Muse-ecology

Big C and I signed along the dotted line for a new car the other day. This is hardly earth-shattering news - except that it is the first time we have ever bought a new car and - most importantly - it’s electric.

Until this point we have always bought the shittest legal cars for reasons of thrift - mainly. But also, I have been unable to get my head around the sheer waste of money from spending a fortune on cars; it feels akin to taking an enormous pile of money and burning it. Given the choice I would far rather have a holiday, or get some repairs done on the house, or go to some quality gigs - in short - prioritise almost anything above this. My mother (and presumably therefore many others) of course would disagree; she has been a total petrol head all her life and had she be born at a different time would have made a living out of engineering of some sort - she is actually moved to tears by technology or large-scale construction and loves flash new gadgets and toys. Anyway, we decided to take this huge step - surprisingly - for in large part financial reasons. To clarify, here are a few figures: As an underestimate we have been spending £300 a month on petrol, which to me feels shocking both in monetary terms as well as blatant ecocide. Buying a new electric car requires a £5k deposit (on average, the amount we have spent on vehicles thus far) plus £250 a month on a PCP deal. You will notice that this is less than our petrol bills - although we will have to spend an extra £20 a week in electricity. It still feels like a win/win to me and frankly takes away some of the guilt I have had for the whole of my working musical life.

I first became interested in environmental issues when I was a student; ‘Greenpeace’ was becoming more prominent, other environmental pressure groups such as ‘Friends of the Earth,’ and ‘The National Trust’ were also featuring strongly and leaflets advertising these sorts of organisations were flowing into the Student Union. I loved being at Guildhall, loved being a music student, but needed an interest away from that fairly insular life. It was starting to feel unhealthy hanging out with only musos and I longed for fresh air and exercise out of London. I joined an organisation called ‘The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers’ (BTCV) and went on odd weeks away with them for conservation holidays such as fence or path building - not dissimilar to the old-fashioned fruit or hop picking holidays. They provided the tonic and sense of perspective away from college and I really enjoyed hanging out with hippy types. They weren’t on a noisy mission, just quietly got on with living their low-carbon-footprint lives. Mixing with them made it seem obvious that protecting the earth was essential - not just for the future of the human race but also to preserve what is so fundamental to creative life.

I have never met a person or animal who has not been soothed, released or revived by nature. From tiny babies to our very oldest individuals, green spaces seem to appeal to our most basic needs and instincts and even the sound of nature has healing properties. I’m not pretending that I or my musical colleagues were suddenly going to turn into Olivier Messiaen, but the sense of tranquility and headspace gained from being present in the natural world was, and remains unrivalled by anything else. So having to own a car, and run it into the ground never felt comfortable to me. There was no way round it; if I wanted to have the freelance lifestyle, then having personal transportation was absolutely necessary. This was even more so because being a percussionist and carrying drums on public transport wasn’t viable, travelling to rural locations wasn’t viable and being available at the last minute wasn’t viable. But it wasn’t just about that. It was about the freedom to coach on workshops or courses anywhere, to be spontaneous, to react to work - and indeed life at short notice. I don’t think we can put this particular genie back in the bottle and wrestling with it has always felt awkward.

So to return to the issue of our newly ordered car, it is obvious that any individual decisions we make will be miniscule compared to the profound and necessary changes governments need to enact. I have been heartened to see however that there are more environmentally conscious musicians and organisations emerging. ‘Music Declares Emergency’ is one such group and it comprises of music industry professionals raising awareness of the ecological emergency. They believe in ‘the power of music to promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.’ It is worth checking out their website, but one of their mission statements that grabbed me was ‘We acknowledge the environmental impact of music industry practices and commit to taking urgent action.’ It is absolutely true that for too long musicians and their lifestyles have been guilty polluters; travelling troubadours with lorry loads of equipment, globetrotting on a massive scale and essential - though random and frequent car use. It’s about time we adapted our lifestyles just like everyone else is going to have to - and mindfulness about our environment and how we use it is an important first step.

Uplifting music of the day: - ‘Dead on Time’ - written by Brian May and as performed by Queen on their 1978 album ‘Jazz.’ There is no jazz whatsoever on this recording - but what an album! I am fairly certain it was this very record (if not this track) that ‘zapped’ me when I was younger and made me certain that I wanted music to be my path. Too many people talk about Freddie and his campness with this band, without concentrating on the awesome, tight, dirty and majestic hard rock sound they produced. This track is a perfect example; virtuosic guitar playing, close harmony vocals and tons and tons of energy. If you should care to listen to the lyrics (which I don’t usually because everything else is so fab), they are particularly appropriate for the times we are living in.

Contemplative music of the day: - ‘The Girl with the Flaxen Hair’ - Debussy. I am unashamedly a Francophile and love the salon music of the early twentieth century. Choose whichever version you like, listen to this pianistic jewel and float away…