Austin’s a great city for making art, but the struggling artist stereotype is a stereotype for a reason. A handful of wonderful Austin artists currently have crowdfunding campaigns going on, and all of them could use your help. Here are a few campaigns we think you should donate to.
The Project: BLXPLTN’s New Album
Time Left: Two Weeks
5% Funded
BLXPLTN isn’t just one of Austin’s hardest working bands, they’re one of Austin’s most important, a ferocious electro-punk three piece that communicates its incendiary rhetoric in a way that keeps your feet moving. They’ve been working on their debut album with help from members of Trail of Dead, Mars Volta and Ringo Deathstarr and now they’re at the stage of the recording that every band hates to finance: PR and distribution. Which is where the community comes in. The trio are looking to raise $10,000, with that money not just going towards getting the album out there but also helping the band with their touring plans and a music video. The fact is there are no bands in Austin at all like BLXPLTN, and there are few bands in the US that are like them, let’s do our part to show we support them before New York steals them away from us. But if the righteousness of this band isn’t enough to sway you, maybe the fact that whoever contributes $1000 first will get their name tattooed as a tramp stamp on bassist Jonathan Horstmann will.
The Project: Weird City
Time Left: Two Weeks
22% Funded
As Adam Protextor rightfully points out in Weird City’s funding video, Austin is a city where there’s seemingly a festival for everything, yet ATX hip-hop remains neglected. ACL occasionally books acts on the level of Kendrick Lamar and FFF does a decent job including both up-and-coming local hip-hop acts and innovative touring groups, but the folks behind Weird City are committed to giving ATX hip-hop its own moment in the spotlight. Protextor and Leah Manners have been building up ATX hip-hop through their Austin Mic Exchange event at Spider House Ballroom for a couple years and through AMX they’ve been functioning as ambassadors, curators and mentors for the scene. Weird City is an event that they’ve been developing for some time, and they’ve got a great array of collaborators and venues helping ensure the festival’s first year is a great one, but their IndieGoGo campaign– which has about two weeks left– is intended as a way to get the city to prove their commitment to the ATX scene and help Weird City pull in some larger headliners in the process. It’s only 22% funded right now, but if you care about the growth of Austin hip-hop, then do your part and make a contribution. Some of the perks even include lessons at Dub Academy and artists meet and greets so you can learn to take an even more active part in the hip-hop scene if you’re so inclined.
The Project: Help Tele Novella Get a Van
Time Left: Nine days
54% Funded
Not very many groups in Austin are as simultaneously polished and fun as Tele Novella. The band is gearing up for a West Coast tour with an East Coast tour to follow not long after and they need the community’s help funding a van for those ventures. But they’re also throwing an incredible “Tele-Novella-Thon” at ABGB tomorrow, with friends like Daniel Francis Doyle, Borrisokane, Slugbug and more in support. The show already has a hefty number of guests which should help with the funding of the van/tour, but it wouldn’t hurt to chip in a buck or two or more on the campaign before heading down. The IndieGoGo campaign is unfortunately a little light on perks (what’s with that, guys?) but Tele Novella are good people, and they deserve to be in the national spotlight sooner rather than later.