Many of you remember EQ favourites The Good Natured. Unfortunately, prior to a release of their debut album, they fell victim like many artists to the ups and downs of the record industry. Not letting the drop from their prior label get them down, the duo reemerged stronger than ever. This October, Sarah and Hamish McIntosh better known now as Lovestarrs launched their first ever Kickstarter. With your help the two can finally reach the planets and stars by chipping into the development of their first two EPs (‘Andromeda’ (Spring 2016) and ‘Cassiopeia’ (Summer 2016) and studio album under their new moniker, Planet Lovestarr (Summer 2016)!
As with every Kickstarter, there is an array of prizes to choose from. You can get yourself a pre-order of the new EP’s and album, exclusive covers (just for you!) and some sexy exclusive T-Shirts. There is even a trip for afternoon tea at The Ritz in London. Not sure if they’d let me in there again, almost got kicked out the first time… but that’s another story! Yet, if that prize is your cuppa tea, it’s still up for grabs.
With a little under two weeks left in Lovestarrs’ campaign, we here at EQ Music had the chance to catch up with the lovely Sarah McIntosh to get the details behind the Kickstarter and what you, the contributor, could expect out of your pledge and much more.
Pledge Lovestarrs Kickstarter campaign now
EQ: How do you feel that these new songs reflect the reinvention of yourselves as Lovestarrs vs. The Good Natured? What can we expect out of your new sound? Any little secrets you can spill are completely welcome!
Sarah: Our record is very diverse and we are very proud of that. The record has a lot of bright happy moments, but it also has the darker and more emotional songs not dissimilar to The Good Natured. There’s one song called ‘Without You’ which is super emotional. Some of the lyrics are ‘there’s love in the air but I can’t breathe, blood in my heart but it just won’t beat without you, stars in the sky that I can’t see, a beautiful life that I just can’t lead without you’. There’s a song ‘Lovetrain’ which has taken influence from Robyn, and ‘Good Girls’ sounds like it needs Macklemore rapping on it. It’s a mixture but it all ties together. What I would say is that every song on the record has a good hook, I really just want to write songs people can relate to and remember.
EQ: By the record company releasing you, you’ve had to reach out and do your first Kickstarter. From a personal standpoint, how do you feel like this crowdfunding effort has affected you as an artist?
Sarah: We have really enjoyed reaching out to our fans for our Kickstarter campaign. It’s made us a lot closer to them, just having that constant interaction and feedback from them has honestly been amazing. There have even been moments when we have shed a tear reading some of the amazing emails and comments of love and support. Some people (including EQ Music) have been with us since day one, so it’s pretty emotional. As artists, we feel much more in control of our future, which all round has made happier people. We are a lot more zen too!
EQ: £20,000 ($30,000) for many can seem like a very lofty goal when it comes to putting out music. Why such a large goal? How would that goal affect the final product of the EPs and album etc? What happens if the goal isn’t met (we hope won’t be the case!)?
Sarah: It is a large goal for sure, but in terms of making a ‘pop’ record it is actually very cheap. When we were with EMI / Parlophone over 6 figures was spent on our record, so £20,000 is very low budget in comparison. That £20,000 is for the productions, mixing and mastering of 16 tracks (2 EP’s and our debut album), with the amazing producers on the record already doing us a favour in terms of their rates. I’m not sure what will happen if the goal isn’t met. There are always plan B’s, but I’m very much a plan A or the highway kind of person; what I mean by that is, you have to believe something will work when you start out, so if it doesn’t, we’ll cross that bridge if we get to it!
EQ: What can being on your new label with the Kickstarter accomplish that being on a major label could not? What do you look forward to the most without the constraints of the major label?
Sarah: Funding our own master recordings mean we will own them and license them to our label DEFDISCO. First and foremost, this means we will never be in the position where we can have our music taken away from us ever again, which for us is extremely important. We are looking forward to being part of the creative process in choosing which singles to go with. With DEFDISCO we are a team and it feels like we are all working together towards the same goal with great respect for one and others viewpoints.
EQ: What are your plans after the release of your debut album in 2016? Anything else special we can look forward to upon a successful campaign?
Sarah: Lots of shows around our EP and album release dates. We can’t wait to get gigging again. We are also looking forward to fulfilling the rewards on our Kickstarter, like going on our European holiday with our fan Marjorie who pledged £4,500, and handwriting lyrics and signing photos and sending them to people who have pledged to our campaign. After that, we’ll be back in the studio working on the next album. YAY!
EQ: Lastly, there are many MANY Kickstarter campaigns out there for many different artists. What makes yours different than the others? How would you pitch your campaign to someone who isn’t aware of your past work?
Sarah: There are a lot of different campaigns on Kickstarter and it’s awesome to see the diversity of the projects on there, outside of music too. I would say our campaign stands out because we have a real story behind us. We have been in the position where we have lost an entire body of work to a label, so this time we want to fund our own work so that we aren’t in that position again. We aren’t the only people this has happened to, so for us it’s about artists as a whole taking control of their art and making a stand. We hope people can support that!