Dear Believers,

Sellaband asked me to write to you regarding my contractual situation. So here it is.

In 2007, when I was raising money for my Sellaband album, my Believers (the people who contributed financially to the making of the record) signed a virtual contract with Sellaband. The original contract stated that Believers were untitled to 33.3% of sales revenue from album, for a period of 2 years. The revenue was to be divided equally between the Artist, The Believers, and Sellaband.

In late 2008, Sellaband changed their terms & conditions and Artist contracts - offering Artists who were on old contracts the choice to stick with the original contract, or adopt a new one. The new contract entitled Believers 50% of album sales revenue for a period of 5 years.

The new contract was the result of a new business model that reflected what was supposed to be a “new era” for Sellaband, and was specifically geared towards a new live performance initiative that involved touring across the United States, called “Arenafest”.

With faith in the new Sellaband - I accepted the new contract, even though initially neither my Believers nor I signed up to a 5-year deal. I thought it was in the best interest of my music, my believers, and Sellaband. A win-win situation.

What happened in the coming months proved was truly disappointing. After the initial promises of Sellaband nurturing their Artists (remember 50k artists were the “Jewels in the Crown” according to Sellaband’s ABCs and mission statements). Communication and interaction with the Company dwindled away. The website started to deteriorate and remained broken for months. After PR hype, new contracts, judging panels and more, Arenafest never materialised, and to this day Sellaband have never commented on the very initiative that sought them to change their contracts in the first place. The official response was “we can’t tell you what happened” – to the very Artists who had believed, nurtured and supported the Sellaband concept to start with, and who had even changed their contracts to longer terms in support of the new Sellaband and what could be. Ultimately the belief, faith and trust that used to be at the core of the Sellaband business model was broken.

In November 09 Sellaband filed for bankruptcy, which means is that legally my contract with the old Sellaband is null and void. And that also means that YOUR contract with the OLD Sellaband is null & void. A new company was formed (now based in Germany) and is the Sellaband you see on the website today (with a radically different business model to the old Sellaband you put your money into).

I just wanted to point out one more thing: My album revenue for 1 year was just over $600. That means in one year you would have made 0.12 cents for every part you purchased. In 5 years, you would have made a whopping 6 cents for every part you purchased!

An album cannot be successful without help, promotion, belief, support – and that’s what we all thought Sellaband was (at the time), and that’s what we invested in. Ultimately for my career it’s better to be out of contract for this Album, so I am free to sign deals with 3rd parties. And I really hope you agree. I’m a Believer too (I’ve put money into roughly 10 Artists) and what I want most is for them to make a great record, and have a successful career.

Feel free to leave a comment.
Francis

How did you hook up with Francis - what's the story there?

Back in the summer of 2006 I was contacted by a singer/songwriter called Carmin who had been offered a showcase at an open mike night in London and needed a bass player. I went down sunday afternoon, met him and learnt the set and that evening performed. During the night a larger than life american got up on stage with his band and performed 3 or 4 songs and I remember being impressed, especially with a particular song called Science and the guys ability to engage the audience and put on a show. After my performance I bought this guys cd and then he introduced himself as Francis and said he needed a permanent bass player and would I be interested. We exchanged numbers (he never refunded my money for the cd I bought!) and the rest is documented in the annals of Rock history.

How are things different this time around recording the new EP?

Obviously we have a differant line up which always brings a new dimension to recording. As well as that we are recording brand new songs, most of the songs on Circles and Squares had existed for some time before the recording and had been played live a lot. By playing brand new material in the studio there is an infectious energy about them because for me they're still so fresh. You literally see the song brought to life under not only the bands input but also under the expert ears of both Francis and George Shilling.

What are you up to when your not playing bass?

It's very unusual to go a day where I haven't picked up a bass guitar at some point, even if only for a little practice. I'm a little obsessed! Outside of that though...manlegging...as often as I can! If everyone manlegged just a little more the world would be a nicer place! And trying to get hair like Nik's!

We really need to know this - why do you always play bass barefoot?

It's always been about comfort and feel. Bass isn't just about sound, its about how you feel those low frequencies and respond, especially when you lock with the drums. So the best way for me is to feel that rumble coming up through the stage. If I play with shoes on I always think I'm only experiencing half of the music.

What would your dream band/project be?

Jeeze, I don't know. I already feel privelidged in what I've achieved. Playing with the boys from the Francis Rodino Band is an honour as they're all exceptional musicians and we've had great times. My other projects have been the same, from The Orginal Sinners to The Dave, Al and Tony Show I feel so lucky that these great musicians whom I respect want me to be in a band with them. For the future....sharing a stage with Slash or Richie Kotzen, playing with Taylor Hawkins on drums, maybe Miles Kennedy on vocals....yeah I could get into that!

Allan (aka The Barefoot Bass Player)

You are the firey hot Italian. Tell us a little about yourself.

Ciao! (quite a cliché start but I always like it!) I'm a self-tought drummer who's following the dream of being a professional musician London. I am a genuine guy who likes to be practical and go straight to the point. I am not a big fan of "Grey Areas" ...I'm feeling very lucky at the moment and it's such a great vibe, so I am enjoying my life.

Sardinia is sunny, warm and beautiful. So what are you doing in London?

Sardinia is a great place to grow up in, and great for holidays ... that's it! I am too ambitious, I need a challenge everyday.

How did you hook up with Francis?

Internet. I am freelancer so i always advertise myself on the web, that's how I got a call from Francis in fluent italian (with an american "Tony" accent) asking me if I'd fancy coming down for an audition ...
and Here we go ;)

What is your approach to recording? And what are your thoughts about embarking on this new EP project?

To be honest I am not a planner, I am just gonna feel the vibe with the band, it's gonna be great!

Who are your main influences?

My primary influences are my family and friends that believe in me and everything I do, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. My music influences changed since I've started playing 17 years ago. When i was 14 years old I used to listen to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Police, Sting. Then I fell in Love with Jazz and I've changed to Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk ... too many to mention!!! I don't personally have one favorite drummer, although I can say I've been influenced by Vinnie Colaiuta, Bill Stewart, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Buddy Rich, Al Foster, Peter Erskin, ... and I could just go over and over with more "drummer's talk"!

Girls literally throw themselves at you. Can you tell us about a time when you had to turn down a crazy fan or two?

To be honest i don't mind fans attention and I love groupies! I've never really been in a critical situation after or before a gig.
I think my body language is pretty clear. ;)

SAB was born with the right intentions and it's heart in the right place. During the first year, it WAS abot the music - that's why so many crappy albums got made (it's fine if you don't like mine too) - but who is the judge of what is and is not crap? What IS crap doesn't even matter when there are "Believers" who want to hear it and put there money where there mouth is. So it WAS about the music, and it WAS at it's most simple - the concept of the masses chipping in to make a professional sounding recording.

The downfall was three part:

(1) First many Believers for some strange reason thought that Sellaband was a new kind of stock market. Why they would think that and invest more than one part is beyond me. ROI in the music industry is so rare, and even with the most commercial album takes tens of thousands of dollars more investment to promote and market. So the disappointment on lack of ROI is purely down to naivety of Believers.

(2) The business model that got the company started was not maintainable. Spending $20k on shipping CDs around the globe, accumulating thousands of unsold LECDs, and no income from sales (Initially SAB was taking 30% of sales, but THERE WERE NO SALES, so that's ZERO)

(3) Misleading and alienating a once loyal community. Changing terms & conditions, Arenafest (big festival that never happened), website breaking down, lack of communication, problems with payouts etc....

SAB thought they were bigger and better than their community, and that is a fatal mistake. With the people you can do anything - screw the people and you're screwed yourself.

It started as a good idea and gave me the opportunity to make a record I love. You don't have to love it yourself, enough people did to give me some money to record it properly. So that's what SAB was about, and it's a damn shame it is now in this terrible state of play.


Francis

Who in the world are you?

I am the pianist and keyboard player for the Francis Rodino Band! I'm classically trained, but moved into popular music at about the age of 16 and since moving to London last year have been working with a number of artists as a session musician before landing on my feet with the Francis Rodino project. I also enjoy picnics at sunset and, of course, "man-legging".

You didn't work on Circles & Squares - what's your attitude going into the EP Project?

I'm really looking forward to working on this EP and taking a snapshot of how the band sounds now. I understand it's a different process to your last project as we're doing it in a much tighter time-scale, and this means it's all about hard work and creating as a team to bring out the best that this fantastic bunch of musicians can offer.

How did you hook up with Francis?

Well, I am very fortunate to know a brilliant drummer by the name of Andrea Marongiu and we have played together for over a year now. About this time last year, we had just finished playing a gig and he was telling me all about this new band he had just won an audition for and how musical and different the songs were. The next day he rings me saying they are looking for a piano player and I naturally jumped at the oppertunity to go down to audition having already listened to Circle and Squares the night before. After a couple of trial rehearsals I was accepted into the fold and haven't looked back!

Many people say you're the cutest but most naive band-member. What would you say to that?

Yes - I am the cutest..

Other than lugging keyboards and stands around, what do you bring to the band?

I bring at least 8 fingers, the odd jack to jack and being the youngest member of the band (by far), I bring a sense of youth and an entirely new fan generation.

Many of the girls want to know - are you single?

I'm afraid not - I already have a wonderful girlfriend who keeps me on the straight and narrow!