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The Dorothy Project

A ground-breaking album collaboration between electro-folk songwriter and 90-year-old poet.

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The Dorothy Project

The Dorothy Project

The Dorothy Project

The Dorothy Project

The Dorothy Project

A ground-breaking album collaboration between electro-folk songwriter and 90-year-old poet.

A ground-breaking album collaboration between electro-folk songwriter and 90-year-old poet.

A ground-breaking album collaboration between electro-folk songwriter and 90-year-old poet.

A ground-breaking album collaboration between electro-folk songwriter and 90-year-old poet.

Sam Genders Diagrams
Sam Genders Diagrams
Sam Genders Diagrams
Sam Genders Diagrams
1 Campaign |
Sheffield, United Kingdom
$12,365 USD $12,365 USD 420 backers
36% of $33,563 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
The Dorothy Project is a ground-breaking album collaboration between established electro-folk artist Diagrams and 90-year-old poet Dorothy Trogdon, fusing timeless wisdom with modern sounds in a cross-generational meeting of poetry and music. The campaign exists to fulfil the life-long dream of Diagrams (aka Sam Genders of Tunng, The Accidental & Throws fame) to set up a record label in order to self-release the next Diagrams album 'Dorothy' out into the world, and we want YOU to get involved.

“If you have failed and fallen as I have

And long to be forgiven

Walk out under the graphite sky”

~ by Dorothy Trogdon, from the poem ‘Under The Graphite Sky’

 

About This Project

Hello, my name is Sam Genders. I have been a musician since I was 15 and I've toured the world and played festivals such as Glastonbury, Latitude, Green Man, Haldern Pop and Iceland Airwaves with my various bands Tunng, The Accidental, Diagrams and Throws.  Independent record label Full Time Hobby has released six of my albums, my songs have had regular airplay on BBC 6 Music, Xfm and more, and my previous band Tunng was once nominated in the UK BBC 2 Folk Awards for 'Best Group'.

The last couple of years have taken me on an amazing journey during which I met an incredibly talented 90-year-old poet named Dorothy Trogdon, wrote an entire album’s worth of songs with her and then recorded that album with some of my all time favourite producers and musicians.

I’ve created this campaign to fulfil a life-long dream of setting up my own home-based record label so that I can self-release the album out into the world. Your generous contributions will make all of this possible:

~ designing beautiful artwork for the album
~ mastering and manufacturing the CDs and vinyl
~ making downloads available
~ distributing the album to record shops all over the world
~ promoting the album in all the right places to reach as many listeners as possible

Thank you in advance for your support!

You can listen to the first single 'It's Only Light' from the album here: https://soundcloud.com/ideas-and-sketches/its-only-light-by-diagrams

Here's an album teaser: https://youtu.be/Otgfw2AsLOc

And here's 'Under the Graphite Sky' played live as a stripped down session for legendary radio presenter Bob Harris:

 

The story so far...

This project has felt special to me from the very first time I read one of Dorothy’s poems and found myself turning it into a song in my mind. That poem was called ‘Mnemosyne’ and I loved its combination of mythological and scientific imagery along with a rich sense of human vulnerability and the precious nature of our minds, memories and fleeting lives.

I felt like a nervous kid when I emailed Dorothy to ask if she might help me write some songs and so excited when she agreed. Later on I was encouraged by how inspired people were by her involvement and I was enthused by their willingness to get involved and help make the album a reality.

Producers Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Farao, Low Roar, Speech Debelle) and Kristofer Harris (Smoke Fairies, Storybooks) offered their time, as did some brilliant instrumentalists  - brass player Sam Ewens and violinist Danyal Dhondy as well as drummer Rob Wilks and singers Astra Forward and Tim Barr.

I even had a reply to a shot in the dark email I sent to world-renowned multi-instrumentalist / composer / arranger Kelly Pratt (Arcade Fire, St Vincent, David Byrne, Beirut) who agreed to record arrangements for the album.

My friend Marion, who first gave me Dorothy’s book and started this amazing journey, visited Dorothy where she lives on Orcas Island outside of Seattle, Washington State, and took my old dictaphone with her to make field recordings.

The icing on the cake was being awarded a £2,500 grant by the PRS for Music Foundation, which when added to my own savings meant I had enough to start making the album.

Towards the end of the recording process I had the privilege of visiting Dorothy for the first time.  It was wonderful to meet her and spending time there gave me a real connection to the field recordings that appear on the record, such as the soft buzz of hummingbirds that feed throughout the day by Dorothy’s back door in view of the sea and nearby woodland.

This album exists because of the enthusiasm of the amazing and creative people involved.  We’re all really happy with the finished result and we think people will love the record.

 

Our team and who we are...

My wife Sofia and I will be running this very exciting campaign from our house in Sheffield, England with a small team of friends. As you already know, I’m a musician and songwriter who has released 6 albums and toured many places around the world with the bands Tunng, The Accidental, Throws and Diagrams. I also work as a songwriter for other artists such as Liam Bailey, Ben Ottewell and more, and I run songwriting courses and teach kids guitar in primary schools.

Music, words, ideas and compassion are what most inspire me. I love science and nature.

Sofia co-founded the amazing End of the Road Festival which is held in the Dorset countryside in England each September. Her organisational skills, attention to detail and positivity are a big part of the reason the festival became so successful and she’ll be helping me run the campaign properly without me getting sidetracked by my childishly enthusiastic and sometimes confusingly random creative brain.

We have a great team of musician friends, colleagues and collaborators who are supporting this project. Thank you so much Marion McLaren, Mike Lindsay, Kristofer Harris, Kelly Pratt, Rob Wilks, Sam Ewens, Danyal Dhondy, Astra Forward, Tim Barr, Sophie Jane Mortimer, Leon Lockley, Matt Bagguley, Zoe Genders, Kate Hewett, Howard Monk, Suzie Kemner, Ian Smith, Jennifer Madeley, Tamara Gal-On, Ben Charles, Jess Roberts, Helen Mort, Niki Stevens, Guy Whittaker, Leonie Sloots, Sara Hill, Heather Hull, Mike Hull, Becky Matthews, Matt Austin, Rachel Mepsted, Jane Aspeling, Katy Blott, Lucy Jamieson, Orlando Seale and Paddy Fairlamb.

We also have a great team of music industry professionals who are on stand-by to support us with the actual album release as soon as we reach our goal, including David at Key Production, Mark at Republic of Music Distribution, Jesse Treece on artwork, James of Viaduct Promotions, Will of In House Press, Liv and Genevieve at One Beat PR, Brendan at Canvas Media PR (US), Jan at Affairs of the Heart (Germany), Justine at Boogie PR (France) and more.

 

What your contribution will fund

  • Mastering of the album - £1,000
  • Manufacturing of CDs, vinyl and promo copies - £3,500
  • Artwork + layout for manufacturing purposes - £1,500
  • Record label set-up, admin, accountant and AIM membership - £1,100
  • UK print and online press + radio for the album release campaign - £5,800
  • US + mainland Europe press + radio for the album release campaign - £7,500
  • Crowdfunding campaign mgmt/support + Facebook advertising - £1,100
  • Postage & packaging for sending out albums - £2,500
  • Contingency - £500
  • Indiegogo commission + credit card fees - £2,500

Total: £27,000

 

Timeline - this is how we will make our goal a reality  

November 2016
Launch first single to press & radio + deliver download of single to all contributors

December 2016
Set up record label + master the album

January 2017
Create all artwork & files for the manufacturing process + set up distribution

February 2017
Release second single to press & radio + order the CD & vinyl manufacturing

March 2017
Receive all CDs and vinyl + sign and write personal messages

April 2017
Deliver online webinar + send out all albums (incl. download) before public release

May 2017
Release the album into the world!  AND  Have the best THANK YOU PARTY ever!

 

How YOU can be a part of this

By supporting this project you’ll be making it possible for this music to go out into the world, professionally mastered with beautiful art and design.

You’ll be promoting a creatively driven project that major commercial record labels might not choose to support and you’ll be supporting Dorothy and myself in our work as writers. Dorothy’s words are intelligent, tender and thought provoking and it’s been a privilege to work with somebody with such talent and rich life experience.

I hope you’ll join us in our creative adventure and make this album release a reality:

Contribute - Each and every contribution is deeply appreciated and takes us closer to achieving our goal. No amount is too small!
Share - Every single share on social media takes us one step closer to our goal. Every person you tell about it! Every mailout to a mailing list in which The Dorothy Project is mentioned makes it more and more likely that this will happen.
Invite - Invite 20 friends to be part of this adventure on our Facebook event page. If every person who heard about this project went on to tell two other people we’d reach our goal today! Thank you :)

 

Your Perks

All perks will include a copy of the first single that will be yours to download TODAY!  We’re also offering signed copies of the album on CD or vinyl, and opportunities to connect more closely with me through my online talks, one-to-one Skype sessions and songwriting courses. And maybe we’ll have the pleasure of your delightful company at our ‘Thank You Party’?

A project like this succeeds because of the belief and support of generous people like you. If we can make this dream a reality - as we believe we can - it will be because of your decision to help make this project happen.

We would like to say a huge thank you for every contribution, every share and invite and every ounce of goodwill that you decide to offer. Every single contribution helps - no matter what size it is.
If you do get involved and if our paths cross sometime in the future, maybe at a festival, concert or reading, please come and say hello so we can shake your hand and say a personal thank you.

There is so much goodwill around this project and we’d love you to be a part of this creative adventure with us. Thank you.

With gratitude,
Sam (Diagrams)

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Choose your Perk

featured

Signed CD + Download + Bonus

Currency Conversion $25 USD
£20 GBP
You will receive a signed CD copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material. You'll be among the first to hear the album!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
83 out of 200 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Single download

Currency Conversion $1 USD
£1 GBP
'It's Only Light' is the first single from the album and you will be able to download this song within the next few days - as soon as it's available.
Estimated Shipping
November 2016
22 claimed

Album download

Currency Conversion $6 USD
£5 GBP
A full copy of the Dorothy album will be yours to download just before its release in spring 2017. This is a CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE price and you'll be among the first to hear the album! You will also be able to download the first single 'It's Only Light' TODAY.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
80 claimed

Album download + Bonus tracks

Currency Conversion $9 USD
£7 GBP
A full copy of the Dorothy album will be yours to download just before its release in Spring 2017, as well as CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material to download. You'll be among the first to hear the album!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
50 claimed

CD album + Download

Currency Conversion $19 USD
£15 GBP
You will receive a CD copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album. You'll be among the first to hear it!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
65 out of 200 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

CD + Download + Bonus tracks

Currency Conversion $21 USD
£17 GBP
You will receive a CD copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material. You'll be among the first to hear the album!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
15 out of 200 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Signed Vinyl + Download

Currency Conversion $37 USD
£30 GBP
You will receive a signed vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album. These are CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE hand-numbered limited edition vinyl records and you'll be among the first to hear the album!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
62 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Signed Vinyl + Message

Currency Conversion $50 USD
£40 GBP
You will receive a vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, signed by Sam with a personal message of your choice (max 50 words), as well as a download of the album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material. These are CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE hand-numbered limited edition vinyl records.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
1 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Album Bundle

Currency Conversion $56 USD
£45 GBP
You will receive a signed CD and a signed vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material. These are CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE hand-numbered limited edition vinyl records.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
20 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Online webinar + More

Currency Conversion $62 USD
£50 GBP
Ticket to online webinar/talk with Sam where he chats about the process of writing the album with Dorothy, his songwriting technique including tips and tricks to try, as well as a Q&A section where you can raise your own questions. You will also get a signed CD or vinyl (hand-numbered limited edition) copy of the Dorothy album in the post just before its release in spring 2017, as well as a download of the album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
3 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Thank You Party Invite + More

Currency Conversion $81 USD
£65 GBP
Join us at one of two 'thank you' parties (which will take place in Sheffield and London) with Sam and his campaigning team. We'll meet at one of Sam's favourite pubs in Sheffield or London and get to know each other better over a few fizzy drinks (bar tab not included). You will also get a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
5 out of 20 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Handwritten Lyrics + More

Currency Conversion $106 USD
£85 GBP
Sam will personally write out the lyrics to any one of his songs of your choosing and add a personal message of your choice (max 50 words). You will also get a Thank You Party invite, a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
0 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Skype call with Sam + More

Currency Conversion $124 USD
£100 GBP
A 30-45 minute one-to-one chat with Sam via Skype about anything you can dream up! Spend your time playing Sam demo tracks and asking advice, talking about the techniques he uses in his creative work life or just shooting the breeze and drinking cocktails. Cocktails not included. You will also get a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
3 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Backing Vocals + More

Currency Conversion $373 USD
£300 GBP
Sam will arrange, sing and record backing vocals to any one song of your own that you send to him. He'll send the vocal tracks back to you for you to use in your own recording. You will also get a Thank You Party invite, a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
1 out of 4 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Songwriting Weekend + More

Currency Conversion $622 USD
£500 GBP
Join Sam and up to three other people for one of two of Sam's popular weekend songwriting courses at his house in Sheffield, UK. Lunch and drinks included. Accommodation not included. You will also get a Thank You Party invite, a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
1 out of 8 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Private Solo Concert + More

Currency Conversion $622 USD
£500 GBP
This solo acoustic concert could be held in your home or in a venue that you book. Additional travel and accommodation fees for two people to be mutually agreed. Add £500 for Europe, add £1,500 for US/Australia. Rest of the world - please get in touch. You will also get a Thank You Party invite, a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
2 out of 4 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Executive Producer Credit +

Currency Conversion $1,865 USD
£1,500 GBP
As a premium contributor you will be making this project happen in a seriously tangible way. Your contribution will make a huge difference to everyone involved. You'll get our heartfelt thanks and an Executive Producer credit in the album sleeve notes. You will also get a Thank You Party invite, a ticket to the online webinar, a signed CD or vinyl copy of the Dorothy album in the post, as well as an album and CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE bonus material download. Let us know if you prefer CD or vinyl.
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
0 out of 4 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

The Wedding Singer + More

Currency Conversion $2,486 USD
£2,000 GBP
Sam will sing a 30-minute solo set at your wedding celebrations including any songs you request, he'll take a turn DJing if you’re brave enough to let him and he’ll dance badly for up to 2 hours with grannies, children and that guy from accounts who you don't really know but who your best friend Susan fancies so you promised you'd invite him. PA/Sound equipment not included. Travel & accomm. fees to be mutually agreed. This perk is dependent on Sam being available on your date. + "More" extras!
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
0 out of 1 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Karma Chameleon + More

Currency Conversion $6,215 USD
£5,000 GBP
You're not short of a bob or two. You've worked very very hard and now you want to kick back and spread a little joy in the world. You love music and you love words and this project is right up your street. You love the idea of helping us out and spreading a little extra love in this lifetime. You'll get an Executive Producer credit, an invitation to a private dinner with Sam and his wife Sofia in Sheffield and our huge, genuine and teary eyed thanks. You will also get the usual "More" extras!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
0 out of 4 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Orcas Island Sound Tour + More

Currency Conversion $18,646 USD
£15,000 GBP
You're Bill Gates or Sergey Brin or you once waited in line behind one of them at Pure Food Fish Market. You love Seattle, adore Washington State and own Sub Pop's entire back catalogue. You'd love to support an independent artist because you believe that music makes the world a better place to be and hey, you only live once! By choosing this perk you'll be donating £10,000 to the campaign and £5,000 to fund a small Diagrams tour in Washington State. You will also get the usual "More" extras!
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
0 out of 1 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Kanye Dig It? Album commission

Currency Conversion $87,014 USD
£70,000 GBP
Yes we really are having fun now. You are one of life's high flying, high achieving wunderkinds and you love investing your considerable resources in projects that inspire and delight you and others and make the world a better place. You are about to become a mega-patron of the arts! If you choose this perk you'll be funding a whole new life direction for Sam, who will build a home studio and make an entire album inspired by a subject of your choice. Wow! Plus all the usual 'More' perks!
Estimated Shipping
November 2018
0 out of 2 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
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