It’s been 10 years since their last album. Funk Rock legends Mother’s Finest have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new album. Mick Burgess chatted to bassist Wyzard about the campaign.
You’ve been in the music business for over 40 years and been on some major labels. Why have you decided to fund your latest album through Kickstarter this time?
We get to control our music and trust that our loyal fans will support us to bring a new and exciting CD, straight from us to them.
Your campaign has been running for a few days now. How have your fans been responding so far?
Excellently!! The comments have been very encouraging; we are very excited to go through this process to see how it plays out.
Do you think that crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, Pledge Music and Indiegogo are the future of the music business?
It really seems like the future of creative arts. The fans want and need music and art. Some think it’s not so important, but enough of us know it is needed and will support it, so that the artist will be able make a living supplying us with creative inspiration. This is how real music and art can stay alive. Can you imagine a world with only top 40 music?
Do you feel that this has empowered the artists more than ever before in that you retain creative and financial control over your own work?
It’s a wonderful situation, getting what you deserve. Owning what you create, making deals with your creations that make sense now and long term.
What will you be using the funding for? Will this cover recording, production and distribution costs?
This is a recording, mixing and mastering budget, we plan to shop for distribution and marketing so we have to make a bitchin’ product to get attention from companies and make a fair deal.
There’s some great perks that fans can buy including Joyce’s stage clothes, your bass and VIP passes. Did you all sit down and discuss what perks you were going to offer during the campaign?
Yes we did and we will possibly add more perks as the campaign moves on. We have so much to offer and everyday realize another cool thing that a fan may want.
Probably the most prized perk is the private concert. That’s pretty expensive for most people but have you had any inquiries about that yet?
No, not yet but we are just 3 days in and counting. We had to put in real expenses, so maybe someone will work it to their advantage and we also know some folks with that kind of cash for pocket change. Let’s hope we get lucky.
Are you open to suggestions as to a venue? Would you perform a show in someone’s house or will you be looking to put something on in a regular hall?
Venues work better for MF, although I went to a Foo Fighters gig in a backyard in Hollywood for an Obama campaign fundraiser and that was great so we would work logistics out.
It’s been 10 years since your last studio album, Meta-Funk’n Physical. Why is the time right now for you to release new material?
We have cool new songs we’ve written, and it’s time to put them out
What sort of direction will you be heading in with your new record? Are you going for the classic Mother’s Finest sound or will you be bringing in some influences from some of today’s artists?
I think more of today’s Mother’s Finest sound which is classic, with a modern sense seeing we grow a bit each day, staying fresh, but relative to our fan base.
Do you have songs already written or do you need to get together and start the writing process?
We have a lot of songs written and we are still writing. Songs are the key and we like to have a lot to choose from, we are playing some new material on tour now and like the response we are getting. We will work in more songs live to get audience feedback. It’s kinda old school, but there’s nothing better than immediate reaction.
Do you have any song titles that you can reveal yet?
“Cling to the Cross”, “She Ready”, “Another Day”, “Control”. These are working fine so far.
You all live in different places. Will you be recording the material in different locations and mailing in your parts or do you hope to all get together in the same studio and record the good old fashioned way?
Only through the writing process. We all get together in Atlanta and do the group thing in the studio, that’s what the budget is for.
You’ve played with the likes of Rickey Medlocke and Stevie Nicks over the years. Is there any chance of any special guest appearances on the album?
Whoa.. good question. I’ll check on that. That would be cool.
When do you hope to have the record finished and released?
Hopefully by the end of the year. I’m not sure how the x-mas thing will work and we may wait for early next year, or put it out before the x-mas rush. Things may roll and we may even go for the end of November.
For more details of the Mother’s Finest Kickstarter campaign and the exclusives available and how to bid, visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1571232921/new-mothers-finest-recording
For more on Mother’s Finest visit mothersfinest.com
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