Things are changing, and we are really excited about it.
It's been a year since we released Stay On Target, and since then we've been reflecting on how we want to move forward as a project from the business side of things. We've been doing a lot of thinking about what is best for us, what's best for you, and the impact these choices have in the larger context of the music landscape. Here are the changes we've decided to make.
How you will get our music
First, we've decided to pull Stay On Target off iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify, and go exclusively with BandCamp. BandCamp is a great partner for artists like us, in that they are the fairest provider for us. They give us a ton of freedom to make decisions on things like price point, they take a much smaller cut than the big guys, and they provide free streaming of our songs in full, which we think is great for you.
Sure, having our music on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify is cool and all, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of hands in the cookie jar. We have no control over how those companies price our music, and do we really need to be involved in getting them more money? Especially Spotify, which is one of the most unfair providers out there for artists.
How much will you pay for our music
That's up to you now. We are going with the pay what you want model, which means you get to decided what our music is worth to you. If you want to pay nothing, then go ahead. If you want to give us $1, $5, $10, whatever... We are cool with it. We aren't in this to make money, we do this because we love to make music, and we love to share that music with you. That said, money is cool, because you can do cool things with money.
Cool things we are going to do with the money
We've decided that we will take half of every dollar we receive (after BandCamp's cut) and help fight poverty in the developing world. We've joined up at Zidisha, a company that helps connect us with people in the developing world in need of capital, and lets us provide them small loans with really low interests rates (5%), especially for their parts of the world. The more you pay for our music, the more lending power we will have to either help with larger and larger projects, or help more people. When our loans are repaid, we are going to turn that money around and loan it out again. We will be charging no interest in our loans from our end. The 5% interest is a fee that Zidisha charges the borrower, and is extremely low for these types of loans. We thought about using Kiva, a larger and more popular service, but their interest rates can be 5-20 times as high.
If you are interested in joining us at Zidisha, you can sign up and join our lending group here.
We hope you will join and support us in this new venture. We think it’s a great deal for everyone. We get to share our music, you get our music and know that your money is going to a good cause, and some people that could use some help will be getting a chance.
For more info on Zidisha, go here: zidisha.org
To get Stay On Target, go here: shimodaairforce.bandcamp.com
(Even if you have the EP already, we're sure it would make a wonderful gift)
Alexander Hamilton
 |
| Photo: wikipedia |
The second song annotated for Stereo IQ by Brian and Josh is Alexander Hamilton. Join us as we explore consumerism and a polarizing Founding Father.
Stereo IQ
Hey there! It's been a while since our last update, and that's because there hasn't been much to update you all on. We are working on some new tracks for our follow up to Stay on Target. We were also hoping to have been able to announce another project by now, but it appears that might have fallen to the wayside for the moment.
What we can tell you is that both Josh and Brian have become verified artists over at Stereo IQ. If you are not familiar with it, Stereo IQ is the Rap Genius for rock songs and is currently housed at Rap Genius.
In case you don't know what any of that means, long story short, Brian and Josh will be breaking down the lyrics (and some other stuff) of all the Stay on Target songs.
The first one up is the opening track, The Inside Joke.
So check it out, and let us know what you all think. Leave us some comments around places where you can comment on things.
What we can tell you is that both Josh and Brian have become verified artists over at Stereo IQ. If you are not familiar with it, Stereo IQ is the Rap Genius for rock songs and is currently housed at Rap Genius.
In case you don't know what any of that means, long story short, Brian and Josh will be breaking down the lyrics (and some other stuff) of all the Stay on Target songs.
The first one up is the opening track, The Inside Joke.
So check it out, and let us know what you all think. Leave us some comments around places where you can comment on things.
Thanks
Now
that the EP is out and it has had a little room to breathe, we wanted to take a
moment to give a little more recognition to those that contributed to this
thing.
Eric Fiegenbum
Eric is the force behind Ego Puppets, and if you haven’t checked out his music yet, you should stop reading this and go do that. Better yet, listen to Ego Puppets while you read the rest of this. Josh and Brian have both known Eric for what seems like a century. Eric and Brian formed their first band at a Spin Doctors/ Soul Asylum concert despite the fact that both really had no idea what they were doing. So yeah, it’s been a while. Brian calls Eric SAF’s spiritual advisor. Eric is often the first person to hear a new track and asked for input on everything from writing, arranging, and mixing. It’s hard to think any of this gets done without him. Eric plays keyboards on Ohio, and provided a ton of help and encouragement during the whole project.
Rob Perry
Rob was in Señor Citizen with Josh and Brian, as well as the Side Project with Brian. Rob and Brian have been co-writing songs for over a decade and often trade demos trying to figure out what is missing from their newest compositions. Rob is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and writer, who crafts wonderful songs in just about any genre from 80s style power ballads to hip hop, and everything you can think of in between. Rob contributed backing vocals and guitar to Everyone Is Writing Songs About California Except Me as well as Ohio. It probably won’t be long until you hear Rob on some more SAF tracks.
Ritchie Monteiro
Back when Señor Citizen was still alive, Ritchie could be seen as their opening act from time to time. Back then, Ritchie was a man armed with guitar and a haunting voice. Now, Ritchie still has the haunting voice, and is the front man for the band Jác. Like Ego Puppets you should check them out if you haven’t already. Ritchie provides backing vocals and the lead organ on The Inside Joke. Dude killed it!
Deanna Wood
The cover art for Stay On Target that you’ve been seeing everywhere was provided by Deanna. It’s an actual painting sitting on top of a Wurlitzer organ in Brian’s studio space, and the pictures you have seen do not do it justice. Brian met Deanna through the Ze Frank Sports Racer community. She is an amazing artist in the Dallas area. Check out her website to see more of her fantastic work.
Scott Moore
Brian and Scott also met through the Ze Frank Sports Racer community. Scott is an amazingly creative human being that throws his heart and soul into every project he involves himself in. Whether it’s his mail art project Return2.me, or his telephone affirmation project affirm.me, Scott is making the world a better place one moment at a time. Scott co-wrote the lyrics of Tokens, with Brian.
To each one of these people (and many more), we give our heartfelt thanks. This wouldn’t be what it is without you.
Eric is the force behind Ego Puppets, and if you haven’t checked out his music yet, you should stop reading this and go do that. Better yet, listen to Ego Puppets while you read the rest of this. Josh and Brian have both known Eric for what seems like a century. Eric and Brian formed their first band at a Spin Doctors/ Soul Asylum concert despite the fact that both really had no idea what they were doing. So yeah, it’s been a while. Brian calls Eric SAF’s spiritual advisor. Eric is often the first person to hear a new track and asked for input on everything from writing, arranging, and mixing. It’s hard to think any of this gets done without him. Eric plays keyboards on Ohio, and provided a ton of help and encouragement during the whole project.
Rob Perry
Rob was in Señor Citizen with Josh and Brian, as well as the Side Project with Brian. Rob and Brian have been co-writing songs for over a decade and often trade demos trying to figure out what is missing from their newest compositions. Rob is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and writer, who crafts wonderful songs in just about any genre from 80s style power ballads to hip hop, and everything you can think of in between. Rob contributed backing vocals and guitar to Everyone Is Writing Songs About California Except Me as well as Ohio. It probably won’t be long until you hear Rob on some more SAF tracks.
Ritchie Monteiro
Back when Señor Citizen was still alive, Ritchie could be seen as their opening act from time to time. Back then, Ritchie was a man armed with guitar and a haunting voice. Now, Ritchie still has the haunting voice, and is the front man for the band Jác. Like Ego Puppets you should check them out if you haven’t already. Ritchie provides backing vocals and the lead organ on The Inside Joke. Dude killed it!
Deanna Wood
The cover art for Stay On Target that you’ve been seeing everywhere was provided by Deanna. It’s an actual painting sitting on top of a Wurlitzer organ in Brian’s studio space, and the pictures you have seen do not do it justice. Brian met Deanna through the Ze Frank Sports Racer community. She is an amazing artist in the Dallas area. Check out her website to see more of her fantastic work.
Scott Moore
Brian and Scott also met through the Ze Frank Sports Racer community. Scott is an amazingly creative human being that throws his heart and soul into every project he involves himself in. Whether it’s his mail art project Return2.me, or his telephone affirmation project affirm.me, Scott is making the world a better place one moment at a time. Scott co-wrote the lyrics of Tokens, with Brian.
To each one of these people (and many more), we give our heartfelt thanks. This wouldn’t be what it is without you.
Stay On Target
 |
| Cover art by the super talented Deanna Wood |
Our debut EP, Stay On Target is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and BandCamp. eMusic (Do people still use eMusic? Really? Sorry, we won't judge) will be coming shortly. We will keep this updated as new services are added.
Just between us, BandCamp is the way to go. It's a little bit cheaper for you, and it lets you have it in whatever digital format you prefer, bet hey, it's your internet. Get it however you'd like.
While you are at it, follow us on twitter, and like our facebook page... or don't... again, it's your internet. We won't judge.
Love,
SAF
Almost There....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)