About this project

Hey, it's Monroe from SCHOOL writing. Thanks for coming over to Kickstarter to check out our project - it means a lot to us.

What brings us here?
We're currently working hard to finish the mixing and mastering of our new full-length recording, USE YOUR BODY WORDS, which was recorded by Keith Parker at The Gallery Studio in June. In the months since, we have been editing and mixing the record at home on our personal computers. If you're interested in hearing some of our works-in-progress off this record, head over to our website's "sounds" department.

We are now looking to put the finishing touches on this fairly involved production and to tour nationally in support of it in a matter of 2 months. Easier said than done, perhaps, but we're confident that between our commitment and yours − friends, family, and new philanthropist friends made on Kickstarter (!) − we can make this happen. In specific, your support will help us:

− finish mixing, mastering, and producing USE YOUR BODY WORDS with the help of an additional sound engineer and The Gallery Studio
− go on the road in support of the record, touring nationally for 6 weeks in October and November with the addition of guitarist Jon Sargent and support from Baltimore-based band Whoarfrost
− press a preliminary production run of the record, distributing the record ourselves until we find a record label interested in working with us to distribute the record on a broader scale
− launch an online press campaign in promotion of the record, contacting record labels as well as media groups ranging from MP3 blogs to college newspapers

ABOUT SCHOOL
SCHOOL is an experimental music project currently based in Brooklyn, NY. I formed SCHOOL in late 2009, wanting to build an ensemble of artists from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines interested in working on process-intensive song material. SCHOOL's performers were selected for the diverse kinds of bodies and souls they bring to the sound of the project, which evolves around pseudo-polyrhythmic beats, finger-picked guitar, and experimental singing that is haunting and sometimes dissonant but unabashedly melodic. Major influences include Daniel Johnston, Glen Branca, and Arthur Russell, among many others. SCHOOL has also been inspired by a number of noteworthy musical acts with whom its members have had the privilege of playing and/or sharing shows, such as Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, contemporary art music composer, Meredith Monk, and electronic music pioneer Maryanne Amacher.

PERFORMERS
It's been my pleasure to work on SCHOOL with such a rich variety of people. Singer Emma Grace Skove-Epes primarily performs and composes dance and movement-based work, and has worked with a number of performing artists in New York, including Meredith Monk. Drummer Zach Dunham, of the progressive jazz group Scrap Relation, has helped me mix and produce much of USE YOUR BODY WORDS and co-curated an experimental music series with me called THE NAME OF THE NEXT SONG, which was held in August at IBeam Brooklyn. Bassist Emma Alabaster has also worked with Scrap Relation as well as a number of other Brooklyn-based artists, including jazz trumpeter Duane Eubanks.

Thanks again for checking out our project. Your support is instrumental in making USE YOUR BODY WORDS a reality for people all over the country. (Less abstractly speaking, it will also help make sure we are able to feed ourselves while on the road for a month and a half.) To show our appreciation for your support, we've developed a number of different "goody packages," which we're excited to start sending to you soon. On the right hand side of this screen, you'll find descriptions of these packages (be sure to scroll down all the way) as well as links which will allow you to pledge your support. Please don't hesitate to contact me at info@schoolco.org or (415)-317-1008 if you're so inclined.

Thanks so much and hope to see you or hear from you this fall!

xo,
Monroe, Zach, EGrace, EALA and Jon
www.schoolco.org