About this project

This may not matter to you, but I make music using methods of chance.  For "Bouquet" my friend Mads Haahr from the website Random.org wrote a program for me.  So with one click I was able to determine the song structure, tempo, time signature, rhythm, and chords for each tune.  Another friend, Kjehl Johansen, helped me gather subject matter for the songs using Wikipedia's random article feature.  We did this over the phone one day in late 2010.   Once I had all of the info for each of the 16 songs I recorded the drums.  The rest of the instruments went down in 2011.  Guitar, bass and drums figure prominately, but there are plenty of surprises.  I am very grateful to the collaborators who helped with the music either by coming to my humble home studio in Potsdam, New York, or by sending me digital files from Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.  I could not have made this record without their input. 

So what?  Well, this is different music.  By design.  I didn't sit down and play a guitar and sing and then take the song to a band and work on an arrangement.  The songs grow, strangely, into being.  I start with a blueprint for a song and add the instruments one at a time.  Is this good?  I don't know, but it's different.  Sometimes people say that it 'doesn't sound very experimental' but that is always my mission.  I try to take chords, rhythms, and song 'stuff' that don't necessarily belong together and make sense of them, making the kind of music that I would want to hear. 

I'm very excited about this collaboration with kickstarter as well.  It's inspired me to do a little thinking about what I can offer folks interested in getting involved with The Utility Project.  Each CD is numbered individually (by me...is that pathetic?)  And I've got a great cover designed by the street artist BRAINIAC.  His image will be on the t-shirts as well.  And if you're new to this stuff you might want to pick up the guerilla box set which includes CD-Rs of all previous Utility Project releases.  Not a fancy package, but you get all the tunes.

I also have some kooky extra special incentives.  There are handmade one of a kind stickers signed by BRAINIAC.  The image on the stickers is part of the inside cover design.  There are only a dozen of these.  If you pledge at a certain level you'll get your name in "The Thank You Song"  which promises to be interesting (unless there's no one to thank).  Also, I'm offering ONE lucky person a chance to be thanked in the middle of the first song on the record.  WHAT?  The first song is called "The Grady Martin Show" it's setup a little bit like a TV theme song (you may beg to differ later) and YOU could be thanked as a sponsor.  And lastly, at the "Platinum" : ) pledge level, you can have me create your OWN Utility Project tune built to your specifications.  I'll incorporate any chords, time signatures, or subject matter you'd like.  You may even want to use random methods (so '03 of you!).

I almost forgot, because I create this music using methods of chance, I also like to distribute it that way.  So, since 2003 when this thing started I've been leaving CDs for people to find and then pass on.  So far approximately 4,000 CDs have been discovered in public by unsuspecting strangers.  I have a growing worldwide network of folks who help with this.  I'll be offering Utility discs for sale while supplies last, but I'll also be leaving them in public as before.  So if you think you might want one you should act now, they're not going to stick around forever.  Hey, maybe you'll find one somewhere.  You never know! 

Thanks again for your support, and remember the deadline is Valentine's Day, so forward this to your friends and let's make "Bouquet" happen!

Check the facebook.com page or utilityproject.net for more information about me and the project.  There's a link to a nifty interview with NPR's Noah Adams that you can click on.  THANK YOU!