Kickstarter

Back in 2003, when I was living in Chicago, I started producing and releasing my own CDs so that my band The Coffee Achievers could get out on the road and get to work.  From 2003 until 2007 we recorded and released three CDs for Secret Fort Records, whose office happened to be right behind my kitchen, between the closet and the bathroom.  With these “indie” releases we toured across the Midwest and east cost of the U.S. several times, were part of the first jazz performance at Chicago's Millennium Park, were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall by trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas, and performed at the Ouro Preto Jazz Festival in Brazil at the recommendation of Blue Note recording artist Patricia Barber  All of these events and occurrences happened through the interest and support of other people and because of the choice to put out that first CD.

I moved from Chicago to New York in 2006.  Since then I have been appearing more frequently as a sideman than as a bandleader. This has been a great experience and is one that I had dreamed of before I ever led my own bands.  I have gotten to play with some of my biggest heroes and to learn from some real "masters of the craft."  Now, four years later and thousands of miles since then,  I have accumulated enough inspiration and perspective to record something new.

There is one major obstacle to this new recording that is beyond my power: $

From my past experience with recording and releasing CDs, I know exactly how much it will cost to get this recording from studio to street.  There will be nothing extra.  No Pork Barrel spending here!  We need every cent of  $8000 to get this done.

The new recording is going to be musically ambitious.  It will feature all new compositions and arrangements and will feature an instrumentation that I have been toying around for some time: a trio of violin, bass, and drums.  The bassist is Matt Wigton (whom many of you know from The Coffee Achievers) and the drummer is Fred Kennedy (introduced to me by none other than Matt Wigton).  We are pared down for this damned economy and we are ready to "Jam Econo" (thank you Mike Watt). Three of us in a mini-van coming to your hometown... The name of this new project, by the way,  is “The Magic Number” (thank you Bob Dorough).  

But how are we gong to raise all that money?  Enter Kickstarter.com  

Over the next couple of months (Feb. 1 - March 31) I am partnering with this exciting new website as we attempt to raise $8000 for “The Magic Number.”  Kickstarter represents a new paradigm in fundraising for independently financed artists because it helps artists "microfinance" their projects through donations from friends, fans, family, and anyone else who catches the buzz.  Go Web 2.0!  

There is one intriguing caveat in this process:  if the money that we are trying to raise ($8000) is not COMPLETELY funded in full by the deadline (March 31 at 11:59PM) then NO transactions are processed.  In other words, if you donate $50 to the project and we have only raised $7999.99 by the midnight hour then you will not be charged, we will get no money, and there will be no recording.  Everyone loses.  I am sure that Kickstarter has reasons for choosing this business model.  My thoughts on this are best illustrated through an analogy:  If a chef says that he or she needs a certain budget to buy ingredients to cook a meal that will change your life, and you are only able to pay 68% of that budget, then what is “life-changing” minus 32%?

The flip-side to this “getting nothing” scenario is that if we reach or exceed our fundraising goal then WE get to keep all of the donations and YOU get a great recording that YOU helped to make possible, a great show later in the year when YOU see us perform on a tour that YOU helped to make possible, and the opportunity to be not just a “micro financier” but also a “micro producer.”  Say what?  Is that just more “indie babble?”  Yes and no...

Yes, it is a new silly-sounding term that I am enjoying and that lot’s of people on this site are using a lot, but it is also something new and cool and real.  While “microfinancing” refers to the process of reaching large fundraising goals through many smaller donations instead of one major donor, “microproducing” refers to the process of participating in smaller ways than, say, the actual producer of a recording, to help bring said recording to fruition.  Your level of donation determines how much you get to microproduce. 

So, for instance, at the $15 level you get a signed CD and an advance download of the recording.  That’s more of a coolest-kid-on-the-block” scenario though.  At the $25 level you get everything from the $15 level plus microproducing credit on my website and access to a private forum where you can voice your opinion and respond to others about the writing, arranging, and  recorded demos that we will only be sharing with people in the forum as we prepare to go into the studio.  At the $50 level you get all of that plus a microproducing credit on the actual printed CD booklet, sheet music for the entire CD, a Limited Edition poster signed by the band, and Guest List status at a Magic Number concert of your choice.  Beyond that level of donation it goes all the way up to actually being in the studio with us as we record, helping us pick a song for the actual recording, and becoming an associate or even executive producer for the recording.  So, it pays to give!

I am hopeful and excited about the possibility that this fundraising campaign can succeed!  I know if it does that it will be because of your generosity, enterprising spirit, and love of good music.  As I stated earlier, I know how much it will cost for me to record and release this album.  Since there is always the possibility that we can over-fund the project, I will make a pledge to all of you:  any monies raised over the $8000 goal will be donated to relief organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the American Red Cross.

Thank you for your support, 

Zach Brock

P.S.  Right now the “Magic Number” is $8000