… We’d like to make a compilation album, pay for hosting costs, and maybe even buy some more pins and stickers.
Because I like to hold a tangible product in my hands, I’m really looking forward to Quality Control Volume II. This shit is gonna be off the hook, seriously. Mostly bands we’ve written about, all bands we enjoy — take a look at the lineup so far, in no particular order:
- Cyperna
- Jimmy Junk Bird and the Stiffs (hey, me and Baldwin have to make all this blogging pay off somehow)
- Locutus
- Barren Womb, courtesy of Spartan Records
- Eyes of the Dead (a track from the album they’re recording THIS MONTH!)
- Kaos Reign
- Into the Coven
- R.A.I.L.
- Lyra
- Bedroom Rehab Corporation
- Lightsbane
- Liquor Baron
- Opus
This is an album that will be in your car’s CD player, not on its floor. Here is a cost breakdown of what I hope to cover between our 5/31 fundraising show and this online drive:
- $540 — 300 compilation CDs in snazzy cardboard “jackets”
- $30 — economy shipping of said CDs from Discmakers
- $50 — album art (thanks for cutting me a deal, Jim Clegg!)
- $130 — the blog’s hosting and domain names for the year
- Total: $750
I anticipate taking home $300-$400 from the Fiddler’s show, leaving an approximate difference of $450 — that’s where our online fundraising number comes from. If we make a killing at Fiddler’s, any extra funds can go towards shipping comp CDs to some far-flung bands (I gotta get 15 copies to Norway for Barren Womb!), sending thank-you gifts to our online donors, and purchasing more merch.
So that’s what your blogger friends want to do with your money. But why should you give it to us? We’re not helping children and no one stole our truck. Like I said last year, though, Alternative Control is there when you need an album review. We’re there sharing our shitty Instagram pictures of your band all over the internet. And honestly, the “alternative press” is pretty much just blogs these days. The Weeklies and Advocates of yore have become one corporate, uniform conglomeration that really doesn’t give a shit about your band or anyone’s band — they just want all your friends to “vote” so they can increase their pageviews and ad revenue. I mean, for fuck’s sake, the local newspaper spells your name wrong when your venue is in danger of closing. They cared so much they didn’t even look at your Facebook page.
It’s not so much about a handout or trying to get other people to pay for our stuff. We’re asking our readers — band members and fans alike — to participate in something that makes our local music community broader and more exciting. I guarantee that you’ll find a band on our comp that you haven’t heard before — and that whoever Locutus and Barren Womb give their CDs to haven’t heard of most of the bands on there. But if you need more convincing…
… if you give us money, Death Metal Dave won’t fart on you outside the Webster.
Visit our GoFundMe page to donate, or come to the big show on 5/31!
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