All those years nurturing his creativity on the dole has paid off, Stuart David, estwhile bassist of Belle and Sebastian has made pots of cash by allowing one of his tunes to be used by Xerox. I heard Stuart interviewed and he seemed surprised that this story was picked up now, as the advert has been running for years, but here it is.. Article in the Herald last Monday (courtesy of Google cache).. " The few seconds of music that proved a 500,000 earner MARTIN WILLIAMS November 22 2005 THEY don't have a record deal and give away their music free through Their website. But Looper, a little-known Scottish band, have earned about £500,000 in royalties after one of their instrumentals was adopted as the signature tune for Xerox, the largest document management company in the world. Mondo 77 is heard each day by millions of Americans on national television, although the vast majority will have no idea that the band, which formed through Glasgow School of Art, is responsible for it. While pop tracks are often used to sell everything from iPods to cars, they usually have a short shelf life. However, Looper's simple electronic tune has become a permanent fixture in the US, having been a staple on every Xerox advert since it was discovered by company executives three years ago. The track, which was first released five years ago on the band's album Geometrid, has also previously cropped up on the films Vanilla Sky and The Edukators. The Glasgow-based band was formed by Stuart David, a founding member of Belle and Sebastian, and his wife, Karn. Mondo 77 was chosen for use in the commercials by Adam Leibovitz, who edited the initial adverts for Xerox. "The song's simplicity, energy, modern style and sense of humour made it an important element that worked well with the communications objective of the commercials," said a spokeswoman for the firm. Their UK record company Jeepster closed four years ago, and Looper recorded their last album, The Snare, the following year. It was the first of a proposed five-LP deal with the Mute record label, also home to Depeche Mode, Erasure and Goldfrapp, but the band subsequently left Mute. "We don't sell any records any more," said David. "I am pleased that Looper didn't take off in a big way it's not good for you in the long run, I don't think. "I can only think of two or three fans we've ever heard from off the back of the Xerox ad. I think people who hear it on the ad have less opportunity to find out what it is. "It [Mondo 77] brings in enough money for us to have been able to treat It as being our job." The band is working on an album which they hope will be available as a download only. David formed Belle and Sebastian with Stuart Murdoch in an all-night cafe in Glasgow in 1996, after meeting while on a youth opportunity scheme learning to be music engineers. Looper formed the following year for a show at the Glasgow School of Art, initially as a side project of Belle and Sebastian, with which David was the bass player. He played samplers, sang and told stories, while his wife projected her films and presented kinetic sculptures. Signature Tunes LEVI'S Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine GUINNESS Perez Prado Guaglione VODAFONE The Dandy Warhols Bohemian Like You NIMBLE (bread) Honeybus I Can't Let Maggie Go SMILE (internet bank) Supernaturals Smile MILLER LITE The Hollies He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" Links: http://www.looperama.com/ http://www.theherald.co.uk/ Linda x +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+