As many of you know I’m going back into the studio to record an EP I’m calling The Commandeer. Ear to the Ground Music interviewed me on preparing my new project and you can read it here.

Recording in a studio isn’t cheap and a lot of artists use Kickstarter to fund their project asking their fans to financially contribute to an album. Often these artists ask for an exorbitant amount of money, far more than what is needed to produce the album. Albums can be paid for from the gigs you play. At least that’s how I do it. The money made from playing music can go directly into recording an album. There should be no additional funding needed.

I believe that using Kickstarter or other crowdfunding options to fund an album is an option too many artists are using to produce an album. An option which kills creativity and direction. It’s an option which I will never choose.

I will never ask my fans for money without a final product. Never. I have three reasons why.

Creativity Flourishes with Limitations

In my opinion, when resources for recording an album are almost limitless, there is always an urge to take advantage of every superfluous embellishment. Many artists believe that the more money they have to do a record, the better that record will be. This is not necessarily the case. If you’ve listened to anything new from the Pop genre you may agree that money doesn’t always make great albums.

It seems to me that the more you produce an album with effects and endless instrumentation the less soul and feeling the final product has.

There are so many examples of great music being made with very little resources. Iron & Wine’s first album was recorded and produced by Samuel Beam in Samuel Beam’s house. That is a great record too.

Flexibility in Projects

Another thing I believe in with my music is the ability to explore genres. Many music fans expect a band to have a similar sound from one album to the next. There’s nothing wrong with bands who do this. Some of my favorite bands I listen to because I know what to expect from them. Other times I enjoy artists who change their sound through different projects and experiment with the styles of different genres.

I like the flexibility of being an independent musician. I can freely explore styles of different genres without any expectations from a record company. By creating a Kickstarter campaign, I would feel like the individuals donating would expect something based on my previous releases when my goal is to make something that sounds different from the recordings of my past. Like a record company would have expectations.

Having those expectations adds pressure when there are already pressures of sticking to scheduled studio time, organizing studio musicians for the project and duplication budgets. The pressure of meeting the expectations of those who donate is almost impossible just because everyone will expect something different. I would much rather surprise listeners with something slightly unexpected on a new project rather than repeat the same styles of my past to meet expectations.

Saving Time and Energy

Both limiting myself from resources to help me be creative and keeping my flexibility between projects helps me grow as an artist. It’s not easy but its worth the freedom.

I have asked myself before whether Kickstarter or other crowdfunding sites are an option for me but I’ve always thought that it was the easy way to make an album. And ask myself, “should I create a campaign because it will make recording easier?” When the real truth is, it’s not easy to make a Kickstarter campaign. There is a lot of organization that goes into encouraging donations. It takes a lot of time and energy.

Personally, I would rather use that time and energy writing more songs and preparing for my next projects and use the money I’ve made from playing out and selling albums to make new albums.

It is this process that makes me very proud of the music I make. Each project a little different from the last. It also makes me excited to share my newest with everyone I know and new people I meet. The same goes for my current recording project. I am already proud of the songs and I am eager to share it with everyone.