Can You Help Grow KULTURE
Michael Gray Griffith
Dear Followers
Last night we went to an open mic to watch Ben Antoniadis perform.
There were musicians there who sang three songs each. Initially they would do a cover, to show people they could sing, then they would almost apologise before singing original songs. Many of these showed real promise.
Afterwards, we chatted to these musos about KULTURE. Told them that we were after new music. Stating it had never been a more important time to be an Artist, as humanity itself was under so many cultural threats, including fromiiq¹ AI, that society need our artists to question it all.
The young artists were more than interested. It was like they had never heard anyone speak like this. They were also astounded when we told them we’d made money for the artists already on board. They took our details and said they’d check us out. So let’s see.
What was interesting, is that there was no audience, there was just musos waiting to sing and us.
I felt two things,
1: That these artists were the remnants of a long, defeated army.
2: That this was a gold mine, that the big corporations had already classified as stripped bare. They are wrong. There may not have been a Taylor Swift, but young artists, singing new authentic songs about the troubles of our time, combined under Kulture, could be a powerful force.
KULTURE, a community of liberated artists, who could not only tackle all the issues around Covid, but all the issues we are facing.
If we market them correctly, as the raw and passionate, brave artists they could be, we could start creating folk heroes out of them, while simultaneously creating an inspiring space where new work, perhaps the most defining work of our era, could be born.
That new work could reignite our county’s embattled Culture, and Politics is downstream from culture.
We aren’t there yet, but since the ninth Kulture show, where we started selling the songs of our artists, we have sold almost 600 songs, at five dollars a pop, despite heavy censorship. Our Customers love supporting this idea, and at $5.00 a song, it allows them to participate for the price of a coffee.
600 songs, might not sound significant, but considering that these are unknown artists, writing about things that matter, in a time when that is frowned upon, and in a time too where Spotify only offers these artists, .00004 cents per stream, or something ridiculous like that, it is significant. It could be the crack that challenges the dam.
What we are after now is a venue, a cheap venue in the heart of Melbourne, that will become, perhaps, the coolest, and most powerful art space in the country.
The CLO. (Café Locked Out.)
Podcasts could be streamed from there, making them look more professional.
Merch could be sold there, coffee and the like, (simple stuff) quickly making the venue, financially self-sufficient.
But no alcohol. Just art, coffee, tea and powerful conversations.
I can see photos emerging from there of prominent members of our movement, because when they are in Melbourne, they all come to The CLO. This will help create mystique, even infamy. And if the venue was attacked, or bullied by the state, that too would help make it ever more cool.
And if it worked in Melbourne, it could be replicated.
Currently
· I am heading to Kerang this weekend to work with the guy creating our merch.
· We are also in the planning to start live gigs.
· The Website is also being updated.
· Theatre too, is already up, and working.
When it comes to our Tribe KULTURE is the breathe of fresh air we need, and it could be our greatest recruiting tool.
You suggested checking us out, to look to where you could invest.
I suggest that there are two things we need:
1: Currently we are using an American platform to sell the songs. What we need to do is build our own streaming platform. We already have three musos, who are selling through us from overseas. With the right platform that could grow.
2: A lease on a venue, somewhere in Melbourne, that becomes the HUB, for all of this. If the venue can support live performances, it should quickly become economically self-sufficient.
After this is working towards a recording studio, where we start lifting the quality of the better songs, but this isn’t essential yet. I feel our rawness is our edge.
If you’d like to know more please contact us at cafelockedout@gmail.com
Regards
Michael Gray Griffith