Lots Of Noise, Fun And Sweating!
- Category: Artists
- Published on Wednesday, 09 March 2011 16:41
- Written by Mario
- Hits: 503
Additional Info
A few weeks ago I digged a little deeper into Pledgemusic's portfolio and found some interesting projects to follow and pledge. One of these was the upcoming album of UK based alternative rockers The Subways. Billy Lunn (vocals, guitar) answered a few questions about their experience with Pledgemusic, involving fans in a new way and their further plans for their upcoming album:
50K MUSIC: You have raised over 130% of the budget for your new album on Pledgemusic in two months. Did you expect it to be that easy?
Billy: Never! But we are so glad that it has been so successful and that our fans want to get so involved in the process of making the record! We feel that they have contributed more than just paying for the music and listening to it - they've actually helped us make, and we love the idea of breaking the barriers between the band and the fans!
50K MUSIC: How did you find your way to Pledgemusic? What were your reasons to join PM?
Billy: We'd seen some of our favourite bands getting involved and we saw how cool it looked. We're always trying to find out what our fans think and feel about our music and our shows and we love meeting our fans after the shows for pictures and to get to know the people who feel the music speaks for them. Pledge Music suited us perfectly.
50K MUSIC: Do you understand this project rather as funding/pre-ordering the album or more as involving fans into your work?
Billy: A little bit of both. The fans are helping us in a lot of areas - by ordering the album now they're helping us financially in making the album in the studio, and also we're listening to what the fans would like to see us do when we come to tour the album!
50K MUSIC: I guess fan-funding an album or involving fans this way is a whole new experience for you, isn't it? Please tell us how you deal with this.
Billy: We've always wanted fans to come and help out singing in the studio, and we've always wanted them there with us and experiencing the process of making an album anyway, so for us this feels very natural and fun.
50K MUSIC: Does it mean your label will no longer finance your albums?
Billy: It means that we'll license the album to whoever likes the finished article. We've had nobody intruding and suggesting things to us artistically apart from our producer, Stephen Street, which has worked brilliantly for us! We own the album, so we do whatever we like!
50K MUSIC: Do you think fan-funding could be THE way for you to finance your albums in the future?
Billy: It's an interesting prospect for us on this record, though we're always wanting to try different formulas in doing things for each album. It's been fantastic so far, so I can see us seriously considering it again for future projects.
50K MUSIC: You've announced your album to be out in 2011. Can you give us a release date yet?
Billy: I wish I could, but even I don't know yet! Summertime! That's all I can guess at!
50K MUSIC: You're in the studio with Stephen Street at the moment. Please tell us something about your work in the studio.
Billy: Well we've been demoing and rehearsing these songs for so long now, that by the time we started our first day in the studio with Stephen the songs were pretty much there. Stephen's sound is exquisite, and he's made everything sound perfect, adjusting the drum patterns and the feel of certain parts of the songs so they sound just right.
50K MUSIC: Will your fans and/or pledgers be involved in the album production? How are you going to involve them?
Billy: We're having fans in to sing a gang vocal in the next few days, and we'll also be playing them some tracks and listening to some opinions! We're very excited about doing this!
50K MUSIC: What can we expect from the album? Will it be a typical Subways album or will we listen to some new sounds?
Billy: Heavy pop songs! That's how we like to describe this record. A combination of the first and second records, but every single song we wish we could release as a single!
50K MUSIC: Do you plan a release show once the album is out?
Billy: We may do a release show, though by the time the album comes out we may be somewhere deep in Europe touring! We'll maybe crack open a bottle of champagne!
50K MUSIC: Will we see The Subways on stages in Europe soon?
Billy: As soon as we can we'll be playing all across Europe! We're getting ready now! Lots of noise, fun and sweating!
50K MUSIC: And finally: Anything you want your fans and pledgers like to know?
Billy: We love you, and we're going to make this the best Subways album ever - just for you guys!
