Kickstarter: Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil. New album. Really.

Twenty years after Steve Taylor's last studio album, he's taking a sabbatical from filmmaking to record all new music with a new band.


Dear Backers-In-Waiting,

Why should I tempt fate and do another Kickstarter project when the last one ("Save Blue Like Jazz") was so wildly successful it can never be repeated?

Because before I became your 11th favorite filmmaker I was your 8th favorite recording artist, and I know you've missed me making music because you wrote and told me on Facebook and why would you lie?


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And while it's true most recording artists get worse as they get older —usually much worse — isn't it at least statistically possible I may have gotten better?

Yes. And here's how:

1. Form a band with Jimmy Abegg, John Mark Painter and another longtime collaborator who was supposed to remain secret due to contractual restrictions but he/she enjoys drumming, surfing and running through photos cloaked in camo-net. Commence recording album's worth of suitable material.
2. Write lyrics culled from two decades of Life's Rich Pageant. Judge each line harshly. Refine until satisfied.
3. Discover to your surprise that your singing voice may have improved with age. Make note to record vocals asap before the onset of any potential throat-debilitating illness.
4. Return to Kickstarter community with outstretched palm. Include money back guarantee. Try not to reek of desperation.

And in anticipation of your frequently asked questions...

What will the music sound like? 

Your favorite color + your favorite candy + rock = the sound of STATPF 

Is there a deeper meaning behind the band moniker? 

"Steve Taylor" sings lead vocals and writes the lyrics / "And The Perfect Foil" write and record the music. And yes, those four words just happen to comprise an acronym of the band members' surnames. Coincidence? Yes, actually. 

We've been hearing about a new Steve Taylor album since the Clinton Administration. How do we know this is real?

I've played the demos for the neighbor kids. They will confirm that 1) It's real; and 2) It's weird when a grown man asks you to listen to his demos.

Will there be a tour?

It depends. Will you bring your friends?

Aren't you rich, Steve Taylor? Why don't you fund it yourself?

I was, in fact, reasonably well off at one time from a thriving music career that included writing songs you love, singing some of them, and producing a world-wide hit that rhymes with "Kiss Me." But five years into the New Millennium I developed a filmmaking habit that has required constant infusions of personal cash to the point where I can no longer fund anything beyond the occasional date night.

But don't you have a bank and/or rich friends who would loan you the money?

Yes, I do. And yes, they probably would. But thanks to certain principles laid out in a certain book given to me last year (authored by a certain Mr. Ramsey), I'd rather pre-sell the new album to all of you than borrow money to make it. And an even bigger reason is this: I have no idea how many people even care. Are there 100 of you? 1,000 of you? More? I can't think of a better platform than Kickstarter for finding out how many fans are interested in a new album, then expanding those plans accordingly, including whether or not it makes sense to go on tour. 

How will the money be spent?

Recording=$12,000 / Mixed and mastered by professionals=$10,000 / Artwork=$3,000 / Music Videos & P.R. to feed the promotional juggernaut=$7,000 / Estimated cost of backer incentives & Kickstarter fees=$8,000 / Grooming for the band photo=$1.50 /Grand Total = $40,001.50 

Will you go back to making movies after this?

That's the plan, God-willing. I've even got the screenplay I'm working on open in a separate window on my laptop. But making movies is hard—much harder than making music—and it takes me ten times as long (3-6 years) to make a movie as it takes me to record an album (3-6 months). Is my math accurate? Plus it's almost fifty times more expensive: $1-2mil for me to make a movie vs. $30-40K for me to record an album. And yes, I just did the mental math on that last statistic, which is why you can trust me with your money.

Your friend,

Steve Taylor

P.S. Some of you will want to know that the long-in-gestation Chagall Guevara live album is at the ready. My Guevarian bandmates felt it would be better to keep its release separate, so we hope to further press our luck by launching that campaign in January...