tl:dr ↓
My album Textures Of A Long Forgotten Assumption drops today, but not on streaming platforms. The full album is made up of 9 songs. 6 of them are done. 3 of them aren’t. I need your help to finish the project.
You can participate in the drop through 3 form factors:
- The Canon → 4 one-of-one Catalog NFTs + 1 music video NFT (auctions below)
- The Collectibles → 9 vinyl NFTs available on Rarible, each with their own mechanics
- The Copies → 1000 album bundle copies available on my online shop
All of these give you access to:
- a private download of the album’s songs and artwork
- one (1) invitation into the Homemade Universe discord server — my private online community
- one (1) entry into the Flavors Feature Contest. (more info in Collectibles section below)
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Welcome to the official release of Textures Of A Long Forgotten Assumption — my third album.
This 9-song body of work explores the fundamental beliefs we all have and don't dare question. What happens when we do?
The release of this project aims to rip open some of those deeply held beliefs we have around music — what music is, how we value it, and how it’s “supposed to be” distributed.
This release is broken down into 3 sections: The Canon, The Collectibles, and The Copies. To learn more about my thoughts behind this release mix, read my previous essay.
Here’s what’s happening:
- There are 5 one-of-one canonical NFTs on auction below
- There are 9 NFT collectibles now available on Rarible, which are walked through in detail below
- There are 1000 album bundle copies now available on my online shop, also walked through below
All collectors of any of the above will receive:
- a private download of the Textures Of A Long Forgotten Assumptions album's songs and artwork
- one (1) invitation into the Homemade Universe discord server — my private online community.
- one (1) entry into the Flavors Feature Contest. More on this below.
The full Textures Of A Long Forgotten Assumption tracklist is:
- Form
- Tear
- Sand
- Red Balloons
- Crazy
- Island
- Flavors (unfinished)
- Paint (unfinished)
- Untitled (unfinished)
As you can see, three of the nine songs are unfinished. I need your help to finish them, and you can see how in the Collectibles section below.
Let’s begin...
THE CANON
On auction are 4 one-of-one Catalog NFTs for tracks 3 thru 6 — Sand, Red Balloons, Crazy and Island. There is also a one-of-one Zora NFT for the official Form music video, auctioning off on Zora.
You can see who the recipients are for each of the 4 Catalog NFTs being auctioned below. These are the collaborators (writers, producers, engineers) I created this music with.
Track No. 3 — Sand
Sand is written by Danny Majic + myself, and produced by Danny Majic.
This was the first song Danny and I ever wrote together, the very day we met each other. This was also the very first song I wrote after a 10-day cross-country solo drive from Montreal, Canada to Los Angeles, California.
Track No. 4 — Red Balloons
Red Balloons is written by Hayley Gene Penner, Jason Yik Nam Wu + myself, and produced by Rabitt.
This is the first song I've ever released with a co-written top-line. I've always found it difficult to write lyrics and melody with others, but Hayley is a great friend and we truly found a shared energy on this one. And Rabitt always brings the goods.
Track No. 5 — Crazy
Crazy is written by Danny Majic + myself, and produced by Danny Majic.
We wrote this song together at a songwriting camp in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the first ever Really Fun Camp organized by Rabitt.
Track No. 6 — Island
Island is written by Jason Yik Nam Wu + myself, and produced by Rabitt.
We wrote this song together in Jason's studio in Silverlake, Los Angeles. Attached to said studio was the very house we were both living in at the time. This was the last song we wrote together, before I left for Montreal when the pandemic began. A version of the song was first released on streaming platforms in May 2020, on a charity album raising money for MusiCares' Covid Relief Fund.
As you can see in the auctions above above, 5% of funds received are going towards my private community Homemade Universe’s shared treasury. These funds will be used in future co-creative projects together. Since all collectors + purchasers gain access to Homemade Universe, 5% of this project’s proceeds are funnelling into a community that you are co-creator and co-owner of.
Form — The Official Music Video
The official music video for "Form" is now up for auction on Zora, filmed + edited by myself while stuck in a quarantine hotel in Montreal in May 2020. 🥽
Form is written by Jason Yik Nam Wu + myself, and produced by Rabitt.
The reserve bid is 0.5 ETH. You can bid here.
THE COLLECTIBLES
There are 9 collectible NFTs — one for each song on the album.
Tracks no. 1 thru 6 — Form, Tear, Sand, Red Balloons, Crazy, Island
The collectibles for the 6 finished songs can be viewed and collected here. Each NFT is an edition of 5, priced at 0.1 ETH.
The 3 unfinished songs each have their own mechanics in place to experiment with 3 different forms of collective creation…
Track no. 7 — Flavors + the Flavors Feature Contest
Flavors is written by Matt Parad + myself, and produced by Matt Parad. We started writing this song on my birthday. It was the first time Matt and I had ever worked together.
The song is nearly finished, but has an empty second verse that needs a feature. Hence, the Flavors Feature Contest. Anyone who collects an NFT or purchases an album bundle copy receives one (1) entry into the contest.
After your purchase and/or collection, you’ll receive a private download of the album. Included will be an mp3 of Flavors with an open second verse. You can use that file to start writing your verse. You will also gain access to the Homemade Universe discord server, where you will be able to submit your version of Flavors. Submissions will close on June 20 2021.
A winner will then be chosen to be the official feature of Flavors. The final version of the song with your verse on it will then be released as a 1/1 Catalog NFT and, eventually, on the Textures OF A Long Forgotten Assumption album release on streaming platforms.
The winner will also receive this 1/1 collectible NFT of Flavors, as well as 10% of the master’s future earnings (through NFT sales, streaming royalties etc).
Track no. 8 — Paint + the Silent Auction
The song Paint is still in a very early demo stage. In fact, I don’t yet have a chorus for it. I wrote the beginnings of this song with Danny Majic, and have always loved the first verse and pre-chorus. But there is still a ways to go on this song, and I am looking for 1 partner to join along for the ride.
This partner will be the creative director for the song Paint — and this role can look many different ways. Perhaps you’re a musician and can help with the songwriting or production of the song, perhaps you’re visual artists and can help on the visual side. Perhaps you don’t consider yourself an artist whatsoever, but can help on the outreach and marketing side. Perhaps you just want to get a closer look into the makings of a song, and just want to take pictures of the process on your disposable camera. Whatever it may be! This creative director position is yours to fill however you choose, should you win it of course.
Now, how do you win it?
The Paint collectible is a 1/1 NFT on Rarible, and is up for Silent Auction.
Yes, that’s correct. Silent Auction.
To win this auction, you must email me your bid.
That’s correct. Email me your bid at paintauctionbid@gmail.com.
Your bid can be in ETH, it can be in USD, it can be in CAD, or DOGE or WRITE or any other currency on the planet. It can also be a non-currency bid! It can be a barter of some kind — maybe a good or maybe a service. Anything! Get creative!
This is for the role of creative director on the song. So show me your creativity. And show me how much you want it. :)
Once the first bid is in, a 24-hour countdown will commence. I will announce updates on the Silent Auction in real-time on twitter.
The winner will be the official creative director for Paint, win this 1/1 collectible NFT, and receive 10% of the master’s future earnings (through NFT sales, streaming royalties etc).
Track no. 9 — Untitled + the Untitled Creative Director DAO
Grab your entry NFT into the Untitled Creative Director DAO here.
1 creative director is great. But what about 100?
Yes, that’s correct. 100 creative directors.
That is what I am in search of for this last song on the album, which does not yet even have a name. As you can see, we have our work cut out for ourselves.
In fact, I’m not even sure which demo on mine should be the 9th and final song on the project. There are a few options that I really love, but I need your help to decide on which one to pursue. That is where we will start our collective decision making. Here’s how it works:
The Untitled collectible is a 100 edition NFT on Rarible, with each edition priced at 0.03 ETH. I ask that you purchase a maximum of 1 edition per wallet.
The Untitled collectible NFT will act as the access token into a gated set of channels on the Homemade Universe discord, where this community of 100 people will convene and begin the creative direction of the song.
Each edition represents 1 vote in the Untitled Creative Director DAO that will be formed to govern the completion of this final song of the album, as well as 0.1% of the master’s future earnings (through NFT sales, streaming royalties, etc). This means that 100 people will together own 10% of the song’s final master.
THE COPIES
The final form this album is being released today is with 1000 album bundle copies, available for purchase on my online shop here.
This bundle comes with:
- the first 7 tracks off the album, including Flavors with the empty second verse
- 8 pieces of album artwork
- one (1) invitation to Homemade Universe
- one (1) entry into the Flavors Feature Contest (more info in the Collectibles section above
After your purchase, you will receive an access card into the Homemade Universe discord — which will give you access to the private set of channels available to members.
The album bundle will be available for up to two weeks or up to 1000 copies, whichever comes first.
You can purchase an album bundle copy here.
A Final Thought
In building this release out, I realized I missed one more word in my cute little alliteration.
The full phrase should go → Canon, Collectibles, Copies, and Community.
This project in some ways only begins today, in that it is the first page in our story of exploring collective creation together. For the final 3 songs, we will begin a new journey of seeing what it is like for a community to create together in 3 very different ways — one as a contest, one as a 1-to-1 relationship, and 1 as a DAO making decisions together. It is also the beginning of exploring the possibilities around sharing in the equity of our co-creations in this way.
The other thing you may notice in the splits delineated in the Canon NFTs above, is my private community Homemade Universe is receiving 5% of all auction revenues. Those funds will go into a shared treasury controlled by the community, which we will use for future co-creative projects together.
I’m incredibly excited to go on this new journey with you. And learn what it means to bring together like-minded individuals around my art, and create real value together.
This is just the beginning.
Thanks for being here. 🌻