Les Thomas

My forthcoming album entitled All My Friends Are Superstars has been steadily brewing away since a least 2016 when I wrote a song called Man On Fire. I was in a very vulnerable state and in recovery from what they used to called a "nervous breakdown" in the old days. I'm grateful that I came out of the experience with a song that's stayed close to my heart and connects with other people. I'd released a fair few singles since my first album in 2013, but I realised at the time that Man On Fire could be a key track on a full length album so I set it aside until the time was right. I have always been an album person. To me they are the ultimate musical artistic statement. I've always appreciated how good albums have a way of holding together musically and thematically and aspired to acheive that.

I have been writing dozens of songs since that time and setting the best ones aside. Of course, Covid made it impossible to play live, but I used the time in lockdown to write the best songs I could. Sharing them with friends in online chats where I could. As things have started to open up again I've been taken aback by how well the new songs are being received. My new songs seem a lot more singable and audiences seem happy to join in. These experiences are giving me faith in my work that I've never had before, so I want to do full justice to this record and with your involvement, pre-orders and backing I'll be ready to take it to the world.

My team includes Stephen Grady (The Ahern Brothers) who've I've worked very closely with as my producer and recorder since late November, 2021. He has incredible musical ability as a singer and instrumentalist and a set of ears that has lifted my standards with every track we put down. Other players are Justin Olsson: an impeccable drummer who learned the songs back to front before perfecting them in the studio, the ever-brilliant viola and fiddle player Jason Bunn, pedal steel player par excellence Jy-Perry Banks, guitarists Megan Bernard and Tom Brooks, Louise Goh playing stunning piano on the title track and Peter Somerville and Justin Vilchez adding banjo and mandolin respectively.

Topics and themes of the album include the importance of close, loving relationships to get through adversity (The Circus Has Moved On, There's Nowhere I Would Rather Be, Lucky Ones), honouring my Indigenous ancestry and identity (My Pride), the injustice of poverty in a rich country (Ballarat), confronting rapacious capitalistic greed (Bring Down Babylon), Melbourne's gangster history (The Ghost of Melbourne City) and more.

So I would love you to share this project with you and I'm confident you'll be moved by the results.

Yours in gratitude and thanks,

Les Thomas

Full Album Recording and Production Costs

Recording $8000

Mixing $1200

Mastering $1200

CD printing $1500

Photography $550

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Total $12450

As you can see, my $6000 goal is significantly less than my overall budget, or even my recording budget, but I need to be realistic to reach this all-or-nothing target. Should I successfully reach the $6000 target, I will set a new reach target of $10000 to help publicise and prepare videos for key songs.