‘The talent, generosity and friendliness on Twitter never ceases to amaze me. Twitter is a wonderful thing’ ~ Rich Newman, tw1tterband manager
PRESS RELEASE
Issued: 8th February, 2011
For Immediate Release
BAND FORMED ENTIRELY ON TWITTER RECORDS A SONG AND RAISES OVER £2,000 FOR MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT IN 7 DAYS
On Wednesday 26th January, Richard Newman (www.twitter.com/WH1SKS) was considering writing a blog to share his experiences of two years on Twitter. Then he decided to do something a little different to demonstrate how GREAT a place Twitter can be. His idea was a TWITTER BAND.
There was a flurry of interest as he began to share his idea a little more. Then, on Friday 28th January he lost his job. So, to escape the real-life worry of this, he absorbed himself into making the Twitter Band Project a success. Richard had already decided on the song, inspired by his first pet, a cat called Maggie: the song would be Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May”. He chose this as he knew it had many layers to it, so would mean a number of musicians could be involved, he also knew a mandolin player followed him. Perfect!
FIRST TARGET: Produce a trial track by the evening of Saturday 29th January (24hrs later)
Initial steps:
1. Recruit a producer – Richard had no prior experience of this kind of project or the music business generally
2. Recruit the rest of the band – lots of offers came flooding in. Decisions on who to keep and who to drop really came down to commitment and availability to meet trial deadline
3. Build momentum – set up @tw1tterband account, email address and blog. Tweet about it Engage support from influential tweeters to “big up” the idea and generate more interest
4. Ensure Producer was up for meeting the tight deadline; fortunately he rose to the challenge
The band members then recorded their bit of the song in their “studios” aka kitchen, garage, lounge etc. The audio files were shared online so the Producer could pick them up to start mixing them together - none of the band members have got together during the project. First version of the song was launched via Twitter on the Saturday evening.
SECOND TARGET: Re-record track and also produce a video for launch on YouTube Sunday 6th February at 8pm (7 days later)
It was very well-received on Twitter and the band were inspired to record a better version. Richard also suggested that it was launched as a means to raise money for charity. The band collectively chose Macmillan Cancer Support. The band then set about re-recording their parts and also to video themselves performing. One of the guitarists, Nick, took on the job of pulling together and editing the video.
Phil Williams, from BBC 5 Live, picked up on the story (via Twitter) on Friday 4th February and invited the manager and vocalist to be interviewed on his breakfast show on Sunday morning. Link to the audio of that interview: http://audioboo.fm/boos/271473-tw1tterband-5live-interview
Despite some eleventh hour video editing, the song and video launched, as planned, at 8pm on Sunday 6th – with a remix of it (by @weespecky) an hour later at 9pm.
Stats:
£2,220 (plus approx £600 in gift aid) raised to date for Macmillan Cancer Support
7,372: total hits on http://tw1tterband.blogspot.com
1,912: direct hits on the “Maggie May” YouTube link (via the blog)
We have had hits from the USA, Australia, United Arab Emirates and from all over Europe.
On Wednesday 26th January, Richard Newman (www.twitter.com/WH1SKS) was considering writing a blog to share his experiences of two years on Twitter. Then he decided to do something a little different to demonstrate how GREAT a place Twitter can be. His idea was a TWITTER BAND.
There was a flurry of interest as he began to share his idea a little more. Then, on Friday 28th January he lost his job. So, to escape the real-life worry of this, he absorbed himself into making the Twitter Band Project a success. Richard had already decided on the song, inspired by his first pet, a cat called Maggie: the song would be Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May”. He chose this as he knew it had many layers to it, so would mean a number of musicians could be involved, he also knew a mandolin player followed him. Perfect!
FIRST TARGET: Produce a trial track by the evening of Saturday 29th January (24hrs later)
Initial steps:
1. Recruit a producer – Richard had no prior experience of this kind of project or the music business generally
2. Recruit the rest of the band – lots of offers came flooding in. Decisions on who to keep and who to drop really came down to commitment and availability to meet trial deadline
3. Build momentum – set up @tw1tterband account, email address and blog. Tweet about it Engage support from influential tweeters to “big up” the idea and generate more interest
4. Ensure Producer was up for meeting the tight deadline; fortunately he rose to the challenge
The band members then recorded their bit of the song in their “studios” aka kitchen, garage, lounge etc. The audio files were shared online so the Producer could pick them up to start mixing them together - none of the band members have got together during the project. First version of the song was launched via Twitter on the Saturday evening.
SECOND TARGET: Re-record track and also produce a video for launch on YouTube Sunday 6th February at 8pm (7 days later)
It was very well-received on Twitter and the band were inspired to record a better version. Richard also suggested that it was launched as a means to raise money for charity. The band collectively chose Macmillan Cancer Support. The band then set about re-recording their parts and also to video themselves performing. One of the guitarists, Nick, took on the job of pulling together and editing the video.
Phil Williams, from BBC 5 Live, picked up on the story (via Twitter) on Friday 4th February and invited the manager and vocalist to be interviewed on his breakfast show on Sunday morning. Link to the audio of that interview: http://audioboo.fm/boos/271473-tw1tterband-5live-interview
Despite some eleventh hour video editing, the song and video launched, as planned, at 8pm on Sunday 6th – with a remix of it (by @weespecky) an hour later at 9pm.
Stats:
£2,220 (plus approx £600 in gift aid) raised to date for Macmillan Cancer Support
7,372: total hits on http://tw1tterband.blogspot.com
1,912: direct hits on the “Maggie May” YouTube link (via the blog)
We have had hits from the USA, Australia, United Arab Emirates and from all over Europe.
Quotes:
‘Congrats. Mad project for a great cause. And it worked’
‘Well done to everyone who was a part of @tw1tterband, truly amazing’
‘Bloody wicked’
‘Quite humbling really’
Notes to editors
1. Email Debbie Ford (PR) or Richard Newman (band manager) via tw1tterbandproject@gmail.com‘Congrats. Mad project for a great cause. And it worked’
‘Well done to everyone who was a part of @tw1tterband, truly amazing’
‘Bloody wicked’
‘Quite humbling really’
Notes to editors
2. Photographs and bios of band members available on the tw1tterband blog (see link below)
3. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tw1tterband
4. Blog: http://tw1tterband.blogspot.com
5. Donate: www.justgiving.com/tw1tterband
Who was involved:
THE BAND
Manager: @WH1SKS
Producer: @logikalpaul
Vocals: @DavieLegend
Guitar: @nicktheguitar
Guitar: @jameswasnthere
Guitar: @RoOkin
Drums: @RacingHippo
Bass: @danbeames
Keys: @scottlechat
Mandolin: @mark_fellows
Ukulele: @mashupsoldier
SUPPORTED BY
@themanwhofell (Track Art Work)
@mediaben (Logo and Graphics)
@diaryofaledger (Blog)
@redearedrabbit (Interviews)
@debsa (Project Manager/PR)
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