The YouTuber turned music producer has surpassed the funding goal for his new musical project, Pathfinder.
Chris Bingham and guitarist Carlos Montero are currently looking to record a follow up to 2014’s Progress. Produced under the name High Five Spaceship and funded via Kickstarter, the new record, titled Pathfinder, has surpassed its goal of £2,000 in 21 hours.
Ahhhh! It only took 21 hours to hit our goal. Time to add some extra perks… https://t.co/lsJcChtzpq
— Christopher Bingham (@slomozovo) May 22, 2015
Running from 21 May to 20 June, Chris is hoping the funds raised will allow him to step away from the other projects he’s currently working on and focus solely on the recording process. The funds raised will also help him pay for other expenses, such as the travel costs of those he’ll be collaborating with on the project.
Speaking with TenEighty, Chris said: “When something happens that quickly, it’s always a surprise! I had no doubt that we would hit the goal because people loved the first release, but 21 hours? That beat Progress faster than I could have hoped.”
Pathfinder will see Chris and Carlos partnering with a wide variety of collaborators, including Jonti ‘Weebl’ Picking and Bryarly Bishop, as well as Daniel Dobbs, Jack Shaw, Will Dixon and Elliott Morris, “I’ve been speaking to other notable British YouTubers about working together this year, including Helen Anderson of Box of Light and Daniel J Layton. There are a few others, but I’ll keep them a surprise for now…”
The project will also see High Five Spaceship going in a different direction than was seen on Progress, with Chris opting to create “a big, connected journey that flows from start to finish”. Instead of focusing on each individual song, he will be looking at continuity, so Pathfinder will run as one one-hour piece, rather than single tracks.
Chris also has a lot more to say within the 10 tracks of folk-inspired electronica than he did in 2014, “I was new to music and writing when I worked on Progress, so I was shy and I held back. Now, I’m 25. I blow hot and cold. I’m angry or sad about a lot of things that have happened to me and [am] concerned about the future.”
Pre-orders purchased via the Kickstarter campaign will grant donors access to a private blog where Chris will be posting song and video clips, as well as photos. Each special edition, vinyl and bundle will come with a set of art cards. The album itself will be pressed into CD form with a special two-disk edition with five extra tracks. There will be a limited run of hand-numbered vinyls and an online video license package. With each monetary goal that’s reached, the project will be adding more features to the songs, including extra guitar solos and recording sessions in a cathedral.
High Five Spaceship is a project Chris has been working on to help the YouTube community. With the online video license package, he plans to license out his music, so creators can use it in their own projects.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why all indie musicians aren’t doing it!” He explains, “A lot of musicians complain about not being able to do it full time, but they’re ignoring really simple opportunities.”
He continues: “As a YouTuber, I’m always looking for music that I can use (and monetise) in my videos. As a musician and producer releasing on my own label, I own copyright to everything High Five Spaceship releases. The indie online video license lets me provide filmmakers and YouTubers with everything they need to use our music in their soundtracks: the tracks in high-quality .wav, instrumentals and a signed license agreement. Because we’re independent, we can also license our music on our own terms, with lots of flexibility, and for a lot less than the rates of big labels or music licensing websites.”
The project is just one of the many ways YouTubers are branching out, as the site begins to change the way users can earn money through their videos, “It’s frustrating that most small-medium YouTube creators can’t earn a sustainable income from videos alone anymore, but there are still just as many opportunities out there for enterprising, creative people who make great art.”
“Most of all, the changes have forced people to have more of a plan – you can’t make it up as you go along, like I did when I was younger. You need a strategy. For us, and the music, that strategy is clear and transparent.” For Chris, that strategy is creating the Kickstarter campaign, selling albums and promoting his music in order to record more.
Having grown up interested in music and the music industry, Chris hopes that Pathfinder will allow him to grow as a producer and offer him the motivation he needs to continue with it, “Seeing the core fans come together to make a project happen is so uplifting. Music is still a learning process for me and I get unsure of myself sometimes, but knowing that the final product already has an audience gives me the motivation I need to get the job done.”
Donations can be made over on the High Five Spaceship Kickstarter page.
Photo by Philipp Ammon.
Want More?
Be sure to check out our Five of the Best: Big Collaborations, which features a video by Chris and sister, Jenny Bingham.
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