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In 1998, the rock band Phantom Pulse when on their first official tour. It was mostly basement venues and dive bars across the Midwest, but it marked a big step forward in their career.
But playing scheduled gigs isn't all that Phantom Pulse did on that tour. Thanks to all of them nearly dying - or, dying and coming back as some would tell it - they had a special skill set. Not just the ability to see ghosts, but to banish them with their music.
So they played shows and cleansed haunted places and started what they thought would be an exciting new chapter of their lives. Instead, it led them to a discovery that changed everything they thought they knew about life and the after life.
Phantom Pulse is an audio drama series slash rock album following the band on this tour. At least, Season 1 is about this tour. We want to make a lot of this show but to get us off the ground, we need your help.
I've been making audio drama for ten years. I made The Bright Sessions, a show that's lovingly been called a cult classic, wrote and directed Bridgewater, starring Misha Collins, and even wrote an official Stranger Things podcast for Netflix. I've been around the block and this is my next big idea. And I'm making it with some truly incredible people.
Ella Watts, of Camlann will be co-directing with me. Evan Cunningham and Brandon Grugle will be doing the music and sound respectively and the last time they teamed up, it was on the musical podcast In Strange Woods, which, if you've heard it, you'll agree is pretty amazing.
And that's just behind the mic. We've got five lovable but messy bandmates and they are being voiced by some unbelievably talented actors.
Ren, our frontman, devoted to his friends and always with something to prove, will be played by the multi-talented Nicholas Podany.
Jo, the drummer, the light and heart of the band, always moving and definitely not because she's running away from her feelings, will be played by the charming Erin Caesar..
Bremmer, lead guitar, surly and mysterious, will be played by the audio drama fan favorite Briggon Snow.
Cal, our bassist, whip-smart and playful, but stubborn as hell, will be played by the truly iconic Erika Ishii
And then there's Ash, the newcomer to the band, on the keyboard, sweet and loving, but not always forthcoming, played by the lovely Juliana Gutiérrez Arango.
So. We've clearly got everything we need to make a bonkers awesome show about music, queer found family, religion, death, and belonging, we just need the funds to pay all these amazing people.
We're asking for 50,000. That's...a lot for an audio drama crowdfund, I know. But these actors deserve to be paid. They deserve to have this be a union show, where the production doesn't just compensate them for their time, but contributes to pension and health funds too. With 50,000, we can pay our cast, which is going to be much larger than just these five lelads, and we can make it a SAG production.
But...I'll still be fronting the cash for other production costs. And then there's the matter of making sure the top-notch talents of Ella, Evan, and Brandon are being fully appreciated. Not to mention, we're making an audio drama and also a full 10-song album.
So we're asking for 50k but we want to push for more. We've got some...wild stretch goals. I will legit get a tattoo if we make even a dollar over 200k.
I think this story is special. And I will do as much as I can for free, with my blood sweat and tears, but we need money for recording. And we think you can get us there, maybe even farther.
Go read everything in our Kickstarter, check out the zine, appreciate the jaw-droppingly kickass art by Noah Dao, Georgia Cooke, and Moira Daykin. And join us, in bringing this story to life.
Thank you and rock on.
