Kickstart my Heart

[Give me your hard earned money]

I’m anti-kickstarter for bands. There I said it. With that out of the way, I have to admit there are many bands I both like and respect who use it or have used it and I’ve even donated to a few. It’s not for me though. When I listen to music it’s about escape, it’s not about worrying about how much the band or the singer is making or not making. There’s a mystique about music and the show that surrounds it and I think part of the rock and roll attraction is that mystique. When you start doing things like Kickstarter you’re opening up Oz’s curtain and letting everyone see in. 

It’s sort of like this, you’re at the nudie bar and this really hot stripper has been paying attention to you and grinding you all night. While you know better, you believe in your mind this sex machine has eyes only for you and that she is spell bound by masculine mojo you’ve been excreting all night. Just as you’re about to hand over another dollar she says, you know my kids are the most important thing in my life and I’m just trying to get through school. Their baby daddy is a deadbeat and I’m only doing this to get by....AND down goes the wiener. Just like that, she pulled back Oz’s curtain, you saw behind it and reality sucks. There goes the escape/entertainment, if you wanted to be depressed about bills and real life, you would have stayed home. 

[The kind of Kickstarter I like]

Music is the same thing as far as I’m concerned. It’s part of the entertainment industry just like stripping is adult entertainment. Yes, much of the time non civilian musicians are struggling, sleeping in our van and doing shit we don’t want to do to get by. That’s our choice and you help us by coming to shows, buying our merch and paying for music instead of stealing it online. BUT, to go that extra step and ask you for more with the promise of same lame “special” doo-dad is a little douchey as far as I’m concerned. It really pisses me off when a fellow musician asks another struggling musician to donate to their kickstarter. Fuck you, for real, we’re all out their trying to make this happen, don’t beg from me. It also pisses me off when musicians with many breaks hit up their fans for more comfort. Hey, donate to our kickstarter so we can have a tour bus instead of an RV.... Fuck you. So let’s recap their logic, buy our merch, buy our music, come to our shows, call radio stations and request us and then donate money to us so we can be more comfortable since you already haven’t done enough....

Kickstarter is part of that “me generation” instant gratification American Idol bullshit paradigm. It falls under the bridge of perceived “self importance” and that the “world owes you something.” Before I ask a fan to give me money for no reason, I’d rather struggle behind the scenes and turn those ups and downs into good songs. That’s how the outlaws did it; if there ain’t no pain there ain’t no music that touches people. Life is a struggle, we are all struggling in our own way. We said it in “It Only Hurts,” I never beg but I sometimes borrow. Yup, I’ve borrowed much and I’m always trying to pay back that generosity with mixed results. I have no interest in going on line and begging... That’s just my two cents, which you can’t have for your lame kickstarter campaign, 98 more and I”ll have a McDouble, tour meal of champions... Suck it.