Sam Buckingham

DEAR JOHN IS AN ALBUM FOR WOMEN

(and anyone who loves them)

Hi, I’m Sam. 

I make music, and I would LOVE for you to help me release and share my new album DEAR JOHN.

I wrote DEAR JOHN after going through A LOT. A miscarriage, the dramatic breakup of a long term relationship, and the discovery that this relationship had been toxic and abusive. Yep, that’s right, while I was in the relationship I HAD NO IDEA.

What followed this realisation was two years of treating my healing, education, growth, self love and empowerment like a full time job. Determined to never ever EVER be in the same position again, I devoured books, podcasts, videos and social media accounts to help me understand what had been going on, un-learn a lot of unhelpful things, and learn a new way of seeing and being in the world. 

I had a ridiculous amount of therapy, talked to family and friends and, of course, wrote songs about what I was learning. 

These songs became the album DEAR JOHN.

But, really, the album has nothing to do with John (not his real name).

He did a lot of shitty things, and that was definitely not ok. But he doesn’t get any more time or energy from me (he won’t get any royalties either 😂). This album is about me. And, I wonder if maybe, it’s about you too. 

It’s about letting go, rising up and taking charge. 

I wrote about loss, fear, heartbreak and pain. 

I wrote about gender equality and the fked up systems that try to keep women small.

And I wrote about telling the truth about who we are, what we want, and what we deserve. 

I poured every ounce of myself into writing, producing and recording this album. I made it for me, and I made it for you. 

This is SOMETHING MORE … the first single I released from the album 👇 I was completely floored by your response to this song. Thankyou 🙏

SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT THE ALBUM

I co-produced the album with one of my best freinds and long time collaborators, Kent Eastwood. Producing means a lot of different things to different people - For this project, it means that every single sound you hear on the album was first created by us. 

We spent two months in preproduction, over May & June 2020 in a makeshift home studio in my living room. In this time we wrote every single little piece of instrumentation you hear on the album. We created a blueprint for the studio musicians, writing drum parts, bass lines, string & choir arrangements, piano and organ parts, guitar riffs, backing vocals.... EVERYTHING. 

In this time, I also basically rewrote the whole album.

I originally had twelve songs planned for recording. After one of our first preproduction sessions, I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote RUN (video below!). The next day in preproduction I scrapped seven out of the twelve songs that I had thought would be on the album, and over the next month or so I wrote and re-wrote five new songs, bringing them fresh to each pre-production session for us to turn into the next song blueprint.

it's amazing what you can achieve when you're not allowed to leave your house 😂

So, the finished album has ten tracks that we worked tirelessly on for two months in preproduction, and recorded with incredible musicians and Paul Pilsneniks (the greatest engineer that ever lived) over 8 days at Rockinghorse studios in Byron Bay. 

I chose to work as producer on the album because I wanted complete creative control over every aspect of the project. I wrote every song, co-created every arrangement, chose every single musician, directed them in the studio, worked with Paul on mixing sessions, worked with Kathy Naunton on mastering, and produced my own vocal performance. 

I also looked after all the project management / organisational aspects of making the album, the budget, the timeline and making sure that everyone had really delicious sushi at least once a day

WHY CROWDFUNDING, WHY NOW?

I’m a self managed artist, and I’m releasing the album through my own label Serious Gelato Records. Staying independent means I own all the rights to my music (super important) and it also means there’s A LOT of work for me to do and HEAPS of upfront expenses to pay. 

I've been incredibly lucky so far, and have had support from The Australia Council & Create NSW ($14,980 total) to record, mix & master the album. My fans on Patreon helped me pay the preproduction expenses ($3300) and I've paid all the extra bills so far. Expenses like: Making the video for Something More, creating T-Shirts & other merch, upfront costs for my June 2021 Something More tour, buying Ableton Push and a bunch of other hardware for the new live show, promoting my work through digital ads, getting new press shots, creating album & singles artwork ...... the list continues! Many expesnes, many ice-creams not purchased in order to pay said expenses 🍦😭

So, anyway, I'm out of money now, with the best album I've EVER made just BEGGING to be released. What's a girl to do??

💡I decided to launch this crowdfunding campaign to cover some of the big ticket items that will help me release and share the album.

It’s basically a pre-order campaign .… so when you pledge to receive the album (and any other rewards) you’ll get it sent to you just before it’s released….. You’ll be one of the first to hear it AND you’ll be one of the absolute legends that helps me keep my work as an artist viable (which is a really big deal generally, and a REALLY big deal considering the current state of the music industry / world right now)

IMPORTANT DATES

February 28th - This crowdfunding campaign ends

(You have to pledge before 11pm on Monday 28th Feb so that we reach the target and you get your rewards)

March 31st - All physical rewards will be posted by now, to everyone that pledged

April 8th - DEAR JOHN is officially released!

It's an all-or-nothing crowdfunding campaign.... if we dont reach the $12k target your credit card doesn't get charged, and i dont get aaaaaaaaanything 🙀

But we will! Because you're a legend, and I have heaps of rewards on offer that I just know you'll love ♥️

Check out the rewards to the right (on pc) or in the Rewards tab (on mobile). You can get the album on CD or Vinyl, T-shirts, prints, songwriting dates, house concerts and heaps more ✨

Once we reach the target, here’s where I’ll be spending your cash money:

THE BUDGET

PRESSING THE ALBUM ON CD $2365

Yes! People still buy CD’s! I sell quite a lot at gigs (touring WILL happen again 🙏) and selling CD's is an important part of earning my living and getting my music heard by more ears.

PRESSING THE ALBUM ON VINYL $2299 (portion of cost)

People buy Vinyl even more than they buy CD’s! Same as the CD, this is all about earning my living and reaching more people with the songs. And it's also about that beautiful crackly, touchy feely feeling that happens when you put on a vinyl ♥️

PUBLICITY $2636 (portion of fee)

I can do a lot on my own but I can’t do EVERYTHING. I have a brilliant publicist on my team who will help get these songs on radio and in all sorts of other places … which means more ears! More fans! More touring! More sharing! More love!

MAKING A VIDEO CLIP FOR DEAR JOHN (THE SONG) $3000 

I’ll give this video to my publicist so she can do her thing. I’ll also use it on social media to help promote the album there. Have you seen my video for SOMETHING MORE 👆? I directed that! And I’m directing this one too. It’s already being created and it’s really fking special. The video for DEAR JOHN (the song) will be released on April 8th when I release DEAR JOHN (the album) 🔥

Pozible fees (5% of 12k) $600

Transaction fees $300

Extra Packaging & Shipping Costs $800

A NOTE ON SHIPPING:

I've individually priced the shipping for each reward based on weight, location and packaging requirements. It took ages! And i THINK i got it right. 

BUT. I can't calculate exact costs - especially for overseas shipping.

And I really don't want y'all to feel put off or put out by big shipping fees.

So, I've found a happy medium (I hope) where each person who pledges pays for the majority of their shipping, and the magic of crowdfunding covers the extra few dollars per person, as required.

I'll be double checking all postage costs paid by you when you pledge, against final postage costs when I send out all the rewards in March. If it turns out that I overcharged any of you for shipping, I'll get in touch and organise to refund you the difference.

Surprise! Listen to STAND here 👇 This song is on the album 🎶

STRETCH GOALS

Ok, let's get ambitious here.....

If/when we reach the $12k goal, we can keep going! 

Because yes, I'm quite sure, at some point soon i WILL be able to tour again. 

There are so many risks associated with touring, generally, and at the moment there is about 587,000 times more risk. 

So, these stretch goals are about minimizing financial risk, getting back on the road, and having more $ to invest in more tour dates .... which is great for me and great for you! Live music! Do you remember it? I do. It's glorious.  

#1 Stretch Goal $5000

This will cover upfront tour expenses (flights, accommodation, petrol, uber/taxi’s & food) for the first leg of the DEAR JOHN tour. This means I can go on tour without going into too much debt. Yay. It ALSO means a higher profit margin for the tour which = more money to invest in the next round of tour dates 🎉

#2 Stretch goal $2700

Ooooooh! I love paying other artists. If we reach this stretch goal, it will cover the support artist fess for the first leg of the DEAR JOHN tour. Hooray. And, again, will also result in more money to invest in the next round of tour dates

#3 Stretch goal $3600

Whaaaaaaat. If we reach THIS stretch goal, we'll be able to cover sound production & venue hire on the first leg of the DEAR JOHN tour. Amazing.

👆Yes, touring actually costs this much. And I haven't even started talking about marketing costs 😂

Here's a song about how rich I'll be after this crowdfunding campiagn 👇

JOKE! It's a song about standing on your own two feet, being true to who you are, and not letting anyone else (including the voice inside your own head) push you down 💥This song is on the album too!

JUST IN CASE YOU'RE WORRIED

I chose crowdfunding to raise this money because I've launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns in the past. Both of those campiagns were with Pozible and they are the absolute BEST to work with. Amazing customer service, transparent and low costs and very user friendly (for me and for you). 

I can vouch for Pozible and, because I delivered all the rewards on both of those past campaigns, Pozible can vouch for me!

Also, they don't charge your card unless the goal ($12k) is reached (before 11pm on 28th February, 2022). So you can be 100% sure that the project is going ahead, and that you'll get all your rewards, before any money leaves your account. 

WHEN YOU GET YOUR REWARDS

The album is officially released April 8th, 2022 🎉

All physical rewards will be shipped by the end of March 🙌

If you also pledged for an experience (Songwriting, House Concert or A Day in the Bay), I’ll email you in April to make a date ♥️

Your support will mean I can move forward on releasing the album and sharing it with the world.... and touring as soon as it’s financially viable again 🤞 Then….. we take over the world 💥

I couldn't have gotten this far without the support of The Australia Council, Create NSW and my fans on Patreon 🙏

YOU are an integral part of this next chapter.

Thankyou SO MUCH for pledging, and helping make this album release possible (pozible!) ...... I will work my guts out to make you proud x