Recording the missing musical chapter

Hi, I'm Nicholas Wells. If you're visiting this page, you're probably familiar with my music! It has always been a huge part of who I am to want to share the stories of my life with others through songs, and it's been an incredibly meaningful journey meeting listeners who identify with my music. I think of it like finding kindred spirits in this world. Over the years I've (officially) recorded and released 5 albums, 3 EPs, and 5 singles, totaling 5 hours and 27 minutes of recorded music. It's something I'm very proud of.

The reason I'm here on this website though is because these projects are an incredible monetary strain. That's not to say that I wouldn't do it all over again in a heartbeat. It's just that going forward, I hope to procure a little help.

The next musical endeavor that I've been planning involves 13 songs. I'll speak more below about the mission and meaning of this project, but I want to get right to the point here. I've broken down the expenses for recording it and the total is the funding goal of $28,530. (I'll also break this cost down below for you to see). You may be thinking, “okay, but you’re going to monetize this in the end.” That’s true, however, being realistic about it, that would equal 9,510,000 paid streams that I would need on Spotify to break even. That’s no small feat. You’ll see in my breakdown that in no way would I plan to pay myself out of this funding budget or anything. It’s literally just out-of-pocket costs for musicians, studio time, mixing/mastering, and logistics. Extrapolate that figure to 5 albums, 3 EPs, and 5 singles over the years, and you’ll see why I’ve decided that running a GoFundMe campaign is worth a shot.

I’m still going to figure out a way to make these projects happen even if this campaign is not successful. That’s for sure. But I may have to sacrifice certain production methods or elements here and there to make it doable. If you’ve been enjoying my music in any way over the years and you’d like to be a part of creating more in the best way possible, I hope you’ll consider contributing to this fundraiser.

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Here’s what’s on the docket!

It’s one full album as well as a separate single song. I’ve already started recording demos and writing arrangements.

The single song, called “Differently,” will most likely be first to come out. I just finished it recently and I don’t know if this is just because it’s the most recent thing I’ve finished, but I think it may have my favorite chorus. Ever.

The album will be something particularly special. I’m tentatively calling it “Before 17.” From the ages of thirteen to sixteen, I wrote so many intensely emotional songs. This incredibly impactful time in my life inspired many songs, some that I’ve even actually included on a couple of albums of mine that have been released. As I learned about myself, the world, life, and love, I found myself constantly compelled to express the ups and downs through music. I flash back there all the time in my mind and still take creative inspiration from many of the ways in which those years shaped my life. In recent months, I’ve gone back to all of my old home recordings and picked out twelve of the songs that I wish were part of my published catalog. Of course the recordings from back then are pretty rough around the edges as I was just beginning to learn to arrange and produce my songs, but I feel that the melodies and lyrics are really there. The songs fill in a big part of my story – kind of like a prequel. I’ve been feeling very inspired over the last couple of months and I’ve worked up new arrangements for a number of them. My goal is to pay tribute to what I was going for with my production ideas from back then, but to expand upon them greatly so that these songs can see the light of day in the form that I had envisioned for them in my head twenty years ago. I’ve heard the phrase, “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” I feel like this album will be my “smile because it happened.”

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The expense breakdown:

3 days of recording strings (string players, recording engineer, studio fees): $8,400

1 day recording additional orchestral (horns, woodwinds, engineer, studio): $1,300

2 days recording piano (recording engineer, piano tuning fee, studio fee): $1,750

2 days recording electric guitar (I plan to record the acoustic guitars myself, but I’ll need a more skilled player for the intricate electric parts I’d like) (Guitar player, Engineer): $2,000

2 Days recording bass (bass player/engineer): $1,000

2 Days recording drums (Drummer, engineer) $2,000

2 Days synth and electronic keys recording (engineer/studio) $1,000

Mixing/Mastering 13 songs: $7,800

5 flights to NY to work (I live in SC now): $1,250

70 meals for musicians at $25 each: $1,750

Guitar setup / restring: $80

Cover art design: $200

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If you’ve made it all the way here, perhaps you’re that much more interested in helping to make this all happen. Thank you for your consideration, and most of all, thank you for listening to my music and bringing meaning to it.

Nicholas