• March 17th 2008:
I’m a bit blue about this project this week.
last week saw only $20 in contributions to the project, and I’m meditating on how I might better present the idea, and how to proceed from here.
My questions:
Does everyone already know and that’s that?
Should I be pestering everyone all the time?
Is it a silly idea to ask you (whoever you are) to be helping me to build momentum?
What else should I do?
I suppose the answers to these questions are simple enough, that’s why I’m meditating on them and allowing their simplicity to become clear.
I’m playing in Denver this weekend and am planning to print up some little handouts for people I see and meet to better spread the word in person. Also, I asked my Mom to write a letter for me about this project, but she hasn’t done it. I’m not sure she is down. That leaves me staring at the wall and wondering about a lot of things. I won’t bore you with that.
Apart from these thoughts, things have been good. Sunday Soul kicked butt last night, and the archive is posted for your pleasure in the bottom of http://treehousemuzique.com/esprit/
Have a wonderful week!
Tala had a great idea: “Why don’t you make ecards that people can send out to friends?”
I spend a long time looking over the currently available scripts for adding ecards and virtual postcards to the website and discovered that nothing works quite like apple’s amazing icards. With the apple icards they actually arrive in your inbox, whereas most other services just send you a link and then you have to go to the web site to see the card. Dunnoe about you, but I really like getting beautiful emails, and don’t really like being told to go to some site in order to view my card.
However, I have added virtual postcards to the “spread the word” section of this microsite. Now you can go send one of four postcards off to anyone you like.
I’ll keep looking for a better method of sending nicer cards, but this seems to be working great for right now.
• March 10th 2008:
This weekend’s telethon during Sunday Soul brought in another 1.5% of the recording budget. Yaay!
I didn’t meet the goal I set for myself of 10% of the total budget, but that in no way takes away from my gratitude for your contributions.
It was a very interesting program for me, so strange to produce an 8 hour broadcast made up of my experience and perspective over the years with Imperial DUB. I didn’t pitch the project much, only interrupting between sections to make mention of why I was re broadcasting and giving the web site information. What was interesting about it was listening to myself talking about IDR and what a sad story it was for me at that time. It’s amazing to me how much happier I am now, two years later. I said at the start of the show (in the archive) that I was doing it because I was looking for healing… clearly that was a kind of catharsis that maybe only wading through those memories, talking about sources, influences, friends, mentors, and enemies was the gateway for the healing and relative happiness which has followed since then. It was hard to hear myself in so much pain, chewing on the past, unable to let go. I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around that man from two years ago and let him know that everything was going to shift, to get better, and move forward.
‘Course the past is the past, and I have given up all hope of improving it. The best thing I can do in honoring those triumphs, disappointments and hard lessons is to let them go and step forward into the liberty of today, tomorrow and whatever the universe has in store next.
Happy Monday. Let’s see what happens next, shall we?
I couldn’t bear the old masthead another minute. I love flowers, but it just wasn’t my style. So I piled everyone into a cablecar and rang the bell.
A few more contributions today. Yaay!
I asked my mom to please read up on this site, and maybe write me a letter of recommendation to help spread the word. I’m terrible at asking for help, and usually the best I can do is make things pretty, or sing more songs. So I thought maybe recruiting the genius of my mother might be a good idea.
I’ll let you know what happens…
• March 5th 2008:
It’s been two weeks, and we’re just shy of 8% of the budget required to begin.
Tala says: Spread the word at my gigs, be prepared to accept contributions right there on the spot.
Lorin says: Visualize those notifications of payment received filling up my inbox.
Arline says: Yaaay!
No input from my family other than my ex-sister inlaw made a generous contribution, and my sister has a banner on her blog. My step father asked me when I became a charitable cause. I laughed and then re wrote the whole site.
Looking for momentum
People are calling, emailing, texting and walking up to me in the street to talk about it. The word appears to be out. I feel so uncomfortable talking about it in person. Gotta get over it. The idea that there might not be 2,500 people willing to buy this album in advance must be destroyed.
I changed the mastheads for the two week anniversary, and plan to continue to change them every week until we reach the goal or stop. Sending out another email tomorrow. Please help me spread the word, and get people who love electronic music, my music, or were one time fans of dubtribe excited about what’s going on here.
I’m ready to begin recording and designing the cover… but we still have a long way to go.
Only one contribution so far today. Feeling a little obsessive about it. Some wonderful people have been texting, emailing and calling to cheer me on… delighted with the progress so far. Maybe I need to check my head on that one. Hehe… maybe.
It’s another beautiful day, so I’m going to go out in it…
• March 3rd 2008:
Last night’s Sunday Soul went beautifully. Wrote several new songs during the show, and got the sense that I am truly a very very fortunate man. I am at what feels like the peak of my abilities. I am doing exactly what I want to be doing, and expressing it in a way that feels completely effortless to me. I’ve never felt this way before.
I feel a lot better today, and so I am back to work, but going slowly, and thoughtfully.
Only one more contribution today so far, from Africa.
I am going to spend this week meditating and reflecting on how to spread the word about this project more completely, and send the word further, and wider. Thank you so much for your interest, well wishes, and for your support.
Have a great week!
Happy Sunday! Well, I played at the St. Regis last night and then crashed hard. I woke up this morning to some more very very sweet contributions bringing us well above the 7% mark. Hurrah!
I’m going to spend today getting ready for tonight’s Sunday Soul broadcast and resting up. I hear there’s a serious relapse factor with this particularly rambunctious virus I’ve had for a week now, and I’d like to be gentle with myself and make sure when it goes it stays gone. Only thing I gotta do today is re hang a door for my upstairs neighbor.
Thank you for your contributions. Please keep spreading the word with me.
Love,
s.
• March 1st 2008
I woke up this morning feeling a little better. Yaay for health! I’m still not 100% but I’m playing tonight in SF and need to get up and out. Bed rest helps me get better, but baby… it’s really not good for me (if you know what I mean.)
Four more contributions arrived this morning as the response to another mailing I did last night. I resent a better html email of the index page to a list of my friends and family, and then sent out another note to the sunday soul mailing list about the progress this far.
As promised, I have begun the “backend” section today and sketched out all the tracks I intend to undertake for this record. The titles, references, and descriptions are all there for the approval of those who have contributed $25 or more to this project.
Enjoy!
Several more contributions came in today bringing us up to over 6% of the budget so far.
I have been really down for the count with this flu, but managed to prop myself up with pillows and redesign the masthead for this project. I loved the shocking image of my face grinning at you from behind my rhinestone sunglasses, but I think it might have been a little too personality and not enough of the current design theme, look and feel of the album and my sites. So I added some romance, and emotions, taking away my silly face.
I had a dream this morning that the record had such beautiful paper… it felt smooth and crisp in my hands. The cover was a photograph I’d taken called “Victoria…” and posted on flickr. A concrete slab with someone’s handwriting in the lower right corner simply saying “Victoria.” There were the customary romantic images of faded people kissing and standing for the camera in the shadows. It was lovely. Naturally the dream also inspired some of what lead me to change the masthead for the project.
I haven’t forgotten my promise to sketch the basics of the album in the backend. I will get to this as soon as I am back on my feet.
For now, the best thing in the world that could happen would be for you, and me, and everyone we know to do what ever we can to spread the word about this project and to bring momentum to it.
I appreciate everyone’s kind words, and encouragement. Thank you.
Love,
s.
