The 7 Day Itch

Here goes:

Let me start be saying how absolutely overwhelming this Indiegogo process has been. To say that being in a constant state of asking people for anything (let alone money) is not something any of us are familiar with. It’s terribly awkward to the point of almost physical pain and I (personally) have experienced large waves of guilt throughout the campaign. It’s pretty terrible. But we signed up for it and prepared ourselves for every possible outcome and I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping it somewhat together. Would we do it again? Honestly, I think all of us can agree that we hope we never have to. Once the time on our campaign clock runs out, we’ll all be feeling a huge weight being lifted from our shoulders, regardless of the outcome.

The silver lining of the guilt-waves and chronic anxiety? It’s kind of insane, the amount of support that we’ve had throughout these past 53 days. A lot of shocking moments. A lot of gasps. A lot of, “REALLY?!”’s. Support from people we don’t know. Contributions from long lost friends we haven’t seen or heard from in years that are simply eager to help because they believe in us. Parents of students that I teach dance to who just wanted to help. We even had a reality star-celeb promote our page! This has been the most rewarding part, I think. The surprise of having the people donate that we had no idea were paying attention. It has been a beautiful part of the experience.

Now, if you don’t mind us being candid…

We’re terrified. Our Indiegogo campaign officially closes in one week. ONE. WEEK. How has it been 2 months already? How is that possible? To date, we’ve raised $3,825. Damn. That’s a lot of money for us! We had no idea what to expect going into this and sort of just waltzed blindly through everything with high hopes.  We can’t believe we have 66 funders and enough people that support us to create that amount of money. We can’t thank you enough!

So what does it mean if we don’t reach our goal?

It means we won’t be giving up, that’s for damn sure.  And fortunately or unfortunately for you, we’ll just be bouncing back as aggressively as we came in. We have some new ideas in the mix as to how to cover another large portion of our cost for the album, which I will be writing about again in the near-ish future as more of an announcement. Get excited, because it’s a doozey!

We just want to say, for the record (again) how much we love all of you. For as crazy as this campaign has been, we’ve always known we wouldn’t drown in it because of the people behind us. And this will continue to be the case, because without you, we are nothing. To those of you that donated, shared, liked our campaign – you are everything to us and there aren’t enough words in any language to thank you all properly.

Alright, alright. Enough with the mush.

We’ve still got 7 days left of juice in this machine… let’s keep it moving! If you want to donate and haven’t yet, here’s our link:

http://igg.me/at/janeofarc

Our campaign ends December 17^th around 1 p.m.  Don’t have the cash but still want to help? Share our link! Tell your friends about us! Spread the music J.  And wish us luck!

<3,

JOA

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I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there...

Well hello!

We figured this might be an appropriate time to blog so that we can explain everything that we're juggling and keep you in the loop. 

You may or may not have noticed that we've wrapped ourselves around what we would consider to be our most prominent endeavor as of late - our Indiegogo campaign. This experience for us is simultaneously exciting and terrifying. Maybe more so terrifying... but we're stoked about it too. 

What is it?

Well, essentially it's a fancy video of us explaining why you should support us and donate your money to help us make our first full-length album. Here's what we didn't say in the video:

Recording our first 2 EP's (i.e. our first EP with Noel on drums with the cute little cartoon faces in block colouring on the sleeve and our second EP with AJ released exclusively on bandcamp) were great experiences. Like... so great. Camping out for a weekend and being silly in the studio, learning how the process works and generally speaking, a lot about ourselves as musicians. That being said, the quality of what we were making was not quite what we had in mind. Our first EP was recorded in a home studio with 2 younger gentlemen just giving their new recording equipment a go. Wonderful guys and a fun weekend, but the process was insanely rushed, and because of this, I think we made some decisions we might not have, had we had more time. We consider this EP "vintage" material - track #4 is complete with an old/eery buzzing sound in the background! But alas, we were young and naive and looking to be proactive. It cost us nothing and we had an excellent time and to this day are still proud of the accomplishment. We also took some outstanding pictures:

Oh - and they had kittens! Like 6 of them! Bonus!

The second time around was set up in a more professional light. A recording studio owner out of Marine City, MI found our page on MySpace (yup, MySpace) and wanted to record 2 tracks for free simply because he liked our music. Hot diggity dog! We set up the session, headed into the fancy studio and got to it. Long story short, while we were out to dinner and the sound engineer was mixing, our second track got the axe. Meaning he accidentally erased it. Soooo with that mind blowing misstep, he offered to record an entire EP for us for free to make up for the loss. Though we were a bit baffled and discouraged, we were excited to be able to have a second chance stab at an EP.  

To make a novel more like a blog, in the time between when we recorded our first two tracks and scheduled to record our full EP, we parted ways with Noel, started working with AJ, were completely revamping our entire list of songs, and then my dad passed away unexpectedly. We were ill-prepared to record to the point of still writing parts for the songs the day we walked into the studio and if I had to paint you a picture... you know the moment when you wake up late to your alarm going off, disheveled and completely oblivious to where you are or why the alarm is going off to begin with? That sitting straight up in bed, pseudo-dillusional, eyes wide moment? Yeah... that was us. We had no idea what we were in for. The sound engineer running the studio was changing locations and we were forced to go in and record sooner than we had planned. So once again, a rushed process. 

Ultimately, the sound quality was far better than our first EP. But the editing/mixing/general end product still left us feeling incomplete. Again, proud of our accomplishment and took some sweet pictures... but still incomplete:

Bottom line - we are doing it right this time. No other options.We are going to do whatever it takes for us to have the appropriate amount of time. That means enough time to write, enough time to rehearse, enough time to record, enough time to mix/master and enough time to produce the physical album.

We can't do it on our own. I wish we could. No one likes asking for money and we kind of despise it. But we are really hoping that with your help, we can finally do things the way they should have been done from the beginning. And fortunately or unfortunately for us, it really depends on how generous our friends/family/fans are feeling. We have hit the 15% mark on our goal and are so grateful for those of you who have participated! We can't believe there have already been 30-something people willing to donate to our cause. Thank you so much for your support. We still have quite a ways to go but are confident that things will continue going in a positive direction. Here's the link to the video and the campaign so you can see what we're talking about and contribute if you feel like it:

JOA's Indiegogo


So that's the biggie. The thing we've been biting our nails about and losing sleep over. But we also have some other really cool stuff to tell you about. We had a photo shoot! CMF with Green Owl Photography took us out this past Sunday and took some incredible shots. We will be posting soon, once we can all agree on which ones we want you to see :) Our website is nearly finished and we will be launching it soon also! Dustin Rourke put it together for us and it's brilliant. You guys are going to love it. We just need a few more bells and whistles and a couple of tweaks and then we'll release the link. Woop woop!

We're also pushing hard with writing for the album. We've got some new music and we can't wait for you to hear it!

Again... we can't thank you enough for your support - it truly means the world.

Until next time - we'll leave you with this little gem. Happy Halloween!

<3,

JOA

Metaphors.

Let me just indulge myself for a minute and discuss some metaphors:

Life is a rollercoaster. We're all on it and anyone who uses a strict time management system to budget their day is busy enough to know that sometimes the tiniest of adjustments has a tendency to effect your entire mojo for the day. In Cedar Point terms - it's like going from the Blue Streak to the Top Thrill Dragster through the express lane. To give you a visual:

                

                                                                                Blue Streak

                                                                                        vs.

                                                                                     Dragster

With that said, being in a band is much like being married to one or more (in our case) women (yikes. we know). Sometimes this marriage might feel forced, sometimes it rolls along swimmingly, sometimes there is a majority rules situation... there are break-ups, make-ups, cry fests and hug-outs and if I were to imagine being married to someone, I would have the band to compare it to. 

I bring up these metaphors to create an image in your head of three women on the Top Thrill Dragster barely buckled into a two-seat cab simultaneously excited, panicked, frustrated and overjoyed about the ride ahead. Realistically though, one of us would be passed out (Elida doesn't do roller coasters), one would unbuckle her seatbelt and try to stand on the front of our cab with arms spread out like Kate Winslet in Titanic shouting, "I'm the king of the world!" (Kelly, naturally) and I would be somewhere inside my head trying to balance fear and excitement (a normal experience for me at Cedar Point). 

Though we know the marriage/rollercoaster feelings quite well and have learned to manage the madness that both metaphors entail, for some reason we're all starting to feel like we just boarded. We just got down on one knee and are holding hands while approaching the front of the line to get on the Dragster. Apparently Cedar Point is our honeymoon destination (sorry Elida!).  

Here's why...

We are currently in the process of making some of the most important and defining decisions that we will have to live and be satisfied with for an extended period of time. 

These "things" include but are not limited to:

1. Widdling a list of over 30 songs (some of which are not completed yet) down to 10 or 12 to create our album. Easy, right? Just pick the ones you like! Ha. You may or may not have noticed our first 2 EP's have disappeared and because we are not selling/producing them any longer, that makes all of the tracks on both of them fair game for re-recording in addition to everything we've written after 2009 (HA again!). 30 PLUS songs, y'all. Cutting tracks involves brutal honesty, deep conversation, objectivity and sometimes hurt feelings. This process is exciting in theory, but generally sucks in every other possible way. Anyone who has written music to inevitably be produced and recorded knows that leaving a song you care about behind for the integrity of the album is sort of like watching a piece of your heart crack and break off. On top of the fact that you can't simply pick the songs you want. There are other things like lyrics, melody, catchy-ness and overall popularity of the song to wade through. It is a seriously exhausting process. 
2. Deciding on an album title. We've never really done that before. We sort of took the easy way out with our last EP's and released our first as a self-titled album and called the second 2.0. Can anyone say cop out? And honestly, it was because none of us wanted to screw it up. Now that we are forced into a title, we have to take a step back, take a look at the content on the album and make a serious decision. This title will shape the entire aesthetic for everything we do from here on out (album artwork, t-shirt designs, even wardrobe). Oh, and we also have to make sure no one else memorable has used the title already (because we're weird like that. Or... I am). 
3. Cross our fingers that enough people believe in this album to help us make it. Recording ain't cheap and we are committed to doing everything right this time around. How much will the album cost? A lot. But to give you an idea of what we're used to... we recorded our first EP (7 tracks) in 16 hours and our second (7 tracks) in around 24 hours. That left us absolutely no time for objective decision making on any of our tracks. Technically, each song needs (including recording, mixing and mastering) anywhere between 3 and 6 hours each. 6 is on the long end, but we don't want to be rushed and every experience we've had with recording has been a game of Beat the Clock. We recently teamed up with a few stellar individuals who are putting together a formal promo video for not just JOA as a band but also an Indiegogo video that will be premiering in September to help us raise the money we need to record. Basically, without your help, there will be no recording project. Without your support, we are just a sad mess of musicians without a solid leg to stand on. We need you. And if all you can do is remind us that we can do it - we will take it! Pep-talks are severely underrated and we love them.  
4. Sift through and re-work all of our standing material - which essentially involves a lot of personal time spent with the music along with the 3 of us simply sitting down and working on developing our songs/sound further. Lyrically, melodically and instrumentation wise. We will be listening to the songs and deciding which ones need work, how they need work and then implementing changes. It's tough with only 3 of us! But thankfully we have a few friends that are brilliant musicians who have already volunteered their time to help us out in the studio. 

So, in giving you a not-so brief update, those are the priorities right now, along with all of the normal stuff a band has to deal with on the regular:

Booking shows and dealing with promotion material, finding a merch source that isn't overly costly but has quality products, festering over merch designs, tax ID's, bank accounts and mostly not letting ourselves fall off the radar while we're in the process of working on the album. That will be a toughy, but we're ready to take on the challenge. Bring it on, Dragster. Bring. It. On. And once the album is done, (hopefully) the clouds will part and we will embark on a new rollercoaster as a band. Maybe even a new theme park? 

We're not even going to blink until December. Everyone hold on tight!

<3,

JOA

Hello world, Jane here...

Helloooooooooo...

Here we are. We have a blog now! And we are going to do our best to keep up with this thing for the rest of eternity - or until something monumentally more important comes along ;)

So listen,

This is our first post and though we'd love to say something prophetically profound, all I can tell you is that our asses are TOAST right now. We are physically, mentally, emotionally and otherwise exhausted which is utterly terrifying as this is the tip of the iceberg for us. So much to do, not enough hours in the day - that kind of thing. So bear with us.

What exactly are we doing, you ask? Pretty much everything (and for as vague as "everything" is, I feel strongly that it applies), but let me break it down for y'all.

Things that a local, all-female, indie-pop band needs to accomplish in order arrive on the cusp of potential success:

A) Motivation. Which can be a real bitch when everyone is working 40 hours a week in what most   people call "real life". We just needed a little push. Success propels motivation.

B) People like you. You know when you see A-list musicians at the Grammy's thank God and then promptly thank their fans? I always sort of felt like it was a bunch of B.S.  Like, "Oh yeah... I'm reaaaaall sure you're thankful for me, Justin Beiber - now go buy some pants that fit you with your gazillion dollars." But I seriously get it now. You guys are everything. And ultimately, when we finally get a chance to sit back and enjoy this wild ride, it will be you that ends up being the most important part of this well-oiled machine. We aim to inspire you.

C) Dolla dolla bills, y'all. And we don't have that shit. But we're working on it :)

D) A Website, a full-length album, well-groomed media, loads of time to spend exclusively on all 50,000 of your band's social media sites, someone to book shows (us), someone to promote shows (also us), a badass graphic designer, promotional photos (which in-turn requires a photographer) and I'm sure there are at least 20 more elements I'm forgetting but you will forgive me because you can't blame someone whose brain is mush.

E) Hope. We ride a rollercoaster when it comes to this one, but it sure does help through the hard times. .. and we have most definitely had our fair share.


So that's what's happening on a small scale. As my grandma would say, "This music stuff ain't for sissies." Word up, grandma. Word. Up.

We hope you read this thing. It's really important to us that you feel like you know who we really are throughout this whole process. Real is so hard to find in this industry sometimes, I think. So we'll be providing you with random stories, not-so random stories, updates, rants and perhaps the occasional cheesy quote. You're welcome :)

Mad love,
JOA