Hi Y'All
So while I wait for Dom Monks at the recording studio to come back to me with a recording budget/plan, I thought I'd drop you a quick update.It's looking like this album project will play out in a quite different way from the first in 2019.
Firstly, the make up of the backline i.e. rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards) will not necessarily be the same players for each song as it was in Liverpool. Jesse Eigen and Steph Grace Kennedy's fantastic band essentially made up the backline for all the tracks of the first album. This was particularly sensible at the time, as we hadn't tried to create a music project together before and so having a de facto house-band in place who were familiar with each other and could represent the necessary rock/pop/indi/country spirit of the songs, added consistency to the feel whilst also minimising the cost and organisation challenges of finding different musicians for each track.
However, on reflection I think there were also some slight limitations to this model (well nothing's ever going to be perfect!) that I'd like to try and improve on this time. Especially where a fresh exploration of each song as a standalone concept is concerned, thereby providing greater scope for different musicians to come on board and interpret as best for the different song narratives and scope. This should theoretically be easier to achieve by recording it in Frome, where the local community of musicians can combine with non-resident artists on a track-by-track basis. This certainly aligns the project with the community ethos of the studio whilst potentially giving us far more scope to involve a larger community in its realisation. The challenges of this model is going lie in how we cost this and how best to organise/present the album launch concert event, which will be part of the kickstarter reward incentives as was the case with the first album launch at the Cavern in Liverpool.
Another thought that occurred to me was targeting a responsible and apposite charitable source for all the profits from future download/sales of tracks. This way, the album remains something that serves a wider narrative and issues that we all continue to face as a global community long after recording is complete.
It'd be good to get your thoughts on these incipient ideas.
More to come once I've heard back from Dom.
Love and light,
Mark xxx
Mark, definitely your call for choosing band members. Your songs and your vision. I assume, from what you have previously said, that there will be further projects down the line; would it be prudent to funnel any profits into a PM fund, given that you are look at donations to raise capital and kickstarters have failed in the past? Charity wise, I'm sure we all have out own favourites. Something to do with supporting artists and musicians would tie into the existing projects.
Mark, we all trust you with the technical stuff. Charity wise, I favour homeless, children's and Cancer charities but any other charities are fine too. I only have flippant suggestions of rewards, merch such as t-shirts, mugs, teatowels and fridge magnets which could also be onsale. It would be good for those of us who may not be able to attend recordings or gigs to have the opportunity to maybe see a live recording/link? Xx
Personally, I think this is fantastic and there is no reason why we can't offer to have Jesse Eigen and Steph Grace Kennedy back as well as their bands 😁
There are so many charities more than worthy, so if we keep spreading awareness, and maybe work with the Bert Jansch Foundation if possible and/or maybe The NHS Charities Together (https://nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/) would be another all inclusive and helpful move as it reaches out to even more people, as our previous project was to do with loss and so much more which can include various NHS professionals.
I hope this is all helpful and makes sense 😊
Love and light
Fay
Xo