Who is The New Up?

The New Up is a truly independent, DIY, electro rock band from San Francisco that's always done things our own way. Over the last several years, we have spent countless hours writing, rehearsing, recording and touring. Through this journey and some serious self-reflection, we've come to a vision of the music we really want to make, the music we strongly feel could have a significant impact on the community and the world. In a city and nation with increasingly limited resources for the arts and where artists struggle to survive, we have never stopped working toward our dream. Your contribution to our campaign will allow you to collaborate with us to keep independent music alive, and be a part of an inspired, authentic creative process in a highly commercialized industry. Music that genuinely comes from the heart is a universal language and connects all walks of life. It's one of the few things in life that can bring hope and change to us all.

Why Should I Donate?

This new album is going to be the pinnacle of everything we've done up to this point, and we've poured our very existence into the writing process for this release. We've also vowed to ourselves to not settle for anything less than full creative expression and realization of our vision. The recording process for our past albums - which have received a fair amount of recognition - was a little more straightforward: we wrote the songs, recorded the songs in a studio, and released the songs. This time, we came together and decided to take an entirely different approach to making music and connecting to the community through our music. Working together with our dear friend and producer, Jack Frost, the process of writing this new album has been much more in-depth, creatively driven and inspired than any of our previous albums, so we expect to far exceed our past successes with this strong new direction, drive and confidence in the power of the songs. We're also really reaching for a larger audience with the content, production and stylistic vision of this new album, and doing it in a way that stays true to our own creative aspirations. In addition, we're donating a portion of the funds to an undeniably righteous non-profit, Half the Sky Movement, which aims to empower oppressed women and girls all over the world. When you add all of these factors together, you get a project that will not only be immensely helped by the community, but will also be of great benefit to the community, making it hard to think of a reason to not donate.

So Where Do the Funds Go?

Your donations are going directly into the quality and reach of our new album. The primary goal is to pay for expenses related to the recording and duplication of the music. We need some seed money to be allocated towards gear for our home studio, to get the ball rolling on the recording process. We have spent the last several years building up our home studio, but still need additional, essential pieces to complete a professional workspace. Microphones, an audio interface and software plug-ins are among the big-ticket items, which are all spelled out in our budget below. This will allow us to complete basic tracking and overdubs on our own, rather than pay others for their studio time. It's the whole owning vs. renting paradigm and it will apply to all current and future recording projects. After the album is funded, the rest of our funds will be spent on promotion to get our album out into the world. It doesn't make sense to have a great product if nobody hears it, so we're hiring a trusted and established PR firm. In addition, we're donating a portion of the funds to Half the Sky Movement, a wonderful global non-profit whose goal is to put an end to the oppression of women and girls worldwide.

I'm Broke, How Else Can I Help?

As artists, we understand that not everyone has the resources to contribute monetarily. But there is still so much you can do. In a word (or three) - spread the word! Whether it's through social media, email, phone, carrier pigeon or a good old fashioned face-to-face conversation, directing folks to The New Up's campaign and introducing them to our music is invaluable. We truly appreciate our fans' sharing the love with their fellow music fans. And the fact that there are so many tools and resources at everyone's disposal means that it's easier than ever to spread the word.

You can:

- Post a link to our campaign on your Facebook page

- Post a link on your Twitter, and retweet our Twitter posts

- Point people to this page (http://igg.me/at/thenewup/x/2175393)

- Email your friends, family and acquaintances about The New Up's campaign and our music

- Share The New Up's campaign video via this page and YouTube

- Embed our campaign's widget anywhere you can using the Indiegogo share tool

- Talk about The New Up's campaign and music to your friends and family

- Talk about the band to your friends and associates who are music writers and radio hosts

Thanks again for your support. We really can't do it without you!