By Sanjeev Selvarajah

So why is Kirsten Opstad asking for 5,000 dollars? She feels compelled to do so for the very reason she is also being whisked away to record her first full-length album in a studio: her music. Because of her music, a filmmaker named Whit Scott wishes her to compose a song for the soundtrack of his upcoming documentary Rolled. Afterwards, he is leaving her alone in the studio, for however long or short it takes to produce an album.

Opstad lives to entertain. With her band mate, Steve Subrizi, she comprises Crazy Exes from Hell, but on her own she is a dedicated singer-songwriter. It is for her talents in the latter role that Whit Scott has appeared on the scene and introduced her to Kickstarter.com, the method Scott used to raise over $30,000 dollars for his film.

“My Kickstarter campaign is going incredibly well. I’ve raised almost $4,000 in less than two weeks. I now have until October 23 to raise the remaining $1,200. I’ve been so lucky to find support from my friends, family, and fans. I know I will make it to the goal, I just need to reach out and tell my story,” says Opstad.

While this would be her first full length album produced in a studio, Opstad has gone guerrilla prior to this, marshaling her day to day resources to get previous recordings done absolutely straight from her home. “The first album I made, Short Sappy Songs, was recorded in a pay-by-the-hour music store recording studio. So, technically it was a studio in that I stood in a little room away from the guy mixing, but I wouldn’t call that a studio album. My second album, More of The Same, I recorded in the bedroom of my Somerville apartment. Though I hired a friend to record my latest solo release, A Little Unhappy EP, it was still recorded in a living room in South Boston. It’s kind of sweet actually, on one of the tracks you can hear the birds outside the apartment.” says Opstad

Opstad adds that writing a score for a film has been a challenge. She loves the trailer music, Wake Up by Arcade Fire, in front of Where the Wild Things Are, and the soundtracks to The Royal Tanenbaums and I Heart Huckabees. Not only is she a musician, but she also does improv and works as a lighting designer.