New music used to be released on Tuesday. For albums that were eagerly anticipated, local music stores would start selling them at midnight.  I happened to be eagerly anticipating Pearl Jam's 5th album, Yield. At the time, I had a job where my shift ended at 11 PM on Monday nights, and I decided to go get Yield as soon as I could. After work, I drove to Dingleberry's in Centerville (a great record store that is no longer with us) and browsed records whilst listening to whatever was playing on the in-store speakers until midnight.  At midnight, I purchased the CD, and proceeded to listen to it on the way home.

The only song I had heard from the album prior to purchase was "Given To Fly", which was the radio single.  There was a little bit of controversy around it, because of its similarity to a Led Zeppelin song, but since I hadn't really listened to any Led Zeppelin at the time, I didn't notice.  The single didn't particularly move me, but there was music industry buzz around the release, and I had read some positive reviews.  (See, back then, you had to do your research before buying an album.)  

Yield kind of smacks you in the face when it opens.  "Brain of J" was the kind of raucous rocker that reminded me of "Once" and "Go".  I was all in immediately.  The second track, "Faithful" has a steady, meaty riff in the pre-chorus and chorus.... the third track, "No Way" is a place where Jeff Ament demonstrates the groove that I enjoy from his playing (though I love his work on this entire album), and I also immediately dug the lyrics.  I fondly remember the feeling of discovery as I drove home... the soaring chorus of "In Hiding", and the sing-along album closer "All Those Yesterdays".

When I got home, I had a chance to really examine the packaging.  The CD came in a rather creative digipak, with a triangle cut-out on the cover, allowing you to see the yield sign on the panel behind it.  When you open the cover, the sign is in a completely different context.  The album also came with a nicely designed booklet where you can read the lyrics and all of the track credits.  I spent plenty of time sitting in my room, reading through the liner notes and lyrics whilst listening to this album.  It's a fond memory of a long gone time...

Are you worried I am going to ask you for money?  Well don’t worry, I am definitely not going to do that today.  However, crowdfunding has become a very useful resource for creative types, and that being the case, I’ve been thinking about making Kickstarter a part of the process for the as-yet-unnamed second album.  Below are three disjointed thoughts about this, in no particular order. 

Vinyl.  Vinyl is cool again.  Music sounds great on vinyl.  I know people who say that music sounds warmer on vinyl.  (I don’t hear it, but maybe that’s because my turntable isn’t of a high enough quality.)  Vinyl is so awesome that Pearl Jam wrote a song about it. Alexa, play “Spin the Black Circle”.  Here’s the problem.  Vinyl is expensive.  From what I understand the mastering process for vinyl is different than it is for other media.  Further, producing vinyl is a time-consuming process that requires a very unique set of machinery, and that makes it expensive.  Simply put, there is no way I can afford to release this album on vinyl… but I really want to. The only way I could do that would be if folks pre-ordered enough vinyl copies of the album to offset the production costs. 

Begging.  It feels like begging. I mean, when you’re an “indie” artist, you kind of want to be as independent as you can. DIY, right?  Crowdfunding is not so much DIY… it’s more like DI with a little help from my friends and as many complete strangers as possible.  It feels like begging. Of course, one would offer rewards in exchange for a pledge to back the project, which makes it more like pre-ordering.  Of course. It feels like begging. 

Fear.  You know, if you use Kickstarter and you don’t reach your financial goal, you don’t get paid.  Zip. Zero. Nada. Rien. Now, there are reasons why that is a good thing… let’s say I offer vinyl as a reward, and I don’t meet my financial goal for the project… well, if we aren’t doing an “all or nothing” model, I would be obligated to fulfill those vinyl pre-orders when I really can’t afford to do so.  However, to quote a movie about music in a slightly out-of-context way, “some money would be nice”.  Not reaching the goal, well, that would feel like a crushing failure, and not in a good way.  (Looking at you Ken Andrews.) That’s scary. Fear. 

Maybe.  Probably.  These are words to describe my feelings about Kickstarter.  At this moment though, I don’t have to decide. Tracking for the album has already begun, and I’ll keep plugging away at it.  After all, before any kind of crowdfunding starts, one should have demonstrated that work is already in progress and a product is going to result, yes?  I am definitely not asking anyone for money today… but in a few months, well, let’s see.