While System of a Down still sleeps soundly in terms of new material, drummer John Dolmayan decided it is high time to raise the funds for his new covers project These Grey Men. Dolmayan is asking for $55,000, which he explains below.
"The recording process will cost upwards of $75,000 including engineer, recording space and equipment. Factoring in touring costs will also cause this number to grow substantially.
Because we are currently developing this project without the financial and marketing support of a record label, we are covering all of the expenses associated with this project out of pocket, which, as you see, can be quite costly. Knowing how expensive making and touring music can be, we've set our fundraising goal at what we believe to be an attainable $55,000. Any money that we're able to raise beyond that amount will thus also go into recording and touring costs."
You know the drill by this point with Kickstarted-based news pieces, since we've seen a thousand of them crop up in the last year- there's a video below of Dolmayan and his guitarist James Hazley talking about the project and all that jazz. As of myself writing this around 10 p.m. on Monday, June 16, the project has already accrued over $9,000.
"The album will cover a range of songs from artists such as Radiohead and Outkast to David Bowie, and will include an all-star band that we're in the process of developing now. For this project, lots of different styles are going to be Incorporated, especially drum-wise. The sound is going to be rock-derivative, and will also include some hip-hop songs explored through the lens of rock. There are no limitations artistically for this project. "