Music is the least respected "art" form yet the most consumed when it comes to capital investment. Only a handful of art thieves in Paris "steal" a sustainable amount of monetary value in regards to "fine art". We (the we as in the peoples of the world) steal the holy living shit out of music. This is known fact. We aren't saying this in the whiny Metallica way, just sayin'.
The dichotomy of "fine art" and musical "art" is interesting/frustrating. Across the whole Internet you can find kickstarters and like websites where people beg you for money to start their movie/video/7" record/art installment/dance routine. And on a whole these things seem pretty successful. And in this day and age the direct "artist" to consumer relationship has become incredibly personal. You get a chance to help the "artist" craft their project, you get semi direct input to the success of the final project. That is pretty cool. 89% of the time it is total ego stroke garbage though. Which is also pretty cool, because if your in any type of creative outlet, its all an ego stroke at some level, if not you would be holed up in a bunker painting the fresco's on the wall then lighting the whole place on fire.
We bring up kickstarter to try and correlate this to the old dinosaur record label. Its apparent the industry is either in its final death throws or in some awkward puberty like transition, either way the cocaine snorting, extra marital affair having corporate titans of industry have seen better days. How does that relate to smaller bands and kick starters? Well...the original kickstarter was the record industry. Only the approach was different then the kickstarter approach. With a record label, they saw an "artist" and saw potential for capital gain. If they invested in this artist, they would in return receive monetary gain by presenting you the consumer with a product they felt would get your feet swaying.
kickstarter is a request for you to give them a chance, a record contract is a calculated gamble that you will want to give this a chance. Same end game, different approach. We speak of this in relation to our recent record. We had every intention of recording this album, but we had no idea how it was going to be released, we threw around the idea of digital only and selling shirts at shows that came with downloads (digital/material sales is another blog, stay tuned if you want more rambling on that). Then along came two record labels from Phoenix AZ, Anxiety Machine and Man in Decline, who felt that this record should be pressed on vinyl and put up the capital to make this happen. This was a coup for Camp Seas will Rise, and also a micro version of kickstarter campaign (if you consider 6 dudes in an alley with 2 of those dudes actually having money and the other 4 being needy, yet broke "artists" a kickstarter like scenario)
So whats the point of all this? Yes, people paid to make your record, yes people pirate music, yes people make kickstarters for horrible projects, but your project is horrible as well so whats the fucking point?
Well...the point is. We understand that the economy sucks, we understand that everyone can't rope record labels into making them records, we understand that with the age of the Internet there are so many bands its impossible to not be constantly inundated with new material, we understand that complaining about people not paying for music is something dickheads do. We get all that, which is why we strived to make this record:
A) as accessible to you the consumer
B) not a complete monetary black hole for the party's involved.
The thing with independent small record labels, is not only are you supporting the people that kickstarted that band you enjoy, but allowing them extra capital to invest into more projects that you may also enjoy. Really a win/win...or a win/lose, but key word is win.
So onto the details
Disease is our refrain is available on colored vinyl w/ digital download from:
Anxiety Machine Records on "concrete" colored vinyl for $13 + S/h
Man in Decline Records on "bone" colored vinyl for $13 + s/h
From US on "Rust" colored vinyl for $13 + s/h
Not into buying vinyl/ More into instant gratification its available online from
itunes, amazon, mp3.com...essentially all the digital outlet stores.
AND additionally...in case you hate paying full price, you hate having your mp3 seamlessly integrate into your music player and or hate high marked up Ipads made in sweat shops, it is available at AUDIOSIEGE Media an imprint of Moshpit tragedy at a name your own price (as low as $3.99...as close to free as we can get it)
A quick site note about buying from these labels:
By purchasing it from Anxiety Machine you help a label that has released records by hardcore act gay kiss and poppy indie rock dudes ROAR so you can see where your investment is going, eclectic, DIY music across the board.
Man In decline is home of the melodic punk band Come On Die Young as well as a Raw Nerves/Acts of Sedition split if that paints a picture of the type of tunes you would be "kickstarting"
Audiosiege and moshpit tragedy have a full plate of aggressive music you can check out here
You buy from us you support our ability to record again, potentially drive to you and play you songs, or fix our broken gear.
So incredibly long story short, you have options, you have a price structure, hopefully we have given you enough choices to be content with your purchase decision or fodder to say fuck this jerks and steal this record. its all up to you, we don't judge...we only hope to facilitate.
Thanks.
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