Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra: Kickstarter

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra launched their Kickstarter page on April 30^th—also Amanda’s 36^th birthday—setting a site record upon raising $250,000 in the first 24 hours. Amanda F. Palmer, for those who don’t know, is one half of the Punk Cabaret duo the Dresden Doll with Brian Viglione, one half of the conjoined twin duo Evelyn Evelyn with Jason Webley, wife of Author Neil Gaiman and 100% DIY badass. She is also a brilliant songwriter, pianist and wonderful person. Her first solo record Who Killed Amanda Palmer is life changing. The first time I heard it I was working in the subbasement of an insurance company as a file clerk. I spent most of my days wondering which of my many missteps had led to such a horrible place. Sisyphus himself looked down on me and muttered, “Now that’s a shitty gig.” I’m being dramatic. But it was a crappy job.  

I bought the album at a friend’s behest. The only Dresden Dolls song I knew was Coin Operated Boy, so I didn’t know what to expect. The first song Astronaut is like having a piano dropped on your head and living to tell the tale. The lyrics and the composition throughout the album are some of the most honest and empowering you’ll ever hear. I spent that day listening to her and nothing else. I only took off my headphones when I had to. Then I immediately returned to the music. It changed the way I saw my circumstances at that moment and my life as a whole. It may sound like I’m being dramatic again, but I’m not. The record is just THAT good.

Whenever Amanda does something she always goes big. This time she did the exact opposite and launched the Kickstarter rather quietly. She let the fans discover the news when they wandered on to her site or through word of mouth. Magazines like Paste, Pitchfork and a few Boston area newspapers (Amanda lives in Boston) picked it up from there. Now it’s an unstoppable juggernaut. The Kickstarter is at $560,000. The Pledges range from a digital download of the album to backer only vinyl/CDs, art books, all the way up to house parties with Amanda and the Grand Theft Orchestra and beyond. The original goal was to raise $100,000. Done. This means that whatever she makes for the backers and the following tour will be beyond amazing. I’ve seen what she’s capable of. The goodies she made for everyone who backed the Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer tour were beautiful. This is going to be bigger than that.  

Amanda has a video on the site explaining exactly what the goal of the Kickstarter is and what her plans are. “This is the future of music,” she says. And we need to support it. If music is as important to you as it is to me then support the cause—even if it’s only a dollar. That’ll still get you a digital download of the album. If you don’t have the money, you can spread the word. Send the link to everyone you know. There’s only 25 days left. What happens now is up to us.

The Kickstarter

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour

The website of Ms. Amanda Fucking Palmer

http://www.amandapalmer.net/content/news/