News/Announcements: Shoutouts to Patrons
JOVM officially turned 10 last week — and throughout its existence, the site has been a labor of love. And during that period I think that, JOVM has been a rather unique: this site is one of the rare places where readers an actually come across personal and eclectic curation and coverage of the national and international indie music scenes.
I’ve run this site as a (mostly) one-man operation out of my Corona, Queens, NYC apartment while working full-time in book publishing for the bulk of this site’s history. And as a result, I had a very odd dual life: during the day, I was a sort of mild-mannered, spectacled Clark Kent. And when it was time to leave for the day, I’d run off someplace to change out of my business clothes to become professional music journalist, blogger and photographer, covering shows all over town and then returning to my apartment in the wee hours. I’d repeat this three to four days a week for the bulk of this site’s existence and my book publishing career.
I never expected or dreamt of some of the thing that have happened as a result of running this site — and I’ve had experiences that would make my younger music loving self deeply envious: I’ve met some of my heroes, I’ve covered some amazingly talented artists, seen some memorable shows, traveled internationally to cover music and I’ve met some of the nicest, kindest and most open people in the world.
If I didn’t firmly believe in what this site is about, I wouldn’t bother. But I do know that this sort of work should — and needs — to be continued and championed as much as possible. Music is the emotional center of our lives. But I’ve found that finding new music helps us grow even more. Perhaps more than ever in this profoundly unusual and unsettling time, we have to take comfort in music, art, literature and all the other things that make us human and connect us with others. Hopefully my work here has — and will continue — to bring some joy, some escape from the bleakness of our current situation or it inspires you to do something.
Of course running a site like this isn’t easy. And unfortunately, it does cost money. To that end, I started a Patreon page as a way to help support my creative endeavors and this site. Check out the page for more information:
https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement
You can also buy merch from the Joy of Violent Movement shop: https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com/shop
Because of the uncertainty of the past few months, I understand that for there will be a portion of people who cannot contribute. So if you’re unable to do so — and you happen to dig my work here, you can do the following:
- Share posts on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.
- Pass the word on to friends who may dig this site and my work.
- Pass the word on about the Patreon page to those that may be able to support.
- And as always
As, I promised on my Patreon page, I also wanted to give a shoutout to this site’s kind patrons:
Sash
Alice Northover
Bella Fox
Jenny MacRostie
Thank y’all so much for your support. Your support keeps this going.
