The last final shows are over and all that is left are the Orlando shows. They were awesome and I am so thankful we got to do them and see so many great people! I have really made some cool friends over this past year. I am so glad I got the chance to do this. I know I am going to continue to tour and play music with Paint Me Irrational and I am super excited about that, but I will miss my Between the Trees days.
That said, we are looking for a tour vehicle. Of course, everyone thinks you can just buy a van and go. Not quite accurate. I have some requirements here:
First off, diesel. Maintenance is more expensive, but the gas mileage, reliability, and longevity of a diesel vehicle trumps gas. Not to mention the who biodiesel concept.
Second, I want an RV/bus. The concept here is to get something big enough to get the equipment inside and not have to tow a trailer. Easier parking, better gas mileage, less threat of theft, no trailer upkeep...the list goes on forever here. Plus, I want to be able to stand up and have living space in a vehicle. And with my construction experience, I could build a rockin' RV interior!
I cannot get anything with running water in our budget. That is a little frustrating, but who says we cannot work on that later? I am definitely going to put a sink in whatever we get. We will carry a couple gallons of water for washing up, brushing teeth, etc. I would like to not have to get hotels.
Paint Me Irrational has a unique concept. We understand that music is easily downloaded and a band cannot rely on record sales. We want to pique peoples' interest by giving out a lot of free music. There is not really any way to get around that. We want to give away 3 song downloads and as many acoustic songs as we can put together. That is our first method. We are going to work with Kickstarter to try to get enough funding to get recording finished and cd pressing done. We will still sell our full length to try to cover expenses, but we know we cannot rely on that.
We are running on basics as much as possible: house show tours, guerilla radio tactics, word of mouth, internet canvassing, etc. We have some crazy ideas too. We want to canvas university orientations and spring break party spots, giving away 3 song cd's. Our goal next year is to give away 10,000 cd's. Lofty aspirations. Not to mention, a praise and worship EP. Lord knows we need some good praise and worship.
So this is scratching the surface of what we want to do this next year. Get ready for round two! Stevie's #mylifeisaparty continues!
Btdubs,
@steviebenz
http://www.formspring.me/steviebenz
http://www.facebook.com/stevie.benz
