ARCHSPIRE’s DEAN LAMB Addresses Accusations Over The Band’s Recent Kickstarter

Archspire recently launched a Kickstarter campaign after going fully independent as a band. Archspire sought $125,000 on Kickstarter to fund their endeavor (a goal they’ve since smashed), with the cost breakdowns being as follows:

Invested so far (all values in USD):

• Studio time with Dave Otero (first session): $14,350
• Studio accommodations (first session): $1,620
• Studio living expenses (first session): $5,929
• Flights: $5,520
• Album artwork (first payment): $1,166
• T-shirt designs: $2,000
• Studio musician fees: $5,100
• Behind the scenes documentary (first payment): $2,400
• Work visas for the band: $7,865
• Lyric book artwork: $2,250
• Exec. Coordinator while in studio (Brett): $1,400

Left to fundraise:

• Studio time with Dave Otero (second session): $14,350
• Studio accommodations (second session): $1,620
• Studio living expenses (second session): $3,000
• Flights: $1,400
• Album artwork (second payment): $1,166
• Album CD, vinyl and tape layout: $1,000
• Band photos (Alex Morgan incl. flights): $2,500
• PR, marketing, advertising: $15,000
• Music videos: $30,000
• Lyric video: $750
• Additional studio musician fees: $3,000
• Behind the scenes documentary (2nd payment): $3,600
• Vinyl production (1250 units): $24,450
• CD production (750 units): $3,810
• Archspire patches (500 units): $1,335
• Staytech pins (500 units): $1,000
• Posters incl. poster tubes (300 units): $873
• T-shirts (750 units): $7,500
• Wall flags (300 units): $2,223
• Lyric book (300 units): $2,400

Naturally a band asking for $125,000 to go independent has raised quite a commotion in the comments of every article talking about it – mostly people crying “scam!” Archspire guitarist Dean Lamb has published a pretty lengthy video that you can check out above addressing why Archspire needs that much money, how it’s spent, and the band’s entire ethos behind doing what they do.

“All we want to do as a band is continue to make the stuff that we love to make, and reaching out to fans directly seems like the best way to do it independently,” said Lamb at the end of the video. “You know, before this, we had a label that would give us an advance for the record — and that would be great — but in the end, you’re selling the rights to the music that you created.

“I’m 37 years old now and have been doing this long enough. Selling the rights to the music that I spent so many years creating — I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to own it. We all want to own it, each one of us. This crowdfunding campaign reflects and represents us being able to do the thing that we want to do at the highest level that we can possibly do it. And then we own it at the end of the day. And that’s fucking so sick.”