Greetings from Germany!

We're in Germany filming with some of the people that Moondog lived and worked with. In early 1974 Moondog left New York for Germany with his friend and collaborator Paul Jordan. The plan was a short concert tour but Moondog decided to stay. After visiting a number of Germany cities, Moondog ended up Recklinghausen. There he lived with Tom "Tornado" Klatt. We met up with Tom last week to learn more about Moondog's time in his adopted homeland. In addition to some great stories, Tom gave a tour of the Moondog sites, including Moondog's German Corner. 

Moondog's German Corner

Moondog's German Corner

We followed in Moondog's footsteps around the Westphalia region and got a chance to see some pretty special Moondog memorabilia.

Viking Update!

We’ve been hard at work on the film and beavering away making all of the Kickstarter rewards! A giant box of Moondog pins arrived this week and Moondog’s friend and collaborator Stefan Lakatos has been making the Moondog purses. 

Moondog pins.

Moondog pins.

Moondog purses.

Moondog purses.

As a result of the Kickstarter campaign some brilliant new archival material has come to light and a host of people who knew and worked with Moondog have been in touch. If you have any archive that you would like to share please get in touch via the contact form. 

$107,211 raised!

Wow! What a truly amazing evening and morning we had! Thanks to ALL 1,488 of our backers who helped us surpass our Kickstarter funding goal of $105,000 to raise $107,211 in total! 

To our new backers, thank you for coming on board in our final hours. To our backers who have been with us for weeks now, thank you for raising your pledges and for spreading the word. We have been so blown away by all of the amazing press coverage the film has received, but we are most thankful for the efforts of our passionate community that rallied around the project and carried us to the finish line.

Any amount that you gave meant you were contributing your hard-earned money to help our Moondog documentary get made, and for that we are truly grateful. We look forward to updating you as we complete the film.

Sincere thanks from the whole team. 

 

ONE DAY left! Moondog is in Vanity Fair!

What an honor! Vanity Fair has written an article about Moondog and our project. Take a minute to read this great piece!

Thank you to everyone who has been sharing the articles with networks and friends! We're so blown away by the number of new backers on our Kickstarter campaign that have offered their support over the last couple days. The project is now 24 HOURS away from it's deadline, and we must fully fund in order to make the film.

For those of you interested in some of our higher reward levels like the brilliant Moondog’s New York Live level, or the $3,500 private screening level, these would be a great fit for a company or organization that wants to get on board in our final hours. Please connect any interested groups with us! 

Every pledge over $2500 will receive a special introduction to the Trimba by Stefan Lakatos via Skype. Here’s a taster:

Remember that all of our special screenings and premieres come with two tickets, so if you would like to attend our film premiere, meet the team and special guests and receive tons of swag and gratitude from us, you could split the $1,000 pledge level cost between you and a friend.

We're so looking forward to bringing new music, footage and stories to you! Thank you so much for your support so far, and any more you can provide in the last 24 hours.

Please go to Kickstarter to pledge. 

Thank you. 

48 hours to go!

Support is pouring in to our Kickstarter campaign as we pass the 48 hour mark towards reaching our goal. We know that many of these new backers are a result of impassioned word-of-mouth. Please do continue to share the page as we race to the finish line.

We're adding a new $85 pledge level, and in return you'll receive a slick copy of our film poster that we'll be making for the theatrical release. These will be big and beautiful! 

We also have some fun news: They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh has been a champion of our Kickstarter campaign, and we can now reveal will be one of our special guests at the NYC preview screening ($750 backing level).

BBC Radio 6's Cerys Matthews and comedian Mark Thomas are also big supporters of the film, and will be attending the London preview screening ($750 backing level).  If you are looking to up your current pledge, consider joining us at one of these!

Thank you for staying on board with us as we try to reach our goal by Thursday 12pm EST. We will need to raise the full amount or we won't be able to receive any of your generous funds.

You can pledge here. 

Thank you. 

New Moondog items for supporting the film

We're moving closer to the end of our Kickstarter campaign (5 days left!) but still have to reach our goal.

Do you want to show your support for Moondog and the film but can't commit to a shirt? Pledge for one of our beautiful enamel Viking pins! 

We also have ONE very rare Moondog poster from the personal collection of Moondog expert Stefan Lakatos. The poster was made to promote Moondog's very first concert in Sweden in August 1981. Any Moondog fan would be lucky to get their hands on this!

If you'd like to bag either of these great Moondog items, please go to our campaign page and pledge now. 

Thank you. 

Moondog and Pop Culture

Moondog has been influencing popular culture since the early 1950s. As a kid you could have heard his collaboration with Julie Andrews on an album of nursery rhymes called "Tell It Again - Songs Of Sense & Nonsense."

In the '70s, Marc Bowlan and T-Rex sang about the Viking in "Rabbit Fighter": Moondog's just a prophet to the end...

In the ‘90s you’d have watched the Dude crack the case accompanied by Moondog’s "Stamping Ground" in THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

Moondog is no longer with us in the new millennium, but his work has continued to inspire artists in all genres. Antony and the Johnsons covered his song "All is Loneliness"...

Todd Haynes included an homage to Moondog in his Bob Dylan "biopic" I'M NOT THERE...

And let's not forget the "30 Rock" character "Moonvest," standing on Moondog’s famous corner outside the CBS building.

As you've seen in our "Moondog's World" map, his influence spreads far and wide and he continues to inspire writers, artists, designers, musicians, actors, and of course filmmakers! We want to tell you these stories and many more but we need your help to reach our Kickstarter campaign goal in 6 days. Please spread the word.

Thank you. 

Rare footage of Moondog!

In her quest to tell Moondog’s story, our director Holly Elson has unearthed some amazing archive material, including never before seen home movie footage, photographs and audio interviews with Moondog. Today we’re very excited to bring you a rare clip of Moondog playing the Trimba. A key part of his extraodinary sound, Moondog designed the Trimba and made it his signature instrument.

We have just 7 days left to hit our Kickstarter campaign goal so please continue to spread the word and back this film. 

Thank you. 

Two new rare Moondog items!

Thank you to everyone who has backed the project so far on Kickstarter! With only 8 days left to reach our goal, we have some new pledge levels for you.

MOONDOG YEARBOOK 1! You’ll get a limited edition reproduction of an original pamphlet produced by Moondog in 1967, (it contains photographs of Moondog, music scores, poems, and other material written by Moondog) + Your name in the film’s Kickstarter credits (festival and home video versions) + Moondog postcard + Everything from our our $35 MOONDOG pledge level!

MOONDOG RARE POSTER! LIMITED OFFER! ONLY 1 AVAILABLE! You’ll get a Moondog promotional poster for the Sax Pax Album from 1997 from the director’s own collection (to the best of our knowledge only a few survive) + Your name in the film’s Kickstarter credits (festival and home video versions) + Moondog postcard + Everything from our $35 MOONDOG pledge level! 

You can upgrade your pledge level to either of these while the campaign is still running. 

Please go to Kickstarter now if you would like to support the film. 

Thank you. 

New Moondog music discovered!

We can now reveal that in conjunction with the Moondog Estate we have unearthed a wealth of previously unheard Moondog music! Still in their original Braille scores, these unassuming squares of card are now revealing their wonderful musical secrets. Director Holly Elson explains in the clip below how these will be featured in the film, and how (with your help) they'll be heard for the very first time! You’ll also get to watch a clip of transcriber John Sanfilippo discussing Moondog’s scores and see how the braille transcription process works!

Thank you to all of our Kickstarter backers so far! Please continue to spread the word about the film. We need to reach our goal in the next 9 days so that we can bring Moondog's unpublished music to you!

Go to Kickstarter now if you'd like to support the film. 

Thank you. 

Do you have Moondog's original 1969 vinyl?

Do you own a copy of Moondog's self-titled masterpiece, originally released in 1969?

Do you WANT to own it? You can get one of our FIVE copies of this AND support the film at the same time!

You’ll get an original copy of Moondog’s 1969 Columbia album PLUS a Moondog postcard with a personal note from the director PLUS everything from our $25 MOONDOG MOVIE level. Go to Kickstarter now to get your copy.

Help us reach the finish line and receive this wonderful album in return!

"Moondog was a very special person to me..." - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' James Sclavunos

James Sclavunos of Grinderman and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds met Moondog on 6th Avenue when he was a child, and the strange and wonderful encounter has stayed with him ever since. Hear Jim tell you why he believes this is a film worth backing!

"Moondog was a very special person to me. I met him when I was very young and he had a profound effect on me, the repercussions of which I'm still trying to recover from." - James Sclavunos

Help us bring the rest of Jim's Moondog stories to the big screen! Please support the film on Kickstarter and spread the word.

Thank you. 

A peek at our never-before-seen Moondog images

A few words from our director, Holly Elson:

"When I set out to make this film everyone said, 'But there’s no archive of Moondog.' From the outset I wanted to get Moondog to tell as much of his own story as possible and to do this I knew I needed to find as many recordings, photographs and moving images of him as I could. It quickly became clear that Moondog was in fact one of the most photographed people of his time but because he existed before Youtube, Facebook and Instagram much of this material has remained unpublished and largely uncatalogued. This has meant spending a lot of time on a detective hunt!

Today I’d like to share two of my favourite images with you and encourage you to share them far and wide to spread the word about this project and our Kickstarter campaign. The first is from Moondog’s time in Europe and is from a series of beautiful slides that we are currently having cleaned and restored.

In order to continue our search and to properly bring this kind of material to light in the film, we MUST reach our goal in 14 days. Please share this campaign so that we can make the Moondog documentary!

The second image is one that you can own a copy of! It was taken by Moondog’s friend Willa Percival, a wonderful photographer and fascinating person in her own right, who took some beautiful and personal images of Moondog during 1965 and 1966. We are adding a NEW pledge level, where you can receive a limited edition print of this rare Moondog photograph.

So many people have been incredibly generous in sharing their archival material to help us make this film and we couldn’t have done it without them. Thank you to them and thank you to you for supporting this film and our efforts to tell Moondog’s story on film for the very first time." 

You can pledge to support the film here. 

Holly Elson (and The Viking of 6th Avenue Team)

Halfway through but not halfway there

Moondog fans!

Thank you so much to all those how have supported our Kickstarter campaign so far! If you found the film through word-of-mouth or from some of the amazing articles that have been written up, we are so appreciative that you have given some of your hard-earned money towards getting Moondog's story out into the world.

We only have two weeks left to make this film happen! We are at the critical halfway point but we haven’t yet raised half of our goal amount. We will need your help in our remaining days to circulate the Kickstarter page to as many people as possible who would also like to support our mission. If we don't reach our goal, we can't bring you this amazing movie, and we don't want that to happen.

In addition to sharing the page with your friends and networks, please consider the NEW pledge levels we are introducing today. You can change your backing level at ANY TIME while the campaign is still active.

 

$35 = MOONDOG PLAYLIST, MOVIE & MORE. You’ll get the exclusive Kickstarter playlist + a high res digital photograph of Moondog taken by his friend and collaborator Stefan Lakatos + Everything from our $25 MOONDOG MOVIE level!

$45 = MOONDOG MUSIC & MOVIE. Choose a CD of More Moondog or Moondog: The Viking of 6th Avenue from our friends at Honest Jons Records. You’ll get A CD signed by the director + A Viking of 6th Avenue postcard + Everything from our $25 MOONDOG MOVIE LEVEL!

$75 = MOONDOG MUSIC & SHIRT COMBO. You’ll get a Viking of 6th Avenue t-shirt specially designed for us by Gnome Enterprises + Everything from our $45 level!

We will be releasing some very limited items during the rest of the campaign, so if you're a collector, keep reading our updates!

Moondog and... Goldfrapp?

It's true! Before Goldfrapp became electronic superstars, Will Gregory was a young musician performing on Moondog's "Sax Pax for a Sax."

“He was playing the drums with us and he had this amazing kind of energy…once he started playing he was leading the whole group from the front." - Will Gregory on Moondog

“Suddenly there was this guy who had lived on the streets with this music and this energy … and this whole alienness, and strangeness and powerfulness, a powerful guy, and it slightly blew our minds!" - Will Gregory

Because of this amazing connection, we would like to offer a new Kickstarter pledge level combo of both the incredible but hard to find "Sax Pax for a Sax" and a signed Goldfrapp album! 

Because "Sax Pax" is so rare, we can only offer FIVE of these combos for now. Please spread the word so that we can hit our goal in 17 days and make this movie!

You can pledge for this reward here.

A few key members of "Moondog's World"

Hopefully by now you've taken a minute to peek at our "Moondog's World" map of people who collaborated with, were influenced by, or are just very vocal fans of the Viking. As you can see, there are a LOT of stories in there, and it will surely take a whole documentary to cover them!

While we raise funds in order to make the film, here are some select members of Moondog's World to tide you over...

Bob Dylan wrote poetry about Moondog in 1963.

David Bowie described his first memory of New York City as seeing Moondog on 6th Avenue: "One of the guys who worked at Mercury Records, with whom I was under contract at the time, took me over to 54th Street, and there, dressed as a sort of Viking, Moondog stood..."

Blondie have often cited Moondog as an influence, appearing just this week on BBC Radio 6 to play a Moondog track while talking about their new album. 

Elvis Costello invited Moondog to London to play at the 1995 Meltdown Festival. It would be Moondog’s last concert in London, and brought members of the audience to tears.

Feel free to steal your favorites and share with your friends on your feeds!  We have 20 days to raise $83,400 and can't tell these stories in full without your help.

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