My name is Jeffrey Wright. I've been a musician for several years. I play in a band called The American Scene. I'm having a baby with the love of my life in August 2013.
The main question that is brought up to me when I reveal to others that I'm having a baby is them asking if I'm ready for it or not. After a long bit of thought I arrived at my personal conclusion. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. In this realization and life altering time, I've found a spark of inspiration and drive to give everything that I have to this person who doesn't even exist yet. Which brings me to my next question: What do I have to give?
I have the gift of music. Sure, it's not a trust fund or a brand new 4 bedroom house. It's something that I've been passionately pursuing for years and a representation of everything that I care about in this life. I work in music as my job and I write music as my catharsis. I want this child to have everything I have to give right from the moment it's born and writing an album is more meaningful than anything else I could possibly think of.
The main goal for this kickstarter is to help me fund this album so I can have records to give to my child, family, friends and last but not least, you! There's a couple of steps that I'll be going through to make this happen. You'll be funding:
Recording Costs - Recording records take money. This money will be put towards studio time for tracking drums, hiring string players and small bits of gear that I will use to do overdubs. I mentioned before that I'm an audio engineer, so I'll be engineering most of the record myself. I'd really have it no other way for something that will be so dear to my heart.
Mastering Costs - Mastering is very important for any recording. It's actually one of the only things that exists on this planet where DIY doesn't come into play. It's impossible to make a professional sounding master at home, so it's imperative that this is done at a mastering plant. This can be anywhere from $65 - $120 a song, depending on the song length. If you're looking at over 30 minutes of music, it can add up.
Vinyl Pressing Costs - Vinyl is only pressed in quantities of 100. This can be a pretty costly job depending on color variants and weight options for just the vinyl itself. The artwork, sleeves and inserts can add a good amount of cost to the project as well. I'd really like to get records that are lasting and truly representative in character of the album. Those numbers can stack up to be $1300+.
I've recorded one song as a sort of preview for the entire project. If you want a feel for the musical direction the album will take, feel free to check it out. It's about the moment I saw the person I love tell me that we're having a child and it's called "First Look". A download of this song is included in all of the reward options. Here's a stream of it:
Also, check out the Music Video I made for it.
I've named this project Unconditional Arms. It's fully representative of a quote I wrote that I've decided keep as a staple in my child's life:
"Forever I will hold and support you with Unconditional Arms"
Thank you for taking the time to check out my project.
Jeff
Download the song from my kickstarter video for free from here!
Follow along with our baby's progress here!
Watch our announcement video here!
Risks and challenges
Like any piece of art, you can never really just be "done" with it. You come back. You listen to a mix about 2,000 times before you decide that it's garbage. One large challenge for this project will be it's time line. I'm going to be on tour with The American Scene from March until June. That leaves June & July to completely track, mix, master and have the record sent off to be pressed for release in August. Thankfully most of the songs have been written and slightly demo'd but I think anyone of creative nature will agree that it' s a time crunch. My goal is to have the album released the day that my baby is born (the current expected date being August 10th) and I'll work as hard as humanly possible to make that happen.
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Funding period
- (30 days)