Vertaal, the Bishop’s Stortford nu-jazz duo have announced a KickStarter campaign to release their debut mixtape on vinyl.
The duo, featuring Theo Howarth and Ajit Gill were making great progress last year, playing shows at Ronnie Scott’s and the Cambridge Jazz Festival and getting amazing support on the radio with Jazz FM and other key radio shows, but then COVID-19 brought everything to a standstill.
Undeterred, the band went ahead and released ‘Paradigm Shifting’ in March, a 6 track mixtape on digital platforms.
Having secured physical distribution and a press company, the plan was to then release a physical version on vinyl, but the coronavirus outbreak closed recording studios and brought the live music scene to a halt, meaning that the band couldn’t finance the release.
Vertaal decided to use the time available to them to record more tracks and rework some of the recordings on the mixtape remotely in the duo’s respective home studios.
The result is a 12 track double album which will be release on limited edition 180gram marbled coloured vinyl in a plush gatefold sleeve.
To finance the release a Kickstarter campaign launches on August 23rd .
As well as the limited vinyl, pledges can be made for some fun additional items including the exclusive Vertea-towel, master class sessions with Ajit teaching drums and Theo home studio techniques, personal concerts and even an Eternity Package where you can hire the band to play your wedding reception!
All donators will have their name on the inner sleeve of the record.
The band are asking for support from the local community and their fanbase. Those who attended the Bish Bash in 2018 may remember the storming set the band played in a very packed bar tent that year, one of their few local gigs.
“We are very excited about this release” Theo commented. “One of the biggest pressing plants in Europe is printing the record for us. It’s going to be a quality package pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl. We’re only pressing 300 copies so it’s super-limited. We’re also looking forward to playing some intimate shows for those who would like to book us for socially-distanced garden parties! We can of course play these events when lock-down has been eased if people prefer!”
The Kickstarter can be found online at the following address and via their social media sites https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vertaal/vertaal-on-vinyl
