Kickstarter

www.doittojulia.com
www.facebook.com/doittojulia

As you now know, we in Do it to Julia have been working on material for a sophomore album. In the time since the release of our debut album “Archie Carroll” we have written a few dozen new songs. The time has come to record. The preliminaries have begun. We have a few demo tracks we’ve recorded at the DITJ home in Asheville. We’re satisfied with the results. The thought of moving forward is an exciting one. But we can’t do it alone. We need help.
“Archie Carroll” was released in October of 2008, and has since gone on to sell over 1,000 copies—a modest number by industry standards, but something the four of us are very proud of. And it goes without saying that we owe it all to you. So to all those who purchased, burned, downloaded, or just plain listened our record, we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude.
And it is to you, our loyal listener, that we now come to for help. Because whether you realize it or not, you are, by way of listening to our music, part of what you might call the “Do it to Julia Community.” You are all connected, however loosely, to us and to each other. An exchange has taken place. Our music for your money—which in the end, translates to our time for your time, our skills and abilities and passions for yours. There is a balance, a bond, a trust.
I’m tempted, as I so often am, to use Ryan’s parents as an example. His father is a lobster fisherman, his mother a gardener. They live in Down East Maine in a solar-powered log cabin they built themselves. There is a certain degree of self-reliance being practiced here that I find not only inspiring, but also downright important. But of course, they didn’t do it alone. When it came time to skin the cedar logs, they had a log-skinning party, and together, with a group of friends and neighbors, the cabin was erected.
I use Ryan’s parents not because their values are especially unique, but rather because they represent on very basic level the values we all share. The only difference is that for many of us, the values backing our behavior are becoming increasingly more difficult to decipher. There has occurred a great layering of the basic principles of exchange. A pervading ambiguity of cause and effect. Where money has become a middleman between it and itself, and technology has made us self-reliant to an extent that Emerson never would have imagined. We are independent to the point of isolation. We don’t need buses or trains, we have cars. We have GPS and Wikipedia. Every laptop is a library, a recording studio, and publishing house. Satellites have become our tour guides, the search engine our librarian, email having long since replaced the postman. I can deposit checks, fill up my gas tank, and buy groceries, all without ever having to interact with another human being. There are undeniable benefits to this. It’s fast and easy. But is it also not a little lonely? There is a gap in the exchange. A tipping of the balance to the point that we’re able to forget the people behind the innovations.
To arrive, finally, at my point, I return to the fisherman—be him a fisher of lobster or something else. Because fishing, like many things, requires faith and determination. It’s one of the things we’ve learned since the release of our first record: That just because you want to catch something doesn’t mean you always will. Desire alone does not guarantee a bite. But the fact remains that the more you know about fishing and the more often you do it, the more you increase your chances. What we’re asking for is the opportunity to continue fishing. For an advance, if you will, on the necessary equipment. The rods, the boat, etc.
And what, in the end, does it mean to you that we go fishing? Well, in short, it means the fish. The fish is food. It starts as ours and it becomes yours. There takes place an exchange. There is a certain amount of trust involved. And while we could feasibly keep to ourselves—finance the record with a bank loan or something—we wanted first to look to the “Do it to Julia Community” for help—to begin first with the people who’ve already expressed a certain degree of faith in us and what we’re doing. Because we can’t do it alone, nor do we want to.