The holiday spirit has overwhelmed singer/songwriter Martin Blasick, the writer of Lindsey Lohan's "Don't Move On", and inspired him to create a holiday album for the 2010 season. Since his first music cue in Earth Girls Are Easy, Martin has provided scores, songs, cues, arrangements and productions for a stylistically diverse array of shows such as Oceans 12 & 13, Bedazzled, Ugly Betty, and Lost.  We recently had a chance to chat with this talented and charismatic artist about his current RocketHub project "Happy Santa".

What was the inspiration behind the music project, "Happy Santa",  you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is is important to you?

It started on Sept 27, the hottest day in Los Angeles history when it hit 113 degrees. Santa must have been thinking of me because when my wife  went out to an event, whoosh!, it was like a rush of arctic air in my brain. I just starting singing and strumming. I opened up one track in ProTools and hit record every time a new verse flowed. If i had written anything down it would have been too slow to catch the wave. 

Four songs appeared so easily the only thing that stopped me was when Natasha got home just as I improvised the out chorus of  Operation North Pole. Cdbaby featured a holiday song of mine a couple of years on their podcast so it had been in the back of my mind. But this was the moment that got me in the zone.  It's funny in a way because sometimes people ask how long it takes to write a song. Really it takes your whole life to get to that moment. I went to the same place with these holiday songs as I do for my pop songs. 

I used to think playing hot guitar licks was important. As time goes by the classic values come into greater relief. The holidays are about community and togetherness. That's positive energy. I;ve always loved Burl Ives and Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer. For a few days after the first writing session I kept spilling out new tunes and  realized I wanted to make a whole album. It's like I didn't choose to do this but rather it chose me. 

I knew if I acted quickly I could get the digital version on iTunes for a nominal fee. I'd heard you (Brian Meece) on a recent cdbaby podcast and realized with crowdfunding and some elbow grease there was an opportunity to fund the creation of physical CD's too. CD's are still very much alive and well no matter what some people say. Having a properly pressed CD is a valuable asset. 

Nice - seems like lots of folks have heard the CD Baby Podcast. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of music - how are your fans and community responding?

Everyone has been great. I'm probably a perfect example of someone without a fanbase. My mailing list has less than 10 people on it. Aren't there a lot of home recorders out there who aren't out in the clubs? I'd like to play out but there's not enough time in my world for that type of promotion. The turning point against club gigs for me was when I clocked 8 hours between when I lifted my amp to tote it to the car and when I returned it to it's resting place all in order to play a 40 minute originals gig. Eight hours is a standard work day and I didn't feel the results were worth that much time. 

I read some negative comments on musicthinktank about crowdfunding which I couldn't understand at all. It's been community building for me. It takes quite a few hours to write personal emails to friends. In the process I've reconnected with people in a very good way. Natasha occasionally appears as elf in the videos. The funding part is secondary other than the fact I'll need to meet my goal to get the money. 

Crowdfunding is still very much a "new ritual" - and it's changing the music game for sure. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project?

Crowdfunding feels very close and personal, at least in my case. I notice that some of the folks who've contributed have never bought or been involved with any of my previous projects. It reaches a different cross section of people who might not make it out to clubs. I'm sure clubbers can be effective this way, too. But I've been very pleased that people who I hadn't expected to help out have. 

Be prepared for a lot of work. I thought long and hard about my rewards. It used another side of the brain compared to the songwriting side. The hardest thing for me has been doing on camera appeals for money. It's like public TV fundraising. There's something insinuated into artists that it's not right to stand up for one's own work financially. I've learned a lot about myself doing daily countdown to Santa videos. Like almost everything else, you'll get out of it what you put into it. For me it's about 2 hours a day. It's not easy money. That's what makes it more about community, and of course holiday magic.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us about your creative process and RocketHub Campaign - we appreciate you joining our creative community.  Everyone at the RocketHub HQ is addicted to your music videos!

Brian