My name is Simon Bird.

I am a 21 year old, self-taught music producer. Originally from Somerset, England, I have lived in Dublin for the past 5 years. One year ago I released my first online EP of electronic music that I wrote, recorded and produced, in my bedroom, entirely on my own. I did it mainly for fun and for my friends, and didn't really expect much to come of it.
Since then I have released another four EP's, a full length album under a side project, and have played a number of gigs, including festival performances at Electric Picnic and Hard Working Class Heroes. However, I am still an unsigned musician. To date, I have released all of my music entirely for free and the majority of my gigs have been unpaid.

On October 20th of this year I released ‘V’, my fifth EP, as a free download. So far, the reception for it has been fantastic. It has been reviewed positively by a number of music journalists and blog sites (including popular Irish blogs Nialler 9 & Harmless Noise) and was declared one of the “Top Ten Best Free Irish Music Downloads” of 2011 by the music correspondent for The Irish Independent’s Day & Night Magazine.

I am extremely happy with all of the music that I have produced to date and now, with the success so far of ‘V’, I can see for the first time a shimmer of hope that I could make a future for myself in this business. That's where you come in.

I need your help to raise money to fund the printing of a run of two hundred and fifty 12" vinyl copies of 'V'. The vinyls will be distributed world wide to music journalists, publications and media for review, as well as being sold independently by me. I plan to create completely original artwork for the release and, with a STRICTLY LIMITED run of 250 copies, I envision them potentially becoming something of a collector’s item in years to come.

To have music that I have written and recorded on vinyl is something of a dream of mine. In my mind, the experience of putting a record on a turntable and listening to it through quality headphones is the best way to listen to music. There is a depth to the sound that I feel is unmatched by modern day alternatives, and the aesthetic quality is infinitely more satisfying.

I have always released my music for free because I feel that people shouldn’t have to pay to download music. Creating these vinyls would enable me to fund my future music projects whilst feeling satisfied that I am giving back something tangible that represents my work in a format that I am entirely happy with.

Please give what you can, and thank you for your help.

Simon Bird