The State of All Things: JANUARY 2019 {official thing} (Patreon)

(patron-only post)

hello my loves!!!!

k doke....it's time for another monthly epic ALTHING. 

to kick it off: i am so grateful to you all for being here.

we are really in the backstage prep-weeds at the moment, it's the huge calm before the storm of record-release-and-tour season. i'm so, so BLINDINGLY excited for this upcoming tour.....but i'm also torn-ambivalent. it's the first time i'll be leaving my kid behind so often to go sit in theaters with thousands of people, telling the strange story of the past seven years, in which he plays a huge role. 

it feels so strange, to be leaving him. 

all mammals must deal with this.

to all the new people who have joined the patreon this past month: WELCOME!!! feel free to tell me a little bit about yourself...i read all the comments on these posts (even if it takes me a whole day). i'd like to know who you are, where you came from, why you came here to the patreon, what art you make...anything you want to tell me/us, really. go for it. i'm readin'.

it's been a strange, busy yet quiet month for me - and the strangest thing is that "strange" for me is like...."normal" for many. i'm not used to being in a domestic and repetitive pattern for more than a few days at a time. i wake up, i take my kid to school, i do the grocery shopping, i come home, i load wood, i make a second coffee, i sit down and do email all day til four, i pick my kid up from school, i make dinner, i go to bed wondering where the fucking day went.

it feels like i have gone grocery shopping more singular times in the last month than i have in my entire adult life. i have certainly made more trips to target than i expected.

it's also astounding to realize that between 2003-2018, groceries were just not really part of my LIFE. when you are moving from city to city every day, groceries are a forging thing. sushi and indian restaurants and half-decent noodle-bars at airports are much more familiar.

i am also in fucking woodstock, where there is no sushi restaurant even if i wanted one.

i miss living in the city. but i'm also learning about myself, in this forced country-ness.

i write about this a little in the THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION book (which is coming out the same day as the album, march 8th), but it feels like this is all happening for some sort of reason...like nature and nothingness (as my friend chris wells calls it, "upstate ego death") is forcing me to face something that i haven't wanted to face. starkness, simplicity...groceries, target. THEY WERE ALWAYS WAITING THERE FOR ME.

it's also so interesting, this long-term relationship with you all.

i was in serially short relationships before i met neil (who's made it TEN YEARS with yours truly, holy shit and congrats, us). 

before that, i was usually in relationships with my lovers/girlfriends/boyfriends for six months, or a year max, and everything would go south (and, usually, i would leave when things got boring or uncomfortable). 

i think there's this insecure part of me that's afraid that you - my patrons - are going to get BORED of being here with me, bored with hearing the same stories, bored with having the same art-sex over and over again...even though i feel like i never repeat myself. that's me talking - everybody always thinks they're fascinating. right? 

maybe it's not a coincidence...maybe my relationship with neil, and what it's galvanized within me, has something to do with my ability to work within patreon. our relationship has taught me to improvise around difficult feelings, to stand in the fire, to sit in the freezing water, taking turns, toughing it out year after year despite our differences and despite the hard walls we often hit. 

i assume the love is unquestioning and i take him for granted. that's what marriage is, i think. the ability to take the other one for granted, while never, ever taking them for granted. long-term love is a paradox that way. i feel that way about you all. i never take you all for granted, but i have to take you for granted or i'll collapse.

that being said, the artist in me finds it irritating that pretty photos of me and neil get four times the comments and likes on instagram than my artwork itself.

this was from a few days ago:

but i don't get THAT angry.

i think i have just started to understand that two people in love, and displaying that love, is like a tribal necessity, and, like cute kittens bonking their heads, the appeal is universal and something we can all agree on. these days, that's something, isn't it.

everybody can agree to love love.  

.................

SPEAKING OF WEIRD SOCIAL MEDIA PHENOMENON, 
i wanted you to read this facebook/instagram post i put up, with two versions of amanda.
what do you think?

"today’s  media lesson, listen up people.  two days ago i posted a photo of  myself (sitting on the toilet in my bathroom, i’ll have you know).  someone commented: “why are you frowning?” to which i responded “this is  actually what my face looks like when i am relaxed” - which got so many  likes & comments i figured i’d take the time to stop and ponder  with you. i’ve posted two images here. the second image is the original.  the first image that you see here is photoshopped/altered through  facetune, a simple and satanic app that people use to clean and prettify  their selfies before posting. i’ve softened up the wrinkle in my  forehead for you! i’ve blurred out the shadows under my mouth! and there  is this amazing little tool that allows me to UPTURN my mouth into a  little mona lisa smile! for extra kicks, i made my nose thinner, widened  my eyes, and i got rid of that god-awful white streak in my hair for  heavens sake. oh and i narrowed my chin a little bit for you and got rid  of any facial blemishes! WHAT DO YOU THINK? please tell me candidly  which version of amanda palmer you would prefer in your instagram feed.  as you know, i aim to please."

...................

i also was fascinated that THIS was my most controversial tweet of the month.....

here's a link to it:
https://twitter.com/amandapalmer/status/1088947454475730944

it seems that people are REALLY NOT DIGGING RANDOM PHONE CALLS IN 2019.

but you know what? after i posted that, james rhodes randomly called me, for fun, because he saw my tweet. and then he told me how much he loves ben folds.
and then i texted ben folds and told him that. and the universe connected. so fuck everyone.

......................

WHAT HAPPENED THIS MONTH...

it was january.

the last time i wrote to you for an Althing, i was in martinique for about a week, trying to take some time off.
i am bad at taking time off. i emailed the whole time. but i emailed by the sea, which was really nice.

i came home to the cold. it started to dip below freezing.

after i returned, i took part in the woodstock women's march and BY GOD i made the front page of the WOODSTOCK NEWS!

it was arctic, and by the end of the rally (which i "headlined") there were like 25 people. including, almost predominantly, these old lesbians organizing for change:

because i'm in mega-tour-and-album prep and a form of creative-hiberation i only released ONE THING this month, a few days ago...but it was a truly great thing.

i teamed up with podcaster and professional empath-awesome-person/TED speaker Dylan Marron and we released an episode of "conversations with people who hate me".
dylan dug up this tweet:

photo of me and dylan taken by hayley in our brooklyn office


and then..i spent an hour on the phone with colleen - the author of the tweet. dylan moderated the conversation, and it was really hard, human and beautiful.

here are a couple feedback tweets/comments from the Real World:

NME in the UK wrote about the episode today...

we twatted;

you can read their piece here:
https://www.nme.com/news/music/amanda-palmer-speaks-troll-online-abuse-dylan-marron-conversations-with-people-who-hate-me-2440716

..........

following up on this.....

patrons got access to an extra hour-long off-the-record interview.

if you missed the patron-only release post with the blog about all this, and the link to the podcast + extra-conversation in it, it's here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/and-now-with-who-24265822

i'm also really pleased to announce that because i thing'ed this and had originally set up this podcast to split the proceeds with dylan, but he did not want to get paid, we are going to donate FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS of patreon money to the trevor project, which runs a confidential 24-hour hotline to help suicidal LGBTQ youth.

this feels really good to do.

....go us.


................

back to my desk....

so, yes....i'm not usually at home for this long, but in the last month i have barely left this town of woodstock, NY, much less this house. neil's been in london two months longer than expected for his giant, dick-swinging (it's ok, i call it that to his face) TV show....and marriage is marriage, for better or worse stuff, so i've taken on single mom duty and lots of the time that i had set aside for album prep has gone to ferrying around a three-year old and spending time reading stories, and lots of singing "frozen". but it's really fine. i'm settling into motherhood and feeling the daily pulls of  child against work and be-more-seen and sell-tickets-to-tour...and the decisions get easier. this time with the child. this time at teh desk. done with the desk. now time with the child. i miss neil, i miss ash having a dad, i miss having a flesh-and-blood partner in this journey...but it's going to be over soon. neil comes home this month and i get a fuckin' break, and then i can dive more headfirst into album promo. and that all being said, i've still gotten a SHIT ton done. because i am amazing.

here i am in my office in the woods. i have even had time to clean this desk-table which is usually an unholy fucking mess:

it's been slogtime.

i haven't written any new music, nor made anything very NEW.....but it's okay, i don't care much. i am used to this cycle now...sometimes it's time to make, sometimes it's time to edit, sometimes it's time to talk about what you've made., sometimes it's time to get ready to talk about what you've made. right now i am getting ready to talk about what i've made, and take what i've made around the world, and show it to people. the thing. i made. my record.

but also, in certain spaces, bed-moments, drives, showers....moments of silence....the ideas are starting to surface, and i find myself wondering when and how i'll carve out the time to start burying new song-seeds. and again: to everything, turn, turn, turn. a time to write, a time to cook. a time to eat, a time to do dishes. this is time for putting out music, and because of ash, every ounce of my attention that isn't on him is about making this upcoming tour and record drop the most epic & kick-ass possible.

the show itself is coming together, really beautifully. this is the first time i feel like the show/concert itself is as much a Piece of Art.

i have a big post coming together for you about the tour, the crew, all those things. it's nice to stay so connected with you about the build before actually hitting the road: this is my first big tour since starting patreon and it all feels very connected. like: Here you are. and Here i am. and i'll see you There. 

the tour itself is selling well, but i'm a little intimidated. some of these theaters seat 3,000 and the tickets are only half sold.

i know the press and album-release furor hasn't started yet, but it's still a little scary.

for your enlightenment (and it actually feels so relieving to be able to share this behind the patron-wall) here are the show sales so far.

this report gets sent to me and my entire team twice a week, and we can track the sales and see what cities need help.

(in the case of this tour, atlanta on may 17th and nashville on may 18th need the most help, so goddamit, if you live in atlanta or nashville, start getting the word out, please).

the first portland show sold out, after that san francisco on may 10th and los angeles on may 11th are doing the best.

in the images below, the top row shows the concert, theatre, city, and amount of tickets available for sale.
the second row shows the date of the report, the number of tickets sold, and the percentage sold. PLEASE do not share this, it's for patrons' eyes only.

if you want to spread the word about the tour, the best thing you can do is paste THIS image around the net 

.....with the link to my main landing page:

http://nointermission.amandapalmer.net

if you use facebook, you can RSVP to events, or share them with friends in the cities of each show:
http://facebook.com/amandapalmer/events

and, y'know, after everything....i am still a word-of-mouth artist.

people are not going to find out about me on late night TV. they're going to find out about me from you. the end.

i love you, thanks for doing that.

.................

speaking of which....

USA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES tour tix

if you missed it, i offered free tickets to the tour for any government employees...all the details are here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/free-tickets-to-24224291 

a few people have taken us up on it, and mostly, the feeling of solidarity was appreciated.

if you know anyone who can take advantage of this offer, please let them know. the offer will stay open til all the tickets are gone.

................

ALBUM SHIITAKE & TOUR MERCH

deep breath.

do you know how much TIME it takes to put together all this physical shit? huge art book, posters, prints, t-shirts, CDs, vinyl, tour merch....all the possible mistakes, oh my god it is so many emails and packages.

i ain't complainin'. i love my fucking job. but omg time.

among the many posts i'm gonna make this month, there's gonna be a big WHOPPING merch post asking for your opinions and desires. to whet yer appetite, here's a photo of michael unveiling the beta version of the THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION pre-sale t-shirt...one of them at least. you like? i like!!!! i liiiiike. these shirts are on sale now as a pre-order, and won't be available on tour (tour shirts will be a different design). we're printing these on a super soft ecco-friendly shirts (they're available now up to size 4XL on the USA shop and up to 2XL in the UK/EURO shop).

....................

WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE....

VOICEMAIL FOR JILL SINGLE & VIDEO

i did a fun thing and posted some options of digital cover art to the $5+ patrons a few days ago and it was really wonderful (i forget how wonderful) to see people weighing in with really smart, informed, intelligent opinions. if you're a $5 patron and you missed that post, the voting is over (i had to send the digital cover in) but the discussion is HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/which-cover-for-24292419

i've been working hard, in the background, on a video for "voicemail for jill" (which hasn't been shared yet, at all, and is going to be the lead track on the day that the record drops, march 8th).

the video, which i conceived and scripted (and for which i did a boston-area PATRON-ONLY call-out for because we wanted to cast local patrons) is set to shoot in a few days (feb 4th & 5th) in boston, and i'm really excited. if you want to see some work by the director, amber sealy, here are some links and stills to what she's worked on. 

http://www.ambersealey.com

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780547

she came recommended to me by miranda july and i'm doing a massive trust fall with her, working with someone i've never met in person on such a huge and important video. that's the nature of this work. trust, trust, trust. we'll see how it goes. if everything goes according to schedule, the video should be dropping march 8th on the album drop day.

..............

and....MORE VIDEOS & ANIMATIONS....

since it's album release time, it's also let's-make-music-videos time, but my plate has been so full i haven't had time to start 5 different video projects. right now it's just "voicemail for jill" and michael pope, coco karol and i are slowly breaking ground on concepts for "drowning in the sound", which we hope to realize in the spring. it's on the top of my list of art-admin shit to do to ask all of you who you'd like to see me work with, but DON'T ANSWER YET....i've got a whole post about that on the back burner. maybe just start thinking about it and squirrel away the ideas. i'll come askin', don't you worry.

um, maybe it's time to call david lynch.

..................

LISTENING PARTIES!!!!!

this is something i am SUPER FUCKING EXCITED ABOUT BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE!!!!!!!

if everything works right, we are going to be trying to connect this whole community here (YES!!!) to take part in community-led and community-hosted listening parties when the record comes out.

unlike my last record (theatre is evil) this is truly a lie-down/sit-down and listen record. it's made for listening to in one go. it's made for quiet contemplation. stay tuned.

it's gonna be SICK.

....................

THE PODCAST!!!!!

i am VERY excited to announce that in addition to learning from dylan up there, i'm doing a lot of ground-laying with my podcast producer, fannie cohen, and together we are setting up a HUGE battle-plan for interviewing tons and tons of people for my podcast while i'm on the road with THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION. i'll be reaching out soon for your ideas, and with a big list of who's already on the wish-list, or in (we've scored some SUPER IMPRESSIVE guests so far, whooo)!! i am so so excited about this. i've been dreaming of putting together a good podcast for YEARS. we still haven't figured out what to do with making the david eagleman "the speed of the art and the speed of the heart" podcast public, because once we go public with a podcast, we're public. so if you're new to the patreon (and there are quite a few of you who've joined since then) you can go enjoy it HERE, it's in a patron only-post.

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HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN....

as of this writing there are 14,513 patrons pledging  $59,159 for the first THING of the month. 

YASSSSSSSSSS. I LOVE YOU ALL.

patreon charges you monthly/retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior (for example, you'll get charged for the Things released in january on february 1st). 

so i don't have figures for this month just yet, but here's december:

(i say this every month, but if you're new....)

because people have their pledges capped (HAVE YOU NOT CAPPED YOUR PLEDGE? if you are on a budget, you should. here's the tutorial again), the first Thing raises the most money, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. (I LIKE THIS. it means i never feel too guilty).

the numbers below are gross. not net. basic math. meaning: it's the money raised before fees were deducted by patreon and is not the total deposited to me. patreon takes a 5% fee (which they use to build and sustain the platform, which is GOOD) and then there's a payment processing fee, which varies on a ton of factors and is usually between 5-9% of the total collected. 

also, none of this reflects the money i SPENT MAKING THE ART, running my business, etc etc. 

i don't share that level of nitty-detail-stuff with you because i assume it would bore you to fucking tears. but you can trust me: paying for a full-time staff, office, manager, accountant, and massive team of art-collaborators ain't cheap. sometimes we barely break even. so be it. this is awesome.

.....

in december, i Thinged three Things:

Drowning in the Sound (album version) was the first Thing and it earned about $52,298 from 11,994 patrons.

Sometimes Up on the Box - The Art of Asking Animation was the second Thing of the month and it earned about $33,860 from 9,767 patrons.

Year In Review/December 2018: State of All The Things was the third and final Thing of the month and it earned about $21,813 from 6,833 patrons.

(we say "about" because patreon may be still trying to process some pledges that have yet to go through...we never know, you know.)

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ONE OTHER UPCOMING RANDOM WEIRD THING, FOR YOU SEEKING-TYPES:

if you want to save the date....

i'm going to be hosting a RETREAT (yes, bitches) at the OMEGA INSTITUTE in rhinebeck, NY.

dudes....by june, i'm going to need some yoga, therapy and soul-searching more than anybody.

(yes, that's me, doing yoga in sydney, australia. look at that bow, betch!)

i've always wanted to lead my own retreat like this...and it's time. i didn't want to take on the whole burden of coming up with a program, so i'm going to be co-leading/co-teaching this reterat with two other incredible teachers i know. five days long: JUNE 30-JULY 5th. you sleep at the retreat center, food and lodging is all there for ya. it's going to go onsale/officially announced on march 1st, so if you think you might want to go, mark the date so you can nab a spot. we are only taking about 40 people. expect yoga, meditation, a lot of talking, and i'm bringing a ukulele. tickets will be available on the omega website: https://www.eomega.org

i'll poke and remind you.

omega is really beautiful and about a 2-hour drive from NYC or a 3 hour drive from boston.

and look there's a lake.

my local pal chris wells (who many of you know from secret city and his role as the QUEEN REAPER at my goth nights) is running a simultaneous storytelling workshop that same week, and we may join forces and make you all swim naked in the lake with us, so yeah. get ready for that.

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DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP

the team, y'all, has been amazing. 

this is epic crunch time...it's heating up into record-release, and i am starting to get pissy with everyone when things are not perfect.

i hope they all forgive me.

michael has been slaughtering my inbox and helping me sort everything for upcoming video shoots and travel, and hayley has been racing around the NY office helping out all y'all patrons and doing an overload of day-to-day management work. they need HELP. we're going to be sending out a call to the patreon universe (and probably the wider universe) soon about needing an office assistant.
......

words from hayley:

Hi everyone,

There's a deep impulse to start my Althing section every month remarking on how busy I've been and how utterly massive my workload is, but that's boring, and probably obvious by now. Right now - these last few months and weeks especially - are jam packed with so much work because as Amanda notes, we're working on independently releasing her album and getting her ready for the tour. Maybe in March's Althing we can outline WHAT EXACTLY that means for an indie musician like Amanda who has such a small team, because doing this on its own would be a HUGE undertaking, but it just so happens that we also have this Patreon, the associated rewards and projects that are in production and in the works, and everything else that goes on in Amandaland and Team AFP all at once.

If there's ever anything you'd like to know - a curiosity about the team or our work, anything specific you'd like us to cover in our Althing section, you can let us know below in the comments section and ask away!

But for now, I thought I'd talk to you about Amanda's upcoming album and artbook. I am among only a handful of people who have heard the full album a million times, in part because I proofed the test pressing vinyl. Would you like to know what that's like? I'll tell you: you get 6 copies of the record, but because this is a double album, that means you get TWELVE vinyl records delivered to you from the vinyl pressing plant that you have to listen to, front and back (keep in mind, this album is 80 minutes long). And when you hear a potential issue on one vinyl, you have to repeat the listen of the song, and go back and listen to the other copies of the vinyl to see if you hear the same problem. These are vinyl records - not mp3s, so you can't easily sync a time code, you have to manually move the needle to the right spots. And when you hear problems on multiple copies of the test pressing, you then have to find ANOTHER record player on a very short deadline to listen to everything again to verify if the problem was actually from the test pressing vinyl, or the record player. If you hear a problem with a specific song, you're listening to that song on repeat many, many, many times. If your album is coming out in March, you do this just before New Year's Eve, wait two weeks for the distributor you're working with to come back from holiday to reply to you with next steps, so even though you submitted your report a couple days after you received the test pressings, you're then rushing around in January to complete the process to meet more deadlines because it's all so time sensitive. So that's what it's like.

As I was saying, I have listened to the new album many times - proofing the test pressings, proofing the test pressings again, proofing the lyrics, proofing the lyrics again for the artbook, listening to it from start to finish to actually LISTEN to it, you get the picture.

The end of December was also game time to get the final edits of the artbook in to the book designer so that he could then meet the deadlines to get the final files to the book manufacture to have everything printed in time for March 8th (this is why there were quick deadlines to have you opt-in for your names to be included, and a pre-order deadline for the limited edition patron version). Amanda sent me a draft of the book, said it was just about done and asked me to take a look. I opened the book to skim it - it had already gone to a copy-editor, and then I noticed an inaccuracy in the text and ended up reading the whole thing from start to end in one sitting. 

I texted Amanda and Andrew, the book designer, corrections - things like the spelling of people's names or updating a year a previous album came out.

And once I noticed something was off, and that Amanda and Andrew were revising the book layout then and there, I went on a mission to proof read the whole thing. Let's just say all in all I sent hundreds of changes in text message texts and in screen caps over email. There was so much back and forth that when the final, final version needed to be looked at before it was submitted to the manufacturer, Andrew sent me an email, titled: "Final Final proof - For Hayley's Eagle Eyes" - and that thread has 20 messages in total. So by that time, I re-read the entire book again, but this time in two sittings.

The next day, I read the lyrics within the book, to proof the formatting and spelling. This was right after my second listen to the vinyl test pressings. 

And OH MY GOODNESS YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE YOU, it clicked. The WHOLE THING just clicked. I had been in work-brain for MONTHS, thinking about logistics of "how to get things done" rather than thinking about the art itself and what it means to me and "what it means" in the Greater World, or what any of this means to the Music Industry At Large, because let me tell you, this is a unique way to make and release an album (not to mention the added challenge that many of the songs were shared here previously or performed live throughout the years). But because my work involved absorbing the music, paying attention to the lyrics, and absorbing the stories behind the songs and the making of the album, it suddenly hit me, and it hit me HARD.

So, without further ado, here is the text chain I sent Amanda, expressing my gratitude and wonder when everything clicked into place for me. It started with me asking for a clarification on what turned out to be a double entrendre in the lyrics for Bigger on the Inside. I cut that part so I don't ruin any surprises. I'm the BLUE box, amanda is the GRAY box in this iMessage:

I know this is a bit lengthy, but I thought it would be interesting to share with you, not to tease you, but to get you excited. This album that Amanda has made, the photographs, the artbook, the lyrics, all of it packaged together is incredibly beautiful. The album has 10 original songs with 10 instrumental vignettes peppered in between them, the titles of these vignettes are not random (track list).

I've been listening to Amanda's music and following her art for 15 years, I've been working with her for 10, and am obviously well-versed with all the songs she's released through Patreon - as many of you are - and yet, when the full art package of THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION clicked for me, it moved me deeply.

Trust me when I say: this is more than an album, this is an experience. Get ready for March.

Love,
Hayley


P.S. Amanda likes it when we include pictures of us working, so here's one from yesterday: I went out in the snow squall (which is a sudden windy snow storm with limited visibility) here in New York yesterday to sent out a replacement Art In The Mail holiday card, it was cold, I survived.

......... 

words from michael:

Hello Patrons!

Happy New Year and hello from the Arctic Circle . . . I mean Brooklyn.  It’s so cold right now that it’s easily confused!  All kidding aside, it’s nice to be home for a bit to recoup/recharge after the past few months of craziness.  As Amanda and everyone else has said, January has felt like taking a big breath before diving into the deep end.  Not to say that we’re not all hard at work over here at Team AFP, but come March we’re going to all be flat out with Touring, Press, Promotions, Things, Podcasts, you know the drill.  So, it’s been helpful to have time to gather ourselves and get everything in place before we all go crazy! 

I also was lucky enough to take a trip this month that was not work based!  (I even managed to take a few days completely off email. . . shhhhh! don’t tell anyone).   Here’s a picture I took at the top of Sandia Crest in New Mexico.  At just under 11,000 ft (3,300 m) it was the highest I’ve ever been and breathtaking in many different ways for someone who is used to the air at sea level!

But I digress.  I’ve got to say that I’m really excited about everything coming down the line for you all.  These songs and the videos that will accompany them are so powerful.  The show that Amanda is in the process of building will be absolutely beautiful and brilliant.  With the state of things in the world today, this is the music that I feel like we need.  We have to start being honest and telling each other what’s really going on with ourselves and how we really feel.  We have to, as a global community, discover (or re-discover) a deeper sense of empathy and we will only accomplish that by standing up, speaking truth, and more importantly listening when others do it.  This album speaks a LOT of truth.  My hope, and one of the reasons that I personally am working so hard to make sure everything is perfect for this album and everything that surrounds it, is that something, some bit of truth will resonate for each and every person who listens to it.  Whether it’s something in their own lives past or present that allows them to say “I am not alone, there are others who are going through or have gone through the same thing” or whether it’s something that reminds them of something a loved one has experienced and gives them a deeper understanding and a deeper sense of empathy and care. 

So, I really can’t wait for you all to listen to the songs, read the stories that Amanda has written in the Album Book and see the incredible pictures that accompany them, listen to the additional stories she’s going to tell from stage (have you gotten your tickets yet?), and most importantly take whatever it is that resonates with you and share it, lovingly, with your loved ones and more importantly with those who you are not close with, don’t understand, have wronged you, etc.  That’s the way forward in my opinion. 

Hugs to you all,

Michael

.........

words from alex:

January has been a pretty quiet month in AFP-merch-queen-land. I'm currently living in the quiet period now, where album pre-orders are ticking over nicely, and next month my true test of packing skills will be put to the test with over 1,000 patreon pre-orders to be packed. MISSION ACCEPTED. (and if at the 11th hour I'm getting buried in all the things, there's every chance I may be putting out a call for a couple of patrons who live in London to come visit me in merchland and help me with some envelope packing!!)

So, taking a slight side-step..... this month I've made the most of the quiet time, and have been focusing on setting myself up as an independent Merch Queen business. Yes folks, your beloved AFP merch queen is now renting out his services across the board. I'm also working with Grace Petrie (who a number of you will have seen at the Dolls' warm-up show last year), and am in talks with a couple more artists. So this month I personally have been doing some website building (www.merchqueen.co.uk) and some networking with other artists. But don't worry, I am not going anywhere! I will still be here and giving out as much love (and packages) to this community as I have been for the last few years <3

But what I want to do right now is take this opportunity to reflect, and really thank Amanda. Some of you probably know how I came to be a part of the team, but if you don't... way back when, I was one of you. I found Amanda's music in 2009, when I was 15, and fell in love with her music the way that I think can only really happen when you're a teenager. While I was at university, I went to a borderline-insane number of shows, and met her what was probably a worrying number of times (soz, Amanda). And then when I graduated in 2015, and had absolutely no idea what to do with my life, I just took a chance and sent her an email, and asking if she needed an extra member of staff, in literally any capacity at all. And she said yes. She gave me some simple (yet time consuming) admin work to do on her blog archive, which kept me busy all summer. These little projects kept piling up, keeping me busy and engaged with various parts of Team AFP, until eventually I suggested opening up a UK branch of the merch store, to help us poor non-Americans avoid silly shipping and customs fees. I found that I really enjoyed fostering this direct connection with fans - because this was the very place that I myself had come from. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I thought I could make myself a whole living out of doing this.

And so now, here I am, starting my own merchandising company. And it really is all down to Amanda taking a chance on me all those years ago, when she had absolutely no obligation to do so, and no real reason to believe I was anything other than a creepy obsessive fan. But without her taking that chance, and giving me this opportunity to join this wonderful team, explore all these different avenues, and be a part of this world, my life would look so very different right now, and I never want to take that for granted. 

So cheers to Amanda, and cheers to this fanbase for being so bloody lovely. 

All of the love, always,

-Alex the UK Merch Queen

{and a note from AFP - i am so, so, so happy i get to work with this man. and....i've watched alex grow from nervous alex into full-blown ass-kicking adulting weirdo in a few short years. i couldn't be more proud of him. love you long time, alex. get ready for packages.)

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SOME MORE ARTISTS TO SUPPORT....

zoe boekbinder is on patreon!!!

zoe's band with her sister, kim boekbinder, vermillion lies, used to tour all the time with the dresden dolls, and mark my words, folks, she's a gorgeous, soulful songwriter with a voice of rusted gold. if you're looking for a female singer-songwriter to support this month, she's yer gal:

https://www.patreon.com/zoeboekbinder

.....

if you saw this show (and/or the guest spot i included at my edinburgh show), you'll wanna support these folks on patreon:

FYPM (Fuck You Pay Me)!

"We are a small group of Queer Artists and Activists, Sex Workers and Allies.
We believe in the power of disrupting and reclaiming stories, and rewriting history through the power of collaboration. 

Our mission is to end Sex Worker stigma and make allies of everyone, and we believe that bringing people together is one of the best possible ways to campaign for change."

https://www.patreon.com/FYPM

.....

i know a lot of you know whitney moses, my pal, doula, sister-sister, and sometimes merch gal.

her bay-area band, midtown social, has a new kickstarter, and it's doing GREAT. if you wanna help kick them over the top....

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mtsfantasticcolors/midtown-social-fantastic-colors-the-album

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THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION/ COVER-TRIBUTE ART

it started because mike zug sent me a sketch/drawing of the album cover and i posted it to instagram, musing: isn't it ironic that i can post nude ART but not my fucking record cover. then other people started doing it.....

NOW IT'S A THING!!!!!

if you have art of your own, follow/tag me on instagram: @amandapalmer

so we can all follow along and view your art, let's use a hashtag: #TWBNIfanart

by @zugart

by @dantedelavegaa

by @niesnasek

by @christykirkstudio

by @brokewriterchic

......................

that's it, my loves.

i am really, as always, so humbled and grateful for your support here....making us all possible.

it's about to get hairy - no pun intended. hold on to your earbuds and your seat belts. oh wait, this ride comes without them.

next Althing will be happening a WEEK before album release, it's gonna be FUCKING CRAZY.

love

AFP

p.s. obligatory cute ash picture!!!.....humble brag: we are reading a picture book given to us by jamie lee curtis (that she wrote, and she's great at it):

------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

1. if you’re a patron, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol.

2. see All the Things i've made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things

3. join the official AFP-patron facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/afpland

4. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

5. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net