Meet The Goats
Aidan, Ben, Derek, Lindsay, and Taylor of Oakland Swing Punk band Van Goat have been writing, touring, and recording almost non-stop since 2012. Our first full length record is the culmination of that hard work. We are incredibly excited to release and tour with the record in spring of next year and we need our fans’ help to do it.
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We've already finished recording and the music is currently being mixed. It's a full album, complete with many dynamic shifts and interludes. It's definitely the best creative project any one of us have been a part of. We're so excited to share it with you!
Here's a video of one of the songs: "I Live In A Bubble," recorded live in San Francisco:
What We Need & What You Get
A full length record and its total cost to record, distribute, and tour with exceeds $20,000. We have been lucky enough to fund more than half the record with money made from gigs, Van Goat merch, and personal investement, but cannot see it to fruition without help.
We’ve got some great new merch packages, including album pre-orders, new t-shirts, music lessons, personalized recordings, and a whole bunch more.
We’ve laid out a fairly large and detailed budget because we’re really excited about this album and wanted to tour and promote it as much as possible. To see exactly how we plan on spending the money, check out our detailed release budget below.
This album is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all of us. We’ve learned a lot in playing music together for five years, and have made some big moves in the last year particularly, adding Lindsay Alexis on trombone and vocals, buying a van, and starting to tour much more often. We’re happier with this batch of songs than anything we’ve ever done and we know you’re gonna love it.
Our financial goal is based on an ideal budget for the album that we've come up with after a lot of planning. It’s also a number that has been reached by a number of bands at a similar level as us, so we believe it is achievable and reasonable. Our budget is a little less than half of what we’ve raised on our own, and could be reached by a large number of small donations. Every little bit helps.
Budget
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Recording: $1,500
- high quality mic preamp gear rental, engineering costs, producer (AJ McKinley).
Mixing: $3,000
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John Smart (Deafheaven, The Hoodslam Band, The Lady Crooners)
Mastering: $1,500
Manufacturing costs: $4,000
- Costs split with Prizefighter Records, who will be releasing the record in 2018.
Music Videos: $3000 ($1,500 x 2)
- For previous music videos we've budgeted $1,500 apiece. We plan on releasing at least two high quality and fun music videos prior to the release of the album.
Promotion: $2000
- $500/month for 4 month campaign, leading up to and extending through the album release.
Album Artwork: $1,500
Touring van: $5,000
Merchandise costs: $2,000
- T-shirt supplies, stickers, pins.
Total: $21,500
We have been lucky enough to fund more than half the cost of our new record with money made from gigs, Van Goat merchandise, and personal investments, but cannot see it to fruition without help. Our $8,999 goal rounds out our projected budget and makes sure we can give you the best album we can make.
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Other Ways You Can Help
We know that their are lots of great things you can put your money towards, so we’ve created packages at fair prices and a variety of price points.
And we totally understand if you can't contribute. But if you like what we're doing and want to get the word out, please share our campaign on your social media or email with friends and family who'd be interested.
Also come see us live! Here's a list of our upcoming shows:
- Thursday, October 19th - 710 Beach Club, San Diego
- Friday, October 20th - Silverlake lounge, Los Angeles
- Saturday, October 21st - Mercury lounge, Santa Barbara
- Thursday, October 26th - Pianofight, San Francisco
- Friday, October 27th - The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz
- Friday, November 3rd - Downtown Ale House, Red Bluff
- Saturday, November 4th - Off Beat Fest, Reno NV
- Sunday, November 19th - Lagunitas, Petaluma