Archive for the ‘Blog from Sam’ Category

May 11

MONOLITH: the March of Progress

I’ve added a new item to the Kickstarter for As Lonely As Dave Bowman’s MONOLITH limited edition CD.

Eight days to go. This is the point in the crowdfunding campaign when things get mellow and we wait for the rush to the end. Of course, there are new pledges coming in every day, we’re up to 114 supporters. Kickstarter is now the place to pre-order the MONOLITH limited edition CD release; there are still copies available.

A few days ago I was having breakfast with my son and a friend; we were joking about this and joking about that. I was thinking about a shirt I saw at a chess tournament my son was in. The shirt had the “march of progress” graphic on it: charting evolution from monkey to ape to man, but there was a Chess King as the finally figure.

Hardly even pausing to think, I said: “Ape, Moon-Watcher, astronaut, Star Child! Hey, I’ve never seen a shirt like that before.”

Ooooooh, I had “an idea” !

Immediately I started imagining what the shirt would look like. I came up with this:

Even before we reached the $3000 funding goal (thank you for that!) I was thinking about what new item to add to the campaign. Some of you missed out on the top two tiers, yet still showed your support by over-funding the $50 plexibox. That was super nice and I want to give you a new premium to apply that pledge towards.

So now there’s the shirt on it’s own, the shirt with the CD-in-DVD, and the shirt with the Plexibox. Three new tiers to chose from.

Kickstarter makes it easy to change your pledge if you’d like to get a shirt. Details are here on their FAQ.

The Tshirt will be included at no extra charge in the top-2 tiers.

After the Kickstarter is over, I will email to get your Tshirt size. I print on American Apparel Ts which are custom fitted shirts; these are not the massive 90s-styled T. The shirt will ship at the same time as the CDs.

Enjoy! Sam

May 05

Black Tape For A Blue Girl May Update

Hi there. Here’s an update on what’s going on with Black Tape For A Blue Girl:

As you might know, I created a Patreon page for my music. Patreon is a crowdfunding site where you can pledge monthly support. To date, 92 patrons are donating $676 to assist my creations. An anonymous donor pledged $50 a month just this week. Wow!

In exchange for your support you get exclusive access to my music as I’m creating it. Today, patrons are receiving my first draft of the new Black Tape For A Blue Girl album; 14 demos, a first listen to a sequence of the tracks I’m working on. Some pieces will stay, some will go. None have vocals yet. It’s work in progress; I think that’s pretty cool to hear.

If you’d like to hear it, join my Patreon with a pledge as low as $2 a month. Everyone who joins this week will get the stream, even though you haven’t been charged anything. Patreon charges your credit card once a month around the first.

MONOLITH, the electronic space-music album from my solo-project As Lonely As Dave Bowman has reached the $3000 goal at Kickstarter which means this album is going to exist! 102 people have pledged $3045 to the campaign, and there’s still two weeks to go. Things aren’t over yet; Kickstarter is now a place to pre-order your copy of this 300-piece limited edition release.

My campaign was based on an interesting question: Can I give away digital downloads of an album at the same time as I’m attempting to crowdfund the release? Will people care about my creation enough to make it happen?

And the answer is an awe-inspiring Yes you will!

I’ve received a number of emails this week that say, “It’s not just the stuff, Sam. I want to see you succeed and keep making art.” That’s pretty incredible, and feels really good.

Part of my goal with Patreon & Kickstarter is to connect to people who enjoy my work. I see new names pledging at the upper tiers; that’s fantastic! I like knowing I’m creating music that matters to you, and that perhaps one or two of my past albums have been beneficial in your life when you needed someone / something there. That makes it all seem so much more worthwhile!

At the Blacktape Bandcamp page you can download the new As Lonely As Dave Bowman MONOLITH album and also the 2007 POD album, both for free. I added my 2011 ambient/drone release The Passage, also for name-your=price.

Hopefully you’ll make a donation there, or even better, at the Kickstarter page. When you pledge at Kickstarter you get an additional 37 minutes of Dave Bowman music. Plus I get to stay in touch with you via updates on the MONOLITH project.

I’ve mentioned that 2015 is the year I get back to making music; I’m really active with that and I appreciate that you help make it happen.

Sam

May 04

Steve Roach: Skeleton Keys (100% analog electronics!)

from Sam Rosenthal…

Steve Roach: Skeleton Keys

Experience the beauty of 100% pure analog modular sequencer-based music.

There’s a worldwide analog modular synthesizer-based music resurgence in full swing. Pioneering electronic musician Steve Roach taps into the zeitgeist on Skeleton Keys, a 74-minute album recorded using Synthesizers.com’s large format analog modular synthesizer/sequencer-based system. These are eight emotional and mind-expanding spiraling mandalas-of-sound made from interwoven tapestries of melody, rhythm, tone and musical space. The result is warm and engaging retro-futurism, a continuing evolution upon the musical structures Steve has unlocked in the restless pursuit of his soundquest. Read the full bio here.

Available Tuesday May 4 at iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. CD in record stores and at Amazon: Tuesday May 26

other purchase options: 3-pack Skeleton Key CD with the Vinyl edition & Skeleton Collection companion CD 2-pack Skeleton Key CD with the Skeleton Collectioncompanion CD

Skeleton Keys is Echoes Radio’s May album of the Month! “A lot of artists are going in (the analog electronic) direction these days, but few have the mastery and control that Steve Roach reveals.” – John Dilberto / Echoes Radio review

Recent electronic albums from Projekt Records:

As Lonely As Dave Bowman: Monolith CD at Kickstarter. Preorder. Limited edition of 300, including the extremely limited plexibox edition. Free download for everyone.

Erik Wøllo: Blue Radiance CD at Projekt Download at Bandcamp 24/96k at Spotted Peccary

Dirk Serries:Disorientation Flow CD at Projekt Download at Bandcamp Limited edition of 300

Stratosphere: Aftermath CD at Projekt Download at Bandcamp Limited edition of 300                                                

                    

                  

                

                

Mar 31

Black Tape For A Blue Girl, March update

Hi. If you’re a fan of Black Tape For A Blue Girl and want to support me in the creation of my art, please become a patron at my Patreon page. 90 fans – just like you – are contributing; I really appreciate that! Their support helps me create; contact with people who want me to make more music is inspiring me to get up from my desk at Projekt, and work on new material.

For the last month, I’ve been keeping track of how much Projekt-work I do; I’m color coding it on a schedule. I keep Projekt separate from music. By seeing where I spend my time, my goal is that I will spend more time in the places I chose (art!)

It’s a mixture of Quantified Self and Wayne Dyer’s “What you think about expands” concept. I’m thinking more about art. And look, I have more art! I’m thinking about people caring for what I create. And look, I meet more people who care for what I create.

Last week I met UK-based patron Antony for coffee. Antony is a graphic artist / videogame maker who visited Portland for a few days. We had a great conversation about music, art, creation, sponsorship, staying true to your inspiration and more. It is nice to put a face to the name of one of the very cool people supporting me!

Making BlackTape’s music is a lengthy process: the initial creation of my instrumental tracks, adding other musicians, thinking up melodies and lyrics, working with my vocalists. It’s not a one-day process! Making darkAmbient and electronic instrumentals is a good way to warm up. Unexpectedly, I recorded an entire new album from As Lonely As Dave Bowman! 73 minutes of music, with a 37 minute companion release. I will be talking more about this soon – I have some creative ideas for how to make the album available to you.

I’m also planning to make old-school-fan Randy LeMasters’ Ashes in the brittle air dream a reality; I’m going to have my guy in Canada bake/transfer the 1989 2-track master of the alternate version of the album. This was the shelved first version, which contains a number of different tracks from what was eventually released on CD. Getting that master transferred at High Res Archival Quality will cost $340 plus shipping. It is thanks to the support of my Patreon fans that I’m inspired to do this.

Thanks!

Sam

If you can fund a little something per month, that would be great:

https://www.patreon.com/blacktapeforabluegirl

In the next day, Shea will email Bandcamp download codes to the $5+ a month supporters. Check your email for that.

Mar 16

LABYRINTH, Friday May 1 – Movies in the Dark

from Projekt’s Sam Rosenthal

I’m having a great time with the Movies in the Dark series! It is wonderful how many people come out to check out the goth-appropriate films. I was thinking that after the darkness of last month’s THE CROW, it would be nice to go with something lighter and more sing-a-long-y! : )

Join me and other like-minded music/film lovers for the Friday May 1st showing of David Bowie’s Labyrinth. As always, Movies In The Dark is hosted at the beautiful & historic Hollywood Theatre.

Facebook Event Page.

There will be a gift bag for the first 50 attendees & a raffle.

See you in the Labyrinth!

PS: to get an email when new movies are announced sign up to the Movies In The Dark email list: http://ow.ly/JHpue

Mar 03

Forrest Fang in stores today + first Livestream

One of the premiums for $10+ patrons at Black Tape For A Blue Girl Patreon Campaign* is a once-a-month one-hour Q&A live video chat. It will be exclusive for the small group of participants who have contributed $10 or more to support me and my music.

I’ve been comparing the different sites that offer this service and (I think I) settled on Livestream as the most economical ($49 a month!) and easiest to use.< Last night, I invited people on Facebook to check out a test stream. There were a few folks dropping in and out giving it a look, and three or four who stayed on for the whole hour. It was fun to interact directly with people who enjoy the music of Projekt... I think this could be a cool new way to stay in touch. Attendees post questions in the chat and I answer them live. Is this something you'd be interested in participating in? Leave a message below. Last night on the test, Jesse asked about new Projekt releases... Today is the street date for Forrest Fang's latest album, Letters to the Farthest Star. It is extremely limited to 300 copies; when these sell out there will not be a second physical edition. If you want a copy, order today from Projekt. Here are the links:

CD from Projekt Webstore High Definition Studio Masters from Spotted Peccary Download in FLAC, MP3 and other formats at Projekt’s Bandcamp Store Physical CD at Amazon MP3 Download at iTunes

* Patreon is a crowdfunding site built for “empowering a new generation of creators to make a living from their passion and hard work.” patreon.com/blacktapeforabluegirl

Feb 13

The truth about the troubling sex in 50 Shades

Digital freelease: Fifty Shades of Grey (music for a sensual evening)

The bombardment of “news stories” about the Fifty Shades of Grey movie is well underway; it gave me a fun idea: What if the film studio had contacted Projekt to put together the soundtrack? What would that sound like?

I went through the Projekt catalog and pulled tracks both cinematic and soundtracky for this compilation. It’s up for name-your-price at Bandcamp.

The Truth About Fifty Shades (a short editorial by Sam)

We can laugh and snark about how horrible the Fifty Shades books are. But the bigger problem here is the writer’s lack of knowledge about supportive, sex-positive relationships. She uses BDSM to mask two poorly-conceived characters who do not engage in proper consent or respect. (The writer is a boring bored* English housewife, who I can imagine watched a few porn videos for “research,” rather than getting involved in the scene, or talking to experts, or even reading some informational websites to learn the proper protocols for respecting a partner’s boundaries).

This is an even bigger issue than the 8th-grade-level writing.

What two people do together should be their own business; though I would hope they keep it safe, sane and consensual. When a book series sells 100 million copies, and has it’s attractive lead character force a woman to repeatedly do things she doesn’t want to do, that’s not BDSM…. That’s abuse! It is shocking that soccer moms who love this book for the (mostly generic missionary) sex, aren’t repulsed by the characters’ actions. This says a lot about American’s inexperience with sex, and inability to critically think about healthy relationships.

Consent Isn’t Enough: The Troubling Sex of Fifty Shades. in The Atlantic.

The Real Abuse at the Heart of Fifty Shades of Grey. in Relevant Magazine.

50 Shades of Grey: a film about male power, idealising emotional abuse as sexy when it isn’t. in New Statesman. (You can Google, for many more articles on this topic)

Bare in mind that I am not criticizing people’s involvement in BDSM; there are many relationships with it at their core. These relationships involve respect and consent, good communication, knowledge of boundaries, and love. This is necessary to give a partner a safe version of the ‘the pleasure in the pain’ they desire. Of course, it is also necessary in any strong relationship.

America accepted a really warped version of BDSM when it grew enthralled with these crappy books. The piece in the New Statesman says the film got the consent right in the BDSM scenes, but not in the overarching story. It’s unfortunate the filmmakers didn’t update the plot to address the serious problems in the novels.

On the positive side, publications are using the movie’s release as a catalyst to educated on these very important topics.

I have been criticized for calling E.L. James “boring.” So I will fix that and say she was “bored” (which is the word used in press descriptions. Does this make things better?)

You can leave a comment below.

With all the yap-yap-yap about 50 Shades of Rubbish, I should probably remind you about my book Rye — interesting characters, in original situations, humor, plus conversations and negotiations around consent, relationships and family of choice.

“Underneath all the androgyny and fluctuation, the book’s about human connection. Rosenthal’s use of sex and gender identities to illustrate how we reach toward and away from relationships is merely a new approach to an old idea: we all need intimacy with others to deepen our understanding of ourselves.” — Time Out, Chicago

Physical and Kindle copy at Amazon or buy a signed copy of the paperback book directly from me!

Support Black Tape For A Blue Girl at Patreon and get all access!

Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s Patreon campaign is building steam. It’s exciting! Patreon is a crowdfunding site built for “empowering a new generation of creators to make a living from their passion and hard work.” It’s a chance for listeners to directly support my art, while getting access to exclusive music. Thanks to my patrons, Sam

Feb 02

A huge unimportant detail (& free music)

From Sam Rosenthal:

A huge unimportant detail

At the time of this writing, fifty people have joined Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s Patreon campaign. What a great first week! Get involved to make week #2 even more successful.

Patreon is a crowdfunding site for “empowering a new generation of creators to make a living from their passion and hard work.” It’s an opportunity to directly support the creation of my art, and in return you get access to exclusive music.

Last week I added these tracks to the patron-area: * “Please don’t go (mix 10),” the new track from the Patreon video (with Grace Young on viola) * Two early mixes from 1992’s DAT #5: “passion drained” & “on broken shells 3”

Even a $2-a-month pledge helps. It goes towards expenses such as paying Grace a salary for dropping by my studio to record. For less per month than what you pay for a cup of coffee, your contribution joins with other backers’ contributions to help me reach my goal of freedom to work on music.

Getting back to art.

Most of my time is occupied running Projekt Records. I was about to add, “It’s my day job,” but the fact is that I’m often at it all day and still here working on Projekt at 9pm. I’m sure you’d much rather I was writing and recording new music? Yeah? So would I. The problem is it’s not like the old days when I could take time off work and invest hundreds of hours in a Black Tape For A Blue Girl album with reasonable expectations of thousands of copies selling and income coming in to cover my expenses. Nope, these days people really love their free music; but the miniscule income from Spotify and youTube is not a viable way to try to earn a living.

With four succesful Kickstarters completed, I’m quite excited by crowdfunding; it’s a brilliant method for financing creativity. Late last year, I studied various sites, searching for one that conceived crowdfunding as I imagined it. I didn’t want another one-month-campaign to make a physical object. That leaves too many people out and feels like it rushes through the fun part!

I have two main goals: ongoing funding for my music and immersing you in the process of developing new work. Patreon does this. It’s designed to facilitate your direct support of the music.  With your pledges, I will spend less time at the job and more time creating new and exclusive tracks I share directly with you.

“Now hold on a second, Sam,” I imagine some of you saying. “Why all this talk about money? Shouldn’t it just be about the art?”

As Iggy Pop recently said, “To tell you the truth, when it comes to art, money is an unimportant detail. It just happens to be a huge unimportant detail.”

Those hours and days in the studio take away from time I could be working at Projekt. You understand what I’m saying here! The phone company and the gas company don’t take payment in the form of high fives and a Mp3 of new songs! : )

I’m thrilled that some of you have already backed me on Patreon.

And understand that it’s not just about the income; crowdfunding is also rewarding on a personal level. I love that I get to know people who are deeply into my music. Last week, I met graphic artist Antony Johnston. I’d love to share something he wrote:

The music you made with BlackTape, especially in the ‘classic’ Chaos / Garden / Remnants era, has been part of the soundtrack to my life for the past 20 years. As a creator myself, I know how hard the current climate can be, so it’s my pleasure to support the Patreon campaign. The new music excerpt ‘Please Don’t Go’ is lovely — more of that, please! Reminds me of dark nights, driving home from those early Whitby goth weekends in the late ’90s…” – Antony Johnston (writer of Umbral, Spooked, and Dead Space)

I want to make more of that sort of music: music that can be the soundtrack to the next 20 years of your life!

Your recurring monthly contribution of $2, $5, $10 or more will make it possible.

Antony joined my Patreon campaign; so did Tristan, Marcos, Draven, Julia, Rob, Tori, Bill and a bunch of other amazing people. In fact, we reached the first Milestone Goal of $300 and now we’re headed towards the $500 Milestone Goal: a two-hour livestream mixing session, where you can watch me in the studio, with a view of my monitor, as I mix and process the music.

I’m thinking about the creation, the connection, and the challenge of seeing this through and succeeding. It’s incredibly sweet to know people are stepping up with pledges to support my work. You can make a difference in tackling this huge unimportant detail: the manner in which artists earn money.

Please pledge here. Thanks for that.

Sam

PS: Back to the topic of free music, here are two name-your-price albums for you to enjoy. The Collection is a ‘best-of’ from Blacktape, while Fifty Shades of Grey is an imaginary Projekt-themed soundtrack for the upcoming film.

PSS: At last! I’m famous!!! (file under: “The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!”): https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790399,-122.422213,3a,75y,124.32h,83.6t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1siAPMvFgx0jhuqBacQxFnjA!2e0

https://www.patreon.com/blacktapeforabluegirl

Jan 31

Digital freelease: What if Projekt had put together the soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey?

From Projekt Records’ Sam Rosenthal.

Digital freelease: What if Projekt had put together the soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey?

In the next couple of weeks you’re going to be bombarded with ads and news articles about the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. While I’m not expecting much from Hollywood’s mainstream idea of what is erotic, this did give me a fun idea: What if the film studio had contacted Projekt to put together the soundtrack? What would that sound like?

I went through the Projekt catalog and pulled tracks both cinematic and soundtracky for this compilation that’s available for name-your-price at Bandcamp. You could also go buy it at iTunes, but you certainly don’t have to; that’s for people not-in-the-know.

I had a lot of fun putting this imaginary soundtrack together. I think I’ll do more in the future. What would Projekt’s version of the new Star Wars soundtrack sound like? Blade Runner 2? The rumored new X-files? I think we’re going to find out!

Enjoy Projekt’s freelease of Fifty Shades of Grey (music for a sensual evening) at Bandcamp.

Jan 27

Projektlist#20150127 | How to make a difference in 2015.

Pledge your support to Black Tape For A Blue Girl on Patreon; get all access to our new music

   SHORT VERSION: If you enjoy Blacktape’s music, want exclusive access to unreleased new work, and can pledge $2 or more a month, please become a patron of my art.  

Watch the video & pledge at: https://www.patreon.com/blacktapeforabluegirl

Hello, I’ve discussed here on the Projekt eList — and my Facebook page — the dramatic changes that have swept through the music business in the last 15 years. Only a few artists I know survive off their art. Most of us have day jobs, music is something we do when we can find the time. My day job is running Projekt Records (working with the artists, doing graphic design for the covers, product management as the CDs are manufactured, communicating with my distributors and press contacts). Hey, I’m not complaining, it’s a pretty fun job. I work for myself, and I’m involved with music every day.

The label began as a vehicle for my music, Black Tape For A Blue Girl. For twenty-nine years, I’ve been releasing ethereal, gothic, & darkAmbient albums. But we’ve only released two CDs in the last decade; the problem really is that the day job takes up all my time and I don’t get into the studio to create. I want to get back to the way it was in the 90s when I was a musician who ran a record label, instead of being a guy who runs a record label who occasionally has time to make music.

I’m asking for your support to make this possible. 

Albums sell a fraction of what they did at the peak of the music industry, back when Remnants of a deeper purity was released. Even with the dramatic decline in sales, I realize people still listen to a lot of music; there’s so much available at our fingertips. For most people, their preferred price point is FREE.

There’s not much financial support for creators within “free.”

That’s a big problem in the system. Legally and ‘illegally,’ it’s easy to find music that you don’t have to pay for. But all of us artists deserve to be fairly compensated for our work. It takes time, energy, and passion to create music. And there needs to be return on that time spent, in orders for creators to keep creating. We live in a world of real things… like rent. Our landlords don’t take high-fives and MP3s of our latest song as payment. : )

And honestly, I don’t want musicians to be hobbyists. I want it to be their full-time job. As I wrote here on the list, last October, “I don’t want my favorite artists to be amateurs. I really want to live in a world where artists can focus on their art… Think about it! It’s a very weird world where the-average-joe expects to be paid for their labor, and yet people are generally OK with the artists they love working some other job so music can be their hobby.”

Yet I realize I’m a hobbyist. In 2015, a band like Black Tape For A Blue Girl, with years of history, doesn’t sell enough CDs and downloads to pay my living expenses, let alone support five of us. My “real job” keeps a roof over my head, and pays for my son’s ice hockey & my cat’s medicine.

I’d rather spend my time making music; it’s fun and challenging and interesting.

I’m beginning to see a solution that makes it possible.

Crowdfunding seems viable to me. It’s a direct connection to those who love my work. Plus crowdfunding has been so rewarding to me; not just monetarily, but on a personal level. When I did the Remnantsvinyl Kickstarter back in 2013, I loved posting updates, and private messaging, to keep you up-to-date on the status of the manufacturing. In the process, I learned more about you: the people who love what I create. It feels good to talk with people who are excited about music. Invigorating. In my line of work as Projekt’s label manager, I spend a lot of time looking at what has been lost over the years, and too little time thinking about what draws you to music, and excites you about we create.

Wayne Dyer says, “What you think about expands.” I reflect on this often, try to stay positive, and focus on the good things. Thinking about what’s possible is much better than dwelling on what can’t be done. Either strategy solidifies the reality of that particular perception of the situation.

Oh, got a bit off topic. Let me reel it back in…

I’m recreating the sort of exchange that happened during the crowdfunding of Remnants, and evolving it into an ongoing experience. I’ve started a page on Patreon to immerse you in my work: get access to my music as it’s evolving in the studio. Patreon allows YOU, the patron, to support ME, the artist, so I can dedicate more time to writing and recording songs for you. This really makes sense!

“Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators to make a living from their passion and hard work… Over 125,000 people have become patrons of creators on Patreon, paying them over a million dollars every month. Their patronage takes the form of a recurring pledge – a promise to pay creators per work or per month. The sum of these ongoing pledges constitutes sustainable, reliable salaries for professional creators around the world.” (from a blog on Patreon)

Fantastic!

This is a return to the patronage system. But rather than one King, there are many Kings who support my music.

You are the new Kings.

In the last 24 hours, 20 patrons have signed on to support me! $189 expands my thoughts about my goal of setting aside more time to work on music. As more pledges come in, I have more impetus to take off from work to make music.

Your recurring monthly pledge of $2, $5, $10 or more gives me the freedom to follow my muse.

Patreon is different from Kickstarter. Rather than providing one-time support to fund an object such as a CD, you’re giving ongoing support. The money goes towards a sustainable, reliable salary (which I’ll use to cover my living expenses, plus wages for my bandmates when they join me in the studio, gear repair, plane tickets, out-of-town studio sessions, etc).

You’ll get exclusive access to Black Tape For A Blue Girl in the studio: * private posts featuring work-in-progress * behind-the-scenes videos * revised versions of new songs as additional instruments are added * tracks that otherwise would never be released * early mixes of songs from older albums * live recordings * and my updates in the activity feed (where we chat and you meet a community of other Blacktape fans)

Thanks for your interest in supporting me. This is how to make a difference in 2015!< Watch the video and make your pledge to help keep the music flowing. Thanks!

PS: Even if you cannot afford to pledge today, it would be incredibly kind and helpful if you share the link on your Facebook, Twitter, etc. Thanks. https://www.patreon.com/blacktapeforabluegirl