Starcastle

[JKL2000]

I do appreciate your input, however pulling together the resources to redo the website with a professional would be a much easier proposition had the band ever been paid anything by either Epic, Sony or ProgRock Records. On Song of Times, we put untold hours into the CD over 10 years, incurred expenses traveling to record and paid thousands in artwork, mixing/mastering, had to suffer through the loss of a dear friend and received nothing, despite ProgRock Records selling thousands of copies of the CD and downloads. We also invested several thousand dollars in the current website. Our hope was to find someone who had the skills and was a fan of the music to help us out, and as we have success they would grow with us. We are also trying to conserve as much as we can in order to finish the three releases currently being worked on, Rosfest 2007, Alchemy, the California body of work and a CD with new material being written at this time.

My intent in sharing this is to explain that there are financial realities that we, and other bands, have to deal with that maybe everyone isn't aware of. Thanks.

ProgRock Records seems to still be operating - is Starcastle still trying to get them to pay the money they owe? I wonder if other bands such as Moon Safari have had trouble getting paid by them?

[the winter tree]

I signed with them for 1 album. They wanted 700(??!!??) free promo CDs to give out. I refused. Payments were always late and the accounting was vague. I chose not to sign with them on our next album ("Guardians").

[Mt. Pleasant Farm]

I think Dave Kerzner is using kickstarter. Hopefully he will see this thread. He is a member of PE and posts quite often. We can get you hooked up with someone.

[Mt. Pleasant Farm]

District 97 is using kickstarter also. Read their thread on the main board.

[Bruce]

Thanks! this is quite helpful and I will follow up!

[Fracktured]

A little respect would be nice, they certainly deserve it. Gary Strater is one of my favorite bassists of all time.

I found Gary's bass wonderful to listen to. He was the best part of starcastle

[Vic2012]

I have the first two albums. I like them but they're like candy prog. Very sugary, but they're good.

[moecurlythanu]

candy prog

C'mon. We've got enough subgenres. We can do without the Willy Wonka Prog subgenre.

[Brian Griffin]

Typical "pile on" on these guys

Candy prog?

Fail

BG

[Vic2012]

I know, it's silly (calling them "candy prog") but when I hear the mini-moog on the first album that's what comes to mind. Doesn't mean I don't like Starcastle. I'd put Ambrosia in the same category too. It's prog with a dose of sugar. I'd even consider a lot of Yes' output as "candy prog" (And You And I, To Be Over, etc.). I know, it sounds like an insult but it just came to my mind yesterday when I was reading this thread and found some inspiration through this and this .....and thus..... I kinda like that label though. We're always coming up with new sub genres and labels and shit. Carry on .

[Brian Griffin]

Well, if And You and I and 2 b over are candy prog, I'm in

: )

BG

[Vic2012]

I guess you could replace "candy" with "melodic" but melodic prog could be anything and not be candy-prog. Or whatever, I'm a bit hungover at the moment and in a very silly mood.....burp.

Anyway, seriously I'd never heard of Starcastle until I got on this prog kick back in 1998 or so. I found the first album at a Virgin Megastore (that sold a lot of prog albums) for 10 dollars. It had one of those orange "Nice Price" stickers on it, as if to say I got a "bargain bin" deal. I like the album but the sugary sweet minimoog is really thick on the whole album. But the musicianship is great and the songs are good. The harmonies are very sweet too (and all the YES comparisons are warranted too). I also found "Fountains Of Light" in the same store but for whatever reason that CD was priced at $18.99, and that was in 1999 or 2000. I downloaded (yes I paid for it) FOL from emusic years ago. It's pretty good too. It's a nice follow up to the first album. Haven't heard it in a while, maybe tonight I'll play both albums.

[Brian Griffin]

I think the first two are very good in retrospect

Melodic,and high energy

I didn't give these guys a fair shake when they were new, saw them open for Gentle Giant in NYC in 76', and was dismissive - but that's on me

BG

[arturs]

I signed with them for 1 album. They wanted 700(??!!??) free promo CDs to give out. I refused. Payments were always late and the accounting was vague. I chose not to sign with them on our next album ("Guardians").

LOL! Another PE poster said his band had signed to Rykodisc, and the label demanded 1400 free promos. 1400. I mean, it's nice to get blog reviews and all but you gotta wonder how many promos it takes to get one blog review.

And the poster also said that his band had a hard time selling their discs b/c so many of the promos just ended up on Amazon and Ebay.

Anyway good that you refused!

More relevant to the thread: I bet Starcastle would do well on Kickstarter. They are a known band/brand, and still have a lot of fans, me included.

[profusion]

Another thought: is it really worth putting lots of effort into a formal band web site in 2014? I'd be more concerned about having somebody oversee the band's social media presence 24/7.

[the winter tree]

[QUOTE=arturs;300488]LOL! Another PE poster said his band had signed to Rykodisc, and the label demanded 1400 free promos. 1400. I mean, it's nice to get blog reviews and all but you gotta wonder how many promos it takes to get one blog review.

And the poster also said that his band had a hard time selling their discs b/c so many of the promos just ended up on Amazon and Ebay.

Anyway good that you refused!


These labels could easily sell most of the "Promos" and the band or artist would have no idea. They know most musicians can't afford lawyers and all the legal hoops. Just saying.... ;-)

[ronmac]

Another thought: is it really worth putting lots of effort into a formal band web site in 2014? I'd be more concerned about having somebody oversee the band's social media presence 24/7.

Well, that is part of the OP. You need both, anyway, because not everyone is using FaceBook. Especially, if you're tapping into our audience. They serve different purposes and go hand-in-hand. The web site moves product among other things that social doesn't do. Social does things that the site wouldn't do.

[Adrian]

I know it's not the most desirable solution, but why not use one of the website-building services? Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace all offer a variety of customizable templates, and they look very professional. You'd just have to bring your own artwork. All the services can be used for free, but they're very reasonable for businesses that want to do things like use their own domain names.

Just a thought. At least you could get a new website off the ground that way.

[ronmac]

^^ I would suggest a WordPress site before any of those online services. WP is cross-platform-friendly, bolstered by a robust open development community, SEO-friendly, and FREE. The themes (templates) are only about 50 bucks. And, best of all, you don't lose everything when you move on, like you do with some of the other services.

Some of these services, like Inuit, are not Mac-friendly, either. Yes, it's online-based, but when they offer special features, many of them focus only on Windows users. Yeah, I get it; it's a business decision. But, you don't get any of that with WordPress.

[Adrian]

WordPress is a great option, too! I forgot to mention it (and wasn't aware of some of its advantages). Thanks, ronmac.

[JKL2000]

I know, it's silly (calling them "candy prog") but when I hear the mini-moog on the first album that's what comes to mind. Doesn't mean I don't like Starcastle. I'd put Ambrosia in the same category too. It's prog with a dose of sugar. I'd even consider a lot of Yes' output as "candy prog" (And You And I, To Be Over, etc.). I know, it sounds like an insult but it just came to my mind yesterday when I was reading this thread and found some inspiration through this and this .....and thus..... I kinda like that label though. We're always coming up with new sub genres and labels and shit. Carry on .

Styx!

[Vic2012]

Yeah, you can call Styx candy prog too. Don't call Kansas candy prog though.

[Superfly]

Yeah, you can call Styx candy prog too. Don't call Kansas candy prog though.

True, that's more "Corndog Prog" than candy prog

[Shadow]

True, that's more "Corndog Prog" than candy prog

I guess that's better than being "Cornholed".

[Vic2012]

.... "Corndog Prog" ....

Ha.....