Her latest, beg on toast post
Dear Everyone...
Below is a link to "ENJOY THE SILENCE": the Depeche Mode cover I recorded exactly one week ago, when I went into Roundhead Studios in Auckland (fun fact, created by Neil Finn of Crowded House!) for two full days of studio time with no planned agenda.
I had a professional film crew webcast my studio process for over 10 hours, while my patrons watched, chatted, joked and discussed with me. At one point they voted - fair and square - on a cover song they wanted to hear: the winner was "Enjoy the Silence"....a song that's near and dear to my tired old goth heart.
Over the course of the two days, my patrons hung out with me in the studio via the webcast while I picked the key, made tempo choices, arranged the piano, explained my thinking and choices, recorded the tracks, went into a vocal booth, decided on overdubs and effects...everything. It was a masterclass in how to create a cover song, and it was SO FUN...I had the best two days of my life in a long time. We all felt...together. The studio crew were incredible and worked really hard to do several jobs at once: put on a webcast show and record a song simultaneously.
My patrons helped me work; we all kept each other company all over the world. People woke up and went to bed and kissed each other good night and good morning. We celebrated a birthday, everybody heard me pee by accident at one point, we had two special guests come into the studio (Neil Gaiman and Reb Fountain).
Two days after we finished, I sent the final mix over to Jherek Bischoff to master and he added a few extra heart-crushing strings, recorded in his house in LA. The result is this almost-too-beautiful-for-words (see what I did there) recording.
You can listen to it, read the entire story, see all the photos, and access all the webcast links through the ink below. The song will play right off the patron post, and there's also a soundcloud link, where you can download it.
For now, you need to be a patron to listen.
Why? Because patronage is what paid for this all to happen. In the old system - when I was on a major label - there is no way that this kind of "work" could make a profit. There was no avenue through which to "monetize" this kind of fast and connected creativity. On the contrary: I used to pay my own money out of pocket to do hi-jinks like this, and just consider myself lucky that I earned enough money on the road to support my "weird project" habit. Now I can do weird projects and get PAID.
This song will probably not be going up on Spotify, as I'm currently in the middle of figuring out what to do with my music over there given the current tussle over there.
I'll likely put it on Bandcamp when I have the time to do some hollering about it on the Internetz. It's a really good cover, it moves me, I know it's good. So it's worth my time and attention, and I don't have that now...I'm on my own with my kid for the next few days.
My friends: I will crawl out of my hole and remind you every once in a while: I'm a working musician, it's a strange way to earn a living, and there are costs.
This is my JOB. I know it sounds weird, but it is.
I have to earn. I can make these magical sounds, but the money to pay for the recording studio, the film crew, the engineers, the mastering, the piano tuning, my house rent, my food, my office rent in New York, my assistant Micahel's salary and insurance costs...it does not happen by goddamn magic. Beyond patronage, I do not have another major source of income right now, especially with Covid and no touring happening. You know how I wrote a bestselling book back in 2014? That doesn't mean anything at the moment. I do not get a check. I GOT that check already.
The music and the art happens because people want me to put it into the world, and some are willing to give me a salary so that I can work. Those people are my patrons. Their collective dollars cover my ability to live and work.
It really is that basic. It's REAL.
If you want to become a patron right now, I'd love it. I had about 15,000 patrons at the start of the pandemic, and that's dwindled down to around 12,000. That trend isn't uncommon right now: the pandemic has led to a lot of belt-tightening for all people who use crowdfunding. I am still fine. I will not starve, I've cut costs, I'm in a very safe zone.
But I know there are people out there who love my work who maybe haven't considered giving me $1 a month in order to keep me in my job and safe zone.
I'm so: I'm asking. And you'll get to hear this beautiful song and get access to the 10+ hours of studio footage. Yes, it's a sales pitch. Yes, I am not above that. I'm Amanda Palmer. Have you forgotten?
If you can't afford it? Don't do it. Don't struggle. It's more than okay. The beautiful thing about patronage is that almost nothing STAYS behind the paywall for very long.
I'll put the song out to the public sometime soon - on Bandcamp - and I may even ask my patrons if they think cutting together a little youtube clip (30, 40 minutes?) of the best-of-the-studio-process footage is a good use of funds. That will go out free to everyone, probably on Vimeo and Youtube, funded by the patrons. Everybody wins. I know there are a lot of people out there who want the art but who cannot afford to pay me for it. That's fine. It all comes around.
I said it before and I'll say it once more: it costs as little as a dollar a month to be a patron.
If you are wondering What You Can Do in the face of the Spotifys, you can do THIS.
This. You can support an artist directly and pay her for her hard work, and feel the pleasure in knowing that 99% of your money isn't going into the pocket of some creepy middleman. It feels nice, trust me.
Enjoy the Music.
And to my readers here who are already patrons...thank you. You know it means the world to me to have your support, financial and emotional and otherwise. Thank you for being my art family, and thank you helping me make this. I love you all to bits.
Here it is, folks:
x AFP
