Dear friends, family and fans (which I like to think are all really the same thing as we continue to grow thanks to your love and support), welcome to Greg in Good Company's very first blog post and more importantly, an introduction to our brand new song "Monster's Lair," inspired by Netflix's "Stranger Things."
I was so touched by Winona Ryder's character arc in the Duffer Brothers series, that when I started strumming my guitar after watching it, this song poured out of me, and I rallied the band and our producer Mitchell Haeuszer to record it a few days later. Lyrically, it's a tribute to a mother's love for an abducted child she knows is still alive and will do anything to find, but musically, it pays homage to the sound of '80s horror and sci-fi, which "Stranger Things" taps into so perfectly. So yes, there are synths involved, among other fun sounds we mixed in to create a soundtrack, of sorts, for a rock song. It was a fun experiment that came out better than I could have ever imagined.
I don't want to hype it too much in case you listen to it and absolutely hate it, BUT I happen to think it's one of our best songs yet, and I'm thrilled to be releasing it and kicking off our very first FUNDRAISER for our next batch of 5-6 songs we can't wait to record and share with you.
No, there won't be a link to a Kickstarter, Indiegogo or GoFundMe campaign begging you to chip in $10, $20 or $50 a pop in exchange for "rewards" that won't arrive until months after you forgot you even donated to a crowdfund, in the first place. Instead, I'm simply asking you to do 3.5 things:
1) Listen to our new song
2) Decide if you like it.
3) If you decide, "By golly, I DO like this," then BUY IT
3.5) SHARE IT on your preferred social media platform.
If you're thinking, "Well, wait a minute, isn't that just, like, releasing a song?" The answer is yes, basically, but here's the catch: We're asking you part with $3 instead of the iTunes standard of $0.99, with the goal of selling 1,000 copies ($3,000 = cost of our last EP) AND I'm asking you buy it directly from our online store (which is right here through this link, in case you're tired of reading).
Why?
It takes several weeks and costs money to get it on iTunes, they take 30 percent of the sales, it takes a while to actually get that money back, and we can't set our own price.
But why are you charging me this outrageous price of $3 when I can just listen to this song on YouTube and soundcloud for free, or just buy an adele song for $0.99 on itunes!?!?
First of all, stop yelling at me.
I know $3 is an unusually high price for a single song and Adele's voice is better than mine, but it's a fundraiser. It's kinda like when those little league baseball players try to sell you candy they just bought at the grocery store for triple the price, and you don't even like the candy they're offering (really, no Sour Patch Kids, kid?) but you buy it anyway, because it's enabling them buy uniforms, gloves or a baseball bats so they can continue to play the sport they love instead of deal drugs.
That's basically what we're doing here. We don't want to resort to selling drugs, specifically off-brand Viagra, to fund our music anymore (but if you want to buy some off-brand Viagra from us, go to our online store). We LOVE making professional-quality music that you can enjoy for the rest of your life whenever you feel like it, but that COSTS MONEY. Like, a lot. Hundreds of dollars a song, in fact.
We paid for our debut EP entirely out of our own pocket and saw very little return on it, but don't regret a dime we spent on it. We're unbelievably proud of it. It's gotten great reviews, so far. All of you have had nothing but compliments after listening to it, and have shared it with your friends, who hopefully enjoyed listening to it. So zero regrets there. I don't mind taking a financial loss on our music, but we still want to make more.
Hold on a second...Why are you still making music if no one buys it?
Because we love doing it, and the feedback I've gotten so far suggests some people out there really love listening to it, so we want to keep making music by any means necessary.
If this doesn't work, I may try selling you over-priced Kit Kat bars and Sour Patch Kids outside of your local grocery store (I'll target those of you who shop at Whole Foods, because that means you got expendable cash), or perhaps I'll resort to a crowdfunding campaign and ask you for $50 instead of $3. But please, don't make me launch a Kickstarter. They're a lot of work, and I'll only guilt you into handing over more money, when you can just fork over $3 for a song I think you'll really like.
Can I give you $50 instead of just $3, if I want to?
No. Just buy this song, and share it with your friends on social media. If everyone who hears this song, and especially those that like it, are willing to pay for it, I'm confident we can raise a good chunk of funds to make new music.
But Greg, $50 is chump change to me. I've just been contacted by a lawyer who says he represents a distant relative i never knew I had who has died, and I'm entitled to inherit millions. ALl I have to do is give him my bank account information and--
Let me stop you right there. That's definitely a scam. Do not give him your bank account information, or even respond to what I'm assuming was an email.
Too Late.
Well, good luck then.
Thanks! OK, I'll buy the song for $3 and spend $50 on 3 items at Whole Foods, instead. But for real, $3 is a lot for one song. Do I get anything else?
YES! When you buy the song from our store, you're prompted to enter your email, and if you do, I'll send you a copy of our last impromptu single "Damn Sure," which was hailed by my dad as our "best song yet" - one that could take us all the way "to the big time."
I don't think it will, but I am proud of it, and think you'll enjoy listening to it, as well.
Are you 'Damn Sure' I won't get a bunch of spam email?
Ugh, you're the worst. But yes, I promise I won't email you anything else unless you willingly subscribe to our email list at the bottom of our "contact" page. And if you do subscribe to said email list, rest assured I'm entirely too lazy to regularly send out email blasts. In fact, the first time I ever used it was to send our music video for "2 AM" out a few weeks ago. The second time I ever used it was to send this announcement out. You may remember quickly deleting both from your inbox.
I do.
OK, happy to hear our Mailchimp account is functioning, although not very effective.
Anything else I need to know, or can I go watch 'Stranger Things' on Netflix now?
Just one more thing: If you've supported us by buying our EP already, THANK YOU! If you've listened to it and shared songs or music videos on social media, THANK YOU!
We can't do this without you, and do this for people like you that appreciate new, original music.
Since our EP has been out for half a year now, it's now ON SALE for half off, just $2.50 at our online store, in the event anybody wants 5 cheap songs. That means you can own our entire collection for just $5.50.
Can I just keep listening for free on Spotify without feeling guilty for not buying?
Yes, no pressure. Enjoy it however you want! But our new song "Monster's Lair" will not be available on Spotify for a while.
If you've made it this far down the page, THANK YOU for your time, support and your $3 donation to our next record, which I can assure you, will be even better than the first.
Take care,
Greg