The Set-Up. Pretty Much.
With the exception of a show on the 23rd, I allowed the final days of 2011 to slip along in holiday / relaxation mode, not getting terribly much done for the Record Club. Most folks lay low for this period of time, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. However, I did start to worry that I’d never reach the funding goal. On the way to Christmas Eve celebrations in Cincinnati, I was around $450 short, and for the whole week-long trip, the pledge level stayed frozen there.
And then seemingly all at once, between Amy and I returning on the 30th and New Year’s morning, the final few backers stepped up and put the Record Club into the black, officially. So first and foremost, I want to give a sincere and humongous THANK YOU to all of you for throwing in for this hare-brained scheme! In 2012, I promise to make all the products and prizes as special as I can.
Starting, of course, with the first record, due in February. I’m firm on the tracklisting now:
Side A:
Come for the People, Stay for the Buildings
Lisa Pruett Will Have Her Revenge on Coventry
Side B:
Get on With It
Exterior, House
Come for the Buildings, Stay for the People
I’ve made solid starter mixes, and listened to them through my big ol’ office stereo. I have some bass concerns there, but I have yet to take notes and chip away at them in earnest. Ditto a couple of strange clicks I heard when listening via iPod. Some idiosyncrasies I love, the “imperfections” of the recording bulging out like the browned edges of home-made cookies. But some of them are straight-up glitches; I know the difference. Spare the former, smooth out the latter, and make the whole thing sound as full as possible. Such is mixing.
So today, my last vacation day before going back to work, I plan on getting those glitches fixed and then start listening with spiral-bound in hand on as many devices as possible — kitchen CD player, living room Tivoli, car stereo, cruddy basement computer speakers, etc. The goal is to have the audio and artwork ready to mail for pressing on my next payday — the 16th of January.
Why is my payday important? Well, for one, after the 5th, it’ll take Kickstarter a couple of weeks to funnel the pledges into my bank account. But secondly, as you may have read in the FAQ section, I purposely set my funding goal somewhat shy of the actual budget for this project. After Kickstarter and Amazon Payments take their cut of the $3200, I should have somewhere around $2900 to use. But the project, in full, will end up costing closer to $3500. I knew this going in, and I can absolutely cover the spread — otherwise I wouldn’t have set it up.
Naturally though, it would be nice not to have to do so. The project closes at midnight on Thursday. If you haven’t joined up yet, please consider doing so. I genuinely think $30 for four records mailed to your door is a straight-up deal, and the CD levels — regular for $10, regular-n-outtakes for $20 — are also reasonable for an independently produced physical product, if I do say so myself.
And if you’ve already joined, sometime between now and Thursday, if you would consider joining me for one last link-blizzard — via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or even a good old fashioned email — I’d really appreciate it. Here ’tis:
http://kck.st/rrXpFN
Stay tuned for a peek at the actual artwork and updates on the mixing process, plus the exciting world of 45 RPM vs. 33 1/3rd… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
p.s. It feels really silly to even say this, but… If by some miracle I end up grossing more than $3500 in the next three days, I promise all funds will go to the project — an extra page in the CD booklet, a thicker paper for one of the seven-inch sleeves, a new sticker design, what-have you. In other words: No candy, no microbrews, no Kiss records on import for yours truly. I swear. Peace.
