Band For The Day... : Year Review 2008

BAND FOR THE DAY...
PLAYING WITH MUSIC STOPS HERE!
YEAR REVIEW 2008

Interviews with BFTD bands...
Jakil - Scotland
Amberskin - Romania
Laura Nunes-Cram - USA
The Auto-dropouts - Sweden
The Procession - England
Necrolatry - Norway
Billy The Mountain - Thailand
Kasper - Denmark
Aleksandr Khodchenko - Ukraine
Herculean - Scotland
NEWS/articles...
The guys behind BFTD

How it all started
The way ahead!
How BFTD works
How BFTD has changed
Let’s get sociable
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http://www.bandfortheday.com
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H
ello and welcome to the first BFTD Annual Review 2008
ever yearly review magazine
from Band For The Day.
Band For The Day Ltd.
We are really excited to have this 20 Drum Brae South
opportunity to celebrate our first year Edinburgh
in existence with all our bands, music Scotland
lovers as well as people who have not
come into contact with us yet.
Edited by: Ged Brockie
This magazine outlines the people
behind BFTD, how it started, our de- Many thanks to the following
velopment over the year and where contributors:
the site is going. We also highlight
some of the bands that have caught Aleksandr, Jasper, Kasper, Laura,
our eye in the first year of operation Liam, Billy and all the guys in
. Amberskin, Herculean, Necrolatry
The bands interviewed have either and The Procession.
done extremely well on the BFTD site
in either becoming BFTD winners or Also big thanks to Iain, Mike, Lee,
entering the Hall of Fame, or have Calum, Euan, Chris at “Guitar Gui-
made us sit up when we listened to tar”, Adam at Circular Records and
the music they created. To all the Charlie Smith for all his hard work.
bands on the site not featured we
would like to say a big sorry, however,
we had to draw the line somewhere
and hopefully your turn will come next
year.
We hope you enjoy this, our first ezine

annual review and that you will send it
to as many people as possible to let
them in on BFTD...this is only the
beginning!
Best wishes from the BFTD team.
Band For The Day - playing with music No part of this publication may be
stops here... copied or stored in any retrieval
system, electronic or otherwise,
without the prior consent of the
publisher. The publisher cannot take
any responsibility for any mistakes,
omissions or breaches of copyright
since publication. Nor will we take
any responsibility for any outside
content submitted or linked to the
magazine via external website.
© Band For The Day Ltd. 2008
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FEATURES
The Guys Behind BFTD.......................4

How It All Started..............................5
The Changing Face of BFTD................16
Let’s Get Sociable.............................26
How Does BFTD Work?......................35
The Next Step..................................45
BAND INTERVIEWS
Aleksandr Khodchenko - Ukraine.........46

Amberskin - Romania........................37
Billy The Mountain - Thailand.............12
Jakil - Scotland................................41
Kasper - Denmark............................28
Laura Nunes-Cram - USA...................31
Necrolatry - Norway..........................22
The Auto-dropouts - Sweden..............18
The Procession - England...................6
Herculean - Scotland........................52
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The Guys Behind BFTD...
Recently figured in a poll listing the worlds top three hundred acous-
tic guitarist; although not confined to just acoustic guitar, Ged has
worked extensively throughout Europe and the US and his solo band
album was released to critical acclaim. With seven recorded albums
to his credit (including three with the Scottish Guitar Quartet) he
also is a composer of note, regularly writing for media, film and
soundtrack.
Ged Brockie (Director)
An award winning graduate from the Leeds College of Music. His

virtuoso guitar playing belies his years and he combines a musical
maturity with a ferocious technique that is the envy of many a gui-
tarist.
A regular sideman for top acts, Mike's work has included playing with
the seminal group the 'Scottish Guitar Quartet' as well as extensive
radio and live appearances.
Mike Nisbet (Director)
Iain is a qualified chartered accountant who practises as Bolland &

Burke in Edinburgh. As a music lover Iain sees BFTD as an exciting
opportunity for unsigned bands to showcase their talent to a broad
audience of like-minded individuals. He was keen to support the
project and is delighted to have been part of its success. Iain looks
forward to continuing to watch the project evolve and become the
first point of call for unsigned bands.
Ian Bolland (Director)
Lee has played guitar for six years and at university was involved
with the FreshAir Student Radio station in both presenting a show as
well as dealing with PR.
A recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh with a BEng in
Computer Science and Electronics, Lee continues to expand his web
development skills with BFTD.
Lee McLaughlin (Programmer)
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HOW IT ALL STARTED...
In December 2006, myself (Ged) and Mike talked over an idea I had. Basi-
cally, as we are both jazz/contemporary musicians, I had an idea for a
website that would help jazzers get some extra exposure which included the
idea of voting. Mike had recently worked with me on a score for a film I had
been contracted to compose and the working relationship worked really well.
It worked well then and we have worked together both playing music and
working on BFTD ever since.
The more we talked that night, the more we realised that jazz was too small
in terms of numbers of people playing and listening which is why we widened
the whole thing out to include all genres of music.
The basic concept of BFTD was thrashed out over a year and many docu-
ments were produced which helped others understand what we were on
about. We let a few chosen people who’s opinion we respected view the con-
cept and all were very positive. The site has continually evolved since those
early days.
We luckily found an investor who also loved the idea and then went to the
interview stage for the programmer. Lee McLaughlin stood out head and
shoulders above every other candidate and we have been proven right by
choosing him ever since. We also employed a graphic design company who
came up with the original aesthetic concept which is still at the core of the
site today although we are constantly refining this as we go along.
The idea behind BFTD is that traditional download sites were not in our view
that interested in the musicians. The more tracks up the better. Musicians
find themselves back where they started...looking for exposure. BFTD gave
focus to bands who work hard, fans who want to find out what’s out there
and the industry who more than ever need a focal point on new talent.
One year on we now have over 360 bands and roughly 500 individual music
tracks. The site is receiving on average over 1000 unique hits each day and
this number is steadily growing. We are now at a second stage of develop-
ment which will see the site grow even bigger and better. Read “THE NEXT
STEP” article to find out about just some of the ideas coming through which
will make BFTD the best site for independent musicians around the globe.
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THE PROCESSION - ENGLAND
HALL OF FAME WINNERS 2007/08
SIGNED TO CIRCULAR RECORDS LTD.
The Procession threw down the gauntlet to every other band and
musician in the BFTD “Hall of Fame”. Marketing the band, using the
flyers and networking has shown everyone else just what is achiev-
able.
...Band For The Day
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long
have you been working together?
We are a four piece band;

James is on rhythm guitar and
vocals, Martin plays lead guitar
and vocals, Nicholas “Buzz”
plays the drums and sings a
little too, and Paul plays awe-
some bass guitar. The current
line up came together in 2004.
Previous to that James and
Paul were in a band together,
and Martin and Buzz were writ-
ing songs together. Paul met
Buzz at a party, got talking and
the band was formed. We have
been working, writing and play-
ing together ever since. Is that a plank or a baseball bat?
BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do
you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be differ-
ent?
We’ve never really set out to sound like anybody. We all like different styles
of rock music, and have very different influences; Stereophonics, Foo Fight-
ers, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Fugazi etc. We set out from the beginning not to
play any covers, but to write our own songs. Our first practice together was
a jam session in Paul’s garage. We didn’t know where it was going to go, but
ended up writing two of our most popular songs.
BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have
been?
GlastonBudget. We managed to secure a slot on the New Acts Stage at this

years festival. We got to play to our biggest crowd to date. It was an amaz-
ing experience, especially when we got the crowd joining in with “Johnny Got
A Raw Deal”. We were told after the gig that our performance was one of the
highlights of the New Acts Stage and so were interviewed by a Manchester
based radio station.
Obviously being number 1 in the Band for the Day HOF is a big deal to us.
We get very competitive when it is taken away from us and are always look-
ing to improve our position on the site. We always aim to increase the
number of listens and downloads of our songs. All of the rewards we get for
our success on the site goes straight back into recording new material, which
hopefully produces more rewards. We call it the circle of money!!
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BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry
right now?
There seems to be quite a lot of pop music at the moment, which tends to
detract from any up and coming rock bands. Unfortunately, we feel there are
a lot of rock bands that sound too similar. We are in and around the midlands
live circuit and see a lot of bands where you can pinpoint their sound. You
can almost dissect each of their songs and instantly hear the similarities with
more established bands. It’s the idea that if someone has a winning formula,
then somebody else will want to copy it. It’s always a breath of fresh air
when we see a band doing something original; there’s just not enough of it
around at the moment.
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eight-
een months?
World Domination! We play in the band because its fun. We want to continue
building our fanbase, writing and recording new songs and playing more
gigs. As long as we remain mates and it stays fun, we’ll continue to play as a
band. Obviously we like the idea of being full time musicians and quitting our
day jobs, but that’s probably a long way off.
BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come

with complete songs or do you work together to create your music?
All four members of the band write the music we play. They can come from a
jamming session together or an already completed song that someone has
had sitting around. Once we start working on a piece of music it comes to-
gether quickly, there is no set way we write our songs. They just come from
a small idea and grow.
Lyrics are a different matter, we once tried to write a set of lyrics together
and we didn’t get anywhere with it. Each person has ideas for lyrics and
these ideas are maintained better when one or two people work on them. It
becomes easier to complete the lyrics and thus finish the song. We don’t
have to go over any ideas concerning a lonely phone booth in San Andreas
airport!! (Paul defends himself and says he will write that damn song one
day!!)
BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has
been your best?
There have been lots of “worst” experiences. Martins tooth falling out on
stage, his guitar strap breaking halfway through a solo, and his lead “falling”
out of his amp. He also crashed his car on route to that ONE gig!!
At our first ever gig, we opened with ASL? And messed up the intro, with no
experience to lean on we ended up playing a 40 second intro for nearly 2
minutes, it felt like an eternity but thankfully no one knew the song so they
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didn’t really notice.
We played a gig at the Pavilion in Leicester and were on last, Buzz had a bit
too much to drink while we were waiting to go on and subsequently made up
new beats and timings for the songs, taking the rest of us by surprise!
James once needed to piss so bad that he had to leave the stage halfway
through a gig.
Martin forgot the leads for his peddles and so was not going to be able to
play that night, but thankfully for him James was hit with a bout of food
poisoning, he was able to lend Martin his leads but was unable to play him-
self.
We had a gig at the Jug of Ale in Birmingham. James was working in Norwich
so was not going to be able to play. Martin, Paul and Buzz were going to play
an acoustic set as a three piece. But Martin then got stuck in London, James
drove over to Birmingham at the last minute to save the day and the three
of them played what was at that point the bands best gig! (We thought
about sacking Martin but he gave us puppy dog eyes… don’t know what hap-
pened to the rest of the puppy!).
The best experiences we have had on stage, the adrenaline rush of the first
gig we played, we somehow managed to fill half an hour with just four
songs. The first time we played the Shed in Leicester, we sold a load of CD’s
and got asked to sign them… a queue formed, it was quite strange really. We
have been giving the CD’s away since then and no one has asked us to sign
them.
Winning our spot on the New Acts Stage at GlastonBudget was a real high-
light, we played very well and seeing the crowd sing along to Johnny Got A
Raw Deal was a really special moment.
Playing GlastonBudget Festival, we played to the biggest crowd we have had

so far. Getting to experience the whole festival as a band, hang out as mates
and then play on the New Acts Stage, it was just an awesome weekend.
Hopefully it will not be a one off and we will be back there next year.
BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the
readers?
Before we got our own practice room we used to play at a place called
Stayfree in Leicester. We were in the “pink room” after another band who
could not operate the air con unit, they had managed to turn it into a heater.
We ended up playing in a room that was at 39 degrees, Paul lost about a
stone, and his shirt!
Buzz hates people talking to him about his drumming, especially when they
use drum sound affects to explain what they mean. To date he has thrown
several drum sticks at Paul and kicked his drum kit at James (which was ok
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because that was the sound James wanted him to make, and it didn’t even
hurt anyway!)
We were all around Paul’s house, and Martin went to use the toilet, came
down commenting on how the baby wipes were a little harsh… only to find
that they were in fact Parazone toilet cleaning wipes. Yes he bleached his
arse hairs, Buzz checked.
Paul once spent £45 on flyers for a gig that was taking place the following
day, leaving no time to actually advertise the gig and hand them out!
BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much
abroad?
Fifteen to twenty gigs a year at various venues around the midlands. We are
currently having a break from gigging to allow us to complete and record
some new material for our up and coming second EP called “insert name
here…” We aim to be back out on the road by the end of October to show-
case the new material.
At the present moment in time we have not had the chance to take the show
abroad, but we hope to in the near future. It is something we are seriously
looking at for next summer.
BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band?
Hanging out with your mates and making some noise. Playing gigs, seeing
people you don’t know enjoying your music. The adrenaline rush, coming off
the stage and knowing that you have played really well and that people en-
joyed what you did. It can take days to come down sometimes. Listening
back to a new song and realising that it is really good. Just enjoying playing
the music that you make
BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be?
We would like to be recognised as a great local band, who don’t have their
head shoved up their own arses. We are what we are and don’t try to hide
that (except Paul, who is going bald but always tries to hide it with a hat on
stage!). A record deal would be nice, money, houses, cars and women… but
until then just to have a laugh and enjoy what we are doing.
12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?
We have got a lot from Band For The Day, promotion packages, magazine
interviews and the chance to play at the Grassroots Festival (maybe!!). It is
something we advertise at every gig we play, on the posters and the flyers
we hand out. Hopefully this has been beneficial to both ourselves and BFTD.
We are very competitive over the HOF and hope to remain at number 1 for a
long time to come.
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BILLY THE MOUNTAIN - THAILAND
What happens when a bunch of talented European musicians meet in

Thailand? You get the wonderful sounds of “Billy The Mountain”
...Band For The Day
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We’ve been a band for just a year and the band formed to start putting band
l e a d e r Z a n d e r Ra n ’s so n g s d o w n i n t h e st u d i o f i r st o f a l l . Zander Ran sings
and writes the songs - he is the face of Billy The Mountain; Nicolai Kehlet
from Denmark is the guitarist and arranger; Steve Wright from Canada is
the keyboardist-co-writer; Nils Anderson is on slide and atmospherics; and
Simon Bell from England is the drummer. We have a number of drummers
and bass players including Por Thonglor, a Thai on bass, and in Bangkok
various sidemen on trumpet, tenor sax, and San Francisco’s Billy ‘Doc’
Waitts on alto sax.
you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your
sound to be different?
We rate Steely Dan, Little Feat, Toto, Floyd, Zappa, the

Beatles…Coldplay even…I mean any band with
melodies and structures that don’t not demand a jazz
degree! Our stuff is very simple but musical first and
foremost. Our sound starts with Zander/Billy’s voice
and then we layer our influences around that basic
ingredient. It’s a music cake - and it better swing too!
And we always add an ounce of the Blues!
The recording studio
been?
Getting the first album done! We released the album Drifting to Valhalla in
April and it has had a tremendous welcome across the Internet. We reached
the Hall of Fame on www.bandfortheday.com in just 4 days and (at time of
writing 3/8/2008) on www.noisehead.com for example, we’ve had more than
50,000 listens - not visits - listens! We also had a visiting government official
from Zimbabwe (who is white and must remain nameless) come to our gig
and invite us to play at the national celebrations in Harare when Mugabe is
finally booted out!
right now?
The cool thing is that ‘industry’ is the word now….we - the musicians - have
never been so industrious in making and distributing our music because now
we have a personal stake in our efforts and any success. The snake’s head -
the music labels and their Britneys and Maroon 5s and Linkin Parks and
Madonnas are breathing hard and faking the charts, but they know they are
going down. The snake’s tail (the blogs, the MP3 site) is where all the real
action is and gently the punters will determine what they want, when they
want it and how…like they said years ago…digital technology will completely
change the world - especially our world. Give the punters what they actually
want: easy-to-download, cheap, quality songs with video and bios attached,
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and maybe a half-price ticket to the next gig if they buy far enough in
advance. And like we plan to do, we’re gonna have our fans book the gigs for
us and at the ‘best’ venues.
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next

eighteen months?
We will finish our second album by Christmas and plan to tour Europe in
Spring and Summer 2009 with the US right after that. The key word here is
‘plan’. We’re already writing the third album and with that amount of cool
material, all we want to do is play every day and forever!

Zander writes the songs - lyrics, melodies and feel. Nicolai does the rest with
whoever he needs to help. He is a brilliant arranger and producer and
Zander and he are a great team. The songs come from life itself and that can
be pretty inspiring in a place like Asia!
BFTD 7. What is the band’s worst experience on stage

and what has been your best?
The band’s collective worst experience was missing a gig for

the BBC here in Bangkok when our manager missed the
call. The best was playing for ten thousand people in
Singapore.
Guitar line up
readers?
Funny…weird…? We Billy The Mountain are booked to play the Katmandu

Music Festival in November. Spot the odd-mountain-out in the Himalayas!
abroad?
Right now as we assemble new material and plan the logistics for touring the
world properly, efficiently, cost-effectively we just play festivals and do our
other gigs in side projects such as our blues band the Mercy Street Blues
Band see www.Youtube.com or www.myspace.com/themercystreetblesband
Being in a band! And letting go of all that stuff you want to say, express. And
showing off your chops on your instrument…and the chicks…
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After the Number One best-selling album, a house above Salzburg with our
own studio and a school for third world kids to learn music, all supported by
Billy The Mountain tours. And a coffee shop for our fans looking out over the
Alps!
BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?
You know, they ask ‘where’s the music business going?’ It’s the fans and
musicians who will decide. But don’t forget there are millions dying every
month with no water or food, and we need to hone our priorities towards
being a musical ‘success’ and to gauge that success using a bit more than
just CD sales or downloads as our yardstick.
WHY GO BFTD CONNECT?

For Serious Bands on BFTD - BFTD CONNECT
• Your own shop - a huge range of T-shirts, caps, mugs, bags

with more products on the way. Your logos where you/your fans
want them. You set the price up to 100% profit for all sales. NO
stock or start up costs - You sell, we send - it’s a no brainer!
• Gather all your fans in one place! Communicate and interact

through Fan/Band boards and privately through backstage con-
trol panels. Keep fans up to speed on all your gigs, tours, CDs,
new merchandise and special offers as it happens.
• Create ‘Top Fans’ who can virally spread the word about your
music throughout the site - a virtual street team at your com-
mand; think about it!
• Upload unlimited amounts of photos from your gigs, recording

sessions and tours. Create photo albums that enables all your
fans to connect with you and your music like never before.
• With BFTD CONNECT you don’t have to worry about stuffing
CDs into envelopes anymore...we give you a BFTD Virtual Press
Kit...one click and send your biog, music, stage setup and pho-
tographs to those who matter.
• Unlimited videos and links to the outside world - make BFTD

your promotions nerve centre!
Oh and there’s more on the way! All this is only £10/$20

dollars per month or a yearly fee of only £100/$200.
Sign Up Now at http://www.bandfortheday.com
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The Changing Face of BFTD
When BFTD opened it’s doors to bands and the music public last November
(2007), we had worked for nearly a year to create the original look and feel.
We thought we had a finished product, however, the truth is that the site has
continuously evolved both in functionality and user interface. Here we
thought we would highlight the changes in one area ‘band pages’ which re-
flects the change that has happened across the site as a whole.
PLAY BUTTONS, ARCHIVED SONGS, STATS
Here you can see the last third of a band page as viewed last November.
Viewing this now, it looks very old fashioned and to be honest, does not
make the most of the space for bands or the music. These sections were all
placed at the bottom of a page and the songs could all play at the same time
if you were minded to try it! Archived songs are hidden away (previous BFTD
winning tracks) and were not readily available to view or hear.
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THE NEW LOOK...
• all new media player created with striking logo. This solution neatly wraps
up all the bands BFTD songs in three song packages as well as offering fur-
ther controls such as volume etc. • brought all buying options to the top of
the page - no scroll needed with easy to understand graphics • new TAB
interface so people easily select the information they want and importantly,
it’s expandable • enhanced the way in which statistics were reported •
One final point. The biggest area of change on the BFTD site has happened
behind the scenes! Band backstage control panels and the way the site is
wired up continue to evolve to bring new features for everyone taking part.
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THE AUTO-DROPOUTS - SWEDEN
Beautifully crafted songs accompany a penchant for art...The Auto-
Dropouts will be dropping in to iPods around the world very shortly.
...Band For The Day
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I (That's Jesper) started to record songs again with local friends about three
years ago. This was after a ten year long break from music/recordings/bands
- everything. In the late 90's I found myself totally bored with it, but for
some reason I started to pick up the guitar again after our daughter was
born. The band is more a huge cooperating thing with people involved from
Sweden, Canada, USA. but just recently a line up for live shows was
brought together. This was in December -07.
It's Me, Jesper, on guitar and backing vox. Simon Carlsson - vocals, Erik
Henriksen (from Austin U.S.) on guitar, James Buchanan (London - now lives
in Stockholm) on bass and Beng Westin on drums.
BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in

your music and how do you ensure that
there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be
different?
Influences are a tricky question. I don’t listen

much to music these days - except for the un-
signed stuff I hear at BFTD - Garageband and
Myspace, so I guess that's a huge inspiration.
When I list bands I feel inspired by I realize it's
not in my songwriting; bands like "The Only
Ones", "The Soft Boys", "The Smiths", "Kinks",
God, I really don’t know. I love the 60's the 70’s
and a lot from the early 80's. Just as long as
there is good songwriting so enough of me is not
the issue. With people involved from around the
world with all their influences it always ends The Auto’s in London
up in a totally new place every recording and
that's sweet!
been?
I guess it has to be to get booked for gigs in London by "City showcase

London". We made our first gig ever there in May and will be back for an-
other one in October.
right now?
The music industry - Well, it's fantastic!!!!!

So much cool new things is going on in every corner. It's almost to over-
whelming and much or all b/c of Internet I'd say. A lot of co-operations be-
tween bands, an "ocean" of new sites to sell/promote your music. Just found
the site "Sellaband" where people become "Believers" of a band and you put
22
in twenty dollars or something. When the bunch of believers is many enough
- a CD is being made!!!! That sort of co-work between new artists and their
fans is just brilliant.
I said it before and I say it again - BFTD is a beautiful place as well. Problem
might be that the world get's overflow by to many places that are pretty
much the same thing. I guess nature will let the best one standing after a
few years from now.
To sell CD's however, seem to be pretty impossible these days, so I guess

the big winners has to be those who put's tours together. Bookers and
anything involved with the live thing. -That's also the best place for a new
band to eventually sell a few CD’s's.
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals

within the next eighteen months?
Hopefully to be booked for shows. That's the hardest

thing in the world. It's even easier for us to get a gig
in London then in Stockholm. Pretty weird huh?
BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do

individuals come with complete songs or do you
work together to create your music?
So far i write the songs & the lyrics, but i hope we will
work with this together in the future.
In full flow!
been your best?
We have had only one gig :-) That was at "Lark in the park" and it was
the worst AND the best at the same time. B/c of poor communication there
where no amps at the place (mind warping...) but another band showed up
really late (car problems:-) so we had to throw em up and start without any
soundcheck. Still a lot of great people there to support us and the other
bands, so it turned out being a really sweet evening - after all.
readers?
Nope.
abroad?
See question seven above.
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If the chemistry is right - it's like being 15 years old again - just a bunch of
silly young/old men getting their yaya's out together. Like being on a perma-
nent vacation with chaos and not to much order - a good flow!!!
Peace in the world ? Ha-ha! Some of us are old farts with small kids at
home. Ten years ago I would have said "A WORLD TOUR" -Now I'm more
modest so I say "A EUROPEAN TOUR" or perhaps - a few festival gigs during
summertime?? -Fair enough!
When it comes to music and how It's suppose to be like - this is the time to
break new ground. Keep your mind "outside the box" it's revolution time and
anything is possible.
Advertisment
BANNER ADVERTISING ON BFTD

THE BFTD WEBSITE RECEIVES THOUSANDS OF HITS PER MONTH
AND USERS STAY FOR LONGER...ON AVERAGE MORE THAN FOUR
MINUTES EACH! GET YOUR BUSINESS MOVING - EMAIL
mike@bandfortheday.com for our advertising rate card.
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NECROLATRY - NORWAY
The say “the harder they are, the harder they fall”. Well, this band is
not falling anywhere...and they are as hard as it gets, so listen up!
...Band For The Day
t!
e y d o b es
g w hat th
i n
ro la try do
Nec
25
Writing the story since the beginning of the band in 2004 could fill up a
whole book, we’ve been changing members every 6 months since the
beginning. In short: the original founding member Birger wanted to play
metal in our totally punk and emo influenced town Tromsø. The music was
melodic death metal that didn’t sound like every other band out there at the
moment. The songs were short and to the point. After many years of
changing members the current and stable line up is:
Birger: the founding

member and lead/rhythm
guitar player
Al: the first and current
guitar player brought in to
the band. One of the early
members and also lead/
rhythm guitar player
Tage: who joined very early
on and is the band’s first
and current bass player who
also handles a lot of admin.
work and setting up shows
Anders: joined the band as
vocalist after parting ways
with Iskald, a black metal The guys hard at it!
band.
Ivar: the current drummer and the newest member of the band, also
youngest.
you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be
different?
Well, we are very inspired by bands like Necrophagist, The Black Dahlia
Murder, At the Gates, Cryptopsy, Aborted, As I Lay Dying and a ton of other
bands. We listen to all kinds of metal, from slow melodic to grindcore. All of
these different influences combined with our own musical ideas make
Necrolatry sound like Necrolatry, not like any other particular band.
been?
Getting a line-up that looks to be stable first time in many years.
26
right now?
Seems to be that heavy bands like Lamb of God and Job for A Cowboy are
getting very popular, even though they’re very heavy. It looks like metal is
on the rise. We have noticed that even in our small town where in the recent
years there were more and more metal
bands and less punk, and more people
attending metal concerts.
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable

goals within the next eighteen months?
Right now we are planning to record an EP

or an album when we feel the songs are
tight enough in the practice environment.
Then we will probably play a lot of live
concerts, and try to get signed by a label.
BFTD
An old 6.line
band Howup does
promothe
shot writing process work? Do individuals
come with complete songs or do you work together to create your
music?
Usually our guitarists Al and Bigg write the songs individually, then they
write it on guitar pro and sends it out to the rest of the members so we can
learn them. Then we all come together and jam them.
been your best?
The worst must have been just waiting forever for the sound engineers to
get the sound right in the monitors and in general just the technical part of
the concerts with the equipment working right. Playing the songs in itself is
always fun and we have no problems. Only one time when our drummer
couldn’t hear or see anything because of all the smoke, so we had to skip a
riff. That was kind of fucked up, but we saved ourself that time.
readers‘?
One concert like last June, we played live at Kaos in Tromsø. Our lead
guitarist Bigg got kinda drunk before the concert. And when we were done
with our set, the crowd wanted more. We all wanted to play a song that we
hadn’t played in a long time. It went good for like 1,5 minutes before none
of us could remember shit. We played bullshit for 2 minutes and went of the
stage. The crowd seemed to like it and we had a lot of fun playing it.
27
Also, once, after finally all the techs fixed the sound and we were ready to
go, we played for about 1 minute and had to stop when the drummer’s bass
pedal malfunctioned and we had to fix that.
abroad?
Right now after getting new people in the band we’re focused on getting our
vast array of songs tight enough for live playing and then we shall tour as
much as possible. But right now it’s back to the practice space. However it’s
the best line-up so far and we have new awesome songs so we’ll be ready to
play gay bars and pubs across the world in no time.
Playing music we love. Being up on stage, head banging and having fun.
11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be?
Good question. No idea. Fame, fortune.... what is the secret of happiness?
Thanks for the interview and tune in on our site from time to time to check
out how we are doing.
Look at that hair shot!
28
Let’s Get Sociable
Band For The Day is creating a social networking website which will
be wrapped around the bands that sign up. It’s going to have as big
an impact on the site as the initial BFTD concept has had for un-
signed bands. Challenging and exciting, read on to find out how this
concept will affect your band and music forever.
29
BFTD SOCIAL NETWORK - The Reason Why
Around seven months ago BFTD asked our bands to take part in an on-line
questionnaire. We wanted to know what bands wanted and the answers were
both interesting and informative. Two of the questions asked were:
1. How many fans do you have?

2. Would you introduce them to a BFTD social network if available?
The result was a staggering 90% of respondents said they would introduce
their fans to a BFTD social networking facility. We have calculated that on the
number of bands we had seven months ago we had access to over 30K fans.
These numbers have obviously risen since this time and a simple slogan that
we will use to get the message out there is -
“BFTD - we’ve got the bands, we’ve got the fans”
What Will It Consist Of?
There will be all the usual things that social networks give you, for example;
 The ability to share photographs.

 Find friends old and new and share messages and news.
 Each fan receives a “fan board” for them or friends to communicate on.
In addition to this however, there will be features specific to BFTD
 Fans will be able to choose their top ten bands.

 Fans will be able to build record collections which will be graphical for
others to view.
 Fans will choose the songs that they think will become BFTD and gain
points. This will lead to a scoring system where top fans will be shown
as well as the bands they follow.
 Bands will be able to nominate a percentage of their fans as “top fans”
which will have benefits attached to them.
 Create play lists from BFTD artists.
These are just a few of the huge array of features that we will be bringing
on-stream very shortly and the impact will be huge. Bands will have a mas-
sive pool of potential fans to market both their music and their merchandise
too.
Our hope is that within one year, there will be over 100k fans active on the
site and the beauty of this is that bands will have an ever increasing oppor-
tunity of making real headway in their musical career through exposure and
earnings. Watch out...it’s coming soon near you.
30
KASPER - DENMARK
Feeling a little down today? Is it raining outside? We have just the
remedy for you. This pair are warming up the North Sea with spar-
kling songs that in their own words are “Summer Pop”...
...Band For The Day
31
I play and produce my own music. My sister sings the female vocal. I will
need to assemble a band when I'm gonna play live but for now its just me...
I've been making music all my life since I was 8 or something...
you ensure
That there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be dif-

ferent? I'm not influenced by specific artists, I'm not
really a fan of anyone and I'm not trying that hard to
be different. I just make music I think sounds good.
Though sometimes I maybe get some ideas from
other songs I like. Maybe a cool snare sound og what-
ever...
BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest

achievements to date have been?
I've just gone in rotation in the biggest radio station in Laughing
Denmark with my first single "Love's gonna come my way"
BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the

state of the music industry right now?
It's very hard to get a breakthrough! :) And

people download so much that you have to
have a breakthrough to be able to live of the
money...
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable

goals within the next eighteen months?
Hmm... another single in the radio maybe a

contract...
BFTD 6. How does the writing process

work? Do individuals come with complete
songs or do you work together to create
your music?
Usually I create some chords in my guitar, then

adds a melody then the lyrics and finally I
produce it in my home studio...
been your best?
We haven't really played live yet with this project...
32
readers?
I went to this creative school last year. You live there for about
4 month and just play music, paint whatever you wanna do,
along with a lot of other young people. And one of my song sort
became a hit over there. People went crazy when I played it.
And when I play it the last day on stage all the girls threw the
bra in my face... That pretty wild! :) A small taste of being a
popstar! :o) The Scream...
abroad?
None yet...
I just love making music and playing with Pro Tools (My recording software).
It's like meditation for me I guess...
Not quite sure what You mean... But off course a record deal, a hit in the
radio, all that stuff... :o)
Check out my new single "Dreamin'" it will be on my myspace and on BFTD!
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE FROM A BAND WEBSITE?

A way to sell your music?
Your own shop with your own branded merchandise?
A way to gather and talk with fans in one place?
An easy way to display your gigs to thousands?
Stream your videos?
Upload an unlimited amount of pics?
Work for huge and focused exposure?
An electronic press kit function?
Gain prizes monthly for hard work?
Just some of the many features we have waiting for you!
33
LAURA NUNES-CRAM - USA
Husband and wife team Laura and Marc are new to music but as
soon as we heard them we had to know more. Rich melody/harmony
blended with great production value makes them stand out from the
crowd.
...Band For The Day
34
Well, mainly it's Marc and myself. We've been together for just over 2 years.
When recording we have a variety of musicians that play for us. We also
have a trio with a good friend of ours, but that's totally different from the
studio stuff.
BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in

your music and how do you ensure that
there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to
be different?
I have so many artists that I love. Sade, Peter

Gabriel, Zero 7, Joni Mitchell, & Steely Dan, are
some of my favourites. I don't purposefully try
to be different, or conversely, emulate anyone.
Our projects seem to just kind of develop
themselves.
BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest

achievements to date have been?
Well, musically, I'm still a baby. I've only been

Laura playing an A major7
at this for about two years, and my husband
just started recording just after we got together. We've received a couple of
honourable mentions, and runner-up status in a couple of songwriting con-
tests, and been number one on a couple of Internet charts. Also a couple of
our songs were picked up by a Canadian company that places music in tv/
film, though nothing has come of that yet. Being asked to participate in this
interview is pretty cool too!
right now?
With the Internet involved, so many more people have the chance for their
music to be heard! There are so many talented people out there who now
have a way to be heard, which is great, but it also creates a lot of competi-
tion, and there are a lot of sharks out there waiting to take advantage.
een months?
First of all, finishing up a few songs so we can release our first EP, then full
length CD is my first priority. Expanding our fan base is necessary too, and
playing live more will be a means to that end.

35
I write all of our songs. I write them, Marc produces and arranges. He's got
a fantastic ear, and such an innate musicality about him. I believe that writ-
ing the song is such a small part of the final product, they wouldn't be nearly
as wonderful without Marc's input.
7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been
your best?
We haven't played much live yet. Most of our work is in the studio so far.
My personal worst experience would have to be my first time singing in
public...ever. I was at a very popular open mic spot in San Diego, and was
suffering from major stage fright. When I got on the stage and started sing-
ing, I was completely thrown off by the PA system! Due to a sound delay in
the room, I couldn't hear what I sang until a split second after I sang, and
had to stop & start over! I was freaking out through the rest of my two
songs because it was so disorienting! UGH! It was horrifying! The best
performance was the last time we played with our trio at a small intimate
party. We were hot, and everyone loved the performance.
readers?
My husband Marc and I have known each other since I was about five and he
eleven! My dad was the coach of his little league team, and Marc and my
oldest brother Tom, were in their first band together and remained friends
throughout the years. After not
seeing each other for many,
many years...Marc and I ran into
each other at a party. We
started talking about music, and
I mentioned to Marc that I had
started writing songs. He told
me he wanted to put a recording
studio in his house, and if I
would record some of my songs
for him to hear, and he liked
them, he would record me first!
Well, one thing led to another,
and now we're not only music
partners, we're married!
Look in to my eyes!
abroad?
See question 7 above.
10. What is the best thing about being in a band?
We have so much fun playing together. Something magical happens when

everyone is on, and the vibe just gets rolling! Band practice is the highlight
of our week!
36
11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be?
Exposure and a great fan base. Other than that, more time! We have such
hectic schedules, and never enough time to play!
Keep playing, be kind to your fellow musicians, and keep having fun!
Laura looking more than a little chuffed with that Bm7 chord, but is
that her left hand thumb popping over the back of the neck...tut tut.
BFTD BAND ADS

GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT TO THOUSANDS
WITH OUR VERY OWN BFTD BAND ADS!
BFTD BAND ADS are inexpensive and you only

need buy as many as you need.
New gig? Releasing an album? Got something

to say? Band pic, name, country flag and up to
100 characters seen across the site. Book now!
37
HOW DOES BAND FOR THE DAY WORK?
The following are some questions and answers taken from a document cre-
ated for the site on opening but were was soon pulled. The reason we took it
down was that it was long and complex and we realised that most people
wouldn’t read it. We found people were not willing (as a generalisation) to
scroll down the screen with their mouse, so what hope this epic work. Here
are a few salient points.
Q1. What is “Band For The Day”?
A1. Band For The Day is an innovation in music websites, designed to give
musicians
• A new way to gain exposure.

• Earn income from original music.
• Win music marketing rewards of real significance.
• Take advantage of mobile and web technology to reach more fans.
• Build up a customer base to which you can market your music.
• Connect and build alliances with other like minded musicians.
• Be part of a meritocracy where everyone is truly equal and any one can
succeed if they want to move to a higher level in the music industry.
Q2. Who can join BFTD?
A2. BFTD is open to all unsigned bands/artists of any musical genre or style
throughout the world who have non copyright music which they wish to bring
to the publics attention. No signed artists of any description or genre can
take part. BFTD is also open to people who simply love new music.
Q3. How does BFTD work?
A3. BFTD is a 24 hour race or competition where bands receive votes

throughout the day. The band/artist that receives the highest number of
votes in a 24 hour period wins BFTD...it’s that simple.
Q8. How do I/we earn any money through the sale of our mp3?
A8. All band/artist members of BFTD receive a percentage share of all mon-
ies taken either through mp3 sales or SMS text message votes. The payment
structure for BFTD is outlined in the document ‘PAYMENTS TO BANDS & SUB-
SCRIPTIONS’ which will be made available on successful registration.
Q9. What happens if I/we win BFTD?
A9. At the end of each day the BFTD website calculates who has gained the
highest number of votes. The winning band on that day will then feature on
the HOME page of BFTD the very next day. This means that the featured
BFTD will be seen by thousands of music lovers who visit the site for new
music everyday. In addition to this you will be sent:
38
1. A congratulatory email which encourages you, the winner, to make the
most of this new exposure by telling as many people you can about your win
and to view the BFTD HOME page.
2. A certified BFTD winners icon in html. This icon should be displayed on

your band website. The icon has a link embedded within the graphic and
when clicked will confirm that you are a genuine BFTD winner. This link takes
the viewer to the BFTD site where they will be shown both the date and the
votes you attained on that day.
3. All songs that become BFTD receive a higher income rate

from sales than non BFTD songs. This higher rate is paid for as
long as the song is continuously present on the BFTD site.
Q10. What happens after we have won BFTD?
A10. BFTD is a multilayered site. What this means is that although your im-
mediate goal is to win BFTD, the long term goal is to enter the “Hall Of
Fame” or HOF for short.
Q12. How does a band/artist enter the HOF?
A12. BFTD is based upon choosing and marketing one song to the public
through the BFTD website. If your song receives enough votes you will be
featured the very next day as our BFTD artist. On this day, all votes cast for
you are added to the previous days score. This total is used to calculate:
i) Who wins the monthly prize - the highest song vote wins.
ii) The final vote is used as part of the final three song package (described
below) calculation to see if you enter the HOF and if so, at what position you
are placed.
iii) The final three song package vote is used in calculating which band has
the highest number of votes to win the year end prize.
When a song wins BFTD then a congratulatory email will ask you to upload a
second mp3 which will now be the vote catching song. You will market this
second song as you did your first and upon winning BFTD a second time you
are offered the chance to market a third song. If the third song, which is
now the vote catcher wins BFTD you will have created what is called a “three
song package”. This three song package can potentially gain entry into the
HOF.
The total votes gathered by all three winning songs (both in becoming and
being BFTD) in your three song package are added together. If you have
accumulated a greater number of votes in total than at least the lowest
member of the HOF then you will gain entry.
39
AMBERSKIN - ROMANIA
Romania is known as the land of vampires and other such

monsters...but that’s where the similarity ends as the photo above
shows. Amberskin are as good a band as it gets and hopefully they
will stake out their claim in the music world - read on.
40 ...Band For
Hey, BFTD. The band consists of Lii on vocals, Cami and Theo on guitars,
Mr.D does the bass work and Rhadoo drums. Lii, Rhadoo and Theo, the three
of us had been playing in another alternative/nu-metal band called spAZ 12
for a few years, until we decided we wanted something a bit more melodic
and less formulaic, changed the bass player and musical direction, added
another guitarist, and have been composing and rehearsing our breed of
melody-driven alternative metal for a year and a half.
you ensure that there is enough of 'you' in your sound to be differ-
ent?
Well, we manage to stay fresh and not walk in the exact footsteps of role
models because each of us listens to almost radically different music than
the other, the common ground being just rock music generally. We do have
some bands we all love, such as RATM, Skindred, Chevelle, Incubus etc., but
listening to a whole other bunch of music, from hip-hop to black metal, wid-
ens our horizons and gives us a lot to draw inspiration from.
been?
So far, we've been locked up in the rehearsal room making lots of tunes,
performing hasn't been our focus yet, so our biggest achievements so far are
the songs we came up with through a lot of hard work, painful letting go of
whatever didn’t fully satisfy us and constant strive for getting better at what
we do. We think that will be pretty obvious on our up coming album, for
which we hit the studio in September. Another great band achievement that
unfortunately our bass player hasn't been around for was seeing Rage
Against the Machine live this year at
Nova Rock, which was beyond words.
right now?
It's pretty obvious that the Internet has changed everything - big production
companies will lose more and more money, and music will be a lot easier
available to everyone. What we're in for is definitely the music, not the
money, that's why once our album is recorded, until/unless someone decides
to pick it up and distribute it, we'll be giving it away for free.
een months?
Our focus is definitely the album, and we'll be working on it until we make
sure all of us agree it's kick ass and we can release it unto the world :) .
We're already 15 songs strong, and we keep composing so we pick the best
of the best for the LP.
41
with complete songs or do you work
together to create your music?
Some songs are born during rehearsals,

while jamming, some are based on ideas
we work on at home, but no song was
brought in complete form and performed
as such. Everyone has his/her say and
everyone contributes - a nicer take on
communism :) .
BFTD 7. What is the bands worst ex-

perience on stage and what has been
your best?
“Cute guitarist chick”
The worst experience is probably the same with most underground bands -
playing a gig that wasn't advertised in front of 30 people that never heard
Amberskin in full flow...

you play before and just stand there, but we dish out the same show regard-
42
less of the spectator count, so each show's good for us if we're satisfied with
our performance. As for the best - so far good concerts have been equally
satisfying, just seeing people most and ask for a certain song is worth the
effort of being in a band, hard to pick a favourite.
readers?
I don't know if it's funny, weird or scary, but playing a gig anywhere other
than our town means riding with our guitarist who usually goes 150 kmph
regardless of road conditions and weather, and whenever he's told he ran a
red light goes "Red light? What red light? Where are we?". This one time we
even took off, Dukes of Hazard style, but that's an experience no one wants
to try again. Ever. Also, as for Lii (vocals), it happened once to step on a
wrong effect patch for the vocal, which was, a pitch bender...so you can
imagine he sounded like Donald Duck :D; but it turned out fine after all
BFTD 9. How many gigs do

you play in a year and do you
tour much abroad?
Since we've been spending more

than a year making sure our
songs fit our expectations, we've
only began doing gigs again in
may 2008, but we usually play
wherever we're wanted, as long
as we can all make it. So far we
haven't had the chance to play
abroad, but that's one of our
main goals, once the album's done. Rhadoo
It's definitely the fun, the friendships among us and being creative without
having some dude in a shirt and tie telling you it won't do and you have to
change this into that. Being free to express whatever you like in whatever
way you want to, venting out frustration and hopefully touching people that
can relate. And in our case, having a talented and cute guitarist chick is an-
other plus we can't ignore :) .
A sea of people singing along to our songs, really feeling them. It's as high
as a band can go.
BFTD is a really good idea, a nice way for the underdogs to get some on-line
exposure, so be sure to support bands that are in it exclusively and sincerely
for the love of music, because that's all that counts in the end.
43
JAKIL - SCOTLAND
Simple Minds, Edwin Collins, Average White Band, Anne Lennox,
Belle & Sebastian, Deacon Blue, Hue & Cry, Franz Ferdinand...we
could go on and on but we won’t. What do they all have in common?
They all come from Scotland and the band in pole position to add
their name to this illustrious list is right here.
...Band For The Day
44
We've been together for six years beginning at high school. Jamo, Liam and I
(Kieran) were at a bus stop a the wee age of 14, we'd all began playing gui-
tar at the same time but we needed a vocalist. So we had a try out between
the three of us and from then on I was born as a front man, which helps
because I'm crap at guitar. We now consist of two guitarists, bass, drums
and vocals.
you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be differ-
ent?
We all come from different back-

grounds in terms of iPod reper-
toire, but one artist who stands
out for us and all agree is a band
pick me up is John Mayer. Al-
though individually our music
taste spans from the likes of
good old rock to electronic and
D&B, you know... a bit of every-
thing.
BFTD 3. What would you say

your biggest achievements to
date have been?
Liam steppin’ out
Winning the Radio Forth One to Watch award was a biggie for us. From that
we got our first national air play, found ourselves a manager and leading on
from that we've had a proper kick up the arse; securing support slots and
moving onto bigger gigs and that.haaawrite. Now we've got releases on
iTunes and raking in the pennies.
right now?
The state of the music industry IS in a state. Don't get us wrong there are
some class acts out there who truly deserve to be where they are but the
amount of rubbish you get floating about is a bit frustrating. Also, the Inter-
net has made such a big impact, the ease in which you can release your own
music and publicise yourself is superb yet as mentioned before you get the
crap cluttering up the place as well, but who's to say we're not the clutterers
of the good?...naaaaahhhh
een months?
We've grown as a band recently and have started getting our business heads
on as much as we hate to have any distraction away from the priority of
45
good music! We're recording a lot more and we're looking to tour more of-
ten, starting with a Student Union tour coming up soon then broadening our
horizons and increasing the 'head in the cloud' aspect of our goals as we go
along to create a bigger hype, yet we do this before we get there so we can
plan (a lot). Yeah we're all about the planning at the moment. So to finally
answer your question, at the end of eighteen months we'd love to be signed
and known in Britain, successfully touring Europe and looking to conquer the
last superpower.:) Achievable? We believe so. To dumb it down we'd settle
for a lot of stories from touring, a lot of good shows and a long list of mate-
rial to play and sell on the WORLD WIDE WEBBERY!

Well, it starts with a kiss...ha ha. Well its mainly Jamo, Liam and I (Kieran)
who write the material. Either I've
got a pretty good melody in my
head and the chords follow, or the
guys display a few good licks
they've got going and I give it a
shot at a 'hook'. We've all got a
'drafts' section in our phones
yeah? People use them for shop-
ping lists and jokes blah blah;
well we use ours for lyrics. It's all
very much a working together
process. We write it and then
'Jakilise' it making it a full band
song with the rest of the lads at
practise.
Another gig...yet another packed arena
been your best?
Worst experience on stage was in a battle of the bands, I had completely lost
my voice so we went up there gave it our best shot while I was singing eve-
rything an octave below. The guys had my back though and they stepped up
their own stage persona...erm, we didn't win. Best experience on stage
would have to be packing out the Jam House and nailing it....fever pitch.
readers?
Search YouTube for "Jakil - Spin" and you'll see some of the antics.
abroad?
It varies. Sometimes it gets quite intense, like when we've got a gig every
day for a couple of weeks straight. But because we take gigs as they come
46
it's very random, so we do get the odd quiet patch giving us some time to
bang out a few new tunes and ideas in the practise room.
There are so many things; the live shows; getting our music out there; get-
ting to play along side some amazing bands/artists; and the 'after show
parties', of course.
A record deal.
The shiny new "Jakil EP" is available now on iTunes! Take a listen and see
what you think.
Oh, and to vote Jakil 'Band for the MILLENNIUM' text "BFTD VOTE 2 to
60999"!
The day of the Jakil is almost upon us...world domination on the cards!
NEED MERCHANDISING FOR YOUR BAND?

BFTD can provide you with T-shirts, caps, bags, guitar
straps in fact, just about anything that a band would
wish to sell, branded with your band logo; all through our
BFTD approved merchandise company.
For more information email:
tsmmerchandising@googlemail.com
47
The Next Step...
You may be wondering what new ideas BFTD has got coming up. Well they
are many and varied. Here are just some of the concepts arriving soon for
you to think about.
1. Subscription service. BFTD will continue to be totally free, however, we

are offering a prozone for bands who want to create profit through sales of
music and merchandise. Here are just some features offered by subscription:
i) A world wide merchandising solution where the band can create profit
through merchandise of products specifically branded by each band.
ii) Gather all their fans in one place and communicate with them directly.
iii) Upload an unlimited amount of images for fans from gigs, etc.
iv) Electronic press kits at the touch of a button saving time and money.
2. BFTD mobile - the whole site on your handset - nice.
3. Top secret band service that will blow you away...we can’t say any more!!!
48
Aleksander Khodchenko - Ukraine
Here is an interview that is as poetic as the music he creates.

Aleksander’s group has made a massive impact on the site with a
staggering amount of listens and views from all over the Ukraine
and further afield. Drenched in the music of the sixties, the music by
Aleksander is as good as the music back then.
...Band
49
1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have
you been working together?
The first line up was formed in 1992, while I was a student of the art school
in Kiev: Aleksander Khodchenko--Guitars, keyboards, sound effects and
vocals. Ivan Hrigoriev - bass, guitars, flute, vocals and Boris Yermolovich on
drums. Alexsej Prokopenko joined in 1994. In 1997 the new band was
formed: Aleksandr Khodchenko--
organ, keyboards, guitars and vocal,
Igor Duganets--bass, Nikolaj
Khodakov on drums until 2001 when
drummer, Konstantin Dovzhenko
joined us.
I also would like to admit the contri-
bution of my talented friends such as:
Andrei Poteryaylo the artist who illus-
trated my logo used in BFTD. The
artist Anton Yakutovych and his wife
Berengere Maximin. Ivan Hrigoriev,
Pavel Fishel the artist and musician,
Nikolai Kischuk and Ivan Sautkin the
film maker.
2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you
ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different?
I always loved the music of the sixties. It was the most sparkling, experi-
mental and ground-breaking period in the history of rock music.
So many beautiful melodies and songs were written. An extravagant sound
was created ( or developed) The sixties influenced everything: from music,
art and fashion, to world views and politics worldwide. It still intrigues and
inspires me. I also like symphonic music and jazz.
3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have

been?
Beginning form 1991 there were many different achievements in the fields of
music and ''engineering ( or construction) of the sound so to say. All of my
best works are represented on my discs. One of them is called "I look
Through Your Absurd Eyes" which was released in 2008.
4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right
now?
We are living in quite an interesting time with cosmic technological possibili-

ties. But there is a luck of what can really capture the strings of your soul.
There are too many professionals, and too few artists. Everything what I like
about the 60-ies is gone. But I hope there will be an artistic revival. Some-
thing has to change in the air.
50
5. What do you see as achievable
goals within the next eighteen
months?
In the nearest future I am planning to

release and distribute my music in the
broadest way. I am leaving the under-
ground world, and will use the Internet
and its opportunities to bring my music
to as many listeners, as possible. I am
interested in dialogue with common
people and professionals as well. I am
also planning the official release of my
records.
6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with

complete songs or do you work together to create your music?
In our band I am the leader and composer. Moreover, I play many various
instruments. I write most of the material in the most proper and perfect way.
The freedom of other musicians is not limited by my ideas. There is no dicta-
torship whatsoever. Everyone has an opportunity to manifest their own
ideas. I am always looking for the musicians who are capable of understand-
ing my style and goals. And they have to have an extinct knowledge about
music and it`s heritage.
7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been
your best?
We`ve been running through really difficult

time especially in the beginning of the 90-
ies. There was the luck of studio space and
any elementary equipment But in spite of
that, I don`t remember any ''worst'' experi-
ences for our band. Our music was always
counted for individuals. Basically we played
in front of ''selected'' audience such as art-
ists, musicians, writers and film makers.
There were always interesting dialogues with
them. We lived secluded type of life, being
concentrated mostly on studio sessions and
experiments. We stayed away from the
''nets'' of showbiz, therefore we did not sign any contract, or got any deal
yet. We also have never been popularized widely. But thanks to Internet we
find more and more admirers of our creativity
51
8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers?
Our bassist, Aleksej Prokopenko was such an extravagant and extraordinary

character! He was unpredictable in the most crucial moments, and yet tal-
ented and always charming. He could shock the pedestrians down the street
by hanging on the corneas of an 8 floors high building. He usually spent
hours there. One night Alexej`s got so drunk, so he felt and slept in the
studio. He did not notice that he spilled the glue out of a can. On the next
morning when he woke up, he found himself glued properly to the floor!
9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much
abroad?
We don`t give any live performances for

the time being. We lost ourselves in the
studio sessions. It fascinates us. We have
never been abroad yet, but if there would
be some interesting propositions we could
give good show on the stage, I believe.
10. What is the best thing about be-

ing the band?
An answer could be...: Any descent band

is something always about collaboration
and creativity. Its a constant dialogue in
the orbit of Arts. It`s always about mak-
ing music and experiencing joy from com-
plicated creative process. It`s always
about friendship and unity, not just con-
tract obligations.
11. If you could have anything (as a

group) what would it be?
We would have wanted to recreate the colourful atmosphere and the move-
ment as they were in the 60-ies, when interests of different people enrich
them, and music gets wide and deep.
I wish more and more listeners to find your site. I also wish more musicolo-
gists to appear on BFTD, more topics about the participant musicians, so the
listeners could develop their taste and musical knowledge. I wish your site
would get an advantage over the ''mainstream''. I wish there would be al-
ways life flourishing on your site, and the best advertisement. It would be
important if your site could release the CDs of the winners.
It also would be exited thing to drive the attention of musical celebrities, so
they could come to know about new talented people who try to break
through, on the such an uneasy way of the Creativity. After all, there are
enough of talented people on BFTD!
52
HERCULEAN - SCOTLAND
This young trio continues the great tradition of bands coming
from Glasgow. Big in name and big in sound their name
matchest their ambition...signing to a major. The task they
have before them certainly matches their name...read on
...Band For The Day
53
Q1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have
you been working together?
A1. The band is a 3 piece which consits of : Stuart McInnes - Vocals/Guitar,

Steven Gerry - Guitar/Bass and Declan O'Kane - Drums. It all started in a
music classroom back in October 2006, when me and Declan started jam-
ming with an old set of drums and cheap casio keyboard.
Q2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you
ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different?
A2. Our influences range from world-dominating bands like U2, Coldplay and
Oasis to smaller UK bands like Starsailor and Travis. We record all our songs
ourselfs, so our own sound is something that we've developed natrually by
being able to experiment without worrying about any studio cost.
Q3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have
been?
A3. We've recently just released our

debut EP, called 'Down South' which
took us all summer to make. So to say
we've written, recorded and released a
proper CD by ourselfs is quite a big
achievement in our eyes. Also our
website views have now clocked over
7,000 which is inspiring.
Q4. What are your thoughts on the

state of the music industry right
now?
Declan O'Kane, Stuart McInnes, Steven Gerry
A4. To be honest, the music industry right now is pretty awful, it's not as bad
as it was two years ago but it's far from the way it used to be. It's surprising
the amount of acts that get through the gates of the music industry but
don't even know what the word 'talent' means. People seem to be entering
music nowadays for the lifestyle, and not for the music.
Q5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen
months?
A5. We're currently trying to gain the attention of record companies at the
moment, so one of the goals would be to get signed and get bigger as a
band globally. We've also just started working on our debut album which
should be out in March 2009 if things go well.
Q6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with
complete songs or do you work together to create your music?
54
A6. Usually I'll (Stuart) write a song and then it'll become a band effort
within 2 or 3 times of rehersing the song which takes it further. Sometimes
though, we might be jamming and then out of nowhere we start making up
a song and then I'll write lyrics to it later. Also lately, Steven's been getting
more involved with the writing process.
Q7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been
your best?
A7. At one of our first gigs, we thought it would be

funny to open with a cover of 'I Got You Babe' by
Sonney and Cher, to make the audiance think
we're a really bad cover band, then we were plan-
ning to go into one of our heavist songs after that
and surprise people. The only thing was though,
we were bottled off stage after about 2 mintues,
not only that, but we had to go back on again to Stuart McInnes (Vocals/Guitar)
unplug all our instruments ourselfs, because no one would do it for us. Our
best experiance has to be the time we played at Box, we went up on stage
and at the start people were heckling and all sorts and by the end of our 30
minute set, everyone in the building was jumping up and down to our songs,
everyone seemed to know all the words.
Q8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers?
A8. We borrowed a les paul gibson from someone once for a recording ses-
sion and as we were taking the guitars up to Declan's loft (where we record
everthing) the strap on the guitar snapped and it went tumbling down the
stairs. We took it to a guitar repair shop and it cost £185 to fix the frame-
work. Even after it was repaired it still didn't look brand new, so we had to
tell the guy, and it turned out he only bought the guitar £140 in the first
place - off someone who'd knicked it.
Q9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much
abroad?
A9. We only started giging at the begining of this year, but so far we've done
9 proper gigs. As for touring abroad - it's still an ambition of ours but de-
pending on how the album goes we'd like to organize a mini UK tour, maybe
for next year.
Q10. What is the best thing about being in a band?
A10. Making music you love and seeing people appreciating what you have
made. It's really inspirational when you feel like giving up, to know that peo-
ple a routing for you. So we owe alot to our friends and families for all their
support.
Q11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be?
55
A11. At the moment, a lengthy record deal - we've spent the past two years
trying to grab the interest of record companies. We'd like to get signed to
one of the global companies like EMI or Sony BMG, instead of just a UK
based label, we're also looking for something more than just a demo deal.
Q12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?
A12. Keep working for the things you believe in and if music is your passion
then give it everything you've got and oneday, you'll get everthing back.
GET THE MESSAGE OUT THERE
If you have enjoyed this magazine then

copy it and send it to a friend.
Better still, whether you are a band or a

fan of indie unsigned music then join us at
Find new music, get band merchandise,

work as a talent scout for bands, message
and let your friends on the site see pictures
from the gig and we’ve not even begun to
tell you all the features so see you SOON!
56
Band For The Day Ltd.
Registered in Scotland Registered Number SC315195
57Edinburgh, EH12 8SN Scotland
Registered office at 20 Drumbrae South,

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BAND FOR THE DAY...

PLAYING WITH MUSIC STOPS HERE!

YEAR REVIEW 2008

The guys behind BFTD

We hope you enjoy this, our first ezine

Best wishes from the BFTD team.

The Guys Behind BFTD.......................4

Aleksandr Khodchenko - Ukraine.........46

Ged Brockie (Director)

An award winning graduate from the Leeds College of Music. His

Mike Nisbet (Director)

Iain is a qualified chartered accountant who practises as Bolland &

Ian Bolland (Director)

Lee McLaughlin (Programmer)

...Band For The Day

We are a four piece band;

GlastonBudget. We managed to secure a slot on the New Acts Stage at this

BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come

Playing GlastonBudget Festival, we played to the biggest crowd we have had

BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band?

12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?

What happens when a bunch of talented European musicians meet in

...Band For The Day

We rate Steely Dan, Little Feat, Toto, Floyd, Zappa, the

BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next

BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come

BFTD 7. What is the band’s worst experience on stage

The band’s collective worst experience was missing a gig for

Funny…weird…? We Billy The Mountain are booked to play the Katmandu

BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band?

BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?

WHY GO BFTD CONNECT?

• Your own shop - a huge range of T-shirts, caps, mugs, bags

• Gather all your fans in one place! Communicate and interact

• Upload unlimited amounts of photos from your gigs, recording

• Unlimited videos and links to the outside world - make BFTD

Oh and there’s more on the way! All this is only £10/$20

Sign Up Now at http://www.bandfortheday.com

PLAY BUTTONS, ARCHIVED SONGS, STATS

...Band For The Day

BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in

Influences are a tricky question. I don’t listen

I guess it has to be to get booked for gigs in London by "City showcase

The music industry - Well, it's fantastic!!!!!

To sell CD's however, seem to be pretty impossible these days, so I guess

BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals

Hopefully to be booked for shows. That's the hardest

BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do

See question seven above.

BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band?

BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?

BANNER ADVERTISING ON BFTD

...Band For The Day

Birger: the founding

Getting a line-up that looks to be stable first time in many years.

BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable

Right now we are planning to record an EP

BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band?

Good question. No idea. Fame, fortune.... what is the secret of happiness?

12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership?

Look at that hair shot!

1. How many fans do you have?

“BFTD - we’ve got the bands, we’ve got the fans”