She and the sun are the brother/sister musical duo of Melissa Ahern and Andy Stack.The two have recently joined forces to write songs, play instruments and make musical tracks. All the sounds and production are handled soley by the duo and recorded in a humble home studio.

I've had the pleasure of hearing/seeing Melissa and Andy play live at many live RocketHub music events in NYC. Now it's awesome to see them have an uber-successful crowdfunding project. I spoke to Andy about the new record and growing fanbase.

The music was inspired from many sources; Some pieces were written as instrumentals at first, others were poems. Most of the lyrics on the record were written by my sister Melissa Ahern and deal with a coming of age theme, particularly in the digital era, from my interpretation. She may not be as comfortable with such a broad description though. 

What was really inspiring was the collaborative nature by which this music was written and produced. Many times we e-mailed ideas and tracks back and forth before getting together to flesh out more complete versions of the songs. Working at home has also been inspiring, not being limited by time in coming up with creative sounds and parts.

A lot of times the sounds were unconventionally achieved by whatever hi tech or lo tech means we had in the moment. 

What has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of new music in Queens and beyond - how are your supporters responding?

The experience has been very positive. We made a music video and used it in conjunction with RocketHub to raise awareness of our project. We had a few hi-ticket supporters early on who helped us achieve our goal really quickly.

Some of our fans who have the means were very happy to support the project in part because RocketHub frames things in a very appealing way. The sense of other creatives in a community doing the same thing, as well as the incentives make it much more than just donating money. 

You reached your goal in only a few days! Any advice for others looking to crowdfund a similar project?

Brian Meece put it best in his advice to send as many personal e-mails as possible. I think people like to know that you are asking them specifically for a reason. 

Funders want to feel apart of the project, and they are of course.

Thank you Melissa and Andy for the good times, good music, and super campaign. Support the music and the project, here.

-Vlad