I’ve updated my GIGS for this year! All fairly local as usual, with exception with a gig in Sussex and one in Derby (more coming soon)! I’ve also got a brand new song and video which I uploaded mid January, which was a little bit different than usual. I got a glockenspiel for Christmas so naturally, it made an appearance. I also used my recording equipment so it’s a little less raw than the usual videos! Please enjoy a listen.
This year I am incredibly excited to create a new EP and a few more music videos for you, due Summer 2012. (I no longer have any physical copies of “The Girl Who Has Everything” left, so the idea is to have something else for you soon instead!). And of course, more youtube videos!!!
I admit music has been a lot more difficult since November of last year. I suddenly got a job, and found I was pretty much tired all the time and had a lot of less time for music. However, it also means I have more money to invest into music…and also that I’ll stop singing songs with the lyrics “I’ve got no job” (refer to song).
The other thing that’s coming is a SPLIT EP with The Matt Burnside Band and Martin Plock featuring my song, The Train. One the best things about playing live is meeting other musicians and collaborating with them. The other great thing is the opportunity to make real friends, and that’s what I’ve done with Matt, Tasha and Martin so it’s a real pleasure to work with them.
Eternally grateful for your never ending support….
Steph
xxxx
Good news folks!! My EP “The Girl Who Has Everything” is now PAY WHAT YOU WANT (including 0) for the DOWNLOAD. To all those that paid £3 for it initially – THANK YOU, it has all gone to the recording fund for the next EP that I’m very excited about. The bad news is that there are only 45 copies left of the physical CD (A fiver!) and I’m not reprinting, they all come signed with a letter! Get them while you can. Check it out on bandcamp: http://stephstephenson.bandcamp.com or wait for widget to load.
I wrote a new song and things! It’s actually pretty upbeat yet somehow depressing at the same time…I don’t know how I do that. Also includes an unfortunate and (un)intentional Rebecca Black reference. Let me know what you think!
I’m playing Oxjam Huddersfield on Saturday the 15th at the Head of Steam at 9.30pm! I’ve also been part of the team organising the whole thing so very excited! £5 for entry to 6 venues to over 40+ bands and all for Oxfam.
Last Tuesday I shouted “OMG!” at my computer when I logged on to youtube and saw my face on the frontpage! It’s incredibly apt to write about this today, as it was this time last year that I uploaded this video on youtube – I never expected it to do so well a year later! What happened is that I posted this video on UK Music Tuesday a while ago when they said they were looking for acoustic acts. I never expected a feature but I took a long shot – I got my friends to thumbs up the video that I had left on their page on their questions section hoping they’d take notice. I completely forgot about it until last Tuesday. It was really weird and I didn’t quite believe it (I still don’t believe it). I’ve spent two years on youtube and youtubers know that the dream is to either become a partner and/or be featured! As far as I know youtube used to be a lot better at the become a partner = feature thing, but now end up promoting Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj etc. more than anybody else, despite all the amazing independent and unsigned music on the site. But I’ve been extremely lucky.
UK Music Tuesday featured me in the playlist “The People’s Acoustic” – acoustic acts that visitors to UK Music Tuesday have recommended a long with amazing tracks including Sam Airey’s The Unlocking (another Leeds musician!) and Claire Prendergast’s Zombies (both need to be listened to!). I was very excited to see my video at 8,000 views on the day, and I was laughing at the inevitable troll comments that came with being on the homepage. I know that bad comments are a good thing. I got an amazing response from most and they meant the world to me.
I am pleased to announce that I’ve now gathered 50,000 views on The Girl Who Has Everything, and I’m still in the playlist which can find on www.youtube.com/music at the moment. This is an amazing opportunity that youtube has given me to reach a wider audience. I only hope that it leads to more than just a number and leads to other opportunities! I have had a surge in subscribers and can’t wait to post my next video – I’m currently ordering a pop guard and some monitoring headphones so I can hopefully create something a bit better. In other news I’ve entered Nerina Pallot’s cover competition and you can find that video here. Check out the video that made the front page below
Thank you all. As always, I’m eternally grateful for your never ending support!! Without your support I might not have had this feature at all. It’s all thanks to you!!
I get asked a lot about how to get subscribers on youtube and the best way to use it and I will write a fuller entry about this some time. But my biggest advice is to use youtube like you would use facebook or twitter or myspace. It’s a social networking tool – check out other people’s music and leave a message, say thank you when somebody subscribes, use annotations, post acoustic covers of songs and link it to your original songs…and there’s so much more, give it a google and there’s a lot you can read about!
I’m really pleased to announce that you can find The Girl Who Has Everything single (including I Blinked Twice as a B-side) on all your favourite online stores, including itunes & amazon mp3. You can also stream it for free on Spotify! Hooray. Check out the links here: (oh, and don’t forget you can buy the physical copy and download the WHOLE EP including 4 tracks from bandcamp).
I’m also making a promise to start talking about something more interesting in blogs…it will come! At the moment I’m really excited because I’ve been jamming with a bass player and a percussionist, and I’m starting to hear what “The Steph Stephenson Band” would sound like. Some of the songs are sounding particularly great, and I’m already thinking and excited about the next EP! For now I’m concentrating on writing, youtube videos, and gigging of course.
I’ve recorded a new video for a new song that I wrote a couple of weeks ago after attending an open mic night. I like to think it’s a bit more upbeat than usual, which can only be a good thing! It’s also fairly different so I would love to hear what you think. I have a lot of new songs to record, so stay tuned. Check out the youtube channel here.
The new EP is now available FROM HERE, and you can download it for £3 or buy a hard copy for £5. If it was up to me, I’d give it all away for free, but I can’t afford it this time round. But there’s good news! All funds go towards recording the next EP. I am eternally grateful for all purchases, it helps a massive deal. Hard copies also come signed with badges and letters! If you want anything else, like a hand written lyric or chord sheet, then ask…I want to make it worth that £5!
I’ve always wanted a music video, and never thought it could really happen without some big record deal and millions of pounds. But it can happen when there’s talented and passionate people around like Sigourney Vowles (@Sigourney_Sohma and youtube). We filmed it in Birstall, West Yorkshire. I always knew I wanted to play “The Girl Who Has Everything” in the music video, and luckily I had a blonde wig left over from my days as dressing up as Buffy The Vampire Slayer for halloween! (Shh, don’t tell anyone how geeky I am).
If you share one video this year, please let it be this one. Post it on your facebook walls, your twitter, your blogs and share it with your friends. I really think if we all went crazy, we could rack up a few thousand views together. I really couldn’t do this without other people, and it’s through your support that good things can happen!
So after a couple of years I’ve finally got my act together and created a new website, something decent this time. I’ll even update it and everything! First, I need to learn how to use wordpress. Second, there’ll lots of exciting news and content. Stay tuned…only time will tell!
