We can’t say enough good things about Kickstarter or any other similar DIY means by which an artist or band can reach out to their fans and supporters to enable them to press on. And when the goal is pressing vinyl, we’re sold at the outset.
We’ll be using our little platform to bring to your attention the bands and their Kickstarter campaigns we think merit your attention—and we’re picking it up with our friends Ian and Lisa of Lenorable.
Over a year ago we were inspired to put together a concept-album based on three Edgar Allen Poe pieces: The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, and Ligeia. Within a few months we had the songs ready to go, and through some unexpected friend-of-a-friend connections, fell into the engineering arms of the talented Edie Sedgwick. One day and several mugs of hot green tea at Inner Ear studios later, we had laid down some tracks that would eventually be pulled together as our soon-to-be-released concept EP, The Prince.
Perhaps one is supposed to think about things like “how are our fans going to be listening to our music” ahead of time, but we were way too eager to simply get our stuff down while we were still in ambitious-mode. The post-recording stage of our album snuck up on us, and we started to throw around ideas for recording mediums.
It’s hard to decipher exactly what drove us to vinyl – whether it was the recognition of the sorry, trampled CDs that had the unfortunate positioning of being under Lisa’s feet in our car, or a yearning to feel the same calming, ritualistic nostalgia with our album being carefully placed on a turntable, as we do with so many of our unhealthily idolized musicians’ – but whatever it was, we knew that wanted our album on a 7”. And not just any 7” – a glow-in-the-dark 7” that would be just as comfortable performing in the dark as Lisa is (we’re only a step away from dubbing her distaste for performing [or, really, doing anything] under bright lights as a symptom of mild vampirism).
So, several months later, after the album had been mixed and mastered, we looked to vinyl. After scouring options for vinyl pressing, we decided upon United Record Pressing, and with this decision came the reminder that the two of us would need sources outside of our own meager musical budgets to make The Prince happen.
This is where Kickstarter comes in.
Well, if you’re not familiar with the project, you are probably interested in knowing what the hell a Kickstarter is in the first place. In can be summed up pretty easily in a few sentences: Kickstarter is an online platform that allows artists of all different mediums to raise money for their independent projects in a public sphere. Today’s unsigned musicians have a place where they can rely on their fans to help make their dreams happen, without having to attract the fickle eye of the music industry and hope to get a few minutes in some kind of spotlight.
Sounds pretty nifty, right? Well, there’s always a catch…
If a musician doesn’t raise the amount that they set for their goal, they get no Kickstarter money. Nada. Zero. Zilch.
This is where you come in.
We’ve received pledges for nearly $900 so far, and we have just over a week to go. If we don’t get at least $1600 in pledges by Sunday, Sept. 25, we don’t get any money and it will severely delay the release of our record.
We’re asking you to pledge money, but we want you to think of it another way: Every pledge receives a reward, so if we meet our goal you will have pre-ordered a set of very limited Lenorable merch, including test pressings of the record, personalized songs on YouTube and artwork made by us, the band members.
So there’s our story from the start, which will hopefully have a finish very soon.
I mean, really you guys, we’re making one-of-a-kind dinosaur tote bags. Do you need a better reason to help us out?
