San Francisco’s experimental quartet Oxbow have been working on releasing their newest album titled Thin Black Duke which is expected to be released at some point in November. By working on it, we mean they already finished the album and are just waiting for some logistical and other stuff not involving recording it so that means they already invested into its release, but it seems like that put them in a bind.
The band just launched a crowdfunding campaign via Gofundme.com to recover some of the costs involved on the production of Thin Black Duke and that means recoup $20,000 out of the $40k they invested on it over the past decade. The band decided to release the record independently and now they’re looking for help from their fans. They stated about the campaign:
“OXBOW needs help.
[But would understand perfectly well if you scoffed at our need for it.]
The deal: Our new record the THIN BLACK DUKE cost us, over the course of the decade we’ve worked on it, $40,000. [And we have yet to master it for vinyl or make a video for it.] We can provide receipts for everything we’ve done and we do now have a label for it but no sane label will give us back the 40 we spent [and we don’t expect them to] and truth be told no sane band would have spent 40,000 dollars in the first place but if you’ve read this far you know how OXBOW is and even better what OXBOW does.
The record is phenomenal. When it’s out this November you’ll either buy a copy or steal one. As is your habit. You may not even like it but you’ll not be confused: it’s as perfect a work of art as you’re likely to hear and marks a departure for OXBOW but almost familiar ground for those who enjoyed THE NARCOTIC STORY.
In any case we only asked for half the amount spent because asking for the full amount feels ridiculous. But many hands make light work and if you’re so inclined even $1 would help.
And no, we’re not sick, dying, in jail or victims of some awful crime or accident. But the day is young even if we’re not. So give if the mood strikes you. Mock if that suits you best. Either way we completely understand.”
Of course, some people aren’t too fond of the idea and didn’t hesitate to express their displeasure to the band on their decision, as one user stated:
are you fucking kidding me? YOU WANT MONEY BECAUSE YOU SPENT MONEY MAKING AN ALBUM? SELL THE ALBUM, SELL MERCH, GET A JOB, DO SHOWS. YOU LAZY FUCKING SHITHEEL CUNTS
To which Robinson replied:
we will sell the album, we will sell merch, we have jobs (which enabled the record to be made), we do shows just like we’ve been doing in one form or another since 1980. None of which will ever amount to $40,000 even if in the end 40,000 people will have gotten the record. Because: the Internet and “free” music. We’re OK with this. We’re also OK with you not giving a penny like you’ve already not been giving a penny. Thanks for writing. Prick.
Bottom line about this is that, while many people aren’t to fond of the idea, they are at least being honest about and not sugar coating the reasoning of the crowdfund. Some people have been donating with that fact on hand and right now, it has about $1,000 as of the writing of this article. If you feel generous about this, head over to their page here.
[via theprp.com]
