Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer, or as she prefers Amanda “Fucking” Palmer, moved on from her band The Dresden Dolls in 2007 and firmly established herself as a solo artist in 2008 when she performed two shows under her own name with the Boston Pops. Her first album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, was then released on Roadrunner Records. The following year she created a companion book to the album with photos and lyrics and which also included stories by well-known fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, to whom she later married.

Forsaking her record label AFP wrote a song to Roadrunner “Please Drop Me.” They complied. Abandoning popular commercial success for her own idiosyncratic pursuits she has since managed her own career. As an early adopter of Kickstarter Amanda famously raised over $1 million dollars to record her album Theatre of Evil. Later she channeled this experience into a TED Talk and subsequent memoir The Art of Asking. In 2010 she also appeared as the emcee in the A.R.T production of Cabaret directed by her Lexington High School drama teacher.

Currently Amanda uses the crowdfunding platform Patreon for her projects. Patreon could be considered a glorified fan club where “patrons” donate to individual creators. In return the artist’s output is channeled primarily to subscribers. Amanda connects to her cult of supporters with writings, videos, and songs. She has given them an album with her father and another with Legendary Pink Dots frontman Edward Ka-Spel, one of her early influences.

Her career has not been without controversy. After her Kickstarter success she offered to pay her musicians with “beer and hugs” raising the ire of the music industry. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 she published the misunderstood “A Poem for Dzhokhar,” to overwhelming incredulity.

There have been occasional Dresden Dolls reunions but AFP continues as a solo artist. Her 3rd solo studio album There Will Be No Intermission, featuring Amanda standing naked on the cover, is her latest Patreon project with a corresponding tour of theatres in Europe, Australia and the States. Her fans are passionate and feel a close intimate connection with Amanda. There is little mystery as she reveals all and lays herself bare.

(by Oedipus)