Welcome back :)

Last week, I told you all about my name change from handsome grandson to yadzi here.

This week, I’d like to invite you into the creative process with me.

Into Our Hands - an EP, a collaborative crowdfund, a community embodied

Using my hands, I created a record. My fingerprints are deeply imprinted on the record through the stories I tell in the songs - stories so personal it’s taken me two years since writing some of them to build the courage to release them. Much of that courage came from finding a community that felt like home - and that community is Songcamp.

The friendships I’ve formed in Songcamp are incredibly special to me because I’ve never felt so encouraged by a community to share my whole self through artistic expression. My experience in web3 has been life changing - never before have I been surrounded by so many brilliant minds and pure hearts that lift each other up and celebrate authenticity. I want to capture that essence in my art.

I want to show everyone who listens to this record all of the hands that helped make it come to life; I want to make an art piece that shows them that it was not just my hands, but our hands.

Yes, the songs on the record are finished, but that is only its gestation. This record will come to life through its release. And to do that, I could use your help…

Join me in the creative process!

I’m still working on two final sub-projects for the EP: an intro track, and visual artwork. I invite you to co-create those works with me by becoming a contributor to this crowdfund!

By participating in the crowdfund, you can help me create the following:

Intro Track

I’ll be creating a 60-second intro track for the EP containing a lush soundscape of people doing things with their hands! Participants in this crowdfund (of qualifying level) will have the opportunity to send me a sound-byte of their hands doing something they love to do (e.g. playing an instrument, petting an animal, playing a sport, cooking/baking, etc). Audio submissions will be featured in the Intro Track. When the Intro Track is sold later this Fall as a 1/1 NFT, 20% of the revenue from the sale will be divided equally amongst those who submitted audio.

Intro Track Cover Artwork

The cover art for the Intro Track 1/1 NFT will be a photo-collage of hands; more specifically, the hands of each and every supporter of this crowdfund! All participants will have an opportunity to send me a photo of their hands to be included in the piece.

NFT Editions Cover Artwork

Later this Fall, I’ll be releasing each of the 4 songs from the EP (not including Intro Track) as NFT Editions. Most of the editions will have cover artwork designed by me, but one special edition will feature cover art co-created by crowdfund contributors. I will ask participants (of qualifying level) to send me a close-up photograph of their hands doing something they love to do. Those photos will become cover artworks for the NFT Editions. When the special NFT Edition is sold, the featured Contributor will receive 50% of the revenue from the sale.

The Intro Track, its Cover Artwork, and the EP itself will all be titled Into Our Hands.

Contributor Levels:

Glass Contributors will have:

• opportunity to submit a photo for the Intro Track Cover Artwork photo collage

In addition to…

• early access to each EP song before it’s officially released

• sneak preview of my very first music video, currently in post-production

• exclusive access to a never-before-seen live performance video

• token-gated access to private channels on yadzi Discord server

Chrome Contributors will have:

• everything from Glass level, plus…

• opportunity to submit audio for the Intro Track, and will be included in the split for the Intro Track NFT sale

Gold Contributors will have:

• everything in Glass and Chrome levels, plus…

• opportunity to submit a photo to be used as NFT Edition Cover Artwork for one of the songs from the EP, and collect 50% of revenue from the sale of the special edition featuring their hands

Hidden level 😶‍🌫️ - Iridescent Contributors:

• unlock by

  • collecting Glass, Chrome, and Gold level NFTs

  • collecting 3 Chrome level and 1 Glass level NFTs

  • collecting 4 Glass level and 1 Chrome Level NFTs

  • collecting 5 Glass level NFTs

• you will be airdropped an exclusive Iridescent ‘Into Our Hands’ NFT

• receive everything in Glass, Chrome, and Gold levels, plus…

• be one of the first people to ever listen through the EP in its entirety with exclusive access to private SoundCloud link

• free admission to all yadzi shows thru the end of 2022

Crowdfund Tickets

The Crowdfund NFT Tickets are your pass to participate in the collaborations outlined above. Here’s what they look like…

Glass

Mint your Glass Contributor NFT here!

Chrome

Mint your Chrome Contributor NFT here!

Gold

Mint your Gold Contributor NFT here!

Why crowdfund?

This record will come to life through its release - therefore its release needs to be promoted! My promotion goals are as follows:

• Release each song as NFT editions

• Two music videos

• Shows in LA and NY before the end of this year and the beginning of next year.

Music Videos:

I’ve already shot one music video for this EP, and it’s currently in post-production. I worked with amazing, multitalented director (and friend) Emerson (@3m.rsn) of NYC/Boston-based Ulysses Media on a music video for my song Catch Me. That video is currently in post-production, and since it went so well we’d like to shoot another video together before the end of the year!

Emerson and a small crew of other talented folks were generous enough to pour their time/energy/talent into the Catch Me video completely pro bono up front. I am extremely grateful for that! But I’d really like to compensate them for their efforts on that video, and the next video. A portion of the revenue generated from this crowdfund will go toward those projects.

Live Shows:

I’m playing my first show as yadzi in LA on October 4, 2022 (tickets available here)! I’ll be booking more shows in LA before the end of the year, and one of my goals is to play a show NYC as well! I would LOVE to play shows with a backup band to really do justice to these songs that I love so much. I feel that I’m most in my element when I’m playing with other musicians, so I’m putting together a band for future shows. I want to pay them what they deserve, so a portion of the revenue generated from this crowdfund will go toward paying talented musicians to do what they are best at!

Who’s yadzi?

🙋‍♂️ I am! I was born and raised in Albany, NY, and I became obsessed with playing drums at age 4. My childhood consisted of playing on my father’s drum kit for hours along with my favorite music: Led Zeppelin, The Police, Van Halen, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, and Phil Colins’ Tarzan soundtrack.

Throughout my youth, I played in bands with friends (always behind the drum kit), but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I taught myself guitar and piano so that I could play pop songs (with the hope of impressing girls).

I studied architecture at University at Buffalo, which helped me realize that if buildings are designed, then so is music. This revelation - along with newfound obsessions with The 1975, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, and Bon Iver - sparked my interest in music production & songwriting, which quickly turned from a hobby into a passion.

After graduating, I switched my creative focus completely to music. In 2019 I packed my sedan from top-to-bottom (drum kit included) and moved with the love of my life to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a music artist. I now write, record, produce, and mix all of my songs at my home studio in LA.

For the past year and a half, I’ve been heavily involved with Songcamp. In Camp Elektra, I was a member of the Swarm - a multidisciplinary group of artists that created stories, scripts, voiceovers, music, and interactive elements to help build the immersive world of Elektra. In Camp Chaos, I conceptualized and stewarded the Alchemy initiative: a group of 9 musicians tasked with creating compositions highly influenced/inspired by the works of the larger, 36-person music-making cohort.

Who’s Katie?

Katie is the aforementioned love of my life! She is my life partner, and creative partner. This collaborative crowdfund initiative is about bringing together and embodying the community that has helped me find myself as an artist, and no one helped me more than Katie - that’s why it’s her hand that is featured in the crowdfunding NFTs! Without her creative contributions, this project would not be possible; from the design of the crowdfund to the NFTs themselves, Katie had a hand (😉) in crafting every facet. She has refused (repeatedly) any form of compensation/percentage of the revenue from this crowdfund because that’s the kind of person she is: generous and endlessly supportive. Thank you Katie!

Links to Crowdfund Tickets

Ready to join? Choose your contributor level and follow the links below to mint your NFT Ticket on Zora.

Glass Contributor

Chrome Contributor

Gold Contributor

much love <3

yadzi