Longing for the day ...

Funding Tetrafasi in future

OK, so "Alive and Alone" is done and distributed via CDBaby. Happy with that - I did it all myself and it cost me nothing but my time. Trouble is, the next one is gonna need more people to play on it and James North (or someone who's not me) to mix and master it ... that's the plan!

So, how to get the funds to make the next two albums? James reckons the current plan will cost about $40K for his services (including session players on "Sky's the Limit") - not bad for three albums - and my quick reckoner says that if I pay people for two rehearsals and one call to record per song ("Three's Company") and three and one ("Banding Together"), that's gonna cost about another $40K. I don't have that kind of cash lying around and I don't have that kind of cash coming my way any time soon.

?Fortunately? in this country, we have government programs that can help with this sort of thing - tho it's a long shot. Highly competitive with lots of artists trying to get financial support for some awesome arts projects. Some years ago I sat on the panel of the Brisbane City Council's Creative Sparks grants - it was an educational experience. In recent years I've been teaching Masters students at QUT how to apply for and manage such grants - but I've never actually applied for one.

The two most applicable grants seem to me to be Arts Queensland's Queensland Arts Showcase Program (Arts Ignite) and the Australia Council's Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups. They are both worth slightly more than I need so yesterday I applied for one of each: the QASP to pay for James North's services and the Australia Council grant to pay for the perforances.The application process is time-consuming and detailed, but not difficult. Fortunely, I have garnered letters of support from some great people: Pixie Jenkins, Chanel Lucas, the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), Woordford Folk Festival, and the Australian Songwriters Association, among others. Lots of Genre Benders are keen to play on this thing ...

It's a long shot, but it's the only way to get the cash that I can think of ... apart from crowdfunding - but I don't really have a crowd. My applications are supported by se pretty major people, but so are all the good ones. Answers to the applications are due before teh end of the year so we'll just have to see what they make of my crazy idea ...

It would be so cool to be supported to go share what I learn from this with people directly as well as online here ... In the meantime I'll just keep working on my parts Three's Company and see who I can get to join me for a back-ended deal.