In this competitive age of music, artists need to be committed to finding new ways of supporting their craft in order to reach their full creative potential. Crowdfunding websites can have this effect, but sometimes as audiences we can feel disconnected from the person and the process when support only goes as far as clicking a button on a screen.
To combat this issue, we sat down with MikeyyAustin to get some more information about his Kickstarter, what this new album Midnight Stereo means to him, and hear some of his thoughts on supporting musicians in the current industry landscape.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/447166490/midnight-stereo-album
B: Tell us about this project; what does it mean to you, and what made you decide to do a Kickstarter for it?
M: This project has been in the works for about a year now. It is produced by Ess Be of Illect Recordings. We wanted to create something thats a unique representation of us as artists, and displays our creativity in each song. The project is titled “Midnight Stereo” and is both refreshing and reminiscent of past eras of soul music. We wanted to incorporate live instrumentation and blend genres such as funk and jazz over a hip-hop sound bed.
This project means a lot to me because I feel 100% free and comfortable in this music. In the past, I’ve always had an internal struggle and questioned if my music was “hip-hop enough”, which led to me overthinking in the creative process and doubting myself. This was a great experience for me, because many times, as Ess Be created beats from scratch, I was writing the song at the same time, which eliminated space and time to overthink or doubt. And because of this, I feel this music is the best representation of my artistry to date, and definitely a statement in terms of Ess Be’s production.
Like many independent artist, I am always trying to do everything myself. Part of it is due to limited resources, but the other part is from years of having to do everything myself. I know that when this is the case, things like quality are easily sacrificed. I didn’t want to sacrifice some of the quality for this project because I know it has potential to make a splash and touch a lot of people. And seeing the support from those in my community, those that follow my art, and friends and family, I knew I didn’t have to do everything myself anymore.
B: As someone that is actively committed to supporting your community, through music but also far beyond that, what does the term “support” mean to you, as it relates to supporting others and also asking for support?
Great question bro!
Support is such a critical piece for any artist. There are so many odds when wanting to be a creative. And theres such a big body of artist worldwide, but support seems to be scarce in many cases.
For me, support is an investing in what you believe in. Not even a monetary investment, but investing time, whether thats giving feedback/encouragement, clicking on new releases, sharing news, going to events, etc. Support keeps ALL artist going, no matter their platform. We can’t continue without it.
B: It’s an unfortunate reality in music that access to resources can have a large impact on the final product. How will this Kickstarter enable you to fully manifest the aspirations you have for this project?
M: There are hundreds of artist putting out new music every day. I think you could have the very best concepts, but if it isn’t executed, lacks in quality, or isn’t detailed, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. Launching a kickstarter was so we can execute our concepts, not have to compromise the quality, and make sure the project is as detailed as possible.
This Kickstarter will allow us to pay for our final mixes, masters, and a portion of the album rollout.
Support Mikeyy’s Kickstarter here, and look out for new music coming soon!
