i have a kickstarter (help if you like); here's why

 howdy,to help raise some funds for and awareness of my cymbal project, i've just launched a kickstarter. kickstarter is a crowd-sourced fundraiser platform, the donations take place over (in my case) 30 days, and if i don't raise my goal within that time frame, i receive no funds at all. kickstarter is a somewhat controversial platform, and is not terrifically difficult to take advantage of. for that reason, i'm going to take a wee moment to try and articulate why i've decided to use it.first and foremost, saving money is a bitch whether or not you're a twentysomething musician in los angeles. i'm doing alright all things considered but at the root of it, same as most any other project on kickstarter, i'm asking for help because i believe strongly in my product and can't quite fund it by myself.nextly, i'm not a grant writer; not really. i could have applied for a subito grant, where a panel of sixish professional people determine whether your project has enough 'artistic merit' to cut the mustard. way to keep art a celebration of humanness, right? or i could turn it over to my friends, family, and most excitingly, the internets: if my project isn't $1300 worth of interesting in 30 days, it won't happen for a good long while.thirdly, being on kickstarter offers me access (same as facebook, bandcamp, myspace, tumblr, twitter, etc) to a free platform that could potentially provide exposure i would not otherwise have received.fourthly, i've never much bought the idea of goal-oriented thinking, but i've come to look at one particular hierarchy with some respect: i want to be deserving of the name 'drummer'--to know enough about its conventions, history, major players, performance, to know more than just 'how to play.' i want to be able to accept the title of 'musician,' an entity who participates in the art of music rather than the craft of an instrument within a genre. i aspire to the title of 'artist,' an entity who can 'be naked on stage' (lenny bruce), for whom there are no unmeant gestures.lastly, kickstarter is all-or-nothing, whereas indiegogo or some other sites let you simply take what you make--i believe in my work enough to gamble with it.kickstarter lets me work to this artistic end and not spend more money than i have on a publicist. i like that.finally one huge thing i won't be doing that some folks with a kickstarter do: i will not be asking more for my record there than i would if i were selling it at a show. this is disingenuous and greedy, and is a make or break point for me in whether or not i fund a project. the backer is pre-ordering a product, and should be rewarded.that all said, i would be very grateful for your help in funding and sharing my project. please click here to view my kickstarter and see if you want to help!cheers,colin