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In 2010 I endured an awful flood in the warehouse of my former distributor. They were contractually obliged to have insurance, but in real life, they chose not to carry any. This started a 3-year-long legal back and forth that finally ended in late June. The end result of this for Graveface is twofold: 1) I have gotten back an incredible amount of stock that I haven't had in years and 2) I owe a disturbing amount in legal fees. So, enter you guys - both fans of what I do and complete strangers that are just looking for specific releases/rarities that pique your interest. I thought a crowd-funding platform would make the most amount of sense for this purpose. There are a ton of tiers. First you'll note the brand new Marshmallow Ghosts 10" is only available through this campaign. You will not find this anywhere else. And you get it for 'free' with any purchase $26 and more. In each tier below that you'll see how many of each title exist after this lawsuit was settled (what's left post-flood). Very few copies of some titles. There's also a vinyl test pressing grab box, taxidermy & talking boards. We'll be launching a few Ebay auctions for super crazy rare tests and items to coincide with this campaign. You can find all active auctions for the label here:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/graveface/m.html?_nkw=&...
And for the record, I'm by no means playing the card of “Graveface will have to cease operations if this is not funded”, because I think that line of promotion is bullshit. I will say, however, that I'm struggling hard to come up with this money using our normal sales. At the very least, I'll have to start taking it easy with releases if this is not funded, which perhaps isn't a bad thing depending on your philosophy of overexposure. I'm absolutely astounded the label has existed for as long as it has. For those that want to dig deeper, the label was first hatched by an old friend and I in 2000. We had a radio show and zine together called “Vapour Trail” (named after a RIDE tune). On that radio show I would make up a variety of band names and pretend I was about to play their latest single. Instead of doing that I would actually play a new song I was working on at the time live in studio. The combination of doing that, receiving positive feedback from callers about these “new bands”, going to shows, interviewing bands for the zine PLUS watching the “Instrument” VHS for the first time (FUGAZI), it made sense to start a label. Fast-forwarding to today and seeing the legit label run by just me, is fascinating. But this journey would be nothing if people didn't care. And for that I owe those of you who care my utmost gratitude. I really hope to be around in the future, but above and beyond that, I really hope to get to the next level as a label so I can make a positive impact on an industry that is pretty gross in my opinion. I feel I have really progressive ideas and fairly unique taste, and if I had the exposure and backing on a larger scale, things could move and shake.
WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING :::
Simply to getting my life back. It will assist in closing a chapter of my life that was both very sad and eye-opening. It will also assist in allowing me to grow as a company simply by not having to spend current income on past issues. This isn't just about the past though as there will be a few new creations through this: the annual Marshmallow Ghosts release is only available through this campaign (not through graveface.com, the record club, iTunes etc), the homemade 'talking boards' are as well and lastly, the 5 awesome mounts by Mickey are only available here.
Thank you guys endlessly for your support. The past 10 years or so have been completely bonkers in the best way possible. PEACE.
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Q: You say to clarify what title I want in both the $16 and $26 tier. How do I do this?
A: The easiest way is probably to put that in the secondary address field unless this site is smart enough to offer a notes section. But the second address field works for me!
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Q: What are all these catalogue numbers you keep tossing around?
A: You can refer to Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/label/Graveface+Records
or our outdated pressing page:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj...
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Q: Tell me what the deal is with these test pressings you jerk!
A: Well, when I manufacture records I tend to like to hear what I'm having made. The least you can usually get made is 5 so every title pre-2013 only has 5 in existence. So these puppies are really rare to say the least.
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Q: This issue is YOUR problem, why are you asking US to help with it?
A: Great question. I really don't view it quite that way though. I obviously was going to sell this stuff once I got it back, it was merely a question as to how I would go about it. The crowd funding platform made sense only because of how personal but public the situation and struggle was & what I feel my relationship is with the few people that care about what I do.
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Q: Why is this new Marshmallow Ghosts not available through the Record Club?
A: Mainly because in my mind it made sense to have something be exclusive to the people that are tossing me money through this site and since that's a group I largely 'control', it made sense to do it this way.
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Q: This charity series thing seems neat, what's the deal?
A: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-charity.html