Our Story
Hi, we’re American Flats.
We’re a Seattle based indie band that was born from the Americana and punk rock traditions of the ‘90s. Collectively, our band members have played in over a dozen indie bands such as The Pods, The Suspects, ZipGun, and The Best Kissers in the World across Phoenix, Nevada, Seattle, and Washington DC.
And while we’re all seasoned independent artists and performers, we all feel that there’s something special about this band that brings something a little different than all the others. Perhaps it’s the fact that to keep making music at our age means that you're doing it for nothing more than the love of the music. Perhaps it’s the uniqueness of our sound that results from our varying backgrounds in the punk rock and Americana traditions – a punk rock edge with an Americana soul, as we like to say.
Whatever it is, we could not be more excited for how this album has turned out and to have the chance to share it with the world. This will be our first and debut studio album as American Flats, so your support in this moment truly makes the world of difference. We all work day jobs to support our lifelong passion for music, and every single one of us hopes to keep making music for years to come yet.
Will you help us in succeed in one last, great shot at releasing the album of our dreams?
This album was recorded at Quiet Please Studio, mixed at Crackle & Pop and mastered at Resonant Sound, all in Seattle, WA.
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What We Need & What You Get
Goal 1: We are aiming to raise $7,000 to cover fees for recording, mixing, & producing the album.
Goal 2: If we’re able to raise $15,000, we’ll also be able to make a music video of one of our singles.
Here's a breakdown of costs:
- Studio time at Quiet Please Studio: $7000.50
- Artist fees for musicians: $500.00
- Mixing at Crackle & Pop: $2,850
- Mastering at Resonant Sound: $665.00
- Laquer Creation with Amy Dragon $565.00
- Vinyl Pressing (Gotta Groove Records): $4017.51
- Album photos with Matt Boyer: $300.00
- Distribution & promotion: $ 2362.00
- Indiegogo & financial transaction fees: 8%
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For your support, you’ll get to hear the full album ahead of our official release on February 2nd AND you’ll get to choose from many exclusive perks, such as: vinyl albums, signed posters, band t-shirts & a private house concert!
The Impact
By helping to fund this album, you’ll be supporting a group of long-time independent artists and proving it's never too late to keep pursuing your dreams. These six songs are the representation of lead singer Tom Melancon’s evolution as a singer songwriter and cover such themes as love, loss, drinking & addiction, aging, and nostalgia. Much like Nevada itself, this album conveys the shaky existence its denizens often experience. Lives that are no stranger to loss or struggle, yet made meaningful by the beautiful grit of the people who occupy them. And a gentle reminder that it’s never a waste of time to hold each other close and dream of something a little better.
We’re also thrilled that we were able to invite a few artists, friends, and collaborators to join us on a few tracks of the album, including Daniel Walker who plays keyboard on five of the songs and Max Rose and Rick Pantella who play horns on Rosa.
The People
Tom Melancon - Songwriter, Vocals, Guitar
Scott Hutchins - Lead guitar, Album Art
Mark Wooten - Bass
Andi Spath - Drums
Daniel Walker - Keyboard
Rick Pantella - Horns
Max Rose - Horns
Risks & Challenges
This album has already been fully recorded and pressed on vinyl. By supporting this project, you’re simply helping us recoup some of the costs of being self-funded independent artists. All of the perks associated with this campaign are readily available, so there is no risk to you of not receiving any of the promised deliverables. FYI, Indiegogo will prompt you to leave them a tip to support their platform, and it is not required. Please feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions or thoughts to share.
How You Can Help
BUY A PERK: The best way you can support us is to purchase one of the many perks available through this campaign.
MAKE A STRAIGHT DONATION: If you are simply a patron of the arts who loves supporting working artists, you are always welcome to make a contribution without choosing one of the perks. Your support means everything to us and makes a huge difference in allowing us to keep doing the thing we love most – making music.
SHARE ONLINE: Use the social media icons to share this campaign with your friends and family. You can also copy the url and share via email, WhatsApp, or text. It's really easy to do and it can make the world of difference to our success!
JOIN OUR ALBUM RELEASE PARTY: And last but not least, be sure to join us for our album release party on February 2nd at 7 pm at the Royal Room in Seattle!
Thank you so very much for your support and contributions - whether you are brand new to our music, or have been supporting the projects of our band members for the last several decades!!
Much love and rock on!
-Tom (lead singer of American Flats)