Nerds Need Five Grand To Fulfil Their Pokémon Dream

Name: Eric Buchholz
Project: Pokémon Reorchestrated presents: Double Team!
Current Status: 526 pledges, 73.2% ($13,181) of $18,000 goal achieved. Three days remaining.

Why wouldn't you spend your teenage years playing Pokémon games and becoming a musical genius so you can end up arranging the theme music from Pokemon video games to be played by a string ensemble? What else are you gonna do; try and convince adults to buy you booze, cool kids to give you cigarettes and girls to let you put your hand under their dresses?

Eric Buchholz and Braxton Burks are serious nerds, but thanks to the internet they have found a lot of fellow nerds who want to see them make their dreams come true. They have arranged a whole bunch of tunes from the Pokemon video games and will record them live in one of the best studios in their home city of Seattle. You have to respect the dedication.

They're desperate to get it done by the end of the year, so they actually run the risk of not having it fully funded given the short turnaround. Go and help a couple of nerds do something completely pointless and really bloody difficult and feel good that you're basically being the opposite of a schoolyard bully.

mDNA - What's Your Music DNA? from Nick Arnold on Vimeo.

Name: Nick Arnold
Project: mDNA
Current Status: 21 pledges, 4.63% ($2,780) of $60,000 goal achieved. 39 days remaining.

“Think Instagram, but for music lovers!” is the way that mDNA was described  to us last week, which is either going to make you lament the very fact that social networking ever became a thing, or will have you flexing your liking muscles and commenting thumbs in feverish anticipation.

To be honest, the concept seems a little tricky to explain, you get ten songs that become a part of your musical DNA and you are then able to communicate through this music with other fans. You're probably just better off watching the video because I was terrible at science in high school and this is all a bit much for me.

If you want to help this project happen then you can buy their merch through their IndieGoGo campaign – caps, shirts and posters are available for those pledging lower amounts of money, you can get a customised vinyl copy of your favourite tracks on the service if you're willing to drop a couple of hundred bucks or get your own set of mDNA Monster Headphones if you can drop $650.

MGLYC promo from MGLYC on Vimeo.

Name: Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Youth Chorus
Project: Same Love
Current Status: 54 pledges, 105% ($2,640) of $2,500 goal achieved, 38 days remaining.

In their own words, “The Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Youth Chorus is a one-of-a-kind group, providing a safe space for young people to be themselves, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The choir are putting on a big show in a couple of weeks' time, with a little help from the MASSIVE Fam hip hop choir, and are looking to sell tickets through Pozible to ensure the show can go ahead. They are hoping to raise a little money to assist with both their community outreach work and the continued inclusion of young people into the group they've established.

A standard ticket is $15, or if you can't make the show a CD is $25. Of course there are all manner of packages with added perks which you can choose should you wish to donate further – song dedications, private performances and corporate sponsorships to name a few – head to their page to check them out.

Also in Crowdfunding this week:

These people are crowdfunding to Save The Music Industry. Why the fuck didn't we all think of that earlier? They want $200,000, but we reckon it'll take more than that.

Australia's own Pozible has just announced they will now accept pledges with Bitcoin.

The Inner Intelligence Project are crowdfunding to look into how using ouijas can help tap into your own unconscious. $8,500 to play with ouijas might seem a bit excessive, but who knows what they might uncover?