Emergency December News

I am having trouble uploading the new album to Bandcamp for some reason, having tried every format my patience is now at an end. As it is getting closer to the big day, you will no doubt be wanting to wrap up the MP3 players you have bought as presents and are possibly waiting for the album to be released.

To get round this problem, I am afraid that the only solution is to email it out as a ZIP file. All you need to do is make a donation via the PayPal button above of any amount and I will email it to you and include the artwork.

Apologies for keeping everyone waiting for this, I will try to get it on Bandcamp before next Christmas but this is I feel a good solution.

[December 2017 sees the release of YET Another Kazoo Christmas with Steve Oliver]

December Newsletter

I haven't written a monthly newsletter for a while, as I was a little disillusioned by general failure to understand the Indie GoGo campaign to raise funds. If people had looked beyond the idea of making a vinyl album of A Kazoo Christmas with Steve Oliver and watched the video or read the blurb then you would have got the point that all I was trying to do was raise enough money to help with ongoing projects. 

Please remember that all the money raised using the above PayPal button goes towards making podcasts, Random Sessions, short films, comedy sketches, documentaries and loads more. In return for your generosity I will make these things available for free on the Internet.

Christmas shopping

Okay, we can't deny it any longer. It will soon be Christmas and as such you need to buy presents for people. First of all you might be thinking of buying someone an MP3 player or smart phone. Why not add something nice before you wrap it up.

Go to my Bandcamp page and check out a range of audio books and my debut album A Kazoo Christmas with Steve Oliver. These are all available to download for free or pay what you like. If you donate something it all goes into the fund to make exciting projects available for free. Imagine how good you'll feel knowing you made a contribution towards it.

My new single is available now by email only. I have made a kazoo cover of 'Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy' which is exclusively sent out to anyone who donates £1 or more using the PayPal button. This single will never be made available any other way so get donating. 

There are CDs left featuring several musicians who have been part of The Random Saturday Sessions, all the profits go to the musicians (please be assured that they come out of it better than I do). They are £5 each and will be sent to you if you donate the fiver using the PayPal button and email me straight away with 'Random CD' in the subject line and send your postal address.

In other news

The Sunday Alternative Podcast: Still going strong every week (and bonus Bank Holiday Monday editions) after five years. I listen to all music I am sent so email MP3/download links to steveEoliver@gmail.com or send physical copies/press packs to 

Steve Oliver

The Sunday Alternative

c/o I'm Not From London

Unit 5 Cobden Chambers

Pelham Street

Nottingham

NG1 2ED

There will be a Christmas special released on Christmas Day as it is a Sunday this year, and extra episodes on Boxing Day and Tuesday 27th.

The Random Sessions: Notice how the 'Saturday' has been dropped. I will still be doing the day out events because they are a lot of fun to do, but I am also reformatting the series with videos recorded more as proper sessions, maybe as a tidier version of what has come before. In the can at the time of writing are sets by Joe Strange, Strange Currencies, Heather Flint and The Girl and The Stone, with plenty more arranged.

I intend to film sessions in other areas too, with York and Sheffield already planned for early 2017.

Finally...

I'm not sure if it's a public event or not, but I am giving a speech on Friday 23rd December called Charles Dickens: The Man Who Invented Christmas at the Nottingham Mechanics Institute. Get me!

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That's it for now, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and please do consider donating towards a good creative cause.

August Newsletter

Before we start, I turn 40 on the 27th of this month. Please remember this when reading on, thank you.

There's such a thing as a slow burn but this is ridiculous! To try and encourage a few donations into the fund I have set up a campaign on IndieGoGo to raise two thousand pounds to make a vinyl album of last year's album A Kazoo Christmas with Steve Oliver in time for this year's festive shopping market. As good as it will be to make and release this album, it isn't the most important thing in the world and sadly I think a lot of people have missed the point completely, possibly because they haven't listened to the video properly.

The whole thing is explained and also points out why I have used IndieGoGo instead of Kickstarter. Both sites carry a risk and with IndieGoGo you get to keep all the money you make, even if you don't reach your target. If I don't raise the two thousand pound required to make an LP then the point is you will still have helped to create something. Every penny is spent on making entertainment that goes online for free in return for your generosity, so that everyone can enjoy it. You pay for a TV Licence don't you? Imagine a system that is better value.

Please head over to the IndieGoGo page now and give what you can. If the target isn't met or exceeded then at least you have helped me in some way. It's only the beginning of the month so there should be plenty of wages left. For £500 I can make the pilot episode of Saturday Breakfast at long last, and for about the same figure I can make (or at least start work on) the comedy drama about Woolly and Worth. Not only that but I can make slightly more ambitious comedy sketches and bits and bobs. I also have a couple of documentary ideas that are worth investing in so if you have one less drink this weekend you could chuck the money my way. You can of course also use the 'donate' button above, it all goes into the same PayPal account and only gets used for your pleasure, not mine.

In other news...

The Random Saturday Sessions: Series six is ready to roll out so keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook for an alert, I'm guessing on a Saturday. There will hopefully be more taking place away from Nottingham so hit that button and make it happen. 

The Sunday Alternative: At the time of writing this newsletter the 101st episode had just gone out. This podcast is free to listen to and download, but a bit of generosity is always appreciated. 

Bowie Day: I recently found my original notes for this story and made a little video. It was filmed on my phone so I have that annoying black line frame down either side of me. Anyway, the video is free of course here on my YouTube and the audio book is available to download for free or pay what you like, (pay something though, it all goes in the fund) from here. (NB There might be an animation based on the story next year).

That's about it really. Apart from the short film I am in the middle of making. It is a little local history type thing so probably won't have much appeal outside of Nottingham, I have recorded a narrative and done the principal photography so far. 

Gigs

I have some gigs coming up:

September 11th The Sunday Alternative 5th Anniversary Celebration - The Doghouse, Nottingham

October 9th The Sunday Alternative stage at Bunkers Hill (Hockley Hustle)

November 26th The Random Saturday Sessions End of Year Do & Cassette Launch - Royal Children

December 23rd Charles Dickens: The Man Who Invented Christmas - Nottingham Mechanics Institute

Buy things from my shop (please) here.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook

Email me steveEoliver@gmail.com

July newsletter

There are plenty of things going on but sadly I still haven't raised sufficient funding to make two projects come to life, so the pilot episode of Saturday Breakfast and the Woolworths comedy short are still on the bench. I need £500 to make a reasonable pilot, not a huge amount if everyone chips in. The Woolworths comedy will be a little more expensive but not much. 

The Sunday Alternative Podcast rolls on, and on Sunday 24th will reach its 100th edition. You can listen to the entire archive here, and if you think that my efforts are worth 1p per podcast then please donate one pound using the PayPal button above on the 24th. 

The Random Saturday Sessions is having a little rest for the moment but there's plenty to look forward to with series six and two bonus episodes in the can for release very soon. With the right amount of funding I will be able to have another away day filming musicians in other places, York was a great deal of fun and I met some lovely people and will definitely be going back when I can. You can watch all of the videos on either Facebook (give it a like) or YouTube. 

In related news, there will be a cassette compilation of Random songs released at the end of the year. I'm not sure what the selling price will be yet but it will be shared between the artists who agreed to have their tracks used. If you haven't seen a cassette for a few years, you will at least remember how they fit nicely in a Christmas stocking.

Charles Dickens/A Christmas Carol: Details of my Dickens related work can be found here. 

A Kazoo Christmas With Steve Oliver was the album I released last Christmas as a download and I have two items of news relating to this. First of all I can reveal that work has already started on the follow-up which will be released in time for Christmas 2016. The second piece of news is that on Saturday 16th of this month you need to be keeping an eye on my Facebook page and Twitter feed and for now, that is all I am saying.

Undercover Breakfast is a new project that will be what is known as a 'soft release', in other words I won't be making a big song and dance about it. It will be a hidden camera consumer type show reviewing breakfasts in cafes that I will be adding to my YouTube. I have wanted to do something like this for a while but only recently decided that this was the way. No special effects, this will be filmed entirely on a phone. Again, there won't be a regular release day or time so follow me on the social links above and I hope you enjoy it. This is another example of how having creative freedom is all about having an idea and running with it. (This has been delayed until I get a new phone, it's been ordered).

You can buy Sunday Alternative merchandise and my audio books here

For paid work go here.

What the Dickens

I know it is a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but I am taking bookings for late November/December. One of my favourite things about Christmas is that I get to read the book and watch and listen to countless movie/television/radio/audio book versions of A Christmas Carol. In recent years I have released audio books of the Christmas stories of Charles Dickens (still available to download from here along with other treats), and this year I am upping my game.

On Friday 23rd December I will be giving a talk at the Nottingham Mechanics Institute titled Charles Dickens: The Man Who Invented Christmas, about the great man and his relationship with the festive season. I am available to give this talk in schools, societies, writers/book groups. In addition to this I also offer a storytelling show in which I read several stories, ending of course with the 'public speaking' abridged version of A Christmas Carol. I have an up to date CRB certificate (thanks to my day job in the legal business) if that helps to seal the deal.

During the Christmas season I can also provide a Christmas Carol themed quiz night, and if you want me to do I am also available to talk prior to a cinematic showing of one of the many movie adaptations.

Email me in the first instance to discuss your needs steveEoliver@gmail.com 

In other news on the same theme, I am planning on staging a radio drama style production of A Christmas Carol which will be recorded and made available as a download.

I am available for work in various other areas too, see here for details.

June Newsletter

We are now at the halfway point of the year and I am no nearer reaching any realistic amount of funding to make either the Saturday Breakfast pilot (I need £500 to make a low budget half hour pilot to use in the push to get a series) or the Woolly and Worth comedy. I turn 40 in two months time and I had hoped to cross a few things off my to-do list before then.

All you need to do is donate any amount, no matter how small, using the PayPal donate button at the top of this page. If everyone who reads this donated even one pound it would make all the difference. None of it goes in my pocket, it is all used to create free stuff that will entertain everyone. I think you'll agree that it is far better value than the TV Licence.

If anyone wants to donate a larger amount to really make a difference I would be eternally grateful. There are documentaries, comedy sketches, films and all sorts of delights waiting to be made.

Here's what else is happening:

The Sunday Alternative Podcast

Almost at the 100th edition, there's also a bonus podcast on a Bank Holiday Monday (please always refer to Bank Holiday Monday as Sunday +1). Showcasing the best new music around I guarantee to listen personally to everything I am sent.

The podcast is free and if everyone who listened donated once a month it would make a huge difference. If anyone wants to sponsor the podcast please get in touch, if I can get the funding I would like to be able to rent a studio to record live bands in session for special episodes in the future.

Listen to the entire archive of podcasts and radio shows here (and if you're feeling generous...)

The Random Saturday Sessions

On May 30th I filmed another collection of sets in Nottingham with Gerry Trimble, Paul Carbuncle, Strumming Johnny Carey, Misk Hills Mountain Rambler and Cameron Sinclair-Harris. These episodes will appear in the upcoming weeks (there are still two episodes from York to go out).

I had previously said that this would be the final time I do the series in Nottingham because trying to get Nottingham musicians to perform music (something you would think they would want to do), yet we had such a great time that maybe I'll do it again in the future. On Friday June 10th I am filming some bonus sessions and I will be filming at The Kimberly Jam festival on Saturday 18th June.

One of the things that the donations will help with is taking the concept out to other towns and cities to film local musicians performing. York was great fun so I would love to repeat the experience in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Lincoln (this one looks quite promising) and London. If the donations really kick off then New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville would be quite cool.

If anyone would like to sponsor The Random Saturday Sessions and enable me to expand then please get in touch.

The videos are on my YouTube channel and the Facebook page is here.

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That's about it for this newsletter so I will leave you with these footnotes.

• The Saturday Breakfast Pilot needs £500 to get made.
• The Woolly and Worth film is written and although some bits are doable on a shoestring I want it to look as good as possible with regards locations and presentation. 
• Depending on someone else's schedule, a Kickstarter campaign might be set up in the not too distant future (hopefully) to help fund an animated short.
• Talking of animation, I have been helped out (not financially but with props) towards the making of a short 'stop-start' film that I will be making and releasing for free. 
• If you're in a position to pay me to work for you, then have a look at this page.
• My shop is open, all money goes into the filming fund.

Thank you in advance, all donations are gratefully appreciated.

May Newsletter

How can it be the fifth month of the year already? Things are still not moving along as quickly as they should be and I'm afraid to say it is the fault of you reading this. Donations have not been sufficient to get anything significant off the ground. Please do consider making a donation using the PayPal donate button above, none of it goes in my pocket of course, every penny will go into creating online entertainment that will, in return for your gift, be gifted back to you. I want to make short films, documentaries, comedy sketches, and podcasts that will be made available free of charge.

For roughly £500 I can make the pilot episode of Saturday Breakfast, a music and cookery interview show. The pilot will then be used as a Kickstarter video to attempt to raise funds to make a series.

For about the same costs I will make the long mooted feature about Woolly and Worth, the advert mascots for Woolworths. This is a dark comedy drama about what happened to the double act after Woolworths closed down in 2008.

There's other things in the pipeline too, so please donate what you can. 

News

The Random Saturday Sessions: Series 5 was filmed on Saturday 30th April in York and a great day was had by all. These episodes will be with you soon. I would like to do more of these out of Nottingham and travel to places with a thriving music scene, this can be possible with some donations to go towards the cost of travel and refreshments.

The Sunday Alternative Podcast: Now on episode 86 with a bonus edition ready for Bank Holiday Monday, this is still a great way to discover new music in an attention span friendly half hour podcast that is available free of charge. Your donations ensure that I can continue to do this.

Many thanks.

The wonder of Woollies and crowd funding

Photo from This Is Money

This project has been in limbo for far too long and so this newsletter is published to draw your attention to it. I actually conceived this idea in January 2009 when the final Woolworths stores were locking up for the final time and the nation was still mourning. 

I have changed the formatting slightly over the years whenever I come across my notes but I do have a script in place that follows the turbulent years following the closure of Woolworths and the effect that it had on the two mascots Woolly and Worth. We find out that the celebrity lifestyle disappeared and the pair suffered severe hardship eventually living on the streets.

Now they are making the ultimate showbiz comeback, but is the world of retail advertising the same as it once was and will a sheep and a dog still be as popular as they were in their heyday? 

The film is a dark comedy about the excesses of fame and fortunes lost. 

I don't anticipate needing a fortune to do this but there will be some expenses that need covering, especially after the filming when the technical stuff kicks in and all the editing and sound work will need doing. Woolly and Worth are two cuddly toys that I have and need to convert them into puppets and will be operated using the 'hand and rod' technique (like The Muppets were). For some scenes we will need to use some kind of trolly system for walking scenes. I will be paying for a film crew and a small cast of actors and two puppeteers. 

If you miss Woolworths and would like to see this film made, then please make a donation (however large or small) using the PayPal button at the top of the page. As always, all of the money that is donated using the button will be used to make short films, documentaries, podcasts, comedy sketches and other such things that I will make available to watch/listen to online totally free of charge - my gift as a thank you for your gift.

Thank you.

April Newsletter

Four months into the year and I am still way off target for the things I want to achieve before Santa visits again. I can't express enough the importance of upping the crowd funding by donating what you can, even pennies all add up, in order to help bring these ideas to fruition. Please remember that I don't take any money personally, it all goes into making entertainment that will be given away for free on the Internet. Currently the thing I am saving up for is the pilot episode of Saturday Breakfast, which I think I can do on the cheap for £500. There will then be a Kickstarter campaign to hopefully make a series and the pilot will be the campaign video. To make the series properly won't be massively expensive so the target amount won't be huge, however I do want to pay the people who work on it and make it look as professional as possible. 

All donations are appreciated and it is a good deal when you think about it, certainly better value than the TV Licence. Whether you make a one-off donation or a regular payment I appreciate it all the same. In order to concentrate on one thing at a time I will focus the payments on making the pilot first and getting the Kickstarter going. 

In other news, here are some free things to hopefully spur you on:

The Sunday Alternative Podcast is still rolling on of course, listen to all episodes here. 

The Random Saturday Sessions has two episodes left to air at the time of writing this, I definitely want to do more especially in other towns and cities and donations will help with that. Like the series on Facebook here. 

I am doing a video blog on my Facebook page and putting up some cheap and cheerful little bits of comedy that I have filmed on my phone. Again I hope that the free content will spur on donations. Basically anything I don't spend money on will go on my Facebook and the more elaborate things will go on YouTube. Give my Facebook page a like here.

March Newsletter

Alas, there is not going to be an album of Kanye West covers performed on the kazoo. What you failed to grasp if you didn't donate is that the album idea was a joke in order to raise awareness of crowd funding. The £100 I asked for was going to go in the pot to make short films, documentaries, comedy sketches, the Saturday Breakfast pilot, and more podcasts. Please do make use of the PayPal button at the top of this page (and indeed all of my blogs) and make a contribution.

On my shop page there is a range of ways you can help, all of which involve buying something.

Why not get me to record a kazoo rendition of a favourite song for your own YouTube dedication? It might make a romantic gift for your loved one. Find out how here.

Here's a few things I want to get off the ground and need help with. Please remember that everything I make will be made available online for free, my gift in return for your gift.

Saturday Breakfast pilot, Woolworths based comedy short, bringing back Moonage Daydream (the Bowie podcast that takes a long time to write), bringing back and finishing off the Covermount podcast.

I am available for hire too, look here. In addition to the things listed I can also do you a nice press release sheet for your band, here's an example.

Ongoing:

The Sunday Alternative Podcast: This is perhaps the best new music podcast you could listen to, but then I would say that. I do it for free and don't charge for it, if you donated 52p a year then that's a penny per podcast. Catch up with all episodes here.

The Random Saturday Sessions: Possibly my favourite project, all I do is meet up with a gang of musicians and then find somewhere to play. We all do this for free and pay for our own drinks and food. With a healthy amount of donations we could pay to expand to other cities, maybe by buying a van to travel in. Catch up with all episodes here.

Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for your donations.

February Newsletter

To celebrate the fact that today is the first pay day after Christmas and we are all back in funds, I have brought the February newsletter out a few days early. What with today being the first Friday with a full wallet since being paid early last month, what better time than now to remind you about how much value you will get compared to the TV Licence.

There are a few reasonably big filming projects in waiting, and all it takes is a good blast of funding. Every penny that is donated using the PayPal button will be used to create short films, documentaries, podcasts, live performances and all manner of quality entertainment that I will put online to be enjoyed by everyone for nothing. This includes a chat show, a radio drama (both recorded in front of an audience and released online for free), and the pilot episode of Saturday Breakfast.

If you head over to my shop page there's a host of ways to help, including Sunday Alternative bags and t-shirts, audio books, and the chance to have a kazoo rendition of your favourite song recorded just for you.

So why not celebrate the first pay day of the year by donating £3.65 and getting everything I provide for just a penny a day (with a bonus day as it's a leap year), if you do it now before you go wasting it in food and utility bills then it is done for the year. Of course you could pay more if you want or even make a regular donation if you want to, it all goes to provide entertainment. Maybe one day I will be able to quit working for a firm of solicitors (possibly before they realise I don't really know what I'm doing) and draw a wage from this but for now I am happy to be the giver of fine art (or to piss about playing the kazoo).

In other news:

The Sunday Alternative Podcast rolls along every week, appearing online every Sunday, would you believe? Listen to past episodes here.

Bowie Day: The audio book of my short story is available to download for free with the option to pay what you like. It would be cool if you pay something though because it goes in the creative fund. Download it from here.

The Sunday Alternative Live: No immediate plans to do this again but there will be sporadic video releases of past gigs over the coming weeks. Check out The Sunday Alternative channel on YouTube, also contains performances from the radio show.

The Random Saturday Sessions: The final Nottingham tour (maybe) takes place on Saturday 30th January before branching out to other towns and cities, past episodes are available to watch from here.

January Newsletter (the £3.65 plan)

Happy New Year, let's make this a good one. Last year saw some planned projects stall due to lack of funding which is a shame and not just because it adds to this year's workload. Please consider the PayPal button when reading the blog or listening to a podcast because even the smallest sum will make a difference, to make it easier I thought of an idea - just donate £3.65 now and be done with it. That way you have paid me upfront for the year at the rate of 1p a day, it doesn't seem like much but it's more than nothing. Of course if you want to pay more then that is cool too, (and very much appreciated) so why not just donate £365.00 now and be done with it if you think £1 a day is reasonable? You would actually be getting one day for free because I have just realised that 2016 is a leap year.

The fact is that your donations really do help and in return I will use every penny to make documentaries, short films, long films if enough money is raised, podcasts, comedy sketches and a whole host of things that I will put on the Internet for the whole world to enjoy free of charge. Imagine how good you will feel knowing that you were part of that? 

In addition to the donation route there are also a range of items on my shop page. Why not get in early to beat the 2016 Christmas rush?

I will do record a video of myself playing your favourite song on the kazoo for donations of £5 or more and for the January sales I will do two songs (two songs offer ends on January 31st). You might also want to buy a video dedication for your loved one for Valentine's Day. What could be more romantic than 'your song' played by me on kazoo, perhaps the song you walked down the aisle to or your first wedding dance?

This year I want to (finally) get round to filming the pilot of Saturday Breakfast as a priority. Also in the pipeline is a chat show recorded on stage in front of an audience that will be recorded as a free podcast, a radio drama again recorded in front of an audience, and if I get the time I want to finally film the Woolly and Worth comedy documentary that has been on the back burner for far too long. 

I turn 40 in the summer so in many ways I see this year as a last chance to see through some of the projects that I have been wanting to get through for several years to enable me to start afresh. All donations go towards that goal. It would be nice to be able to draw a living wage from the PayPal fund and go full time but one thing at a time.

The PayPal button is at the top of the page, why not click it before you close this page? Many many thanks in advance and may your 2016 be a good one.