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Just Mustard Sign to Partisan, Share New Single ‘I Am You’

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Irish five-piece Just Mustard have signed to Partisan Records and shared a new single, ‘I Am You’. Recorded at Attica Studios in Donegal, Ireland during lockdown and mixed by David Wrench (The xx, FKA twigs, Caribou), the track arrives alongside a visual created by Dylan Friese-Greene. Check it out below.

After playing some headlining shows in January 2022, Just Mustard will be joining Fontaines D.C. on their European tour next spring. The follow-up to their 2019 debut Wednesday is due to arrive next year.

Artist Spotlight: Floating Room

Floating Room is the musical project led by Maya Stoner, an Uchinanchu American artist based in Portland, Oregon. Over the years, her music has hovered between styles united by a DIY ethos: her debut release, 2016’s Sunless, was recorded entirely in her bedroom, and subsequent releases have been markedly less lo-fi and more sonically diverse. The 2018 LP False Baptism, recorded at the famed Anacortes studio, The Unknown, folded in ethereal synths, haunting melodies, and reverb-soaked distortion to capture a more refined and immersive version of the band’s sound, while last year’s Tired and True EP leaned on Stoner’s pop sensibilities with lush, artful production. Now, Stoner has returned with a new EP, Shima – released in conjunction with the band’s ongoing tour alongside Citizen, Drug Church, and Glitterer – which finds her channeling her punk roots to underscore some of her most direct, energetic, and potent songs to date. Produced by Stoner’s partner and acclaimed power pop musician Mo Troper, the EP offers plenty of astounding moments in just over ten minutes, with Stoner trying something new on each of its four tracks: whether addressing her Uchinanchu heritage on the captivating ‘Shimanchu’ or her inner child on ‘I Wrote This Song for You’, she does it like there’s a fire inside her that can no longer be ignored.

We caught up with Floating Room’s Maya Stoner for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her musical journey, the making of her new EP Shima, and more.


You just released the latest single from your EP, ‘Firetruck’. How are you feeling about the response off that as we’re getting closer to the release date?

In general, I’m feeling really good. It’s almost embarrassing how much my self-esteem fluctuates based on if I’m playing shows or releasing something. I feel like it’s always a really positive experience to release music. Besides that, I’m getting ready for tour, and I’m a little tired because I decided last minute that I want to make all the merch and silk screen it myself, which I haven’t done in the past, so it’s kind of overwhelming. Especially because I don’t really have money, it just makes me feel like maybe I’m crazy.

Do you mean that it’s always validating to put out music?

I mean, how could it not be validating? It’s validating that anyone would even listen to a single song, because there’s so much music out there. There’s so much battling for attention, that someone just giving like two minutes to listen to one song means so much. I also have this other thing where it almost feels like maybe people that are drawn to playing music and stuff are, like, mentally ill or had not enough attention in their childhood or something. [laughs] Sometimes I wonder about that, like there’s some deep-seated issue where I’m trying to prove myself, and music is a way to do that.

I wanted to start by asking you about ‘Firetruck’. It’s the most upbeat track on the EP, and in a statement about it, you said that the older you get, the more pop music you listen to, because you’re tired of being sad. I thought it was interesting considering the EP is a more straightforward rock release than anything you’ve put out before.

I feel like oftentimes, music really dictates my mood. And maybe when I was younger, I could romanticize feeling depressed and shitty more, but now I just want good mental health and to feel better. I mean, you can’t be happy all the time, but I use music as a tool to feel better. But with this EP, with the more rock sound, I kind of wanted to do something that felt really empowering to play and to write. Like, ‘I Wrote This Song for You’, that is earnestly trying to be self-affirming and it almost feels embarrassing and hard, but I think it was a good challenge for me.

I guess now, a lot of especially left-field pop music tries to be ironic, but I feel like it’s often more challenging to make something earnest, let alone earnestly self-affirming, in any genre.

Yeah. I mean, when I was a teenager, I would yell or scream while playing music, but I haven’t done that in so long. And it’s really hard to try to do yelling or screaming vocals half-assed or ironically.

You do quite a bit of screaming on this EP.

Yes, I was excited to do that. At first, it was hard when I was showing people these songs to learn to practice as a band; it was hard for me to get the yelling and the screaming out. But it’s gotten a lot easier.

What pushed you back in that direction originally? Because it’s quite a departure from last year’s Tired and True EP.

With Tired and True, it’s in the name – I was really just so tired. But then there was a lot during these last couple of years that made me really angry. At first, I thought I could maybe use the internet as an outlet to express my outrage over certain things that were happening, but I realized that that wasn’t really doing it for me. And it also just made me feel worse. It made me feel worse to express my anger about something and feel like everyone was ignoring it. So yeah, I’ve kind of transitioned to not using the internet for that, and music just felt like a way better outlet for those feelings.

One thing I was really angry about was seeing these elderly Asian people getting stabbed and beat up because of Trump calling coronavirus the “China flu” and “kung flu” and shit. And there’s always really horrible stuff happening in Okinawa, where my mom’s from, which is colonized by Japan and occupied by the US. And that stuff can be hard to find an outlet for because, at least in Portland, I barely know that many other Shimanchu people, so I can try to talk about it to people, but they don’t understand, you know.

What about this kind of music in particular helped you channel that anger, especially on songs like ‘Shimanchu’?

Because I started out playing music in bands that were more, like, yelling-type vocals when I was a teenager – the age that I am, I’m 30 now, it just feels like this loop where sometimes I feel similar to being a teenager again. I don’t know if that’s what Mitski was referring to as second puberty or whatever, but I just find myself in general – maybe it’s all the solitude – I just feel like I’m reconnecting to this inner child and the younger version of me.

How so?

Well, for one, I’ve been going to therapy for like the last three years, and it’s definitely felt more intense over the last couple of years. I’ve been doing a lot of, I think it’s called child work, and just thinking about how issues from my youth affect me as an adult. It’s almost embarrassing to use this word, “isolation”, because everyone is writing songs about isolation, but it’s inevitable. I felt incredibly isolated in my youth and it was painful how alone I felt, and there was a time during the pandemic where I was feeling that again, when I was super angry and sad. With that song, ‘I Wrote This Song for You’, it’s like, it’s easier to feel compassion when you think of the younger version of you, and if you can offer that person some compassion and acceptance, it becomes easier to offer that to yourself now.

Was it hard to make that song feel earnest and cathartic?

Writing the song, it felt cathartic from the get-go. But then, when I thought about releasing it, that’s when it felt scary. It just feels very vulnerable, that song, and there’s this part of me that’s like, “Please don’t laugh at me.” I also kind of hope that it sounds like a love song to someone else, instead of a song to my inner child.

I think it can definitely be heard that way. And I assume recording the last part of the song must have been especially cathartic.

Oh yeah, it was. It sounds really egotistical, but I got goosebumps listening to that part, because it’s saying “you” over and over, but it’s a song I wrote to myself. But I also feel like, singing about self-esteem or feeling isolated, there’s this worry that only a teenager should feel that kind of emotion. An adult like me shouldn’t struggle with that stuff, so it should be embarrassing to talk about, but I think a lot of people do feel isolated and insecure as an adult. You don’t just become super confident because you’re an adult.

It can feel embarrassing as a teenager too, though, right? I mean, maybe we get more self-conscious over time or we romanticize it less, but it’s definitely there.

There’s so much media, though, targeted towards teens – sometimes it appears like every movie targeted towards teen girls is about someone trying to become popular or fit in, you know. Or all the shows for kids or teens, there’s always some weird moral message about believing in yourself. I was nervous that that song sounded cheesy like that stuff.

Were you affected by those kinds of movies in any specific way?

Yeah, I mean, when I was younger, I felt like it was really hard to relate to women characters or girl characters because they used to be written so one-dimensionally. It always felt like there were layers to men’s characters and the women just were, “Oh, she’s good,” and there’s no bad side of her or whatever. And their friendships and relationships seemed so shallow. I thought a lot of shit targeted towards youth when I was a young person was pretty cheesy and unrelatable. But yeah, I definitely noticed. It’s like, “Why is every movie about, like, trying to become popular or something?”

Is that kind of why you gravitated more towards music, and the specific kind of music that we’re talking about, like the riot grrrl and emo influences that are present in your music?

That’s so funny you said that, because that is exactly the pipeline I went through – I don’t think it’s actually a pipeline, because I don’t know that many people that went through exactly that. But yeah, I started off really into riot grrrl music – Sleater-Kinney was so important to me as a teenager. And then after that, like the first half of my 20s, I got more into the local emo music scene. I feel like I was drawn to music in the kind of stereotypical way where you feel isolated and you feel like a freak, but then you feel like with music you can be yourself and there’s other freaks here.

Could you share an early memory of feeling connected to music in that way?

My first experience with riot grrrl music was cool, because I was in a band where everyone was under 16 and we played punk music. There were just so many supportive people, and we got to play Lady Fest in Olympia, which was a really classic riot grrrl thing. There was all these older bands that would let us play with them and it felt really empowering. And then when I got more into the local DIY scene, which was very emo and hardcore-leaning at the time, it’s like, I felt isolated and quiet at school – I basically had one friend at school – but then when I would go to shows, I felt like I belonged or something.

What were your first attempts at songwriting like?

I started writing my own songs in middle school, and I recorded myself just very lo-fi. I was lucky because I grew up here in Portland and I had mentors, like there’s like this camp called the Girls Rock Camp, and women that would show me music, and there’s a lot of cool labels around the Pacific Northwest at the time. So I was listening to a lot of like, the Microphones and Kimya Dawson and stuff. When I first started making music, I didn’t think about sharing it with people at all really, and it was just a tool for self-reflection and kind of therapeutic – I would just go in my room and do it.

Do you still see that way, more or less?

Yeah, definitely. Writing music is just like journaling, it helps you get in touch with yourself and how you’re feeling. Mostly when I’m writing the songs, I’m not thinking about, like, a product. And for someone else, it’s just a cathartic experience.

What was the original inspiration for Floating Room?

I guess originally, it was just gonna be like this solo thing. On the first album, I did record most of the instruments myself, but someone else was teaching me how to use Ableton and they played here and there on that. But I actually really enjoy playing with other people, and for me, it’s a lot easier because – well, for one, I have ADD, so it’s easy for me to start projects and not finish them, so I’ll just write like a shit ton of songs but never finish them. But if I have a band, it somehow helps me to follow through on them. Sometimes when I wouldn’t finish a song it’d be because I can’t decide if it’s good or not, but when I play with other people, there’s more to be objective about and it’s easier to decide that you like it or not. Anything I could say about collaborating would probably be cliché [laughs], but it’s just become something where it’s like, I’ve worked with so many different people and it’s never been the same lineup for albums. Except for Mo [Troper] – Mo’s played on the last two EPs.

Is that partly why you’ve gravitated towards the EP format for the past two releases, because it helps you stay focused?

Yeah, definitely. I really have loved putting out EPs these last two times. It’s easier for the songs to all come from one specific point of time and it feels just more cohesive. I guess it just takes me longer to write, and by the time I would have a full length ready, I might be already tired of the old songs. Everyone’s always asking like, “Oh, when’s the full-length coming,” but it just feels so much easier to put up short releases.

I won’t be asking that, then, if you’re tired of hearing it.

[laughs] Thank you.

I was reading about “floating world,” which I found out is this term used to describe the hedonistic lifestyle of Edo period Japan, and I was curious about how you decided to take this idea and apply it to your recording project, this sort of insular world that you created alone in your bedroom.

For me, it was like, on one hand, the feeling I’ve always felt writing music, which is just that: the flow and escapism of playing or writing music by myself or listening to music even or playing with other people. But then also, at the time when I started the project, I was doing a lot more hedonistic and outwardly escapist [things]. I was younger when I first started this band, I hadn’t gone to therapy, and I was definitely running away from a lot of problems. I would love to, like, do drugs and drink so that I didn’t have to think about the future or the past. A lot of what I’ve been thinking about lately is my youth and my teenage years, and when I think about those times, so much of it is just me being alone in my bedroom at my parents’ house and listening to music and playing music until I could feel like myself again. So it feels still relevant to me.

How do you relate to it now, this idea of the floating room?

Now it’s kind of like, floating duplex. [laughs] Honestly, even though we can go out more and most people are vaccinated, I’ve become so antisocial that my home is my floating room, and I just love to hang out here by myself or with my partner.

What do you like about being alone and staying inside?

Well, I’m not entirely sure if it’s super healthy because I think a lot of it is avoidant behaviour. The unhealthy part that I worry about sometimes is that – I have been diagnosed with PTSD, and I think that there’s this avoidant symptom where you don’t want to leave the house because you don’t want to have like, a panic attack or anxiety or whatever. But yeah, I don’t know. It’s like, when I am at home alone, I can feel like myself and I feel in my body and present. When I feel like myself, I can love myself. But the more I’m forced to be out with other people, sometimes I feel like I just get more and more out of touch with myself. It’s like you’re just giving parts of yourself and your energy, and I  feel like I’ve got to protect my energy. It’s like everyone you deal with, you’re giving a part of yourself until there’s nothing left for yourself.

Can you give me a general timeline of how the EP came together?

I don’t really have a good timeframe in my head, but we got offered to do this tour with Glitterer and Citizen and Drug Church, and that was really exciting for me because I’ve only done small tours that have been DIY. So it felt really exciting to get to join what felt like a real tour. And then a week or two later, this label, Famous Class, emailed me and they said that they would be interested in doing a 7-inch. So I was like, “Oh, it would be cool if we had something to sell on tour, do you think somehow we could press it before I leave for tour?” And miraculously, it was possible. Basically, he was like, “Yeah, if you record it by next weekend.” It just felt so serendipitous. Cyrus [Lubin] at Famous Class, he makes all the vinyl himself, he goes into the factory and he puts all the colours and everything is done by him by hand. And it’s like, other people have been waiting for a long time for these records that should have been in their hands, but somehow it was just really lucky that we were working with someone that would make it happen on time. Just a lot of things I felt were falling into place in this way that it’s kind of pushing me to go harder right now, because it’s like, if all these things are coming together really nicely, it’s a sign that I should go hard. And if I don’t do it now with all this nice stuff happening, would I ever do it?

What was it like to then go out and record the songs? How do you remember that day in the studio?

What I do mainly with Floating Room is write the vocals and guitar and the song myself and then collaborate with other people for the other parts. Obviously, we hadn’t been practicing as a band during the pandemic, and I didn’t really even have a lineup. So I showed these songs to my partner right before recording when we had that opportunity, and he can play the drums and bass and guitar, so he played all the other instruments besides my own guitar and singing. And we went to our friend Ian [Watts]’s house, he has a studio in his garage and he’s super nice and chill. That was one of the first times seeing other people, too, because of the pandemic. And it just felt so nice, like he had all these little chickens and his wife made us lentils. It was just was a really positive experience.

To bring things back to ‘I Wrote This Song for You’, is there anything that you feel like you maybe couldn’t articulate in that song specifically that you wish you could say to your younger self, to yourself now, or to anyone who relates to those feelings of isolation?

I guess I would tell my younger self or other people to find strength in their isolation, and maybe the fact that they’re isolated is a positive reflection of them, because… Maybe they’re not good at the social scripts that people use to fit in or whatever, but maybe that makes them better at going inward and thinking creatively. Also, when you’re worrying about what you’re saying and stuff, like, “Oh, is this gonna please everyone?” It’s like, fuck them. Who fucking cares what these people think? You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone and everyone’s full of bullshit anyways. [laughs] I don’t know, maybe that’s the negative side of it, but isolation is like a gift, it’s not a negative thing, and you don’t have to spend – maybe I would just tell myself not to try so hard not to be alone and to spend more time just by myself.

Is there anything you’d like to share in terms of future plans or anything that we didn’t talk about?

I’m actually really excited about the future right now, and I do really feel motivated to work on a full-length. I have a ton of songs that I need to flesh out more, but I feel each time I’m getting closer to the sound – there’s like a feeling inside that I want to put to sound, and each time it feels like it’s getting closer. And I don’t know if it’s chipping away at something or adding stuff, but I just have a feeling the next one is going to be really good.


This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Floating Room’s Shima EP is out now via Famous Class.

King Hannah Announce Debut Album, Share Video for New Single

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King Hannah – the Liverpool duo of Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle – have announced their debut LP, I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me, which is set for release on February 25 via City Slang. It includes the previously released single ‘A Well-Made Woman’, as well as a new one called ‘All Being Fine’. Check it out via the accompanying video below, and scroll down for the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.

I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me Cover Artwork:

I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me Tracklist:

1. A Well-Made Woman
2. So Much Water So Close to Drone
3. All Being Fine
4. Big Big Baby
5. Ants Crawling on an Apple Stork
6. The Moods That I Get In
7. Foolius Caesar
8. Death of the House Phone
9. Go-Kart Kid (HELL NO!)
10. I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me
11. Berenson
12. It’s Me and You, Kid

The Antlers Share New EP ‘Losing Light’, Announce 2022 Tour

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The Antlers have shared a surprise new EP called Losing Light, featuring four reimagined songs from their latest album Green to Gold. Check it out below.

“How would these songs sound if they were being reconstituted from memory 50 years from now, after decades of technological evolution, alongside analog and digital degradation?” The Antlers’ Peter Silberman said of the new songs in a statement. “I began to consider how we reconstruct the past once we’re many years removed from it, with only scattered, decaying artifacts to reference.”

He continued: “Following this premise of Green to Gold as if remembered from the distant future, we began to reassemble pieces of several songs in different iterations — the earliest versions and demos, pieces of the album versions, and newly created recordings. To bring them all into the same world, we processed each of these elements in ways that would repeatedly age them backwards and forwards, as if being blasted into the past, then flung into the future.”

Along with the EP, the Antlers have also announced a 2022 tour; find the full list of dates below.

The Antlers 2022 Tour Dates: 

Mar 25 – Berlin, DE – Lido
Mar 27 – Oslo, NO – Parkteatret
Mar 28 – Stockholm, SE – Slaktykrykan
Mar 29 – Lund, SE – Mejeriet
Mar 30 – Copenhagen, DK – Bremem Teater
Apr 1 – Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg Old Hall
Apr 2 – Maastricht, NL – Muziekgieterij
Apr 3 – Nijmegen, NL – Doornroosje
Apr 5 – Paris, FR – Petit Bain
Apr 6 -Antwerp, BE – De Roma
Apr 8 – Dublin, IR – Academy
Apr 9 – Limerick, IR – Dolans
Apr 11 – Manchester, UK – Gorilla
Apr 12 – Edinburgh, UK – Liquid Room
Apr 14 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
Apr 15 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
May 3 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 4 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 6 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
May 7 – Washington DC – Capital Turnaround
May 8 – Durham, NC – Hayti Center
May 9 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
May 10 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
May 12 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub
May 13 – Dallas, TX – The Texas Theatre
May 14 – Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall
May 17 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
May 18 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
May 20 – Los Angeles, CA – First Congregational Church
May 21 – San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club
May 23 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
May 24 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
May 26 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
May 27 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
May 29 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Café
May 31 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
Jun 2 – Detroit, MI – El Club
Jun 3 – Toronto, Ontario – Great Hall
Jun 4 – Montreal, Quebec – L’Astral
Jun 5 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair

Big Thief Announce New Album, Release New Song ‘Time Escaping’

Big Thief have announced a new double album: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, the follow-up to 2019’s Two Hands, arrives February 11 via 4AD. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the new single ‘Time Escaping’, which follows previous offerings ‘Little Things’, ‘Sparrow’, ‘Certainty’, and ‘Change’. Listen to ‘Time Escaping’ and check out the album’s cover artwork and tracklist below.

Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia recorded the new double album across four distinct sessions in four different locations, working with Sam Evian in Upstate New York, Shawn Everett in Topanga Canyon, Dom Monks in the Rocky Mountains, and Scott McMicken in Tucson, Arizona.

“One of the things that bonds us together as a band is pure magic,” Lenker said in a statement. “I think we all have the same guide and none of us have ever spoken what it is because we couldn’t name it, but somehow, we are all going for the same thing, and when we hit it… we all know it’s it, but none of us to this day, or maybe ever, will be able to articulate in words what the ‘it’ is. Something about it is magic to me.”

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Cover Artwork:

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Tracklist:

1. Change
2. Time Escaping
3. Spud Infinity
4. Certainty
5. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
6. Sparrow
7. Little Things
8. Heavy Bend
9. Flower of Blood
10. Blurred View
11. Red Moon
12. Dried Roses
13. No Reason
14. Wake Me up to Drive
15. Promise Is a Pendulum
16. 12,000 Lines
17. Simulation Swarm
18. Love Love Love
19. The Only Place
20. Blue Lightning

4 Good Ways To Fight Hair Loss

Hair loss is a problem that many people around the world struggle with regardless of their age and gender. Although baldness is common in men, in some cases it can affect women as well. Some are due to health issues, while others can be genetic. If you start to see your hair thinning, it’s time to take action. However, you must first know that it’s normal to lose hair daily. An average person loses 100 hair strands a day, so only start taking action if you believe you’re losing way more than that. Here are the 4 most effective ways to fight hair loss.

Supplements

One of the reasons why you’re losing so much hair on a daily basis is that your body is lacking the needed nutrition to perform properly. Vitamins such as Vitamin A, B, B7, C, D, H, Iron, and Zinc are essential for hair growth. If you’re not following a healthy diet that includes all the needed vitamins, there’s a high chance that it will affect your hair’s health. Finding a reliable supplement with all the vitamins that your body needs, will reduce and may prevent the risk of hair loss.

Hair Loss Medicine

There are a couple of hair loss medicine alternatives that have proven to be effective. Minoxidil is an over-the-counter topical medication in the form of liquid, shampoo, or foam that is applied to the scalp to regrow hair or prevent hair loss. Finasteride, a hair loss medicine for men, comes in tablets that are taken once per day. Though people should carefully look into the kind of topical finasteride that they will take as there are similar medicines in the market that are not FDA-approved like minoxidil or finasteride. You can get the prescription online if the seller has a doctor available that will assess your condition and prescribe it for you if applicable.

Physical Activity

We all know that being physically active is good for our health, but did you know that it can also prevent hair loss? Walking, swimming, or exercising for 30 minutes a day can fight hair loss. As your blood circulation will improve, your scalp’s health will improve as well. In addition to that, if the cause for your hair problem is stress, exercising will also help reduce your stress level. However, if you have oily hair, you should wash your hair after exercising to wash away the sweat, especially in the summer.

Hair Care

What goes into your hair, can be the main reason why your hair is falling out. Harsh chemicals in shampoos can damage and break your hair, preventing you from having healthy hair and scalp. How often you wash your hair can also be an important factor for your problem. To fight hair loss, you must first understand your hair type and know what it needs. Know how to take care of your locks by washing them with mild shampoo and avoiding sulfate and other harsh components.

Fighting hair loss is not an easy job. It needs consistency and a lot of care. However, you must first know the reason why you experience this condition so you can find the right way to prevent it. If the reason is because of the products you use, taking supplements and multivitamins will not help your hair. You need to figure out the reason before you start curing it. If you’re unsure of the cause, it’s better to consult a medical professional as they may prescribe a hair loss medication that will help recover your hair and improve your scalp.

How to Make Sure You Sell Your House Quickly

Selling a house is among the most stressful activities you will ever engage in. The most difficult thing is that the process will typically take months to start, and you may have to deal with lots of prospective buyers in the process. It is possible to sell a house within a week, but this is not common. The speed of the sale will usually depend on the desirability of the property, the price of the house, and the quality of the location. Still, you can apply certain tips to make sure you sell your house faster. Let’s look at some of these tips.

Work with a Home Buying Service

Home buying services like Spring can purchase any house in the UK, regardless of the condition of the property. The benefit of such services is that they can guarantee you that they will purchase the property, meaning there is no risk of last-minute disappointments. The company will make a valuation of your house remotely, so they won’t need to make countless site visits.

Take Care of First Impressions

Lots of potential buyers are likely to overlook your home if it doesn’t have a lasting first impression. The most important features of the house are the windows and roof, and these should be in good condition. If they are extremely damaged, you should consider replacing them. Very few people will bother checking out the property if the exterior is unappealing. As part of the first impression, you should also maintain the front garden, trim the hedges, get rid of weeds in the driveway, and paint the walls.

Renovate Your Kitchen

Homes with modern kitchens typically sell faster compared to those with traditional cooking spaces. For this reason, you should consider updating your kitchen. These renovations can take less than a month and regularly offers a great return on investment as these changes will lead to an increase in the property value.

Any job you can do that a prospective buyer won’t have to (i.e. renovating the kitchen or bathroom for example) is a job worth doing.

Bring the Outside In

Adding plants and flowers to your living space will make the house feel like a home. This tip is especially effective for spring home sales. The flowers will add colour to your house and can also help you start conversations with prospective buyers of the property.

Stage the Property

Staging the property will help the viewers imagine themselves in the space. There are a few things you can do to stage the house, and here are some of them:

  • Clean up the house and arrange everything properly
  • Set the table for a meal, and bring out your classiest cutlery
  • Make the beds with neutral colours, and add some pillows for a cosy feel
  • Place fluffy towels in the bathroom
  • Turn on the lamps in darker parts of the house
  • Keep the room warm during the property visits

Another thing you can do to stage the property is to put the rooms back to their original purposes. For example, if you had converted one bedroom to a study room, you should remove the table and add a nice bed.

Conclusion

No one enjoys selling houses, especially since the process can take many months. To sell your house faster, you can consider contacting house buying services like Springmove. If you decide to sell it to final buyers, you should improve the external appearance of the property and renovate the kitchen. Most people will also be quick to make the purchase if the property is properly staged for visits.

Top 5 Most Popular Gambling Centers in the World

The experience of visiting or playing in a live casino is one of the best feelings in the world. We take a closer look at some of the world’s famous gambling cities.

Introduction

Online Casinos gained their popularity only a few years ago. Irrespective of the rapid recognition of online casinos, land-based betting arenas are still contemporary and well patronized across different parts of the world. Several large metropolitan cities make massive profits from these casinos.

Some of these world gambling cities are known for their attractive games and events, exclusive to them. These land-based gambling dens pack a wide collection of games that some online casinos also offer. You can get some of the common offers in any Australian online casino at these live casino centers. Just browse the options and choose the best offer for your needs.

And if you don’t know where to look, you better continue reading. In this article, we’ll look at some popular gambling centres and why these cities have become quite popular.

Top World Gambling Centres

Here are some of the most famous and biggest gambling cities in the world:

Las Vegas, USA

The first name on this list is, of course, no other than the famous Las Vegas. Las Vegas is probably the first gambling city that pops into people’s heads when you of a casino center. Las Vegas is a very famous city which people from all over the world frequently visit. This beautiful metropolitan area boasts of some of the biggest and largest casino centers.

MGM Grand Resort, among others such as Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, are some of the popular casino centers in Las Vegas. Las Vegas isn’t just restricted to betting activities. It also boasts of other side attractions filled with quality entertainment and exciting rewards. Some of these exciting resorts are:

  •       Fremont Street Experience
  •       Venetian Hotel
  •       Bellagio Resort
  •       Mirage Hotel

Las Vegas is truly a place to explore with its many fun-filled resorts. 

Marina Bay, Singapore

It took quite some time for gambling to be legalized in the country of Singapore. Despite the recent licensing of gambling in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands is one of the biggest casino resorts in the world.

Singapore is slowly being recognized as one of the major countries in Asia. Their economy has taken a significant rise over the last couple of years, with gambling playing a massive role in the revenue.

Grand Lisboa Casino, Macau, China

Macau, situated in China, is another famous gambling city and one of the largest world casino centres. This city is so massive that it is seen as an East Asia Las Vegas. This metropolis holds stunning structures that make it just as attractive as Las Vegas.

The Grand Lisboa Casino holds a large collection of games such as slots, pokie, roulette, and so much more.

Hippodrome Casino, London, United Kingdom

London is another beautiful city which attracts lots of attention as tourists and non-natives frequently visit annually. This popular city packs lots of fascinating fun areas and resorts.

Gambling in London is pretty safe and well advanced due to its well-regulated gambling laws. You will also find a no verification casino around the city where you can play. You can play with real money and collect your accumulated earnings without any issue.  

Sun City, Rustenberg, South Africa

Sun City is one of the most popular gambling sites in Africa. Its chic and scintillating resorts make it one of the best casino centers in the world. It also has a gaming school for beginners. The precise nature and quality of this gambling resort make it a world-class establishment.

Why have these Cities Become so Popular?

Most of these famous gambling municipalities possess other side attractions that draw the attention of most people asides from gamblers. The location of these cities also plays a massive role in their popularity. Many popular gambling towns are situated in top countries around the globe.

Conclusion

Gambling is so fun and even more exciting when you play in some of the best casinos around. Online casinos might have their undeniable benefits. However, playing in these attractive gambling cities would also give you a great level of excitement and a thrilling experience.

The Best Sports Gaming Apps Out Now

It’s no secret that sports fans love their games, and it’s no secret that gamers love their mobile games. The mobile gaming industry has gotten so big that console games are adapting their classics into mobile format and even Netflix are getting in on the gig.

But with so much competition drowning the market, it’s hard to know what’s really worth playing. Well, if you love gaming and you love sports, there are a lot to choose from. Take a look at our picks for the very best.

Football games

Those who love The Beautiful Game can appreciate every beautiful detail and the best mobile football game will also appreciate all those details. They would have to come a long way from the games that were played on the first PlayStations that featured players that looked like something from a foosball table and janky controls.

And it is. FIFA is considered the staple of football all over the world. They offer us the World Cup, the annual installations of an ever-improving console game, and now a mobile version.

FIFA mobile offers all the things sports fans love about the console games, including the Ultimate Team feature, which sees you build your team out of all your favorite players, accounting for talent and skill sets to make the best team.

The online aspect isn’t lost on the mobile app either. Play against your friends and keep a hold of them in an in-game contact list so that you can get started as quickly as possible.

Casino games

If you are a lover of sports, no doubt you are a lover of sports betting. There are literally hundreds of apps, one of the best known is the online casino NetBet app. The app offers everything from football to horse racing, tennis, and everything in between. Right now they have an offer on for new players which would double their money in free bets when they deposit £10 and up to 100 free spins.

Oh yeah, that’s right: NetBet has casino games too. If you like to dance with Lady Luck, or you appreciate the tactics of a round of poker, you can indulge in all of it on NetBet.

Racing games

What is it about cars going round and round in a circle that has us hypnotized? Is it the skill of hitting that corner just right, as fast as possible without spinning out? Is it the mechanics of trying to make a car as light as possible therefore as fast as possible? Or do you love seeing Bowser spin out when he hits a banana peel?

Whatever the case, you can get a taste of it in the app store. Bowser, specifically, can be found on the Mario Kart Tour app, but if you like your drivers a little less bulky you can look at CSR Racing 2. This has a great Fast and Furious feel where you see stunning sports cars race through urban city streets. There is even a semblance of a story there, like Dom’s “family”.

Where to Find a Copywriter For Your Business

Words have power, especially when it comes to putting together a marketing plan for your business. Whether print or digital, a copywriter is essential in putting together writing that will effectively encourage audiences to respond positively to your value propositions. Unlike other marketers, less is often more with copywriters, who are often most effective when getting their message across with punchy and concise writing. Copy succeeds when it causes the audience to follow a call to action, whether it’s signing up to a newsletter, making a purchase, or filling in a survey. Good copy can directly influence your sales figures, so if you’re having trouble consistently generating effective content, it may be time to engage the services of a professional copywriter. If you’re scratching your head about where to begin the search, we’ll explain the best ways to go about hiring the copywriter you’ll need to supercharge your business.

LinkedIn

If you want to tap into a huge network of accomplished professionals, LinkedIn is the best place to start. You can use the professional social network to search for copywriters and get a feel for their backgrounds and experience. You’ll also be able to see the companies and campaigns that they’ve worked on previously, which could prove instructive in deciding whether their skill set is a good fit for your business. You can also find any copywriters who’ve worked with people in your own network, which will make it easier to verify their credentials and find out what other people’s experience with them has been like. 

Google

While Google might not be as streamlined as LinkedIn, it’s still a great way to sniff out copywriters who might be suitable for your business. You can search by location and add the right keywords to narrow down the results. You’ll find that many copywriters have their own websites, where they’re likely to feature links to the work in their portfolio, allowing you to see if their writing style ticks your boxes. 

Referrals

Take a look at your own professional and personal networks to see if they will be able to supply a recommendation for a decent copywriter. You might be able to find copywriters who have already proven their talents with someone in your peer group, especially if they’re coming from people in the same industry as your business. This will let you bypass a lot of research work that you’d need to perform trying to blind hire a copywriter from elsewhere. 

Online Tools

Sourcing top-level professionals is easier than ever when you take advantage of the right online tools. There’s a variety of services that can help you track down experienced copywriters, but the one we would recommend is SignalHire. This browser extension lets you search for candidates by criteria like skills and location from over 600 million online profiles on the biggest networking platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and GitHub. 

SignalHire is especially useful because it analyzes a person’s entire account to return results instead of just their basic profile information, so you might find some diamonds in the rough that you would have otherwise skipped. Results will include skills and work history, and you can extract their emails, allowing you to contact them directly. A service like SignalHire will give you plenty of options for finding the right copywriter and can provide the information for you to make an informed decision before taking a hire any further.

Copywriter Hiring 101

Whichever route you choose for finding a copywriter, there are some dos and don’ts that you should follow to give you a better chance of choosing the right copywriter for your needs, as not all copywriters have the same talents and expertise. 

Avoid Online Gig Work Platforms

You might be drawn in by the low rates, but generally, the copywriters you’re likely to find on sites like Fiverr and Upwork will have a lot less experience under their belts than more established professionals. While there’s a chance that they’ll connect you to a writer who’s got what it takes to meet your brief, more accomplished writers will move to other forums, so it’s safest to look elsewhere.

Build a Copywriter Profile

Different copywriters abound across different industries, and they will have their own specializations, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, a copywriter who specializes in the medical field will have a vastly different repertoire than one who works in E-commerce. Think about what you want their writing to achieve, which will help both you and a prospective hire quickly decide if the job is right for them. 

Vet Their Portfolios

A professional copywriter looking for work should have a portfolio with examples of their best work ready to show prospective clients. This will include the work they think shows off their greatest strengths and ought to serve to highlight their range, voice, and writing style. Make sure that you’re also checking some of their more recent work to ensure that their skillset is still relevant for the work you want them to complete.

Go With Industry Experience

While many copywriters might cover various industries, finding one with professional experience in your field will save you a lot of time and effort later on. A knowledgeable copywriter will be familiar with the jargon and technical vocabulary that may need to feature in their writing, while working knowledge of the sector will prove useful in giving their writing urgency and help your copy stand out from the competition. 

Ask After References

The average copywriter operates as a freelancer, and you’re putting a lot of trust (not to mention money) into them to provide you with good work. Many copywriters will place testimonials online, but it’s also work asking for a couple of references sometimes just to make doubly sure that they’re vouched for. There’s no harm in asking, and a professional should have no problem producing some proof of their talents.

Final Thoughts

You might look at copy as a secondary business concern, but great writing has the power to make your products and services seem compelling to audiences. Hiring a copywriter out of the blue might seem daunting, but with the help of tools like SignalHire and following the rest of our tips, you can find a quality writer to bring your business ideas to life.