Turbo Thursdays with The Field – Part 1
Crowdfunding is an empowering endeavor. RocketHub is a community, a platform, and a revolution empowering your crowdfunding adventure. There are many other valuable tools available to Creatives that will empower for little to no cost. Because of this, we have launched a (near) weekly column: Turbo Thursdays. The goal is to highlight other platforms that share our revolutionary empowerment ethos. If you or your company would like to be highlighted - please shoot us an email. This week we spoke with Jennifer Wright Cook, the Executive Director of The Field, an organization that helps artists through fundraising support and by providing other important creative resources. Jennifer had some very keen insights into the current environment and the challenges faced by traditional and non-traditional Creatives. Here is Part 1 of our interview: What is The Field and how does it help artists? We are what’s called an “arts service organization”. I often say that this means we’re like a gas station for artists, giving them the fuel they need to thrive: www.thefield.org What does that really mean though? Founded by artists for artists in 1986, The Field is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping independent performing artists and companies thrive artistically and administratively. From fostering creative exploration to stewarding innovative fundraising strategies, we are delighted to help artists reach their fullest potential. Field programs, poised at the intersection between knowledge and practice, can generally speaking be divided into Artistic and Management Services. These include super subsidized page to stage rehearsal/performance residencies (4,000 hours a year at less than $4 an hour), fiscal sponsorship, business skill-building classes like grantwriting and budgeting, one-on-one consultations and free out-of-town creative retreats. In addition to this evolving core curriculum, The Field responds proactively to sector-wide challenges through various Special Topics, which currently includes our Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists (ERPA) program which aims to help artists make new money for their art, from their art. We help about 2,000 artists and companies a year. Most of our artists are the “primary generators” of the work; meaning they are the directors, choreographers, composers, etc. They are emerging and mid-career artists working in experimental and traditional forms of dance, theater, music, puppetry and performance art. Field artists win Bessie (dance) awards, NYIT (theater) awards and Obies (theater). They get grants from the MAP Fund, Jerome, and NYSCA to name a few and they tour nationally and internationally. We don’t like to drop names but we will! Currently Field programs serve multi-award winning companies like Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, miguelgutierrez.org/ The Secret City thesecretcity.typepad.com, Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant avantgarderestaurant.com, and OurGoods ourgoods.org. We also have 11 national and international sites run by local artists to help their own communities thrive artistically. What I think makes The Field special is our individualized and direct attention to you, the artist. We are a small staff and we work really hard and mostly behind the scenes to help each artist do his or her best work. In addition, everyone who works at The Field is a working artist, so we know from personal experience the challenges and opportunities you face in the creative economy. Lastly, we don’t judge your artwork by highly mutable aesthetic criteria – our programs are open to any performing artist or company who wants to make work. What is your role at The Field? I am the Executive Director of The Field and I came on board in 2006 first as Development Manager, then as Co-Director, then as Executive Director in August 2007. In addition to my organizational visioning and managing duties, I run the ERPA program. I love the work I get to do with ERPA and with the ERPA artists. They have changed my life. I also know from first-hand experience how much The Field can change an artist’s life. Back in the day when I was a 25 year old dance/theater performer in New York, I was doing what so many artists do to make money – waiting tables and personal training. I was physically exhausted, financially insolvent and my self-esteem was super depleted. I needed a big change mentally and job-wise. I started thinking about arts administration. A friend of mine said, “You should check out The Field. They run this artist-manager training program teaching artists how to be managers.” I signed up, and my life changed 180 degrees. I got 8 weeks of arts admin boot camp for free from the amazing expertise of Steve Gross (Field Founder) and then I got hooked up with an emerging choreographer named Pam Tanowitz pamtanowitzdance.org/ Pam had her first show at Danspace Project and I was thrown into the fire of self-production. I learned crazy fast. I got our first grant ($500 from the then new to New York Starbucks!) and I met dozens of stakeholders who are still my friends and colleagues. And the training I got at The Field moved me from waitressing and personal training (no disrespect to these jobs though) to arts administration. It’s a really good match for me I think. Thank you for taking the time to talk with Jennifer. Check out Part 2 next week.
- December 9, 2010
Montreal Film Team Talks Crowdfunding a Movie Production
Montreal based film team Alexandra Malka, Stephanie Malka-Phass and Justin Phass have combined forces to bring together their latest filmmaking project titled, Reality Justice - currently up on RocketHub. Reality Justice is a pulse-pounding, action-packed comedy that follows the main character Jackie through a childhood crush on her favorite action hero star Dex Napalm. Justin has known the RocketHub team for years - and we had a chance to connect and talk about crowdfunding from a film team’s perspective. What was the inspiration behind the film project, “Reality Justice”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you and your team? The inspiration for “Reality Justice” spawns from our love of film first and foremost, as well as our love for action movies that act as an escape from everyday life and transport us to a world where the bad guys always perish and the good guys always prosper. I remember growing up in the 80’s & 90’s and watching Steven Seagal & Sylvester Stallone films with my father and loving every minute of them. I came to find out that my wife (Stephanie) and sister-in-law (Alex) were even bigger action movie fans than I was, so when we decided to make a film together, the action genre seemed a natural for our first project. I can’t take all the credit for the idea, I watch some of those old films now and I don’t think they stand the test of time, but my wife and sister-in-law seem to be as big of fans now as they were back then. This film is important to us because the three of us are all huge fans of film in general, almost to the point of obsession. When not watching films, I can often times be found sitting in my office reading scripts. I enjoy reading screenplays as much as I enjoy watching films, so to be involved in a film project is very exciting for me, as I’m sure it is for Stephanie & Alex. Alex is a recent graduate from film school in Montreal, she and Stephanie have wanted to work on film projects together since they were children, I love to write, so we thought the three of us would make a great fit for a film project. When Stephanie & I recently deciding to make the move to Montreal, it just seemed like the perfect time to get to work. How has your experience been as a crowd funding pioneer in the world of film- how is your community responding? The experience has been tough to say the least, but it has also been very rewarding. You don’t realize how much work actually goes into funding a project until you’ve tried it out. It takes a lot of time, commitment, and work generating buzz and marketing the project. Raising awareness and funding for a project can be a very stressful experience (especially when you’re trying to make a move to another country at the same time) but it can be a lot of fun too. In addition to affording me the opportunity to work on a project that I’m very excited about, it was interesting to see how the dynamic would work between Stephanie, Alex and I. So far it’s been going well, and I have no complaints…we’ll see what happens when we go into production. The community response has been good, support from friends and family has been really helpful. It’s also kind of fun to see people that you would never suspect come on and donate to your project. Sometimes the people who you think would never even bother to check out your project wind up giving you the highest contributions. Even though the community response has been great, you really need to be on people about helping you out, you can’t be shy about asking for help in reaching your goal. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? The best advice that I can give is to steal a quote from my old physical education teacher from high school, “Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.” As with most everything in life, preparation is the key to success. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in launching a project on Rockethub prepare a game plan long in advance of the launch. Get your “sure thing” donors in lock step before going to launch, this way you can get some money into the pot right away. I find that, for some reason or another, people seem more willing to contribute once they see that your project has some steam to it. As noble as it is to be the first contributor to a project, I think people revel in watching you sweat it out until the last minute. Much thanks Justin to you and the “Reality Justice” crew for your honest takes on filmmaking and crowdfunding. You’ve been a great friend through the years and it’s exciting to see your creative projects grow and take shape. Mahalo! -Brian
- December 8, 2010
Behind the Scenes with Musical Artist Kat Spina - Crowdfunding and The Creative Process
Kat Spina graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2006, majoring in Music Therapy and Jazz Performance. Quickly after she hit Manhattan’s rich music scene, venturing into the city to create blues, jazz, and write songs. We had a chance to connect with this young artist to talk about her current RocketHub project ”In The Name of Love: Song for Heroes” - and why it is of such importance to her. What was the inspiration behind the music project, “In The Name of Love: Song for Heroes”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you? Inspiration for this project is two fold. First, the new single I’ve been wanting to record for over a year now is a cover tune arranged by a very dear friend of mine, and has symbolic meaning. It has been carefully thought out and planned to bring new light to a very powerful and well known tune. Secondly, the foundation I’m supporting inspired me to use music as a vehicle to raise awareness about “Hometown Heroes.” It is important to me because I can share this creative project as well as raise contributions for a foundation aimed towards overcoming adversity and following dreams. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of music - how are your fans and community responding? So far, I’m off to a good start. I’m about halfway through the campaign and raised 1/3 of my target goal. My “day job” is teaching privately and I’ve had several parents ask questions and take part in the campaign. Other friends and colleagues have taken the time to check out the project and support my efforts which is really exciting. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Be sure to clearly define you mission/goals for the project. Remember to stress the importance of exchange, and quote Rockethub’s statement: “not an investment or charity… and that it’s all or nothing.” It helped me to describe my project to others and understand the basis of crowdfunding in more detail. I would also advise mapping out a rewards list that is realistic to you! For my own personal project I asked some close friends to donate artwork. A few could oblige, others I had to cover a small expense for their work. I am one to share information about other indie artists and I thought including them would be a good marketing edge. Again, I stress… be realistic with what you can offer in return for monetary contributions. Keep it simple, but savvy. Thank you kindly for these insights and the advice. We appreciate having your talents and energy our creative community. -Brian
- December 7, 2010
RocketHub Goes to School - Crowdfunding at The Learning Annex
First Donald Trump, then Rich Dad (Robert Kiyosaki), now RocketHub! We are going to The Learning Annex. Brian and Jed will be teaching a class on crowdfunding principles, The Crowdfunding Manifesto, and other key strategies for leveraging friends, fans, and the crowd to raise funds and awareness online. If you are based in New York, this is great opportunity to meet the RocketHub team, learn from our experiences, and to ask the tough questions about crowdfunding. From Al Gore, to Joe Montana, to RocketHub. Here are the details: Time: 6:45 - 9:00 PM Date: Thursday, December 9th Location: Midtown Manhattan To Sign Up: http://www.learningannex.com/live_classes/293 Discount? Of course! Email us at support@rockethub.com mentioning the class and we’ll hook you up. We hope to see you there. -Vlad
- December 6, 2010
Brooklynite Don Paris Schlotman Talks Music, Crowdfunding, and NYC
Don Paris Schlotman is a Brooklyn-based artist whose solo recordings have a “Cosmic Roots Americana” twist. In addition to his solo shows, Don also plays bass with some of my favorite NYC musicians including Niall Connolly, E. W. Harris, and Casey Black. We had a chance to connect to talk about his current project, called “All Aboard MTA! Next Stop: Your Mind”. What was the inspiration behind the music project, “Mother Transit Authority”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you? The project itself was inspired by thoughts of how a city - New York City specifically - is an organism. The transportation and communication systems are the circulatory and nervous systems. I decided to make it pregnant because I feel cities such as this do give birth every day to many creative ideas, and this album is a culmination of that creative process, that breeding ground if you will. To do it properly I wanted to work with some of the people who have inspired me this past year, which meant I wanted to pay them, which meant I needed some source of funding at least some of the initial costs. I love the collaboration aspect - how has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of music - how are your fans and community responding? I admit I was a bit skeptical of the idea at first for a few reasons, but mainly because I was not sure how - or if - people would respond. But for the most part, everyone has been very enthusiastic about the idea, and some even more than I expected. It was a bit humbling and scary to ask people to help support this project but it ended up being a really great way for me to touch base with friends and fans I had not spoken to in a while. One more unexpected side effect: asking people to crowdfund is definitely driving me to create the best album I can. I always try to make good music but this adds an element of wanting to deliver to people who believed in me. It’s always interesting to hear about the “side effect” of crowdfunding, such as focused fan engagement - any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Be personal and honest. The best responses I’ve gotten were not from the blanket emails and public thanks - although those do help very much - but from the phone calls and emails I sent to individuals/couples/groups. It’s pretty nerve-wracking and time consuming, but very rewarding. Also, consider the methods which NPR, PBS, or other fund-raising groups use. And most of all, have fun. Thank you for chatting with us about your project and campaign. We appreciate your talents, energy and having you as a part of our creative community. -Brian
- December 3, 2010
Behind the Scenes Interview with Andy Rocco of Upright Citizens Brigade
Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of playing my ukulele at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (with my good buddy Aram Bajakian backing me up on electric guitar). The night was packed with improv skits, stand-up, guitars, ukuleles, and good witty fun - all part of a show called Underground Americana hosted by Andy Rocco. Andy and I crossed paths this past summer on a subway ride in Brooklyn - and on the train struck up a conversation on the awesome power of the ukulele (I had mine with me and was coming home after a show). I handed him off a CD before hopping off at my stop - and a few weeks later got a call to perform on his show. Since then Andy and I have had the chance to connect and I’ve become a big fan of his comedic work. Andy has a big show coming up this Saturday December 5th - snag a reservation here - UCB Theatre - New York - Make Reservation. Over a cup of coffee in midtown Manhattan, Andy and I talked about where he’s been and where he’s going on his comedy journey. How long have you been pursuing comedy as a career? When did you decide to take the plunge and pursue the comedy thing full time? I have been pursuing comedy as a career full time for a few years now. I think, my last real job was a temp assignment in 2007. I was lifting and moving boxes of files from one end of an office to another. Now, I coach/direct improv groups and once in a while I do a voice over or some commercials. Tell us about your experience with The Upright Citizens Brigade first as a student and now as someone who has a regular show there? Well, I started classes at UCB in 1999. I had been doing stand up on and off for about two years and was living in CT with my folks. I had a very odd fear of going to NYC for anything. Once in a blue moon, I would do an open mike, but NYC used to really frighten the crap out of me. I think it’s because, I watched a lot of 70’s & 80’s moives where gangs would constantly roam the subway and I was feeling if you were ever in peril, citizens of New York would do their best to ignore you. So I worked the graveyard shift at Kinko’s in CT, then in the morning I would take the train and go to class at UCB. I was terrible at first, but I really did enjoy learning all about comedy. I was hooked. I would go to UCB all the time, just to see shows and hang out. The UCB just became my life. I went to community college pointlessly for 4 years, no major, no direction and I never got a degree. I didn’t have many friends there, and there is no partying. UCB was what I wanted my college experience to be like, fun, friends, and I had finally I had direction in life. I was a total geek about the whole thing! Now, I am little more subdued. At times I can’t help myself and the total geek comes out again. I think, you when you start out, you have something to prove. It’s a great and wild attitude to have when you are younger. When you get older, you have already proven you can be good and now you have to be cool about it all the time and that is harder than breaking in. Anyway, it’s nice now. I have conversations, where I say “Hi, I am Andy Rocco” and someone will say “I know who you are” - that’s cool and kind of embarrassing. I don’t how to classify it. I have certain level of fame, where people know me, but it’s not the same fame where teenage girls are pissing themselves at the mere sight of me. The guy at Subway is blown away while he’s making my sandwich. It’s really nice to be welcomed and feel part of something bigger then yourself. I heard about a big show you did with Tom Schiller - tell us how that went down? I love Tom Schiller. He is amazing and so great. He directed a commercial that I did. It was a very big campaign so I spent a good amount of time with him and we just became friends. It was so cool. I couldn’t get over that this accomplished guy is on a first name basis with me! I asked him to do my show and he agreed. I was so pleased. He did the show twice! The last time show he did the show, it was great. We had ball. I did interview with him and talked about SNL, comedy, and making movies and he showed a video that he never showed to an audience before, it was insane and funny! I was going to have him on again, and was excited to do it again, but he had a work conflict. My favorite thing is that he ended that last e-mail “I want to do it. Ask me again!” Do you always approach strangers with ukuleles on the NYC subways? I don’t always approach strangers with ukeleles on the subway, but that’s how I met you. I have musical acts in show. I don’t have a particular way to pick the music acts for the show. People recommend bands to me to pick. I listen to them, sometimes I will pass. Sometimes, I will see people playing on the street and I ask them. If there is nothing engaging about them, I don’t bother. Sometimes, I ask people I really like and they never get back to me. I went on Craig’s list once and got a great one. I also went on Craig’s list got one who never showed up. So, I have varied approaches when it comes to getting the musical acts. You looked like a together young man, and you had ukulele I had been listening to a lot of ukeleles at the time, and I figured I would ask because I am always on the look out for musical act. You gave me a CD and your card. I listened to it and I thought was AMAZING! If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t bother. Although, this does raise the question, why don’t I just start talking to random pretty girls on the subway? Well thanks for the good words on the music - Aram and I had a blast being on the show. Where do you see things going for you in 2011? Well, I hope to keep working on thematic shows, like the show on Dec.4th is a parody of a Christmas Carol. It’s a variety show with a story. I want to make more shows like that. I want continue keeping honing my craft. I hope to make new web series as well called “Andy Rocco’s Tales of the Absurd” I want to do a podcast, because I have been listening to a lot of different ones and I am all jazzed about it. And I hope to find another steady acting gig to pay the bills. All that and I want seltzer maker. I like seltzer. Well Andy thank you for these insights and for the chance to perform with you. I look forward to working and hanging more in the future - cheers and have a great show on Saturday! -Brian Images courtesy Andy Rocco and UCB
- December 2, 2010
Singer/Actress Marya Grandy Overfunds “Clean Slate” in 10 Days
Singer/actress Marya Grandy moved to NYC right after graduating from Yale - and never looked back. You may have seen her on Broadway in Les Misérables (2006 Revival Original Cast) or TV shows such as Law & Order and Rescue Me. Being a performer in New York can be a bumpy road - and Marya discusses some challenges in her career path as of late, as well as the success of her current project “Clean Slate” which has quickly overfunded on RocketHub. What was the inspiration behind the music project, “Clean Slate”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you? I had been growing increasingly frustrated with the state of my career, and with how powerless I was feeling. Totally irrational, but it felt very real to me. I didn’t seem to fit into anyone’s mold. I was desperate to perform, to communicate, and to take some of my power back. I had done concerts before, but I was completely tapped out as far as ideas were concerned. For inspiration, and as a way of getting out of my funk, I looked to other performers I admired who weren’t like the other boys and girls. At the top of the list was Bette Midler. From her earliest performances at the bathhouses in the West Village to selling out Caesar’s Palace, Bette Midler has embraced who she is with absolute abandon and joy, and you can see that joy spread through her audiences. She is not trying to cure cancer or save the world, she is just taking her audiences on a 90-minute joy ride, and that is exactly what I want to do with my show. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of music and theater - how are your fans and community responding? The outpouring of support has been incredible, especially given the current economy. I reached my goal in 10 days, and people are still contributing. It is truly amazing. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Speak from your heart when you are creating your project, and don’t mince words. Folks are busy, and if you’re asking for their help, it’s best to cut to the chase so they know what is being asked of them. Be sure to see Marya’s show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Monday, December 20th, at 9:30pm. Thank you Marya for flying with Team RocketHub! -Brian
- December 1, 2010
Farraday Rocks RocketHub & Talks Crowdfunding
Farraday is a fun, high-energy, band hailing from from the Chicago area - they rock the stage and just rocked their RocketHub project which has currently surpassed its goal. I had a chance to interview them “wiki”-style (via the magic of the internet.) What was the inspiration behind the music project, “Farraday”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you? We had planned to head into the studio this december and record our first EP with our newly formed band Farraday. But our biggest obstacle, like a lot of bands was money. We knew it would take a lot of time we didn’t have to raise the funds through traditional methods (playing shows and selling merch we didn’t even have money to produce yet) (Nic) had heard about crowdfunding and RocketHub on the CDBaby DIY Musician podcast, and pitched the idea to the band, and we were all interested in the prospect of having our friends family and fans help us to create the album and enjoy the rewards of its production along with us. And so we decided to start a RocketHub campaign! How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of music - how are your fans and community responding? I think we were all really surprised how supportive people have been to help us fund our project, and we are really excited that the project will be able to be finished thanks to that support. Most people hadn’t heard of anything like this before we started, but liked the idea of it. It’s also really cool to be a part of this new concept, I think there will be A LOT of bands and artists that use crowdfunding to fuel their projects in the future. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Keep your funding goals low and realistic. Our worst fear was NOT meeting our goal, and feeling like failures. We debated back and forth what our number should be, so be careful to pick the right goals. Also make sure your rewards and unique and worth the investment. Money isn’t really the barrier either, we’ve had more success with the bigger dollar items than some of the smaller ones just based on what the rewards for them were To wrap it up, we’re really happy with how RocketHub has worked for us thus far. We still have time left on our campaign and were just lucky to have people who have supported us already. We’re looking forward to releasing an awesome EP (most likely in February) that our supporters are going to love and hopefully cherish all the more knowing that without them it might not have been made at all! Thanks a ton Brian for giving us this opportunity and everybody at RocketHub for providing such an innovative way for us get our music made! - Nic, Aubyn, Phil, Glenn, Danny, & Will You are very welcome Farraday - thank you for taking the time to give us insights and for flying with Team RocketHub. -Brian
- November 30, 2010
Crowdfunding a Political Writing Project With Joe Brewer - “Progressive Strategy”
Joe Brewer is Founder and Director of Cognitive Policy Works - an organization composed of experts in psychology, media studies, education, strategic planning, entrepreneurship, and political consulting. Much of his work has focused on frameworks and concepts that shape cultural understandings of political and social issues. Recently, we had the chance to connect to discuss his current crowdfunding project “The Progressive Strategy Handbook” and get insights on how this political writing project came about. What was the inspiration behind the political writing project, “The Progressive Strategy Handbook”, you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is is important to you? This project grew out of a desire to connect with a community of people who share the same concerns I have about the future of our country. I’ve been lucky to work with several great progressive organizations throughout the last two years, but it has been the surge of interest from everyday people who want to feel more empowered to participate that really inspires me. Also, after years of frustration watching the professional political consultants make major blunders over and over again, I felt compelled to go directly to the people where it is possible to catalyze a social movement for political change. And of course I realized that one of the major problems with the progressive movement is that those who have large pools of money keep calling the shots even though they are clearly not getting it right. I believe that the only way to repair our broken political systems is to disengage from those who have a lot of money and partner directly with everyday citizens who want to see real change they can believe in and have the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the solutions that will need to be implemented. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of political writing - how is your community responding? The community has been very supportive so far. Not only are people contributing money, they are suggesting improvements to my campaign and requesting greater levels of participation in the project. I feel like the only way this project will succeed is if I encourage leadership from the crowd to rise up and expand upon what we are doing. The Progressive Strategy Handbook our team wants to create is going to have to be part of something much more interactive that unfolds over time. Many people don’t just want strategy advise and knowledge about political behavior. They want to work collaboratively with others across the country (and around the world) to strengthen the movement that culminates in a sustainable and just world. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Be bold and set out a positive vision of what you want to accomplish. Invite participation in more ways than one. This means you should ask people to support your cause, help spread the word, and also contribute to the project in other ways that feel appropriate. Don’t expect the minimum response. Invite them to be creative and do more. A vital aspect of crowdfunding is the power given to the crowd to leverage change. Unleash this power and you’ll get supporters to spread the word and improve upon your initial ideas. Not only will you get money to support your work, but also new friends to share in the pleasure of it as you put your ideas to work in the world Much thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Joe - congrats on all of the success thus far with your campaign. Thank you for flying with Team RocketHub. -Brian Photos and images courtesy of www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
- November 26, 2010
Canadian Artist Meghan Morrison Wants To “Push Your Buttons”
RocketHub had the pleasure of meeting Ontario-based singer/songwriter Meghan Morrison this past summer at The New Music Seminar in NYC, and we are happy to play a part in her latest artistic endeavor - “I Want To Push Your Buttons”. Recently, we had a chat with her about her creative process and entrepreneurial spirit. This is a lovely interview with insights that can benefit many young artists pursuing their dreams today. What was the inspiration behind the arts/music project, “I Want to Push Your Buttons!”, you are currently running on RocketHub? - Why is it important to you? The inspiration for this project came to me while reflecting on the development of my webcast and life as an independent artist. I want the guests on my show to be paid for their performances, much like I want them to be paid to perform in venues. It isn’t easy to be an independent artist, especially now that venues don’t want to invest as much in their live entertainment (at least this has been believed to be the case since the smoking ban was put in place in Ontario). Often times we are playing for tips, for free (aka “exposure”), or if we’re lucky a cut of the bar/door. Guarantees are harder to negotiate when you are building your fanbase. Believe it or not, I’m not complaining. Just like any other profession, we do have to put in our time, develop our network, skills and sometimes work for free to gain experience. What concerns me is that the people who are making money off our free performances are coming to expect musicians to play for free while they turn a profit. On the flipside, it is also a problem when musicians feel that the government should finance their careers. Until the government pays everyone’s salaries, musician’s should not be an exception. There are lots of ways to earn a living as a musician, especially with the advent of the internet, but there are so many facets of our society that tell us there aren’t: the romance of being a modern day gypsy or “starving artist”; our parents nagging or praying for us to get a “real job”; the pressure in schools to pursue science and math over the arts (which will always be the first to have their funding cut) so you can get into university and … eventually … obtain a “good job”. The American Dream, right? All of these things lead us to believe, over time, that a music career isn’t a real job, but a thing you win like the lottery if a record label stumbles upon one of your shows and falls in love. What I want to help show other artists is that we don’t need record labels, we don’t need university degrees (though I greatly value both of mine), we just need to make the decision to do it ourselves … and follow through. Go to any modern music conference like Canadian Music Week, North by North East, The New Music Seminar (where I met fellow co-founder, Vlad) and you’ll hear the industry people telling us this same message in the panels and discussions. Why? Because it’s true. The industry is changing. It’s harder in some ways for artists, but much more fulfilling, autonomous, and meaningful in many other ways. It takes work and creative thinking … like learning how to play guitar or write a hit song. By completing this campaign, I will be able to start a Button making side business that can generate the funds I need to pay the guests who perform on my webcast. Even if it’s not much, the artists will know that I respect their work and want them to be paid -just like I want to be paid for my musical performances. As the business grows, so will the compensation. Furthermore, by having the machine, I will be able to show other aritsts how to make their own buttons and rent out the gear so they can make them even more affordably on their own. If you teach a man to fish … Great insights here. The idea of getting a “real job” has changed now with the current economy, and we may be heading into a new wave of entrepreneurism. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of crafts & music - how are your fans and community responding? So far, I have received an amazing response from fans and community members who appreciate the sentiment behind the project. The idea of pursuing music as a career isn’t a new one, what people are inspired by is the “we’re making this happen, not waiting for it” attitude. Deep down everyone wants to chase their dream, right? My “rocket fuel” has come from all over the digital world, from people I don’t know, and from interacting with people at shows in person, etc. I love the mindset of “making it happen” - any other advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project? Think broad. I wouldn’t say big… your goal needs to be attainable, but the way you approach that goal (no matter the size) should be as broadscoping and creative as possible. People embrace and appreciate innovation, because it is inspired. If you can think of a reward that is unique, meaningful, and (ideally) personal to the sponsor, people will feel more invested and rewarded by being part of your project and will want to help out more. In my campaign I offer 100 custom buttons for $20. A great deal, but not everybody needs buttons, so I am making an effort to contact people individually and give them ideas for how 100 buttons could be useful for them. For example, new parents can include buttons of their baby with the holiday cards they send out to family and friends, instead of your standard (and expected) 4x6 picture. Plus, proud gandparents can wear the button and show off their new family member to their friends. It’s a special and personally meaningful reward for a modest level of sponsorship that is timely for the season and also helps me and other artists build their careers. Everyone wins. We’re well on our way now. I think the button gods are smiling on me :) Thank you for taking the time to let our community know about your creative process and give insights on the entrepreneurial mindset. We appreciate having you as part of our creative community. -Brian Photos by Tom Henheffer and Lu Chau
- November 24, 2010
