot really a newcomer anymore but his music is definitely worth featuring here. A short interview with Arthur Adam ...

50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself. Arthur: I am a singer-songwriter from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 29 years old. I use lots of musical influences, from metal to classic to jazz, and (for a singer-songwriter) relatively little folk music. I want to make music that is simply pretty on the one hand, and sophisticated on the other. I write about love, melancholy and the awkwardness and surprising elements of evey day life...

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand? Arthur: There are people that advise me on how to manage myself that said: here is a really good opportunity to get people to know you and to finance your cd...

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you? Arthur: for me it's mainly about the music. But I also mentioned on facebook and twiter.com that I had a page going here. I put on some blog messages, so people can read about what makes me tick...

50K MM: You have raised about 6 % of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 10k yet? What are your plans then? Arthur: I want lots of people to get to know my music and I still have lots of songs that have not been recorded yet. I cannot NOT be a musician or a songwriter, but in being that I could use a little help...

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget? Arthur: Listen. Get overwhelmed. Tell all your friends.

Listen.Get Over-whelmed

N

Talentcast

is the passion of three people:

Johan JongeriusMissYand

Catself (Agnieszka Holm)

Listen to:

SellaBand and

MySpace Artists,Song of the week,

interviews and chat

every Saturday night on

www.talentcast.nl

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from? Please tell us something about Benshee.Benshee: Hello.We are a new Pop rock band in Portugal. We were born in a small village close to Lisbon (where everything it's more dificult for a young band). Everything started in 2006 since then we have changed our formation and recorded our first EP. We have won some contests and this year we become part of a compilation as best pop artist of one of the big contests in Portugal. We still as independent band... looking for our lights to shine.

50K MM: How did you discover SellaBand?Benshee: We discovered Sellaband a few years ago in 2007 when a lot of portuguese bands had joined SAB and the portuguese tv news talked about it...and we decided to join in this adventure. But in that time we had some problems in the band and we decided to stop for some months. Now we are back

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you? Please give us some more details of your plan and incentives believers can get.Benshee: Well thats a good question. First of all I think that it should be our music to convince people to believe in us. We will try to have some contests to believers in our page and offer cd's and hot new singles (we are recording in our studio some nice songs for our next EP). We will do

our best to get our target.

50K MM: You have raised 3% of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the target of 10k $ yet? What are your plans then?Benshee: We have a long way to the 10k ... but we have some plans for now. As I said we are preparing a new EP for the band. Pre-production have already started and we have about 40 songs waiting to come on a cd!! For now we have chosen 6 songs. And we are preparig also everything for our first videoclip! Of course all this is a low cost production and it's all produced by the band!

50K MM: You are an established band in Portugal it seems. Have you also played gigs in the rest of Europe yet? Will we see you on stage soon - where and when?Benshee: We are not a big band but we have some followers and we are getting our place in the sun in here. About Europe.... we never played out of Portugal...and no gig's in future in the rest of Europe. Anyone can help in that??(lol)

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Benshee:Thats another good question!! Anything would be nice.You can make a contest to offer our cd.

Getting Our Place In The SunThey come from a small village in Portugal and their music is definitely worth to support. So come and listen to Benshee.

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50K MM: For all those who don't know The Nancy Wha yet please tell us something about you. Where do you come from, who are The Nancy Wha?TNW: Most of you probably don't know The Nancy Wha ;) The Nancy Wha is a bunch of friends who play rock music together. The band was formed in Vaasa, Finland, in the year of 2005 by four frustrated guys. Today we are 5 years older (not wiser), and have grown into a Helsinki based quintet. We have widely different carreers aside of the band, but to call The Nancy Wha a hobby would be an unjust understatement. This is about passion, about working for something we truly believe in. In our music, you hear enthusiasm, you hear energy, you hear excitement, you hear love. It is honest music, made by

honest people. This is one thing that hasn't changed along the way. Our influences come from a wide range; whether you like The Smiths/Morrissey, The Libertines, The Beatles, The Clash or The Strokes, there's surely something for you in our music. Still, The Nancy Wha has created a style that can be described as nothing but The Nancy Wha. It's rock, it's pop, it's indie, performed stylishly with a punkish attitude.

50K MM: You're currently working on your debut EP. Please tell us something about that.TNW: You will hear both old and new songs on the forthcoming EP. All in all, it has been a long process, but now we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The recording was done out in the countryside of Southern Finland early in the summer of 2009. The songs were captured analogue on a 16-track reel tape machine. If you ask us, that's a nice way to work, and many others will surely agree. The mixing was done in London by Dan Cox at Urchin Studios, owned by Gordon Raphael. Now it has finally been mastered, and it's sounding excellent, since each step of the process has been done thoughtfully,

without compromises. At the moment we're sorting out all the matters concerning the release.

50K MM: It seems like you did not have the patience to fund this EP on SellaBand. What are your further plans there?TNW: Well, this time we felt that we were ready to get an ep out, while our following figures on Sellaband didn't seem to support that. So we decided to do it by ourselves. As an unknown band it can be hard to get the funding quickly enough. However we will still continue to seek funding through SellaBand, and after getting the ep out, we will do more to promote ourself on Sellaband. It might be easier when you already have something to show. And

it's not like this is the last you'll hear from the Nancy Wha. We've got the tracks for an entire album waiting in the rehearsal room, so there are more releases to come. If people are kind enough to chip in their ten dollars to see that happen, we are more than thankful. As soon as we reach the 50 K we will do everything to satisfy those who believe in us!

50K MM: When will the EP come out? What are your plans for promotion?TNW: In April, if everything goes according to plans, but since everything isn't quite sealed yet, it might be earlier or it might be later. But we'll make sure to keep our fans up to date. The promotion of our EP will pretty

much be done in a DIY spirit. We haven't got a big company to back us up, so this is our chance to show the world what we are capable of by ourselves. Convincing 100 people by playing an awesome gig means way much more to us than showing a high budget tv-commercial to 100.000 viewers would do. And of course, sending promo cd's to cool magazines and radio stations will be part of the promotion, as well as reaching as much people as possible on facebook, myspace, twitter etc.

50K MM: Do you have any plans for touring after the EP release?TNW: Absolutely. Dates and venues are still to be confirmed, since we havent been able to decide upon a release date yet, but we will hit the road to promote the EP, that's for sure.

50K MM: And at last: One thing about you and your music that everybody should know.TNW:The EP is great, but the physical copies strictly limited, so get one while you still can! www.myspace.com/nancywha

... With A Punkish AttitudeThe Nancy Wha are up-and-coming primarily because they are well-known for their life performances. The new EP will come out soon - sadly without the support of the SellaBand community. This is their plan.

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, who are the band members? Please tell us something about BOA.Botond: BOA started out with three members, me (Botond), my cousin Orsi and my brother Attila. Orsi is the singer in the constellation, I play the acoustic- and Attila plays electric guitar. First William joined on drums and after short period of trying out with bass player Gabriel, Olof joined and it seems like he will stick with us in the future.

50K MM: How did you discover SellaBand?Botond: I first discovered TalenCast on a bands myspace page and it went on from there. At first, the idea of SellaBand seemed impossible for us being such a new band, but I asked the others and we decided to give it a go. For now it turned out better than anyone of us expected.

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to

believe (and invest) in you? Please give us some more details about your plan and incentives believers can get.Botond: Our goal is to record our first album. We have not yet worked out a plan or a strategy for how we can get more believers, but for now we are offering 50% of the revenue from the album we will make with the help of the fans. The SellaBand concept is pretty new for us and we have not yet seen all the possibilities within it. The plan can be modified as we go, so look out for anything new. We will come up with incentives in the future for those how believe and invest in our plan. We are also working on press material, photos of all five of us and some diary kind of videos will also be showing up on the site soon.

50K MM: You have raised 1% of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the target of 10k $ yet? What are your plans then?Botond: When we reach our target of 10k $, we will mainly work on our debut album. You meet a lot of people while you´re out playing gigs and there are some possibilities to work with people that can make our goal a reality. We want to build our reputation slowly by makeing the album and book bigger gigs in Sweden at first and then build it from there. I think people take you more seriously when you have an album on the market. That means that you´ve achieved something and music magazines write about you etc.

50K MM: You are a rather young band playing Swedish pop. Are there any role models in Sweden or elsewhere?Botond: The world is full of good music and we all have different influences in the band. BOA is what comes out of us playing together. It would be hard to name a band or an artist in this sence, but I think what we all like in music is when it is down to earth and played with honesty. Music can be very simple, yet grandiose if you don´t try to “polish” it to much. That is what we try to achieve when we record our songs.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Botond: I think you´ve already did help buy writing about us. But keeping an eye on BOA in the near future will be help a lot and of course telling all your friends that we exist.

Music Played With HonestyThey are one of my favourite newcomer bands at the moment. Listen to Swedish Pop coming from BOA.

www.sellaband.com/boa

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from? Please tell us something about you.Lee Ann: My name is LeeAnn Casey. I am from Alpena Michigan. It is a small town but it was a great place to grow up. My mom has always been very supportive of me. At age 15 she started letting me play out at a local bar where I first started playing my own songs publicly. It wasn’t a typical teenage experience but it was great. Every week I would be there hanging out with other musicians, singing and playing my guitar. It wasn’t long after that that I fell in love with the recording world and decided to attend The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Arizona. That school was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and it has helped me to make some awesome connections in the music business.

50K MM: How did you discover SellaBand?Lee Ann: I work for the producer J Chris Griffin. One of my jobs is to help him find vocal students. Apryl Evans, an amazing Sella Band artist, replied to one of my craigslist ads that I put out and has been taking lessons with Chris for a couple of months now. She had told him about Sella Band and Chris couldn’t wait to tell me about it.

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?Lee Ann: Good question, I’m still trying to figure that out myself! Just kidding, I’m just going to be me. I’m trying to put out as much music, videos, and pictures as I can to show potential and current believers that I

am serious, and I want this and I am going to work as hard as I can to make this work!50K MM: You have raised 2% of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the target of 15k $ yet? What are your plans then?Lee Ann: Well I’ve already been in the studio laying down guide tracks and vocals for my full length CD. Once I have the $15,000, I’m handing over $10,000 of it to J Chris Griffin and saying.... LETS FINISH IT! Chris is super talented and has a great working pace. It will take hardly any time for us to fully produce out and finish a whole CD.

50K MM: Do you think a 15k $ budget will be enough to produce a professional album? Please give us some more details.Lee Ann: For the average artist I would say, $15,000 is not nearly enough, but because I work for J Chris Griffin I have a little bit of an

advantage on recording costs. I have nightly access to his studio and all of his equipment. I’m actually blessed with a boyfriend who is an audio engineer as well and he has been training under J Chris Griffin for about a year now. So yes, I can definitely make a $15,000 budget work.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Lee Ann: Tell your friends! If you enjoy my music tell someone, and tell them to tell someone! I’ve learned during my short period of time working in the music industry that networking is HUGE. It’s all about making those little connections.

I'm Just Going To Be MeAnother promising newcomer on SellaBand last month is Lee Ann Casey - she tells us about her plans and expectations

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.Lindy: I'm Lindy Waldeck, I was born in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, grew up in a small but beautiful town called Enkhuizen and now live with my husband (and 3 children from our previous marriages) in a small village called Wervershoof in the province of Noordholland, situated on the banks of the IJsselmeer. Wervershoof is full of music, there are a lot of bands and singer/songwriters originating from this place!

In day-to-day live my husband and I run a furniture company, we produce handmade wooden furniture for indoor and outdoor and kitchens, mainly from old (drift)wood and scaffolding boards. Next to doing all kinds of administrative stuff and marketing I also design furniture. Before we started this business in 2005 I have been working for different companies in the publishing and internet business in customer service, webdesign, marketing and project management.

Music has been in my head for all my life, my own words and melodies were just waiting in line to come out. But only during the past few years with the help of computers I discovered ways of getting them out and turn them into real sound someone else can listen to and – hopefully – enjoy. The styles are diverse, but for some reason there mostly seems to be a jazzy touch or a bluesy note. As such I use the tag "Jazz & More" as that perfectly describes -IMO- my music. There is jazz, but also a lot more than that!

Jazz&More is also the name of my band. We mainly play covers at the moment, lots of good old Jazz standards, next to more recent easy listening and popmusic, from Ella Fitzgerald to Donna Summer to Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse. We are just beginning to put some of my own songs on the repertoire, but we’re not ready to perform most of them yet, especially the last couple of months have been slow with the band, we are still looking for a (good) jazz pianist after our previous pianist left the band but it is really hard to find someone. We sure hope to find a replacement soon as I'm really looking forward to bring my music live on stage. And although my Sellaband profile is my personal one and not that of the whole band, I'd love to be able to record the CD withthe whole band as these guys are great musicians. The band has 2 vocalists, me and Nico Veenendaal who has an incredible voice and I hope that I'll succeed in writing some songs for him as well and perhaps do a duet.

The songs in my playlist on Sellaband are all home recorded demo's with computer based music. No fancy mixing or mastering, as I couldn’t find anyone that would do that for me free of charge :) And that’s where Sellaband comes in, as it’s been my life long dream to get a CD out. And with help of friends, family and SAB’s believers I hope to make that dream come true and record my songs in a professional way to take them to the next level, put them on a disc which hopefully then will find it’s way to the music lovers!

Lindy Jazz & MoreLindy Waldeck plays Pop music with a very jazzy touch. She unveils her plans and the secret of her success on SellaBand to 50K MUSIC MAG

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50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?Lindy: I discovered Sellaband already a couple of years ago when someone I know was (and still has a profile but is no longer active) fundraising through SAB. I visited from time to time, but it took me to end november 2009 to finally have the guts to sign up to start fundraising myself. Last summer I had participated in a contest from Buma/Stemra, who organised Dutch Writers Camp, open to worldwide songwriters and producers. Before that I had never openly shared my music with the world, but I got such good response (ended as #29 in the public vote among approx. 450 contestants) and that gave me enough confidence that I would be able to find other people liking my music and willing to prebuy my CD or support me in other ways.

50K MM: Your music is very influenced by Jazz, a genre that normally does not work out very well on SellaBand. But you have already raised 11% of your budget. What do you think is the reason why believers love your music?Lindy: I guess that is because it isn't pure jazz but pop music with a jazzy touch. If you compare the songs in my player you'll find they are all quite different, from electro pop to blues rock through new age style to jazz. That also perfectly fits with my personal taste in music which is covering I guess the entire musical spectrum from Classical to heavy rock.And at the same time I think it is also because I'm not sitting back and just wait what will happen, I'm actively promoting my music on Sellaband, Twitter, MySpace, Hyves and Facebook and also very important: offline ofcourse. I'm currently offering a demo CD for just two parts to online believers, and am selling it offline too and re-investing all the money from that into my Sellaband project. The demo was made on my own cost but worth every cent, I've already sold over 50 copies in just a few weeks. My mom is also actively making her friends and our family make donations. So far the investments come for about 50% out of my own network, and 50% from new believers, which is so wonderful! I just hope that more and more people will listen to my music and discover that it's more than jazz alone. I realize that the tag "Jazz&More" can perhaps influence people not to listen if they're not into jazz, but on the other hand, the "More" can trigger the curious.

50K MM: Please tell us something about your plans after you will have reached your target.Lindy: It will ofcourse all start before I reach my target, as right now I'm looking, asking and listening around to find the right studio, a good producer, some musicians in addition to the bandmembers for instruments we don't have in the band; I hope to be well prepared so that as soon as I reach target I'll able to deliver a quality CD as fast as possible. And then ofcourse make sure the CD will get sold, get airplay, also actively selling through gigs.

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you to raise the rest of your budget?Lindy: That's a question I'm asking myself every day, which I think every artist raising funds should be doing. Make sure you do what you promise, be on the constant lookout for new opportunities to promote your music. I'm currently thinking of a plan to get believers on board on a more commercial side, but I cannot disclose that at the

moment as it is in a too early stage. And next to that ofcourse deliver more music. My plan is to record a CD with about 12 songs, and I would love to have at least a double number of songs to select the best from for the album, and I'm currently very active writing and recording demo's. I wish everyone could hear how they already sound in my head! The demo's I have currently up in my player do not reflect half of what the songs would sound like when properly produced and recorded. And I hope that my believers will help me pick the right songs for the album!

Next to that I have also put up my music on a couple of other international music sites, ofcourse with links to my Sellaband Profile. And last but not least, to have the band fully operational again as soon as possible, to play, play, play, play and play live and make the listeners aware that they can support us by buying parts!

50K MM: And how can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Lindy: Well, asking me for this interview already helps to spread the word that I am out here, so I thank you for this opportunity to tell a little bit more about myself! And ofcourse I hope that everyone who reads this issue and has not yet discovered my music on Sellaband will take a moment to visit my profile and listen to some of the songs. And if you like them, please become a believer! The target I have set is not so incredibly high, so I really hope that I can reach that in a foreseeable timeframe and that the believers do not have to wait too long to receive something in return for their investments.

50K MM: And at last: Something you want to tell your fans and believers.Lindy: I'm just overwhelmed by the warm welcome I have received from individuals and groups of believers and followers on Sellaband, from encouraging messages to generous investments and active support and promotion and review of my music on other platforms. And next to that I have found some great other musicians through Sellaband, all kind and supportive of eachother and with a lot of wonderful songs that deserve to be heard. I am not naming people/groups on purpose, too afraid to leave someone out, but a BIG THANK YOU to all of you!

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50K MM: On your SellaBand profile we read that you are coming from Denmark, your songs are partly in Italian. Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.Deborah: I was born in Italy but I started to study languages because I wanted to communicate with people all over the world. Not only with the music but also with the words. So I studied different languages and lived in France, Holland, England, now Denmark and I am about to move to Sweden. I consider myself more of a citizen of the world, since I was a kid my family had roots in other countries and this gave me always a feeling of interconnectedness. My family had been living from the 40's to the 60's in Tunisia, so we had in our family heritage sayings, traditional recipes and expressions that were both Italian, Arabic and Jewish. I guess I just continued this exploration of other cultures just to find out that we are just all the same. In myself I have and I treasure aspects of the Dutch, of the French, of the Italian etc etc etc

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?Deborah: I had been offered record deals by producers in Italy and also foreigner but I was disappointed by the reality of the music business, which is extremely more

business than art. But I wanted to do art, and above all I did not want to get into compromises because you should not censor art, and in reality #making songs in a commercial way # it is in a way censoring. So I found out, about sellaband,about the great concept of artists and fans united to finally make good music win, to finally create something great and eternal together.

50K MM: You have raised 10% of your budget so far. How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you to raise the rest of your budget?Deborah: It is easy I think, in my opinion the closwe you are to the goal the easier it is. I do not rush, I have all the time and at the same time I am releasing free tracks, free music ( other than the 11 songs that will be included in the sellaband album) to let people know of my music. Personally as an artist, I am not jealous to share the beauty of a music, why waiting years if the world can enjoy that now? What if I died tomorrow and I left a whole book full of songs, that have never been recorded,never been listened to by any other human ear. What a pity! In practice, I am advertising the funding through competitions on my blog, twitter, facebook, youtube videos. As a second and more important thing: i am going to search fo the support of environmental,ethical and creative brands. I am researching individuals and concepts all over the world that share my values and with whom I could create partnership to raise awareness and funds towards my music. it is working out quite well, many people are responding and investing already.50K MM: Please tell us something about your plans once you will have reached your target.Deborah: The plan is the following:recording the 11 tracks in a few weeks ( 2/3 week), paying a PR to send press releases to Italian, Dutch, English and Scandinavian newspapers and radios. I worked myself in radio for over 2 years so I also have some tools and connections to have this working. Giving an opening concert for the release of the album Taking some days off from work for a long period of time and gigging Europe with the album tracks, selling the album and the merchandise at the concerts. I plan to start organizing gigs and concerts already before the recording of the album, I am actually doing most of this already now.

50K MM: And how can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Deborah: Invest in my music and spread the word and the widget and banner of my raising profile. Go to my website www.deborah.mu and promote it. If you wish to wait until I am at 50% because you want to make sure the album gets released in a timely manner, that is fine by me. i trust the believers but they should also trust me, and if they need more time to see that I am

Art Is A Way Of Saving Us Deborah Di Nauta talks about her

expectations on SellaBand

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serious,organized,talented and structured that is fine. I work full time as a financial assistant, so I am very used to structuring,efficiency and organization. If my funding is completed let's say in September, I will not record the album later than 3 months later, and release it no later than another 3 months.

50K MM: And at last: Something you want to tell your fans and believers.Deborah: For me art is a way of saving us, each of us and humanity. All over the world we see scattered people raising in awareness and raising the veil and seeing things. Do not think that they are isolated, they are influencing you and me right now. The music, the true music, the one made by the soul, is connected to this awareness and is the only devine force that man will ever really know of. Be part of my journey, the journey in this life that I started almost 30 years ago,a journey that has been made of sounds, chords, words, feelings. I have no wish, contrary to all musicians, to become super rich and super famous or to sell my soul to get fame. I am already satisfied and happy with what I have and I am today but I know that my music can make a difference and make others satisfied and happy now. I do not wish and I have never wished for anything else than salvation for me and all creatures. No, I am not affiliated with any religion, sect, organization or mind control game. All those things can control you only if you let them to. The human power is much stronger than that. Ever closed your eyes listening to a song and you got totally lost in it? This is the devine force that I am talking about, it is at your hand now. Let's make it become stronger together.

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(UBG) The first of Dan’s appearances at The Troubadour as part of his bi-monthly residency (ie playing every two months) and introducing the new drummer James Titshall (replacing the excellent Prav who’s moved on to concentrate on other projects), along with recent-ish addition Henry Gilbert on bass and double bass, and of course the old hand Jen Delaney helping Dan out with the singing duties.

Had a nice meal upstairs before the gig, and a couple of happy hour cocktails before wandering downstairs to catch

the end of the sound check and grab a table. Great to see the place so full and definitely impressed by Jake Hall and Anoushka Lucas, and bought both their EPs. The Keitels, on last, were pretty competent, the girl singer had a great voice, but they didn’t seem to be enjoying it much (and

had apparently thought it was OK to talk loudly through everyone else’s set too!) so I thought that whilst musically it was good, the ‘show’ lacked a bit of sparkle!

Dan, on third, opened with the Queen Of Something New which got everyone’s toes tapping. Interestingly, I didn’t have the same reaction as last time I saw them, when my mind would fill in for the missing Helen on violin and Milo on cello. It seems really tight and ‘complete’ again now the re-organisation has had some time to bed in properly. This has perhaps shifted the sound a little from nu-folk to nu-country but it is definitely a comfortable fit now and sounding great!

First of three new songs, So Simple is (still) a beautiful song with all the DWM hall marks of harmonies as it lets the crowd settle into the set. Next up is the newest song, indeed the first outing for The Prettiest Girl At The Dance, followed by Make A Woman Cry, both of which are finely crafted songs with geat tunes and involving lyrics and are definitely keepers!

Jen takes the reins for The Sun Is In Your Eyes and it’s as wonderful as ever, and Dan closes the set with She’s A Knockout and Act Of Defiance, both of which sound fabulous in the new arrangements.

The crowd were at times a bit rowdy (but often are at The Troubadour) but most appreciative as shown by the leCDs they purchased, and the no. of names added to the email list.

Excellent Dan … 10 out of 10!

Next playing at the Troubadour on the 1st April, which is also going to be when Julia Johnson is playing as part of her residency, so that should be a good night!

On Stage with ... Daniel Ward-Murphy at The TroubadourDaniel played live at The Troubadour last Thursday and Utterly B Groovy

was on the ground for us. Photos by Nick Deaves.