I recently had the chance to chat with Kevin Breuner of the Portland-based rock band Hello Morning. In addition to his duties on guitar with the band - Kevin is a Grammy nominated artist, a podcaster for CD Baby, and an indie musician advocate. Kevin knows the music business inside and out and we had a great chat about crowdfunding in a recent CD Baby podcast.

In this fun followup conversation I had the pleasure of asking him questions about Hello Morning's latest recording project and what the response has been on their crowdfunding campaign thus far.

What was the inspiration behind this latest recording project by Hello Morning? 

This recording is our sophomore effort, so a lot of the musical inspiration has come just from us having a deeper understanding of how we fit together creatively.  It might be hard for a non-musician to understand, but when you've been growing musically together as a band, you begin to have a better understanding of each other's abilities and start playing off of each others strengths. Everything starts to add up to something that is bigger than one individual.  It can be very inspiring and fuel a lot of creativity.

Yes - I can totally relate there in terms of the band dynamic. That is a key distinction to make. So why is this record important to you and the band? 

I think a sophomore release is always the point where you solidify yourself as a band or artist.  Sometimes the first album comes easy (or easier).  Going back to the creative well and writing new material that continues to take your art form to the next level is a challenge.

In terms of communication, how are you reaching out to your fans?  How has the response been?

We're fairly active on Facebook and Twitter, but the fan outreach that seems to get the best result is our band emails to our fan email list. When we send out an email, it seems like we have their attention.  It also allows us to write a more personal note that doesn't have to be summed up in 140 characters.  

Facebook and Twitter are great - but when I get a personal email, the message does register much louder. What has it been like as a crowdfunding pioneer in music world?

I totally agree - the "depth" of the network is important. What advice would you give to Creatives looking to crowdfund their own projects?

My advice is to not jump into a crowdfunding project without really thinking through the process from start to finish.  There are a lot of details that need to be filled in.  You can't simply create a project, make one post on Facebook, and expect to see success.  You'll need to create a dialogue with your fan base that lasts the entire campaign.  Also, the rewards menu is key.  Don't just post your band merch as the rewards (we almost made that mistake).  Get creative.  Look at what other artists are doing and learn from their campaigns. 

Kevin, much thanks to you and Hello Morning for this insight and advice.  Keep up all the good creative work that you do and thank you for joining the RocketHub community.  Your talents and energy are appreciated here.

Mahalo!

Brian Meece