Just about tied up the Animation, so don’t think I’ve gone anywhere, and if you’ve been following along at home, you’ll know that I managed to get the music sorted with help from MixMaster and DJ Extraordinaire CRX – Christopher Besant.
And this brings up a very important point for you, my dear audience, for you are part of something special.
What’s that?
The other day I overheard at Coles, of all places, a couple lamenting that movie producers have run out of ideas. They were saying how movies these days are rehashed versions of old movies (looking squarely at you, Total Recall).
I think that isn’t quite right. What I do think is that a lot of fresh, crazy, awesome, inspiring, zany ideas are right there in the heads and hands of all the independent artists, authors and musicians out there.
Think about it: If one is forced to create something for a buck, then the end product has to appeal to the masses, it has to be marketable to a target audience.
If, instead, one is able to create art for the sake of creating art, and to hell with the monetary side of things, then one breaks the shackles on creativity, boundaries are pushed, ideas are cultivated.
How can you help?
These are the people who, despite financial, occupational and temporal commitments, spend their limited resources making stuff. Cool stuff. Interesting stuff. Stuff that you won’t find anywhere else simply because it came fresh out of a mind.
You can foster these minds by becoming supporters. Oh, great, a bid for money: Yes, but money is only one part of it. Hear me out.
Indie artists spend their time and money and sanity to bring their ideas to you. If you like what they’re doing, or if you can see where they are going, then you can help by funneling some of that love back in.
Time – Husbands, wives, friends and relatives, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, all of you have your own talents. OK, you may not be able to write your indie friend’s book, but you can help out by proofing, or designing a cover, or converting / uploading the book to distributers.
With work, family, emergencies and helping others out, time is a very precious commodity indeed, and anything you can do to ease the burden means less time juggling commitments and more time making.
Money – Buying an indie’s stuff is a true way to support an artist, but you can also support the wider community and it won’t cost the Earth. For example, Radio Rock 92.6 the Blitz is registered on Patreon. For only $1 a month, you can keep the radio on air which, in turn, support independent artists from around the world, so they can get their ideas out.
If it weren’t for The Blitz, I wouldn’t have heard of Megan Cooper, Circe Link or Lions Names Leo (Side note, looking forward to Megan Cooper’s Album “Ghosts, Choirs & Kings“).
Sanity – You can help by supporting those creative minds, by saying to those indie musicians and authors and artists, “We dig what you’re doing!” The hardest part, speaking from personal experience, is the lack of feedback. A simple ‘like’ goes a long way or, better yet, a quick comment on to your fav’s YouTube post reminds them that people are listening, they are reading, that the world still exists.
The toll on an artist is greater than you might think – consider the rate of substance abuse among artists – and I truly think that letting them know that their efforts are not in vain does more than giving them time and money.
Go on. Be part of it. Support your independent artists anyway you can.