Wishful, Sinful: with updates on Forever Autumn Records and the new Of Beauty and Madness album, Litany

Greetings people. With the warm-er weather now here(finally) it is harder to sit down and write on a Saturday, which is usually when I do it. However, I had plenty of work to do with the upcoming re-release of the Imbolg album and the release from Of Beauty and Madness, titled Litany.

For a long time I have been focusing on my own band and felt that I would not be able to devote the proper attention to another musical project, however this has taught me a lot about the dynamics of being a part of a band, as a member and not being the leader. I must say in some ways it is a relief to not have that burden on my shoulders. Even with the process of getting this album ready, I saw how much of a well oiled machine a band can be. We had a friend create the album artwork,we designed the rest,with the exception of a photo taken by another friend. We placed the order for the cds and distribution, and fortunately one band member lives close enough to Discmakers and was able to pick the cds up, saving us a ton of money on shipping. But of course I still bring my knowledge to the table and help out in any way I can. Plus the more bands you are in, the more you get to do what you love and possibly more often if both groups are successful.

The other endeavor that has kept pretty occupied is our IndieGogo campaign. Each day I am learning more and more about the art of Crowdfunding. I had no clue how many forums,blogs and twitter pages are dedicated to this.I am lucky enough to have put together a great promotional team who is helping to promote and finding people to donate. This has been a very eye opening experience that has shown me who is truly a loyal fan or friend and who is simply too caught up in their own thing to help (in many cases we have helped them when they needed it). I was very shocked to learn that the band Kittie had started their own campaign. At first I felt it was unfair after their success. However, I received some enlightenment as to the fact that they need the money just as much the next band(with all the expenses that come along with touring,like a bus that cost about $800 a day to rent). I decided to take the blinders off for a minute and see what they next guy (in this case girls) are doing to see if I can learn a few tricks. I explored further and found another good bands whose album I am looking forward to listening to. Remember: Don't hate, Replicate So instead of feeling overshadowed by Kittie, I looked into their campaign for ideas and even discovered a method of gaining more publicity. From this video on How to find blog that will blog about your crowdfunding campaign. This method does work, however I do suggest that you send out an actual press release to most of the Ezines. I also discovered two webpages that will promote your crowdfunding campaign for free : Crowdfusion and Crowdsunite. Posting your press release on Craig's list and Mi2n will also generate some buzz as well.

If possible getting input from other bands that have had successful campaigns is a great idea too."If you are giving away shirts there should be Tshirt designs up there." says Loki from the band Darrow Chemical Company, who had a very successful Indie Gogo campaign. "Overall you need a better grasp of your fanbase. What they have pre-ordered in the past. How many fans actively interact with your projects and buy merchandise. So you need to be calculated about your perks and your goals. And you really need to know your fans, what they want and how to give it to them." You can find out more about Darrow Chemical Company and their upcoming tour and album releases, by visiting their Official Homepage

After listening to Loki's well thought out advice, I decided to start changing up our campaign and realized that we are not giving enough,of ourselves I mean. After all, one doesn't just wake up one day and decide to start a record label. I spent years researching,attending seminars,reading books and keep up on trends in order to assure myself that I was capable of doing all this. That being said, our campaign is now offering consultations to other bands that have questions about the music industry, as well as help getting the press they need, and filming their shows as perks for donating. We are also willing to film any non music related functions as well, private parties,family functions,etc.

Well, that should do it for now, I hope everyone enjoys their day. If anyone is interested in either our Indie GoGo campaign or the new Of Beauty and Madness release, please see this widget below. One of the donation perks is a copy of the new release.

Thanks again, Nate


The reason Why, I named this entry Wishful, Sinful? Just because that song is in my head now(probably because my Ipod played all the Doors album last night) and that we all need to be like that at times :