FEATURE:
Kickstarting Something Beautiful…
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert
Why We Need to See the Finding Kate Coffee Table-Style Book in the World
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I was not going to do so many Kate Bush features…
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert
this past week but, as there has been a high degree of activity in terms of news, I could not hold back! Every time I publish a feature regarding a new Kate Bush book/magazine spread, another one comes to light! Maybe it is the demand for new music from her, or fans wanting to pay tribute to a remarkable artist…whatever it is, it is brilliant to see exciting new books come to the fore. As Kate Bush News have hardly taken breath this past year because of all of the various books, magazines and Kate Bush-related titbits, I shall let them reveal an exciting project in Finding Kate:
“A pair of creative collaborators from Ireland, Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert, have today launched a Kickstarter campaign to realise their goal of publishing a rather unique and beautiful book which “visually and textually celebrates the genius and the music of Kate”. The book is titled: Finding Kate and is described as a visual celebration of the music of Kate Bush. This is an unofficial book, not associated with Kate herself, but Michael has been a long time fan and admirer of both Kate’s music – I’ve seen some pieces from the book and the writing is strong, obviously written with care and from a fan’s perspective. The illustrations promise to be “exciting illustrated visuals that will be new to her fans.” As with book crowdfunding campaigns of this sort, rewards for backers include having your name printed inside the book as a funder.
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert
From the launch site: “Michael has been a long time fan and admirer of both Kate Bush’s music and creative spirit and in this book ‘Finding Kate’ he picks a selection of his own particular favourite ‘Kate’ songs, each one visually conceptualised as double page spreads with accompanying text detailing some song facts, together with his own personal insights into the music – all beautifully digitally illustrated by Marius. Plus there will be other interesting Kate related content and also a history by decade of her recorded work to date.”
“This will be a large coffee table style book with a page size of 300mm x 300mm (12 inches square). It will be a premium production and will contain 96 pages + cover of text and lavishly produced illustrations of different styles to the following spec:
· Casebound (hardback)
· Size 300mm x 300mm
· Threadsewn
· Laminated picture wrap cover
· Head & tail bands
· Printed end sheets
· Printed throughout on top quality 170gsm Gardamatt Silk paper.
It will be printed & produced to the highest standards by one of Europe’s leading book printers based in Italy and will ship worldwide”.
I am going to keep this short because, as much as anything, I want people to support the book. As of writing this (13th March, 14:34), the book has received £1,124 of its £19,149 goal. I am going to pledge and, if you are a new Kate Bush fan or a diehard, this is a book that sounds awesome - one that you definitely need to own. The rewards for those who pledge are attractive:
“To try reach our funding target we have come up with a series of 4 personalised and inspiring tiered REWARD PACKAGES aimed at fans of Kate, all of which will be exclusive to backers at the Kickstarter stage, with the ultimate being an opportunity for two people to feature individually in a spread with the lady herself!
All prices quoted for the Rewards packages INCLUDE cost of delivery to you if you live in Ireland, United Kingdom and the European Union. Backers outside of these destinations will be charged an extra €10 at the checkout to cover additional delivery costs”.
I have said – when writing about Kate Bush books and gaps in the market – how there are areas that should be filled. I would like to see a book that explores her albums in a beautiful hardback where we have detailed looks at the tracks, chart positions; pictographic representation of the instruments used and little illustrations that brings her music to life in a new way. Similarly, there has been a relative absence of photobooks through the years.
In fact, the excellent KATE: Inside the Rainbow by her brother, John Carder Bush, was published over five years ago (in 2015). There has not been a good photobook since then and, given the amount of great photographs there are of Bush and the photographers she has worked with, it seems like there needs to be something happen in that area. Two exciting coffee table books, WOW! by Gered Mankowitz, and The Kate Inside by Guido Harari are excellent. They are both quite expensive…so I wonder whether Finding Kate will be closer in price to the John Carder Bush book (£35-£40) or the coffee table books (over £100 for the standard edition of The Kate Inside; nearly £400 for WOW!). 2020 and this year has seen several books and magazine features dedicated to Bush. That is going to grow this year, and, to my mind, I don’t think there has been as much fervent passion and representation of the enormous love that is held for her for many years! Her fanbase continues to grow and, with the Dubliners Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert giving us a glimpse into a beautiful book they have clearly passionately worked on for a long time, more people will pick up Kate Bush’s music after picking up that book - I guess that is one of their aims at least. Let’s hope it can reach its target in the next fifty-nine days (it seems like it will!), as I would love to grab a copy. I would say that we will not see another Kate Bush book or magazine feature published in the coming weeks but, as I have made that proclamation before, I shall happily stay quiet and…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
HOPE that I am wrong!