These pedals are not for sale. Which is to say that they exist only in the foibles of each Stick Around and my crazy little brain and Photoshop skills. We’d love to consider prints, shirts and cards if enough of you are interested. It’s incredibly difficult these days to navigate the harsh economic realities of the music business today, even at a part time/DIY level. We’re always excited about new projects, ideas and of course new music. Still, it’s incredibly difficult to know what people value when it comes to music, and how to meet them in a way that is true to our creative work and allows the chance to earn a responsible income from the work we generate as well.

Commerce and creativity are often not a good match, but I am working on a number of projects for 2023 to tell more stories about what it’s like to make music in this day and age, and why people are still motivated to do creative work even when the financial rewards for those endeavors and talents keeps shrinking. What does it cost to put out songs? How do people get paid? Can you tour and make money? What is happening to filmmakers, authors, journalists, photographers and other talented creators who have seen their work reduce in value over time as their skills improve and their story becomes more compelling to hear?

It’s a lot of big ideas to wrestle with, but I have reached a point where I just need to start having conversations and see what happens.

All of this stuff is related to each other and is a huge portion of my life. My bands, my music, my community, my design, my ideas, my beliefs and my politics are all built into what I make and put back out into the world. This is a fun way for me to share stories about our band and the people that I get to make it with. I am glad to have you here along for the ride. I am looking forward to sharing much more soon about all of these ideas and more. I hope you’ll follow along while I share with you what I discover during these talks with artists, and hopefully we can learn together what it’s like to try build a life out of making something meaningful.

What you can do support the project right now and the work we do with the label is support the Stick Arounds, Harborcoat, Phonophore Records and any other musicians at any level that make work you appreciate. Buy a digital release. Pick up a t-shirt. Order some vinyl. You can even just make a donation to our label fund if you’re feeling generous and don’t want more physical stuff to deal with after the holidays.

Thanks as always for your support, encouragement and feedback. Looking forward to great things in 2023. Can’t wait to see you out there.

Love,

Matty C
The Stick Arounds, Harborcoat and Phonophore Records