How It Started...

Many have commented on how great they think the idea of Riffs for Change is. And many have also asked how it all started. So we ask ourselves that question one more time. What was the impetus for starting Riffs for Change? The quick answer is one t-shirt design never seen prior by fans and a ton of care and support from people who want to make a difference.

J Costa, vocalist for Thy Will Be Done, happened to be over the house one Saturday night previewing for me his band’s newest record In Ancient of Days. I had a kitchen table full of unopened items I had purchased, used video games and DVD’s I no longer played or watched, Yankee Candle items, photo equipment, and a pad of paper scratched with seemingly random numbers and places. I was auctioning items on eBay. And when J asked what I was doing and whether it was successful he learned the easy way. I showed him. Then his curiosity piqued. “How do you post items?” Picking up a handful of items, I showed him how easy it was to post and sell quickly. The rest, I told him, was all about waiting for bids. We continued the usual geek talk about eBay and comic books he wanted to sell, and J mentioned in passing his desire to set up an eBay account for his band merchandise.

A new shipment of t-shirts had just arrived days earlier. I convinced J to put try and sell the “brand new design” on eBay. As a publicist I said to J, what’s better, making $3 profit on a t-shirt or getting the band’s name further into people’s minds? The decision was made immediately to auction the shirt on eBay with all proceeds going to charity. The hardest decision up to this point was choosing the charity. J turned to Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) as an organization he’s used in the past to ensure donations are made to the charities with the highest percentage of their donations going to research and relief. Within five minutes the “Lions t-shirt” hit eBay with all proceeds going to The Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Within five more minutes, and after advertising the auction on the band’s MySpace page, the starting bid of $9.99 was met and raised. By Sunday afternoon the shirt had reached a modest $17. By Monday morning, $25. Then $30, $35, $75 and $100. By the auction’s end the selling price of $105 had been reached – and every penny went to charity.

The results humbled both J and myself. At first we contemplated holding monthly Thy Will Be Done charity auctions. Admittedly, this would have been great publicity for the band. But to be honest, something didn’t seem right. And then the conversation took its final turn.

“Seriously, and I know this sounds like a crazy idea, but why do we really need to use something this awesome and positive as publicity?!?”

And so it was born.

We both used completely different talents to make it in the music industry. While our talents were different, our motives were not. Many artists say they want to make a difference in people’s lives. But who really does? Sure, a song may motivate or educate, but the differences one makes can still be so much more. Why make a difference in one person’s life when you can affect many more?

I personally am not finding the cure for cancer. Neither is J. It doesn’t mean we don’t want to, it simply means we don’t know how. But by donation, our dollars may help find that cure. Our dollars may help to educate the less privileged. Our dollar may help rebuild lives or a neighborhood after a disaster.

But our dollars are limited. If I could afford to donate tens of thousands of dollars a year I would. But I can’t. But it also doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to help raise those tens of thousands of dollars. Rffs for change exists to do just that. It isn’t asking those that give to give more, it’s hoping those that haven’t donated in the past can find reasons in their heart to give now.

Every guitar needs a string. Every disease needs a cure.

-andrew

Who We Are...

Riffs for Change is the brainchild of circlenine media founder Andrew Gargano, and Thy Will Be Done vocalist J Costa.

Andrew is a writer and photographer in the music industry, having worked with bands and magazines both nationally and world wide. In 2007 he founded his own publicity and marketing company called circlenine media.

J Costa is the vocalist of Providence, RI based Thy Will Be Done. He is has spent the majority of his adult years around the music industry, and has always been a contributor and advocate for humanitarian causes.