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With twelve days remaining, you have already carried us past our goal of $15,000. Folks, do you know what this means?
WE ARE MAKING AN ALBUM!!!
We are humbled and inspired by the amazing showing of support that you have collectively brought about. Thank you, truly.
From the start of our campaign, we've declared a stretch goal of $18,000. After speaking with some musical sages and doing some research of our own, we've realized that making a professional music video to promote the album's single would be the best use of this additional support. We want to make a video of which we're proud, another weapon to use in our secret mission called "Operation Spread-Joy." We'll utilize anything we raise beyond $18,000 to promote and distribute our album, to get us out on the road, and to spread our music to broader audiences. And we are still really hoping to find a way to make pressing to vinyl a financially-sound operation. Because of its unbeatable sound-quality, it would be a dream-come-true to have our music on vinyl, so we're going to press onward for the duration of this campaign and hope for the best. Already we're overjoyed, so it's only upward from here!
You may not have known this, but:
As a way to contribute to the amazing causes with which our community concerns itself, we've performed at events that benefit some really wonderful organizations, some of which include RISE (working to prevent sexual violence), The United Way, Engineers Without Borders, Cal Poly's Relay for Life, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Save The Mermaids (ambassadors to the oceans), The SLO Food Bank, The SLO American Cancer Society (Rock the TATAS), Human Kind Fair Trade store, Transitions Mental Health Association, Eco SLO, and even The Cal Poly Triathlon Team. We are so fulfilled by the idea that our music can help support the efforts of these powerful organizations, and we're honored to be on the receiving end this time.
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The characters - It seems that the story is about four friends in a band, but the main characters continue to stand out as those who inspire the band through their relentless support, while the band remains a vessel into which people pour in love. Like good Russian literature, the story is overrun with a complex web of characters. As a whole, the story is much greater than the sum of its individual personas.
The setting - The story takes place in a dream world, some place called San Luis Obispo, California.
The Plot - The boys want to bridge the gap between their dream world and the real one, the one that doesn’t like dreams so much. They are consistently challenged collectively and individually, so that they might be squashed down to dwell in reality. They continuously make sacrifices that leave their stomachs with a strange sensation, all so that they can live out their vision. The effort is truly a collective one because of the love and support that permeates throughout the story.
The conflict - Music is no place for a band of four college graduates of science. They have been taught to seek success in the world of career and financial gains, rather than in the content of their wishes. With so many external obstacles, fire and brimstone, the chances of becoming a full-time band are so thin, but the biggest challenge to them, as with anyone, has been their own internal doubts questioning whether they are worthy of pursuing passion and fantasy. The underlying conflict is the uncertainty of it all; the complex web can blow away at an instant, and all they can do is fortify every fiber and attempt to create what they hope to see.
Their best solution: to punch Doubt in the face. “Pow!”
The Theme - From the opening page, the story is really about this universal value of relentlessly pursuing the dream that is deeply rooted inside of us all, to stare into the inner lining of the soul and to say, "Yes." to it.
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If you had asked us about our plans for recording a professional album
back in January 2012, as we were nervously preparing to perform for the
first time in a crowded donut shop (humble beginnings indeed), we would
have laughed and said, “That would be a dream!”
Either we’re a
troupe of sleepwalkers sauntering in a dream world or we’ve managed to
actualize what was once just a misty vision. What started as a close
group of friends collaborating and melding their individual perceptions
to create meaningful music with a groove and some integrity has grown to
an established band whose focus is to bring something significant to
listeners, music better felt than heard.
We are doing it
all, the sweet and the bitter, the hours in the practice space equaling
those at the computer, all so that we can live our
dream of becoming a full-time band that sustains itself through music
alone.
The support and love from you,
our friend, our fan, our family, is what makes all of this become real. We've found the groove, written the songs, booked a studio, and hired a passionate and dedicated producer. Now is your chance to become part of this project.
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$4,000 - 150 hours in Speak Studios
$1,200 - Album Mixing
$1,600 - Album Mastering
$800 - Hired guest musicians (horns, etc.)
$1,200 - Photography, artwork, and album design
$2,600 - CD Burning & Packaging
$2,500 - Funding for album promotion, release, accompanying merchandise, perks, etc.
$50 - Digital distribution through iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc.
- $1,050 - Indiegogo service fee
Total project costs = $15,000
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- $3,000 - Produce a music video
Stretch goal total = $18,000
Anything we raise beyond $18,000 will be used to promote and distribute our album, to get us out on the road, and to spread our music to broader audiences.
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Just as you may have thought, making an album begins with writing songs. Every one of our songs has a distinct story, with elements that make it unique from any other song of ours. Porch Stompin' began from Nick and Bryson's first time jamming together, while they were overwhelmed with the euphoric energy between them and spent the afternoon pounding on the back porch, yelling, "Let's do a little porch stompin now!" A newer song, No Time, arose from Nick and Bryson each bringing a completed song to the group, and the four of us all working on it together to combine it into our most dynamic song to date. Our process is truly collaborative. It may start with a Bryson guitar hook, a random African-inspired drum beat by Andy, a poem from Nick's grandma, a combination of chords, or even a bass line from Kevin. We approach every song with an open mind, letting it go where it goes, improvising ideas along the way, until the moment when it all culminates into a genuine representation of Próxima Parada. Then, we incorporate it into our live set.
That's just the beginning.
Preparing a song for recording requires much more work. We are already well into the process of recording high-quality demos (both live and in the studio), to which we listen critically, gaining insights which lead to arrangements that flow seamlessly, feel natural, and never cease to be interesting.
Many of these demos will be made available to supporters in the Collector's Bundle. ![]()
The next step is recording.
We will spend approximately 200 hours during the month of April recording and mixing the album. We have chosen
Speak Studios as our creative space and
Vince Cimo as our audio engineer and producer.
Speak Studios has an environment that is extraordinarily conducive to creativity, and it was built by our very own Vince Cimo, who has been a close friend of ours for years. We feel so certain about having him on our team because he has a real talent and intuition as a producer, he has been actively involved in our band since the beginning, he's also a multi-instrumentalist and composer (Some of you know him from the Red Willows, the band he had until 2013), and he has always been a leading proponent of our efforts as a band. As we prepare to make this album together, we've passed many late nights with Vince, analyzing the sonic characteristics of our favorite albums, from The Beatles 'Let it Be (Naked)' to the Wood Brothers 'Muse.' We've thoroughly discussed alternative drum-recording techniques and that warm and punchy quarter-inch-tape sound from the 1960s. Now, we have a collective vision of exactly what we want to create.
Although we are going to select just 12 songs for this first album, we have enough original music to release three albums. Selecting only 12 songs allows us to focus on the performance and quality of each song, to ensure that it be nothing short of professional. We're unearthing an album that is distinctly orchestrated and precisely played, yet saturated with spontaneous energy and improvisation.
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Our warmhearted listeners tell us that they leave our concerts feeling satisfied in their souls. As performing musicians, there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the face of a listener who is deeply resonating with something we’ve created. If you’re not into that soul talk, our concerts are hell of a lot of fun too. We offer no gimmicks, no filters, we just share the sentiments that are deeply rooted inside of us.
Friend, fan, family, you continue to support us, and that means that you are fortifying our collective vision of creating meaningful music and making sincere connections with as many people as possible (we call this "Operation Spread-Joy"). Making this full-length album is the chapter in our story when things really start getting interesting!
Back in April 2013, we released a 5 song EP that has reached listeners through cd sales, radio stations in San Luis Obispo like KCBX and KCPR, and our song Next Stop: Porch Stompin’ was even featured in a beautiful documentary called Friends of Mine by Matt Palmer. You should know that we recorded, mixed, and mastered our EP in just TWO DAYS! And with this full-length album, we are giving ourselves an entire MONTH!
We cannot begin to explain how passionate we are about doing this. Art is meant to be shared, and recording a full-length album will enable us to connect with more people than we could have ever imagined, when we began jamming together back in 2012.
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In exchange for your support, we are offering several tokens of our gratitude, including signed copies of the new album, tickets to our CD release concert, invitation to our fully-catered CD Release PARTY on a gorgeous property in Cayucos, a dinner cooked for you by the band, private performances, and so much more.
Copies of the 'Makes You Wanna' EP
The Próxima Parada T-shirt - "Whether you're trying to look your best or rip on the air flute, we've teamed up with Live Local Apparel, Kimberly Dodge, and Alexis Lewis-McEvilly to deliver beautiful, American Apparel T-shirts. And they're comfy!"
[Please indicate shirt size between YL - XXL and preference of Male or Female style shirt and color choice of charcoal or blue]
Date Night! - We'll prepare a soul enriching meal for you and a friend for us all to enjoy together! Photo compliments of Bliss Café.
Cyber Date!- Private Skype Session with the Band. You could be him!
Private Acoustic Set - "Ooooooooooooooo!"
Private Full-Blown Concert - We'll perform up to a 3 hr set at your event!
The Best Day of Our Lives - This is truly a one of a kind perk! Let's make some memories!
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Whether or not you contribute, your support in spreading the word about this campaign is SO important to us! Here are some more ways to help:
- Use the share tool at the top of this page to share our campaign on social media sites.
- Tell your friends and family in person.
- Send this URL to your regular email contacts or through your mailing list.
- Use it as an excuse to call up an old friend or your aunt Bethel (you've been meaning to call anyway).
- Get creative! We're in this together!
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Pondering in a cold shed,
This is the life
We’ve chosen.
It’s not the life
Of sprees or
Surprise parties;
But our business is thriving.
We started our very own business.
Who would have thought that
Authentic selfhood could prove
To be so lucrative?
Such success can drive a man insane.
Nonetheless, we’ll keep our crazy doors
Wide open for you.
Perhaps someday you’ll realize:
You’re missing out
On all the fun.
Thank you,
Próxima Parada
Andy, Bryson, Kevin, and Nick
www.proximaparadamusic.com