Feb 25, 2014 Funding Dengue Fever
With most record labels struggling to scrape by, a generation of eardrums expecting songs to come free, and a shrinking middle class in music in general, it just keeps getting harder for an independent band to pay the bills through its songs. And so one of my favorite groups, the Cambodian psychedelic rock-inspired Dengue Fever, is crowd-sourcing its next album through social media. I asked my longtime friends guitarist/singer Zac Holtzman and bassist Senon Williams about the campaign–a splicing of modern DIY culture and sixteenth-century composers seeking patronage.
ICL: How did you arrive at the idea to fund your new album through social media?
SW: Since we have a great fan base that is vocal in support of what we do on social media, it was easy to decide to use Pledge Music to fund our new album. We had never done a campaign like this before, so it felt great that after just three days into the campaign we knew we made the right decision.
Launching our own label TUK TUK Records and having our fans be a part of its birth makes me feel secure that we have a future sailing the musical seas as a self-released band. We are now direct to the people, and it feels great.
ICL: Now that you’ve passed the 50 percent mark, is it all downhill from here? Or does it get harder?
ZH: It felt good to reach 50 percent of our goal. I knew the next album was halfway to being realized! I hope it gets easier to raise the second half but I don’t really know since this is our first pledge drive.
As we’re doing this pledge, we’ve been going into the studio and working on new song ideas. I listen and think about what direction and vibe to pull a song. It’s fun to hum along and play with melody ideas. In the beginning a song is like a magic bean: You’ve got to believe in it, give it some love, and get out of the way when it starts to grow. I just listened to one new song on repeat for a couple of hours without it driving me cuckoo–that’s a good sign!
ICL: What type of feedback are your updates getting from supporters?
SW: One of the coolest things about our Pledge Music campaign is the fact that we share the album-making process. We have loosened our guard, invited cameras into the studio, and are uploading unfinished tracks for pledging fans to hear how a tune grows. It has also been good to dig up B-sides and outtakes to post as exclusives. So far our fans seem to be digging it!
ICL: Do you know a lot of the participants? Where are they coming from?
SW: I know many friends who have pledged for us; it seems musicians like to help one another. But, really, I don’t know most of the people who are pledging. My guess is that our supporters have been coming to our gigs for years and want us to keep making records and coming back. The best way to insure that is to pledge, then voila! New record.
ICL: I like the incentives for pledging and think it’s cool that someone snagged dinner with the band. Would you consider Sophy’s in Long Beach’s Little Cambodia to be a regular spot, a special occasion restaurant, or just a cool place for a fan to go?
ZH: Sophy’s has been our go-to spot ever since the band started. We’ve filmed parts of videos in her restaurant and done interviews there, too. I think it’s going to be a cool, relaxing place to go and eat some delicious food with bandmates and fanmates.
ICL: What are you going to do if someone pledges enough to receive the double-necked Mastadong axe? Will it be like when Sonic Youth got its tricked-out and detuned guitars ripped off and then the band had to learn from scratch?
ZH: I worked closely with the luthier (Mel Bergman) who built the Mastadong. Mel went on to build guitars for Nokie Edwards, guitarist for the Ventures, and Mel’s abilities to build beautiful instruments has only increased. So the first thing I did was speak with Mel to make sure he’s down to build me a replacement “Mastadong II” if the original sells. Mel said he’d love to, and we can make a few minor improvements, too.
Find out more about the band’s campaign through the video below and check out their Pledge Music page to read more about the new album and how you can help to get it made.