CROWDFUNDING RADAR: Thinking Big by Going Small With EP Releases

Crowdfunding has opened up the music business to people who would never have been able to make an album before, allowing more regional artists to tap into their smaller but passionate fan base to get their album made. But for smaller bands who have not quite reached that level yet, the $5,000-$15,000 needed to professionally record a full-length album may still be out of reach. The answer? Release an EP and reduce your fundraising needs to $2,000-$7,000. For this edition of Crowdfunding Radar, I’m featuring two artists releasing EPs, and capping it off with a band making the leap into the LP world after building an audience with two previous EP releases.

California State Flower – Debut EP and Music Video (click here to view project)
San Francisco-based indie-folk band California State Flower isn’t shy about getting their music out there. After playing a number of smaller festivals like SF Porchfest, they set their eyes on Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2018. Just one problem: They were hardly strictly booked to play the festival. The solution? Busk at Spreckels Lake nearby and draw in some residual crowds. Now California State Flower is ready to go big again, with a crowdfunding campaign not only for a debut EP, but also for a music video for their single “Stick of Dynamite” with filmmakers Darryl and Hillary Jones. The band has set a $3,500 goal for their Indiegogo campaign. Backer rewards include the album as either a digital download or CD, a shout-out on the band’s social media page, a California State Flower shirt with the slogan “I Support Independent Artists,” and an executive producer credit on the album.

Alissa Lindemann – Past Lives (click here to view project)
Alissa Lindemann grew up in California but has been a Nashville resident since 2011, when she entered the musical incubator that is Belmont University. She has released three singles to iTunes but now has a more cohesive project in mind, the loose concept album Past Lives. Lindemann’s debut EP, Past Lives takes multiple approaches to that title, hinting at reincarnation with a feeling of déjà vu, exploring the way tragedy changes life, and facing death as yet another transition from a “past life” into another. Lindemann’s Kickstarter campaign has a $6,000 goal and is in its home stretch. Backer rewards include the album in both digital and physical formats, a limited edition poster, access to acoustic and full demos, and an original poem per month for a year.

The Kipsies – There Is a Season (click here to view project)
The goal of any young artist releasing an EP is to eventually build momentum to release a full-length album. After two EP releases, The Kipsies are there. The band, formed from New Mexico Music Award winning group Breaking Blue, has already spent some time in the studio recording There Is a Season and has now launched a modest $1,500-goal Kickstarter campaign to complete mastering and fund the album’s release. Backer rewards include the album in digital and signed physical formats, early access to the four already mastered songs from the album, the entire album digitally before its expected Aug. 31 release, admission to the album release show in Albuquerque, a limited edition art print from bassist Shawn Berkompas, and a house show.