Taking This Show On The Road

My Situation

Hi. I’m Jesse. I’ve been making and performing electronic music for 17 years, under the names Da 1 Like Damaja, neur0mancer, and DJ Demonseed, starting out in Toronto in 1996 before relocating to the west coast in 1999. I’ve also been living with a degenerative neuromuscular disorder (similar to Lou Gehrig’s Disease, but progressing slowly, and probably not terminal) for the past 11 years or so, which have rendered me unable to find work. So I’m trying to take my performance to the next level, to get some bookings, and hopefully make something resembling a living as a touring musician. In order to do so, though, I need to expand both my live setup and my studio. There are a bunch of things I need, and while individually they’re all pretty cheap (there are some more expensive items I could use, but I’m forgetting about them for the moment), together they add up to a fair bit, as you can see from the list below, especially with tax and shipping added, and I’m looking for some help to get as many of them as possible. I initially launched this fundraiser on GoFundMe, but am moving it due to the current boycott of that site.

I’m also trying to start a photography career, and running separate campaigns to raise some money for lenses and some other gear (I already have a good DSLR body, though I need a couple more).

https://assets.gogetfunding.com/lens-fund-stage-i/

https://assets.gogetfunding.com/lens-fund-stage-ii/

But lenses are a lot more expensive than music gear, so donations on this campaign go much further. I’m running both of these campaigns on both GoFundMe and Indiegogo, though my IGG campaigns are more intermittent, but also more heavily promoted.

What I Need

I tried to edit this campaign, and instead lost most of the text. So I have to rewrite it all. I'll be a bit more brief this time. I've also updated it a bit, as some new products have been released since I originally wrote it, that would be really helpful to me. I've also removed the Novation X-Station as it's no longer available (other than used).

I need some gear for the studio, as well as some gear for live performance. Live performance is a higher priority, but improving my studio will help me to get bookings. Some gear is also useful for both situations. I perform live sets using software (Ableton Live) and controllers (primarily an Akai APC40), hardware (various synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, effects units, and midi controllers, and a mixer), and also hybrid sets using both Ableton and hardware synthesizers etc. Software sets enable me to have a lot more complexity and depth in my music, but with less flexibility during a performance, and less reliability. Hardware synthesizers, unlike computers, don't crash, and are solidly reliable. They also enable me to change sounds and sequences during a performance, at least to a greater extent than I can with software. But on the other hand, every layer of complexity I want to add to my set requires another synthesizer, and another channel on my mixer. Hardware is also a lot more bulky to travel with. In the studio I mostly work with Ableton Live and software plugins, and what I need most for that is some speakers (studio monitors in 2 sizes (8" Mackies--I have one of those already--and 3" or 4" Genelecs), and a subwoofer), a microphone, and a drum pad controller.

For the studio, I need:

1 Mackie MR8 studio monitor, 2 monitor stands, 2 monitor cables (20' TRS), and a pack of Auralex Mopads monitor isolation pads. About $1000 total.

2 Genelec 8020CPM ($600 each) or 8030BPM ($870 each) studio monitors, plus cables and isolation pads.

1 Mackie MR10S Mk3 ($420) or Focal Professional CMS ($1200) studio subwoofer, plus cables and isolation pads.

Blue Yeti Pro microphone ($250).

Roland SPD-30 Octopad drum pad ($880) and PDS-10 stand ($190)

For performing live, I need: (most of this will also be useful in the studio)

Korg Volcas: ($2990)

1x Beats ($230)

1x Keys ($230)

1x Sample ($230)

3x Bass ($230 each)

7x FM ($230 each)

Roland Airas: ($4100)

1x TR-8 ($620)

1x SYSTEM-1 ($650)

1x SYSTEM-1M ($800)

1x VT-3 ($250)

1x MX-1 ($700)

3x TB-3 ($360 each)

Roland Boutique Series: ($1300)

JX-03 ($400)

JU-06 ($400)

JP-08 ($500)

Arturia Minibrute SE ($600)

Novation BassStation II ($600)

Novation Ultranova ($700)

Korg MS-20 Mini ($750) or MS-20 Kit ($1500)

Korg ARP Odyssey ($1250)

Moog MOTHER-32 ($800)

Akai MPK249 ($460)

Akai APC Key 25 ($145)

Akai MPK Mini ($115)

Akai APC40 ($250)

3x Akai APC20 ($160 each)

Akai APC40 Mk2 ($460)

Akai MPD32 ($330)

Novation Launchpad Pro ($350)

Novation Launch Control ($130)

Ableton Push ($600)

KMI Softstep 2 ($380)

KMI Midi Expander ($60)

Midi Solutions Quadra Thru ($55)

Mark Of The Unicorn Ultralight AVB ($835)

Drum Throne (about $250)

a bunch of drum stands (snare stands maybe, about $70 each)

a laptop stand that can support my hefty 17" gaming laptop (about $200)

Mackie 1642VLZ4 ($840) or ProFX16 V2 ($600) mixer

Gig bags (need several, roughly $200 each)

If I can raise more than enough to cover all of these, I'd like to add:

Elektron Machinedrum (roughly $1900 I think)

Access Virus TI2 ($3850)

Clavia Nord Lead 4 ($3200)

Dave Smith Prophet 12 ($4000)

and a modular synthesizer (price varies--the sky's the limit, really)

but they aren't included in this campaign due to the cost.

You can hear what I do with this stuff on my Soundcloud page, https://soundcloud.com/dneproductions, and in particular in these live sets:

Hardstyle-ish rottertrance-ish This is an Ableton-based live performance set. The style is basically trancey hardcore slowed down to 140bpm, with some classical/marching/film music influences. As you can probably tell, it's difficult to really describe the style.

Multi-genre house This is an Ableton-based live performance set, rooted in house, with a Latin/tribal feel, but also encompassing elements of disco, techno, and hiphop.

Hard trance This is a hardware live performance set, using a Korg Electribe EA-1, a Korg Electribe ER-1, and a mixer. The style is German-style hard trance; there are covers of DJ Dean and Nostrum tracks in the set, the rest is all original.

Techno This is an Ableton-based techno live performance set. Starts out minimal, builds in intensity toward the end.

Jungle and Hardcore This is an Ableton-based set of jungle and oldskool-style breakbeat hardcore.

Da 1 Like Damaja - A Way Of Life An original house track with my own vocals. House music is a way of life. My life. House music is my heart and soul.