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

(patron-only post)

HALLO LOVES.

**day-after edit! apparently the email notifications weren't triggered for this post, so i'm trying again, and it looks like it WORKED, hooray....and i'm also going to be online for the next 20 minutes or so to chat (11:30 am london time, dec 20th!)...SAY HI** 

i'm gonna open with this: the one thing i can say about this patreon is that it's given me an emotional stability i didn't think possible. i say it on stage every night but you're not there every night. i thought it would be nice to have some financial stability, some prediction for the team and the art workshop. but i never knew it would feel like THIS. i feel so connected, so real, so unafraid to make the things i want to make and say the things i wanna say. and you're making it all happen. you've changed my life. so thank you for being here. at every level.

NOW!!!!!!!!

US tour = done, european tour = done, australian tour = about to commence. 

greetings from the last full day of our UK sojourn! and happy holidays...it's getting to be that time.

i'd like to welcome ALL THE NEW PATRONS!!!!! HELLOOOOoooOOO!!!! there's a lot of you! you may have found the patreon through the webcast (which brought it about 200 people!) or you may have seen the show and joined on tour. wherever you're from and whoever you are, welcome. welcome. this is a nice place and the people are pretty smart. you'll like it here.

i send these updates every month to wrap up and summarize the previous months' work...and it's a great way to stay up-to-date if you don't want to read every. damn. post. i also charge for these monthly ALTHINGS to keep the staff paid and the lights on no matter what is going on, it's a good way of having a monthly prediction without having to freak out about having art every month if things are off-schedule (which happens...a lot :). 

it's also a good way to slow down and reflect on what's happened in the past month,. and the whole team checks in. somethings *I* don't even know what they've truly been feeling and up to until i read their monthly althing reports. so it's just a nice thing....all around.

and you? HOW ARE YOU? talk to us. the comments are there. we read them. i read them.

me?

mama is tired, people. i'm packing up and getting reflective. truth be told: it's been a harder season than i anticipated here in the UK....for, ughhh, for a lot of reasons. i have found it an uphill battle, this last stretch.

i was just sitting in a coffee shop this morning, doing a kind of post-mortem on this past three or four months since coming to base ourselves here in the UK and comparing it to the year that led up to it...and thinking about how every moment in time sits in its context. part of this fall has stood in contrast to the fact that i've felt so incredibly invincible and strong since having the miscarriage a few years ago, and since birthing this record instead. i've been a force, and everything has settled. anthony's death gets further away, the wound less sensitive. i've figured out how to be a mom. i've had a baby. i've had a miscarriage. i survived all of this intact and made a bunch of art about it. then i got to go do the art to people. 

and i only really put the poetry of all of that together recently: that this album and tour is what i did instead of having another another baby. not by choice, mind you. just....happened that way. 

it could seem sad, or it could seem....like the constant bittersweet and beautiful poetry of life and death. the only constant thing is change. 

we give birth to babies, songs, tours, albums, museums, relationships, companies, academic undertakings that try to uncover the truth of the world....marriages...houses....we also let them go.  knowing that the here-there-gone-everywhere cycle is relentless is the key to being okay with it all.

and this season has been a down-cycle for me: more of a constant struggle than anything has been for the past few years. but also a reminder that even in the struggle, there's a small, still voice down there, beneath everything, whispering: it's okay. everything changes. 

what was so hard about this past few months? mostly feeling emotionally and physically dislocated and stateless. 

the politics and huge lean to the right in the UK and general haughtiness and prickliness all over london  freaked me out. it did not feel warm here. internet kerfuffle added to the rain on the flames.

but it ain't been ALL bad in the UK. i have been in constant motion, and i think, partly, i just have motion sickness. 

there have been countless bright spots in the darkness though, mostly stemming from the people living near us in narrowboats, a small, amazing community of good people against the landscape of the in-out rain....meeting the incredible patreon community here in london....and the UK....and europe....doing my side-projects here with new friends like sarah louise young, and gabrielle, and don't forget jack....meeting so many of you at so many shows and in pubs, connecting with so many good people in ireland.....going to extinction rebellion....

going on marches...talking with brian eno about the climate crisis.....rethinking my whole fucking life....again.....getting to make art with max, doing podcasts with incredible people like masarat daud and lenny henry...seeing neil's heart-breaking play (more below)....running around parts of the UK i've never seen before and seeing some of the politics and truths firsthand.

it hasn't been boring for a second, i'll tell you that much.

yet all had this undercurrent of...unease.

i wonder if it's just brexit in the air and i've inhaled the air, and everyone here is in a state of low-grade mute terror themselves, and it's just impossible not to be infected if you're remotely empathetic. 

or maybe it was all just....homesickness. a type that i underestimated. hard to tell. 

i do know that i'm happy as hell to be getting on a plane to australia. 

i also know that because of the climate crisis, this may be the last time i write a sentence like that. i do believe things are changing that fast. or that i'm changing. these choices are going to get harder and harder.

the unease is global.

things are changing.

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

a friend was just asking me, earlier today, what it felt like to be on this tour. 

i said: it's hard to explain. i go on stage every night and for four hours i peel my soul open and talk about the darkest things. it's changed the way i move through the world. it had to. maybe it's too much darkness. but it doesn't feel that way. every stop of the tour made me feel LIGHTER. i think it's more the whiplash. the being in that space, holding people while they creid after shows and hearing their stories....and then coming home and having to look at dead-eyed londoners on the tube and having mundane arguments about scheduling with my husband and finding out that you can't get actual salsa in any grocery stores here in london (at least in this goddamn neighborhood) and standing on a lot of soulless street corners on my off days, in the rain, and thinking "it's my off day and i was actually happier when i was on stage talking about abortion. now there is no salsa, no purpose, and everything feels superficial and pointless and annoying."

i'm also so tired of doing it. it's weird.  

i've also missed my kid while i've been touring. it's hard.

what can we do?

make art.

make light.

make art.

go to australia.

do more.

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

this ALTHING is coming a little late in the month as the whole team has been all-hands-on-deck, especially with the london webcast and last four shows of the tour in london. this will be a bit on the shorter side, and next Althing for december will be so goddamn long you won't be able to read it. FEAST AND FAMINE, that's the refrain around here.

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

here's a fantastic review of the london show in the telegraph....

it's behind a paywall here, but if you want to read the whole thing, someone cut-and-pasted the article in the comments of this post.

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

onwards.....

WHAT HAPPENED LAST MONTH...

it was november!!!

OUR FOREIGN TOUR CORRESPONDENTS PUBLISHED THEIR FIRST PIECE ON MEDIUM, 

https://medium.com/we-are-the-media/there-will-be-some-introspection-on-the-road-with-amanda-palmer-a32ff8dc0fbc

they're working on some more pieces that will be out soon, so keep your eyes peeled on my new Medium publication called: WE ARE THE MEDIA 

(AND PLEASE FOLLOW the publication) if you're not already on medium, MAKE AN ACCOUNT!

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

THE MUSHROOM HUNTERS - ANIMATED POEM BY NEIL GAIMAN, READ BY ME, WITH MUSIC BY JHEREK BISCHOFF....

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31517040

this project was a YEAR in the making. if you missed it.....watch the beautiful animation and see behind-the-scenes photos of creative connection, the animation team, building the stop motion artwork. the whole thing came together like a dream.

this is one of my most bestest THINGS i've ever put it....just in terms of craftsmanship and the way the whole creative team worked so long and hard to put it together.

..........

in the works....

the "ART OF ASKING EVERYTHING" PODCAST, first of all, is still in the works, and going slow (it's pretty much on PAUSE at this point while i wrap the tour)....but i'm recording episodes left and right and HOARDING THEM....

i just spoke with lenny henry...

...about his book, about why we have to make funny art to survive, about a lot of things. it's a good one. all of them are good ones.

spring, it's looking like. hold the phone.

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

WHAT ELSE IS A-COMING DOWN THE PIKE...?

the "LOOK MUMMY NO HANDS" VIDEO....

production is STILL underway on this song from THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION....michael pope, the director, and i have decided to SHOOT MOAR FOOTAGE. 

so? he came to london to film some extra tidbits. this video is going to be incredible, it's just turned into a moving art-target. it isn't what you think. january or february if it all works out....

left to right....in london last week....here's bri olson & david franklin (aka manta), both cloud club alums (my old arts collecgive house in boston) who worked on the coin-operated boy shoot back in the day, look down and there's whitney moses, my bestie and doula who was in town for a hot sec with her wife loui (taking the photo), then me, and on the end, mister michael pope. twenty years, almost, of making movies togehter. i love that this whole crew got to re-unite for a hot second.

boom 

....

THE THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION ARTBOOK AS A PATRON-ONLY PDF.....

this one will be coming....imminently. the WHOLE team has been working along with me on the special edition of the artbook here on patreon. this is not going to be a PLAIN-OL' pdf of the proof we sent to the printers for the physical book...no no no. 

this is going to be it's own multi-media beast....it'll have TONS of extra photos that didn't make the final book, a brand new introduction written by your truly now that i've had a chance to tour the show and play the album live, and it'll have some interactive elements to the pages like a SHITLOAD of links you can click to take you to videos, songs and more pictures and other things that i've referenced within the book's pages.

it's coming very SOON

.......

AN UPCOMING HOLIDAY THING.....

i asked you all to submit photos with a star.

i made a thing.

wait for it. 

.......

CITY HALL....!!!!!!

speaking of STARS, look who came to london to visit!!! IT'S JASON WEBLEY!!!!!! jason and i are working on a song together, and we'll put out a call for you to help be part of the weird little video we're making for it.....if it works. 

this one does not involve a star. 

it's called "city hall" AND IT'S HAPPY FOR A CHANGE.

more soon.

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

A special SONG with THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA!!!!

i did a huge gig with neil and the BBC symphony in november and I WILL BE THINGING SOMETHING FROM THE SHOW (IF ALL GOES WELL).

cross fingers. we are working on it. it's so good.

...........

IF YOU'RE IN LONDON/UK.....

go see fascinating aïda!!!!

I LOVE THIS BAND.

if you've never heard of them, JUST TRUST AMANDA AND GO. i have loved them for years and they're a fringe staple....it's just always amazing. dillie keane (center) also penned "look mummy, no hands", so this post is like some full circle shit. 

it's dark cabaret, it's fucking hilarious art, there's climate change songs, there's a new song by adele (no not THAT adele, this adele, on the right) about being trans, there's tears, there's a lot of laughter....it's just the right thing to do. GO SEE THEM!!!!

they're playing a HUGE ROOM in london at the southbank centre (queen elizabeth hall) from now until january 5th and there are tons of tickets. get a party together and GO. go go go.

tickets and details here:
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/137574-fascinating-aida-201920

if you need to know WHY....okay. here's a clip of one of their songs to convince you.

it's fecking hilarious and called "cheap flights": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVASZ2lCY5Y

full list of tour dates, here....they;re bopping around the UK:
http://www.fascinatingaida.co.uk/tour_dates
....

or if you just want to weep uncontrollably because you are not into laughter but PLUNGING into PURE DARKNESS....go see they play based on neil's book....

THE OCEAN AT THE EAND OF THE LANE at the National Theatre

i'll try to write up my own long reveiw of this someday....but for now:

https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/ocean-end-lane-national-neil-gaiman_50561.html

.....this does a pretty damn good job.

tickets are hard to come by but they exist, there's returns and rushes.

just trust me on this one too and go.

it's astonishing.

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane
 

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

NITTY GRITTY TIME.

HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN....

patreon bills credit cards on the 1st of the following month so we usually see a couple hundred people drop off in the beginning of the month due to payment errors and credit card issues, it takes a few days for this to adjust once people fix their accounts. it's life.

as of this writing there are about 15,518 patrons pledging about  $54,675 for the first THING of the month. 

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

office talk....

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 were charged for the Things released in october on november 1st). 

so i don't have the final figures for this past month (november), as they're still being processed, but here's october:

(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, paying all the collaborators and my staff, 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.

......

i posted this previously but it's worth repeating:  patreon introduced a new pricing and fee plan that took effect on may 7th, however all creators who've had accounts up until then are considered "founding creators" and for the time being are locked into the original fee structure with the 5% patreon fee and the 5-9% credit card payment processing fee.

.....

in OCTOBER, i Thanged two Things:

The State of All Things: SEPTEMBER 2019 was the first Thing and it earned about $62,971 from 15,582 patrons.

The French Brexit Song - Music Video was the second Thing and it earned about $28,470 from 9,379 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.)

them's the numbers, stan.

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

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP!

this month was extra-awesome in one respect: the WHOLE TEAM got to hang in london. michael and hayley came in from new york and jordan came in from australia to do a week of meetings and shows....

from hayley:

In the beginning of November I spoke on a panel at a Patreon event in Brooklyn. The talk was recorded and is now up online to view on Patreon’s blog and YouTube channel, here:

https://blog.patreon.com/creator-panel-new-york

A week later, I hosted friend of Team AFP and fellow Patreon creator Zoe Boekbinder to perform an intimate show for their high-level patrons and some fans in the Team AFP office. I had saw Zoe put out a call for a place to host a living room show while they were traveling through NYC on their way home from a European tour and thought it would be a joy to have some music and art fill our office space - since that’s been a vision of Amanda’s when we moved to our current office a couple years ago.

The show was beautiful and hopefully we’ll have more occasions to invite people into our space in the new year.

We were thrifty in the set up, scavenging for different pieces of equipment. We didn’t have a microphone stand so we made one out of a poster stand.

If you know anything about me it’s that I love music so, so much and I really enjoy music photography. I had been feeling a little creatively frustrated because I hadn’t had a chance to go to many concerts this past summer or early fall, nor photograph that much. But November proved to be creatively enriching for me because I saw and photographed a few live shows and felt like more of myself. If you want to follow along on my concert photography or talk about music and recommend new bands or songs, find me at @hayleyfiasco on all internet channels (Instagram is my social network of choice these days).

And I suppose it's worth mentioning here too - if you have questions about Patreon or Amanda Palmer related anything, I'm happy to help, but please don't message me on social media, instead please shoot us an email: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net and we'll assist you as soon as we can! 

November wasn’t an easy month, there were some tough spots the end of the month, and, well the Internet was on fire and it was painful and exhausting and so many things. All I can say is that when the heat is on Amanda, the entire team feels the burn, we get caught in the smoke and water damage and we feel the affects - both first hand, and as people close to Amanda who see her hurt. I’ve been part of the team for a long time and I’ve been along for the ride of many Internet scuffles and kerfuffles, and I’d like to think through the thick and worst of all of it, it brings new perspectives and understandings. I’d like to hope there’s positive things to come from those type of shit storms. One can only hope.

Wait until we get to December, because holy smokes has this been a month.... which has oddly found the entire team suffering from a mysterious bug.

I raise my electrolyte-infused water and sports drinks to you all as we inch closer to the new year, and new beginnings.

🤘🏻

Hayley

{hayley speaks the truth....and poster-stand mic stand is my new band name. hayley...thank you for all the incredible work you've been doing for this tour, this team, this everything. you're loved. also, massive ups for having the idea to invite zoe to our lair. i'm just sorry i had to miss it. - AFP}

..........

from michael:

Hello Patrons!

I’m writing to you from backstage at Union Chapel.  As I write this many of you are probably watching Amanda’s performance on Friday night (she just finished Machete).  I’ll have to keep this brief because as usual I’ve been running around taking care of what needs to be taken care of and there’s still loads to do, but I’ll talk more about this for December’s Althing update.

November.  Well I was still on the road with Amanda although that particular leg was coming to an end.  We were all road weary but happy to be back together again up in the Scotland and the north of England.  Something about those places just touch my heart in such a special way.  The hospitality and openness of that particular area of the world is just unique in a way that really resonates with me, so thank you very much to everyone who stopped to say hello or offered me a hug or even a place to stay (Jenny & Ian, thank you again!). 

After those shows wrapped up I raced back home, and by the time I was recovered from the jet lag it seems like Thanksgiving was already upon us.  It was the first time since I started working for Amanda that I wasn’t helping her plan her amazing Thanksgiving Bonanza in upstate New York, which meant I got to focus on making some amazing Brussels sprouts and a ridiculously good turkey gravy, which was a really nice change of pace. 

Then, on the Monday after Thanksgiving I was back on a plane to England to prepare for the Union Chapel shows.

November felt like a wonderful blur, filled with new sights, new friends, and some really excellent food (I highly recommend the Sunday Roast at Albert’s Schloss).  But it’s traditional around Thanksgiving in America to state what it is you’re thankful for and I am so thankful for this amazing job and this amazing work family who supports and loves each other through thick, thin, frustrations, successes, failures, joy, and sorrow.  And I am thankful for you, the patrons, who make all of this amazing art happen.

I love you.

Michael

{and we love you, michael. thank you for all the running around....may you be at peace for the next couple weeks, good lord. - AFP}

......

from alex:

HEY FOLKS!!

Apologies for the brevity of this.... life has noooot been letting up! November saw the UK tour wrapping up, as well as a very flying visit to Portugal...

And!!! The proudest moment of my reign as merch queen - we wanted to create new hoodies for the London shows, so I managed to source hoodies that are 100% recycled!!! THATS RIGHT - 70% recycled cotton, 30% recycled plastic bottles, ENTIRELY GUILT FREE MERCH!! so hopefully we can try and stop the planet burning without compromising on our need for merch, ha.

https://ukshop.amandapalmer.net/products/there-will-be-no-intermission-zip-up-hoodie

here's me and michael rocking them at union chapel:

you can get them here now (although sadly we are now past guaranteed christmas delivery, but they can still keep you toasty in the new year!)

see ya next month for a full round up recap of the london december shows!!

-alex

xoxoxox

{alex, you've worked your ASS OFF ON THIS TOUR!!!!!!! thank you, and i hope you get a nice collapse without looking at any box-cutters over the holidays....you deserve it, merch queen - AFP}

.....

now is also a good time to remind you that the team has the twitter and facebook account @AFPwire to share news, info, artwork, extra tickets to shows and more......

so if you have tickets, art, tattoos, ANTYHING....to share, tag @AFPwire, please!!!!

http://twitter.com/afpwire

http://instagram.com/afpwire

.........

(photo by @spej_777, via instragram)

THE "THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION" TOUR.....

as always, all info and tickets can be found on our tour page:

http://amandapalmer.net/shows

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND:

Mon. Dec 30 — Wed.. Jan 1 - WOODFORD, QLD - Woodford Folk Festival

Thurs. Jan 16 — Sat. Jan 18 - LAUNCESTON, TAS - Mona Foma Confessional

Mon. Jan 20 - LAUNCESTON, TAS - Princess Theatre, Mona Foma

Wed. Jan 22 - MELBOURNE, VIC - Hamer Hall (ALMOST SOLD OUT)

Fri. Jan 31 - BRISBANE, QLD - Brisbane Powerhouse

Sat. Feb 1 - BRISBANE, QLD - Brisbane Powerhouse

Fri. Feb 7 - CANBERRA, ACT - Canberra Theatre

Sat. Feb 8 - SPRINGWOOD, NSW - Blue Mountains Theatre (SOLD OUT)

Fri. Feb 14 — Sat. Feb 15 - ADELAIDE, SA - Bonython Hall, Adelaide Fringe 

Thurs. Feb 20 - SYDNEY, NSW - Enmore Theatre (SELLING FAST)

Sat. Feb 22 - PERTH, WA - Perth Concert Hall, Perth Festival 

Sat. Feb 29 - DARWIN, NT - Darwin Entertainment Centre

Thurs. Mar 12 — Fri. Mar 13 - AUCKLAND, NZ - Auckland Arts Festival: Hollywood Avondale (FIRST NIGHT SELING FAST, SECOND NIGHT ALMOST SOLD OUT)

Sat. March 14th - CHRISTCHURCH, NZ - The Piano (**NEWLY ANNOUNCED**)

Mon. March 16th - WELLINGTON, NZ - St Peters Church, Wellington Fringe (**NEWLY ANNOUNCED**)

(photo by allan amato)

if you're on facebook, you can RSVP to the official event pages, invite your friends and more: http://facebook.com/amandapalmer/events

and SPREAD THE WORD, always......

this tour is gonna be a new kind of epic.

.........

OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT.....

judith holofernes IS FINALLY ON PATREON and she's doing great. whether you're german-speaking or not, she's got your back:

https://www.patreon.com/judithholofernes

.......

allan amato, who's now photographed me almost as many times as kyle cassidy....when is kyle going to start a patreon....?

http://patreon.com/allanamato 

.....

joni augustine!!!! who made a painting that is now my beautiful new avatar on social media, has started a patreon too!!!:

http://patreon.com/joniaugustine 

.......

the vagina museum in london!!!!!!!!

......it's now open!!!!! (pun unintended)
https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/

i'm so proud of these folks. GO VISIT THEM IN CAMDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! give them hugs from amanda.

.....

SXIP AND RHIANNON'S NEW SONG,  "ALL BABIES MUST CRY"

my good pal and collaborator (who's also on patreon!!) sxip shirey just teamed up with vocal powerhouse rhinannon giddens (from the caroline chocolate drops) to pen and record a STUNNING song - with an eye towards getting charity donations over to RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), an organization at the forefront of providing legal help to immigrants and refugees., a non-profit that benefits.

it's spine-tingling. listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRHO29T4Gwc 

and if you can. donate. link is in the cut under the clip.

(artwork by swoon)

.........

ART BEGETTING ART DEPT:

this was based on a fragile and tender photo gabrielle took of me moments before my gig in portugal....i was having a rough day.

she's an incredible photographer, isn't she.... (AND SHE ALSO HAS HER OWN PATREON!)

.....

....

i've shared this art from mike kemp (@mkemptattooer) before as a few of you have gotten it tattooed... here's another.....

...

tattoo below inked by @tall_garrett_tattoos

.....and i've been in touch with mike and we have PLOTS.

.........

and now.....

ASH PHOTOS!!!!!!!

his first school concert. i got a little weepy.....

dada reading him a draft of a new childrens' book....

in a black cab on the way.....somewhere.....

in regent's park, looking like a wise little elf.....

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

phew.

i love you all.

thank you for everything.

see you here next month.

comment. i'm readin'.

x

x

a

------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