Scoring a bona fide record deal has long been the golden fleece of most musicians trying to break into what can at time seem like the inpenetrable fortress of the modern day music industry.

But that is no longer a problem to Leeds-based hard rockers, The Idol Dead, who have celebrated the creation of a second album thanks to the goodwill of their fans.

A project that has proved to be recession proof, fans have again donated in their droves to help them turn the idea for album Hollow Point Curses into a reality, after the band started up the crowd-funding-esque campaign in May.

And now the band’s Liversedge-born and Waterloo bred bassist, Dan Sugden, believes the process could signal the triumph for the music scene’s under dogs which leaves the industry’s ‘big wigs and fat cats’ in the dust.

Dan, who now lives in Lindley, said: “Crowd funding is just the way forward as far as we’re concerned.

“It cuts out all the middle men and big wigs and it’s brought us a lot closer to our songs.

“Not only that, it’s totally changed the relationship with have with fans.

“We don’t consider them as fans anymore – we like to say we’ve got friends instead.”

Offering their loyal followers goodies and, more importantly of course, the promise of a new record to add to their collection if they pledged to throw them a dime, within four months the five-piece managed to secure 127 per cent of their original target to begin the recording process.

“We got lucky with our first album because we had a few offers from people who wanted to help us but for our follow up albums we wanted to use just one producer, which obviously costs a lot more, especially as an underground band.

“We saw that bigger bands had been using Pledge Music and decided to give it a go and as you can see, it’s working out for us pretty well.

“It’s hard for many musicians nowadays to get ahead through the traditional channels.

“There are lots of reasons why but programmes like X-Factor and A&R bodies like Simon Cowell are playing their part in killing the music industry off, in my eyes, just because they have such a narrow definition of what makes a successful musician.

“It means that there are so many amazing people whose talents are going to waste, so this recent trend of being able to start campaigns like ours could help the underground scene a lot.

“Through doing it you can keep your principles intact – we love being part of the underground scene and can continue to be a part of it because we don’t have to compromise with anyone to get a deal.”

Now in the final stages of the production process, they have also decided to donate five per cent of their funding to the Multiple System Atrophy Trust.

“We wanted to do something for the trust because our drummer knows someone with it and we hope that it will raise much-needed awareness.”

Described as a ‘fun-filled rock album’, Dan hopes that having full control over all elements of its creation will make it a favourite with their fanbase.

“I hope no one is disappointed with any of the tracks – it’s just great fun and there’s definitely no slowing down throughout.

“It’s marking what is now a really exciting time for us.

“We’ve come on leaps and bounds since we formed and we’re looking forward to touring it when we go on tour around the country with Ritchie Ramone in December, which will be the biggest thing we’ve ever done.

“It’s both incredibly exciting but terrifying at the same time.”

The album launch will take place on November 29 at the Eiger Music Venue in Leeds.