

Ask HN: I am crazy (but can you help?) - weisser

I&#x27;m one of the co-founders of a startup called Bundio that enables artists and record labels to set up direct-to-fan subscriptions to their content. Prior to getting into startups I was a singer-songwriter but about two years ago I put music to the side for the most part. It’s a real problem because I strongly believe those that build the best platforms are actually users of those platforms. I came to the realization that I need to get back into music so I can be a user of the platform and build something remarkable. I also realized that money wasn’t going to be well-spent signing onto a new one year lease for $1k &#x2F; month in Boston.<p>So I’m getting out of the office and hitting the road!<p>On January 13th I will embark from Guilford, CT (my hometown) on a cross-country tour playing&#x2F;recording DIY concerts, making field recordings of artists (that I’ll add to a Bundio subscription), and meeting up with other startup founders as I pass through their towns.<p>55 days on the road,
25+ states (and Vancouver, BC),
30 shows (hopefully)<p>I’ll be documenting the entire journey daily on the site I created for the tour: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;housecallstour.com<p>How can you help? A number of ways: connect with me if you are on my route (http:&#x2F;&#x2F;housecallstour.com&#x2F;route) or know someone that is. I’m particularly interested in meeting up with those working on digital media, social media, and music startups. As I said above, I’m trying to put on DIY shows in living rooms and houses (Edit: adding link to my music - http:&#x2F;&#x2F;housecallstour.com&#x2F;about_drj). These will be house concerts (tame), not house parties (wild), so even if you haven’t hosted something like this before please do consider - it will be fun! Joining me for each show will be local performers. I could also use some help with couches to crash on along the way.<p>Anything I’m missing? Please let me know if you have any ideas for me or other ways you think the HN community can help!<p>Julian
hn@bundio.com (email me for my cell #)
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weisser
Why did I title the post this way?

Recently I found a post titled, “Ask HN: Am I crazy?”
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=801208](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=801208))

The OP had laid out his desires to travel around the United States after
finishing college to meet up with founders around the country and write about
them. I was happy to see that the HN community encouraged him. I shot him an
email at 1am the night I discovered the post asking if he ever went on the
adventure. I never heard back.

~~~
beobab
Perhaps he'd already gone? :)

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weisser
That's what I'd like to think but there were no follow-up posts on HN and the
original post was from a while back.

Edit: and his post was from 1559 days ago - hopefully he didn't get lost ;)

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jasallen
Disappointed to see nothing at all around the middle/north of the country. I
suppose I'd stay away from the snow if I was planning on travelling January -
March too.

~~~
weisser
Sorry about that. I'm from New England and familiar with driving in some rough
weather but I'd still be a bit concerned about traveling in the north of the
country during that time of year.

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thenipper
Just a heads up, be careful when going over the border into Canada. I've had
many friends rejected at the border because they were going to play a
'concert'. Even DIY ones will get you bounced back to the US. Don't say you're
playing a concert or anything. That is unless if you've gotten the requisite
paperwork then your'e okay.

~~~
weisser
Definitely sound advice. I think I'll just be going to Canada to see a concert
;)

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chrislgrigg
If you are playing a show, do not lie. Get all of your paperwork and do it by
the book. It's free and easy, especially if it's a DIY show with no guarantee.
You just need the promoter to sign some stuff and follow a few simple rules.
If they catch you in a lie, they can do all kinds of crazy shit that makes it
hard or impossible to play or even visit in the future. You can email me if
you'd like, chrislgrigg@gmail.com, I can try to track down the templates we
used last time.

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dsr_
You might post links to some of your music -- I think more people would be
interested in hosting a house concert for music that they've heard and like,
rather than taking a blind risk.

YouTube? mp3 links? We're not your fans yet, you need to convince us that you
have a product we're interested in.

~~~
weisser
Certainly!

It's on the music + bio section of the site but I should add it to the OP:

[http://housecallstour.com/about_drj](http://housecallstour.com/about_drj)

~~~
hablahaha
Totally dig it! Unfortunately, you're not stopping by my town... Best of luck,
it's gonna be an interesting time in the south for an Americana solo act from
Connecticut.

~~~
weisser
Thanks! I've only had the pleasure of being in Austin, New Orleans and
Nashville previously.

~~~
mynewwork
Of which, only Nashville is "the south". New Orleans is maybe 50% "the south"
and 50% its own thing.

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techsupporter
Denton, Victoria, Marfa. You've sure chosen an eclectic mix of cities in Texas
(plus, of course, Austin). BTW, you might want to take the "Dallas" off of
"Dallas/Denton" since Denton is its own unique institution. :) Denton is a
(two-)college town so Craigslist will help a lot.

~~~
weisser
Thanks for the tips!

I have things like Dallas/Denton the route because the actual stop is TBD but
the cities are fairly close together (Dallas and Denton are about 50 minutes
away from each other).

I've got a friend in Victoria so I'm stopping there for a show and to take a
bit of a breather at the end of this marathon!

~~~
techsupporter
More like 90 minutes given how horrible 35E is these days (source: former
Dentonite). I think Denton will be better suited to what you're trying to
accomplish, but I'd skip any of the suburbs in between to have the best chance
of drawing the audience you're after.

~~~
cstejerean
That might be the case for a commute in rush hour, but mid day it doesn't take
nearly that long to drive between the two (I live nearby).

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mrspeaker
Obviously no tour would be complete without the official tour t-shirt. I hope
you have that on high priority.

~~~
weisser
Haha working on it!

I was reading about bleach shirt stencils in MAKE magazine actually:
[http://makezine.com/projects/bleach-shirt-
stencil/](http://makezine.com/projects/bleach-shirt-stencil/)

~~~
shanac
You could use acetate, acrylic paint, plus glue to do a dyi screenprint on the
run. I did this, and I have shirts that have held up 10 years :)

~~~
weisser
Cool tip! I've honestly been thinking more about getting the schedule ironed
out than merch but I'll take a look at this method.

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iamtheoptimist
Check out 'Secret House of Pancakes' based in Allston - it's an underground
gig movement you may find useful.

~~~
weisser
Sounds musically delicious! Thanks!

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TomTexas
When are you headed to Houston? There's a community concert series
[http://www.Facebook.com/carolinesessions](http://www.Facebook.com/carolinesessions)
which has multiple artists, last when'd of every month, FREE, benefits a
rotating non profit...

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arabellatv
You've got a great voice! Are you intending to go to SXSW, is that why your
tour ends there on March 7? Joshua Tree is beautiful and so is Big Sur. Happy
to connect you to some folks here in SF. Will email. Good luck and great
guerrilla marketing for your startup.

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atjoslin
Best of luck dude. Unfortunately I'll be away when you're playing near me, in
Chapel Hill!

~~~
weisser
No worries and thank you!

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raheemm
How come you are skipping NYC?

~~~
weisser
I don't have to if you think there's something I could do there :) and I do
have quite a few musician friends in Brooklyn.

The goal is to get farther south as soon as I can.

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amerika_blog
Will you do a Slayer cover?

~~~
weisser
If you pay the ASCAP blanket license!

