The final video from World Beyond's Nobody Asked For This So I did It album has been released: NOT THE END, a special Juneteenth Bandcamp Friday tomorrow + some more updates!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great June so far! It's been a busy few weeks since the last post, mostly recording lead guitars for Better Than The Book's next album, though I did find some time to do some acoustic guitar recording as well as a bit of Jabun jamming / recording too! Productive! If all goes well, I might have ALL the guitar work for BTTB's next album finished by the end of the month, though we'll have to see how it all goes. I suppose it'll be onto organ after that which I'm looking very forward too! Anyways, onto the news for this week, there's a surprise new video to share from World Beyond as well as a special Juneteenth Bandcamp Friday fundraiser tomorrow to help in the fight against racism (always a good thing). Let's get started!

First of all this week, the collaborative music project I've been part of for many years now, World Beyond has just released the final video from its Nobody Asked For This So I Did It album which came out in December 2018: NOT THE END! It's been a grand few years since the album was released and thanks so much for supporting the project over the years! Vlad sure kept this one quiet as even I didn't know this video was coming out and I was playing bass (and guitar maybe) for it! I hope you enjoy this epilogue/conclusion to the album and I'm looking forward to sharing WB's next project with you all soonish (super exciting stuff coming)! Check out the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtDWwxfJZQ0

And pick up Nobody Asked For This So I Did It on Bandcamp:

https://worldbeyond.bandcamp.com/album/nobody-asked-for-this-so-i-did-it

Finally this week, a special event and time for some serious talk. Tomorrow is a special Juneteenth Bandcamp Friday event to raise funds for some important stuff I think we can all support: putting a stop to racism and making the world a safer and more accepting place for everyone.

Instead of a usual Bandcamp Friday where all Bandcamp's reveune shares go directly to the artists, this Friday June 18th from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, Bandcamp will be donating 100% of its usual cut to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their ongoing efforts to promote racial justice through litigation, advocacy and public education. You can find out more on Bandcamp here:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/juneteenth-fundraiser-2021

With the ongoing Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements (amongst others), I think it's clear there is something terribly wrong with society which really can't be ignored any longer, and that instead of "not being racist" (which should be obvious), it's time if you haven't already and are able to to actively look out for your friends, neighbours and community to make a stand and say enough is enough, we will not ignore or condone any acts of racism. The same can be said for acts of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, etc... (and a Happy Pride month to all by the way).

I know it's not always easy or comfortable to talk about this stuff let alone actively do something about it, but if we all make even the smallest effort to look after one another and make the world a better place, I think that'd be pretty neat!

So if you've been thinking of picking up some music on Bandcamp, do it this Friday! It doesn't have to be from me, but whatever you buy I'm sure will help put the world on a better path, and if you do decide to pick up one of my albums, then it really means a lot too. You know where to find my Bandcamp stores below and I hope you're able to help:

Better Than The Book (Ska punk): https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Jabun (Ambient and experimental electronic): https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Nick Standing (other older stuff): https://nickstanding.bandcamp.com/

And if your wallet is empty or there's nothing you want at the moment music-wise, you can help by simply talking to your friends and family about this stuff and raising awareness of the issue. Remember it's not about who's lives matter over who's or one group of people against another, it's about everyone working together to put a stop against racism and allow everyone to live their lives feeling safe and respected regardless of ethnicity, culture or skin colour (or gender or preferences too), and I don't think there's anyone who can reasonably argue against that. Thanks for doing your bit to help however you can.

And that about wraps things up for this post! I'll be continuing with guitar recording as much as I can until that's finished and if there's no post next week I'll definitely be back on July 1st for the next one! Until then I hope you have a great rest of June and Pride Month, look after and be kind to each other, stay safe, keep hydrated, and thanks as always for supporting my projects however you can! Take care and all the best!