Please continue to support this project!

The musicians on "Come to Life" have, at one time or another, played with RUSH, Coheed and Cambria, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Mary Margaret O'Hara, The Zappa Band. They have offered me invaluable feedback and insight into how to improve and complete this album. Thus this record has become a collaborative document for some of the best musicians working today and has surpassed my wildest dreams.

The album, made in various studios between Toronto and LA actually has its earliest origins over a decade ago. While it was a huge exercise in perseverance, in many ways I am glad that it took as long as it did; along the way I found more and more unique and fascinating musicians to join the effort. 

The 10-song opus is an unpredictable hybrid of Americana, new age, electronica, roots, rock, theatre, experimental, jazz, pop, and then some.  It ends with the 21-minute title track. Recorded in Toronto and LA, I chose the musicians for their improvisation skills, including Mr. Lifeson who appears on “Devil Knows Me Well,” “Mary Magdalene” and “Moving Dark Circles.” 

As an actor — I have appeared in the films American History X, Punisher: War Zone, Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy and Texas Chainsaw 3D and TV shows True Blood, The Mentalist, Saving Grace and The L Word — I mention this because my work as an actor brings out characters and role-playing in my songwriting.

THANKS TO YOU, BELIEVERS AND SUPPORTERS, we have reached the initial $6500 which ensures we get our fixed funding and can cover the manufacture, artwork, design and packaging of the CD!

But there is still so much more to do and as, per Indiegogo’s invitation, we have agreed to extend our campaign so that we can reach some of our stretch goals.

Photo by Peter McCabe

Your response has been amazing thus far, and already helped unlock our first Stretch reward: $7500 – so we are making good on our promise to post part of the song "Come to Life" - featuring Keram and Aimee Lynn Chadwick on vocals and a small orchestra of our other musicians – this is the full part of the song before the track evolves into a 30 minute ambient dreamscape.

Here it is, enjoy the first 4:30 minutes of the titular track:

Listen: Come to Life

and a short tag from the opening track:

Listen: We Breathe So Brief

(Not actual design - Text is just a watermark) - by Sean MacLeod

$8500 - Radio Promoter! 16-Page Booklet, 18x24" Full color Art Poster! 

(Achievement Unlocked! - Thank you!)

You have now, also helped us, raise $8500! a stretch goal that will allow us  upgrade from an 8-page booklet to a 16-page booklet so we can include more art and liner notes, we can also upgrade posters from 11x17" to beautiful 18x24"! 

But most importantly, we can now hire an indie radio promoter and have a better shot at getting the songs played on radio and even added to rotation playlists. Heck we might even get some in-studio interviews and live on-air acoustic sessions!

[posted 03-08-2014] 

UPDATE:

As promised, we will donate 10% of all funds raised above $8500 to the Natural Resources Defense Council, in support of our environment, wildlife and ecosystems. Learn more about why I support this organization here: http://nrdc.org

Now we ask you to help us reach our:

Next Stretch Goal...!

$12,000 - First Music Video Single

This stretch goal will allow us to make our first video for the album. We will listen to contributors' feedback on what the first song should be for which we create a video. 

Every extra dollar you contribute in this range will end up "on the screen" and will make it an even better production. If you are familiar with our previous videos, you know about our track record for implementing some far-out ideas, and you know we only want to take it further this time.

One of the most exciting possibilities for the songs on this record "COME TO LIFE" is the soundtrack-like nature of it; my hope is to find ten incredible directors to  bring their own unique vision to making a video for each song that tie it all together, and one day releasing the complete album as a Blu-Ray DVD, like Alan Parker did with Pink Floyd's The Wall. 

Often while mixing, we would ask ourselves if it sounded epic enough to fit the visuals we envisioned. 

[posted 03-12-2014]

This campaign in the press:

Media Updates: 

RushIsABand.com - the premiere fan site for the band featuring this album's executive producer Alex Lifeson - posted an article about the campaign:
http://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2014/02/05/3922/Alex-Lifeson-guest-appearance-on-Keram-Malicki-Sanchez-album-Come-to-Life

"Keram's Come to Life album featuring Alex Lifeson now available"
http://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2014/05/29/4031/Kerams-Come-to-Life-album-featuring-Alex-Lifeson-now-available

Exclaim Magazine Online did an album preview:
http://exclaim.ca/News/keram_unveils_come_to_life_premieres_11-minute_epic_with_rushs_alex_lifeson

Also, several articles appeared in newspapers from Keram's hometown of Toronto and birthplace Mississauga in support of the campaign. The first is for our Spanish speakers:

Toronto Hispano Magazine
http://toronto.hispanocity.com/publicacion/2014/02/come-life-el-nuevo-sueno-de-keram-malicki-sanchez

Mississauga Life:
http://www.mississaugalife.ca/2014/02/support-mississaugas-keram-malicki-sanchezs-dream-come-to-life/"

Mississauga.com
"Artist mixes networks and imagination for powerful album"
http://www.mississauga.com/whatson-story/4352224-artist-mixes-networks-and-imagination-for-powerful-album/

CREW Magazine:
http://www.crewmagazine.com/article/first-listen-kerams-come-life/

Why This Campaign?

The writing, composing, rehearsing, recording, producing, scheduling, arranging, editing, mixing and even mastering is all done. Now, I realize, I can go no further on my own. I need to ask my supporters, and that means YOU, to help in going to the next step; we need a final push to Manufacture, License Art, Design, Launch and Promote an unforgettable musical odyssey and all the experiential extras that come along with unleashing it.

Original album art by Sean MacLeod

This has already been a wild, breathtaking, amazing adventure. Now I am inviting you climb aboard!

I chose to use IndieGogo and crowdfunding in general, rather than go to a bank or a private investor, because of the community it builds around the project and the awareness it can generate. Without you, the challenge will be that much greater. I want to spend more time playing the music for you, not spend those years working away at trying to raise the funds to just get it out the door.

IndieGogo has great sharing tools and when maximized they can help you do the work of spreading the word.

Marc Thomas laying down dreamy beds for the title track "Come to Life" - a 36min long, meditative, ambient journey of the soul

The Impact:

• RUSH Fans will want to hear these never before heard tracks featuring guitar work by Alex Lifeson! Alex did more than just play on the record, he became a mentor and executive producer, and in turn brought mixer Rich Chycki (RUSH, Aerosmith, Jonny Lang, Pink) on to mix "Mary Magdalene" which set a new standard for the rest of our mixes and mastering engineer Andy Vandette (Metric, David Bowie, Porcupine Tree) to master the the songs, thus some of the most important people responsible for making Rush records sound like they do.
  
  
• Become a Part of the Project: I will keep you updated regularly, and ask for you input throughout the campaign. I love collaboration and feedback and want to make this the best product and project possible. You will have an inside view on how things are coming together and even see some special extras like the stories behind the songs, project notes, rare unpublished images and more.
  
  
• Musicians: If we get  beyond our initial reach goals immediately some money, as a small token of my  immense gratitude,will be put back into the pockets of as many of the musicians as I can, some of whom have worked in good faith for years on this album. 

Here is What You Helped Raise Money For So Far:

• Manufacturing: While YouTube is the most common method of listening to music these days, there is a real value to owning a physical copy of an album, and one that doesn't rely on an internet connection. Especially with the way things are going these days with "Splinternets" and the carriers, I want there to be physical copies for you to hold and share. I want you to leaf through the CD booklet and be inspired by the artwork and read the lyrics. And I want it to be of the highest quality.
  
  
• Design and Layout: An experienced designer  will  help to create an iconic font  family, color palette, logo, and across-the-board branding for the project and band.
  
  
• Amazing Artwork: Over the past five years I have also been interviewing the hottest new painters and illustrators in California for a documentary that has given me unprecedented access to such contemporary masters as Nicola Verlato, Greg "Craola" Simkins and Nathan Spoor and also the fascinating photo-collages of Sean MacLeod who did all the original artwork for Blue Dog Pict's records.
  
  These artists have agreed to collaborate with me on this project. I want to introduce their work to new audiences, as I  feel they can create a powerful context for how to approach the album. Of course, we need to pay artists to license their work for not just the album art but posters and related promotional materials that you can one day hold in your hand., I would love to feature more of the artwork we have shortlisted than just the album cover.
  
  
  Pictured Above: "The God Particle" by Nathan Spoor
  

  "Mississippi" - The incredible work of artist Nicola Verlato

  "Gather Around" by Greg "Craola" Simkins

  
  
• Lyric Sheets: One of the things I am most often asked to share are lyrics to my songs. I love wordplay, double-entendres and hidden connections between songs and particularly with  this record, I would love to share these lyrics with you. One of the PERKS will get you a hard-bound copy of my unpublished book of lyrics with over 100 pages of song lyrics and their backstory, spanning my career, starting when I was too young to have a driver's license...

• Liner Notes: To include some liner notes and photos about the making of the record, a this remarkable story. We began with little more than a "click track" and an acoustic guitar, and seven years later, over 20 world-class musicians had added their efforts to the recordings.
  

• Promotion Materials/Launch: What good is all this if no one comes to the party? Money raised will go toward promoting its release - online and print ads, marketing materials: stickers, posters and a good PR person to help get the record out to the public.

EVERY SINGLE PENNY will go into the product. 

Track Record and Project History:

I have and always finish what I set out to. I do what I say I will do and let nothing stop me; not weather, health, poverty, doubt or changes in the industry, though all of these have at one point or another stood in my way. If my friends can say anything about me, I am confident they would back that statement up. I find a way. 

If you want to know about the background and history behind all this, I invite you to read on:

• I grew up listening to film scores, cabaret, folk, punk, jazz, bluegrass, gospel, Motown, Disco, the blues, ambient electronica, and artists like David Sylvian, Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins, Ministry, Pink Floyd, Sting, Tom Waits, Portishead, D'Angelo, XTC, The Violent Femmes, Edith Piaf, My Bloody Valentine, Ali Farka Toure and Jeff Buckley.
  
  
• From the 3rd grade, I attended a music school where I studied Gregorian chant, piano, music theory and vocal training. I continued to study composition and harmony there for eight years. At the same time I was working in musical theater in such plays as Oliver!, Mame and Evita.

• I began recording and releasing music by the time I was 8 years old, and at 13 launched a vinyl 45 through Fe Discos that played on the radio in South America. 
  
  
• At 14, I returned to Toronto and started a psychedelic, theatrical rock band inspired by Cabaret, Pink Floyd, Glitterbest and The Pixies called Blue Dog Pict (Wikipedia) (with Pete Devlin, Keith White, Jeff Hayward and Danny Kovacevic). 
  

  Blue Dog Pict crew and supporters, who came to be known as "Sky Pirates", came dressed up according to the show's advertised theme.

  Based on this culture, in 1993, I founded "Robot Pride Day" – which has become, 20 years later, an annual celebration of what makes us individually marvelous as humans.  We intend to continue spreading this idea in the immersive, unforgettable new live shows we have planned.

• I played the role of the lead guitarist in a TV series called "Catwalk," co-starring with Neve Campbell and Paul Popowich, that gave lots of time to practice my guitar and also help to fund my record releases.

• At 17, I also created Automated Gardens, an electro-ambient side project, with Josh "NM1" Joudrie and Jason "DJ Shine" Spanu. Josh was Front of House Engineer for Moby's 2013 tour and DJ Shine went on to work with Nelly Furtado, Frank Ocean and many others. What I learned and developed during this period in terms of creating soundscapes I brought forward onto this record. 
  

  
  

  Blue Dog Pict live at the Horseshoe Tavern

• Shortly after I moved to Hollywood, a created a new three-piece band called Ribcage with Paul Gallinato and Eric "Spider" Costello that toured North America and showcased at various music festivals including NXNE.
  
  
• During this time I also wrote "The Truth Be Told" for the Uptown Girls soundtrack starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning.
  
  

• Within a few years I started playing with an acoustic-based band at the Hotel Cafe with Wes Styles, John Sharkey, Ryan Brown, Natalie John and Jessica Marshall-Gardiner for several years during which I wrote a new catalog of material with a more personal lyrical style.

• I was commissioned to write a song for Heather Graham that she could perform in a new indie film called "Broken". I was then invited to perform this song "The Hanging Tree" (my version of the video) with her in the official music video for the film. All of this material came together for the acoustic album I released in 2008 called "Box.

• While I was recording "Box" in 2006, I began a far larger project, one that encapsulated some songs I had not managed to record with Blue Dog Pict and that would represent some of my highest ambitions in recording. Josh Joudrie and I documented the development of this project in a web series on YouTube called "Rock Soup" (link to full playlist).
  
  This episode of Rock Soup starring Keram, Josh and Aimee Lynn Chadwick pretty much sums up the making of "Come to Life": 

One of the most exciting possibilities for the songs on this record "COME TO LIFE" is the soundtrack-like nature of it; my hope is to find ten incredible directors to  bring their own unique vision to making a video for each song that tie it all together, and one day releasing the complete album as a Blu-Ray DVD, like Alan Parker did with Pink Floyd's The Wall. 

The Players:

• Keram Malicki-Sanchez (producer, recording and mixing engineer, guitars, keyboards, vocals, programming, words and music)
  
• Ryan Brown (drums, percussion)
• Josh Joudrie (recording and mixing engineer, producer)
• Dan Luperini (recording engineer, mix consultatnt, guitars, producer)
• Alex Lifeson (guitars, executive producer)
  
• John Sharkey (bass)
• Wes Styles (bass, guitar, pedal steel)
• Jessica Marshall-Gardiner (vocals, lyrics)
• Pete Devlin (guitar)
• Aimee Lynn Chadwick (vocals)
• Ed Maxwell (upright bass)
• Hendrik Rik (bass)
• Don Garbutt (keyboards, programming)
• Natalie John (vocals)
• Erin Ann Scott (vocals)
• Marty Stelnick (harmonica)
• Joe Ayoub (bass)
• Eric "Spider" Costello (drums)
• D'Arcy McGuire (bass)
• Stewart Cole (trumpet)
• Marc Thomas (guitars, pedals)
• Greg Malicki (violin)
• Alex Budman (clarinet, saxophone, flute)
• Kathryn Rose (vocals)
• Christine Hamilton (vocals)
• Bob Sibony (drums)
• Rich Chycki (mixing engineer)
• Andy Vandette (mastering engineer)

Other Ways You Can Help:

If circumstances are such that you can't contribute financially, you can still help out a lot by spreading the word to your friends who can, who may be interested in something like this or who do not yet know it. Just by sharing this campaign you are more than doing your part.Thank you!

I am not sure that I will make another record quite like this in my lifetime, because of the tyranny of Time. Your support will ensure that this effort reaches your ears and perhaps the generation after that.

Thank you again for your help and support of a 100% independent project, that expands out to many extraordinary musicians, songwriters, artists and technicians. By supporting this project you are legitimately empowering this dream to Come to Life. 

Words will never be enough to thank you for your support. Maybe I can offer you some songs instead. 

xo forev.

kms

ps. If you have any questions or suggestions for this campaign, anything whatsoever, please feel free to email us at KeramSongs at Gmail. We are in this together!