To make the most out of the chance of a lifetime, you may have to make some sacrifices. For thelastplaceyoulook that means quitting their day jobs, looking for more affordable housing, and leaving their families behind for six weeks.
Having built a dedicated fan base here at home the band now find themselves preparing for their first national tour. They'll spend six weeks on the road opening for 10 Years and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus playing to new crowds in exotic locations such as Madison, WI and Lancaster, PA.
Financially speaking it's not easy for a band with no major label support to commit to a tour like this. That's why the band has turned to the fans for tour support in the form of a recently announced Kickstarter campaign.
So what does it cost to hit the road for six weeks? Well, according to the budget attached to the campaign it's close to $19,000. The bulk of that is going to go gas, food, merch, and having a place to stay, although they admit they're hoping to find some new friends on the road to help them save some money on that last one.
While all of those things are important, it's the down payment on a new van that may be most important of all. As they explain in the video for the campaign their current van "Big Red" is a gas guzzler and a new vehicle would go a long way in bringing down the cost of the tour.
"It will literally cut our gas costs by 60%," the band tells us.
Add in money for a tour manager/sound/merch person, promo beards, making the new van tour ready, and having some extra cash on hand in case something bad happens and you can see how the budget starts to skyrocket. That said it's not exactly the high life.
"This isn't a tour bus," they explain. "This is the gas-station-bathroom showering, floor crashing, seven guys in a van kind of tour." One notable thing about this campaign is the amount they're trying to raise. Even though their tour budget currently sits at $18,710 they're not asking the fans to cover the entire thing for them. They're not even asking for half of the funds to come from the fans. They're just looking for $7,000 to help out with the money they've already saved up.
And then there are the rewards. For those new to Kickstarting, when you pledge to a campaign you receive a reward depending on how much you pledged. This campaign features many of the rewards you'd typically find on the site- thank you messages, signed merch, tickets to a show- but there are a couple that we found extra interesting.
* For a $150 pledge they'll cover the song of your choice. Unfortunately this one is already sold out so our dream of getting them to cover Ke$ha's "The Harold Song" will have to wait for another time.
* For a $1,000 pledge you can name their new van. It won't be an unofficial name either; they'll put it right on the side for the entire world to see.
* For a $10,000 pledge Justin Nava will shave his magnificent beard and mail it to you. What you choose to do with it after that is between you and your creator.
With 14 days left to reach their funding goal the band has already received $3,500 in pledges. For a campaign that's only been alive for a few days it's a pretty stunning number and a testament to just how much their music has meant to their fans.
And for the band that's really all that it's about.
"To see the support and the posts and everybody pitching in, even if it is only just to post a link, it really is gratifying," they said. "We're just really thankful we have been able to create this kind of response to our music and what we do."
