MIX CDS

“I first heard Nina Simone when I was 19 or so and was instantly moved and inspired by her amazing voice and the skill of her singing. When I first heard her version of Strange Fruit, I was overwhelmed by the depth of emotion she conveyed – so deeply moving and disturbing, the feeling has stayed with me. There is a line in the song: “Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth” which sums up the subject matter and the attitude that, from my experience of living there, is clearly alive and well in all areas of America. The movement #BlackLivesMatter is important and needed. (And racism has only ramped up since they elected a racist, sexist, misogynistic, bigoted, homophobe to the White House – I wrote a blog post on my thoughts on that if you are interested [see her blog link in the copy above]) Obviously though, racism and the idea of privilege is an issue all over the world and by educating those oblivious to how systemic racism works and on how they are conditioned to see people of colour in a certain way, can certainly bring about huge positive change in terms of how all of us are seeing the world. Right now the conditioning is to see anyone in any way different from your norm as a threat. We need to change that story in all situations if there is to be peace and equality in our world.”

“(Aina Annahatak, Elisapee Nassak, Becky Kilabuk, Annie Alaku, Sylvia Cloutier and Celina Kalluk) I visited the Northern Territory in Canada in 2005. It was one of the most incredible, eye-opening and fulfilling trips I’ve ever taken. During my time in Iqualuit, I did some incredibly inspiring throat singing workshops with a woman named Sylvia Cloutier. Her incredible spirit and affinity for nature and her culture were hugely inspiring to me. This track is a live performance she with five other throat singers did at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Throat singing and how the women feel and use vibration with each other to shift patterns is an incredible skill and beautiful to feel. The whole aesthetic and meaning is something that really resonated for me and I have used it many times in my works, both as raw singing and as a means to create electronic material. We can all see exactly what is happening at the poles and around the world, yet we have lobbyists attempting to say that climate change is not real, that we should not care about this disturbing trend of unusual weather patterns, melting ice, loss of species, loss of plant life, increased earthquakes, the continued and sustained increase in temperatures… all that we know is happening. Racism and greed are attributing to this problem. We are all being fed the belief that those in Europe and the West are the civilised ones; dismissing the parts of the world that are living a more simple life – or simply a different life to the one held as ‘the norm’ in our part of the world – as being more backward and not as evolved. Dismissing the ways of working with nature, of being within the cycles, of being aware, in tune with and caring about it all. Seeing that every creature here is just as valuable as the other. That contrary to the story the majority of humans are preaching these days, we’re not actually the most important species- we are all valuable and all here for a reason that none of us actually know, and the humans are the only ones destroying things and shifting the ecosystems out of balance. So much of the rhetoric surrounding climate change is that we are going to destroy the Earth. I personally believe she is much too strong for that and will be shaking us off – along with our destructive, horrendous ways – long before that. We are destroying ourselves and we are destroying lifeforms all around us – plants, animals and humans alike. We need to change before the pattern becomes irreversible. And we need to respect the indigenous peoples not just out of basic human decency (which on the whole is completely lacking, as seen in the disgusting approach of the police force in the US towards the Sioux tribe at Standing Rock #NoDAPL or in how the native peoples in the Northern Territories of Canada are not being supported and instead are facing huge social problems most of which are caused by those from outside of their land and far away from their way of life – and the list goes on…). If we actually want to have a chance of reversing this current course to destruction we are on, we need to also re-learn the wisdom of working with nature and the land in order to survive. It is the Indigenous peoples that, on the whole, have held to and value this. They have a lot to teach us, most importantly respect of self, respect of others and respect of the place we call home.”

“This was the track that really gave me the push to commit to making this EP, and not only to make it but also share it with others. I love the Knife and think Karin Dreijer is amazing but somehow missed ‘If I Had A Heart’ when it was first released so actually didn’t hear it or the album until the program Vikings came out. When I heard the song, it gave me chills and really reverberated through my body – I love listening to it on full blast and dancing around if I want to get into a space for meditation or ritual. I also got really excited as it reminded me of stuff I had been writing and working on myself. Prior to hearing that, it kind of hadn’t occurred to me that I would write my LAIR music for anything beyond for my own enjoyment and for use in sound healing/ritual. This track was apparently written as she watched her children playing but the line “More, give me more, give me more” and the mood and feel of the track feels a kind of commentary about the greed and power-hungry attitude of so many in our society today. The collective is being encouraged to constantly look for more; to never be satisfied; to throw away and then upgrade electronics, furniture, relationships… never truly valuing anything but constantly being on the hunt for more because they are being trained to feel and fear lack. This greed has led to governments all around the world putting money and perceived power above the true needs and value of their people. It has led to so many people today feeling entitled to everything they come across and being ok with leaving destruction in their wake so long as they as an individual are ok. It has led to a break-down in communities and the focus shift to self in a harmful way. It has led to an over-harvesting of all of Earth’s natural resources. This in turn is leading to a huge environmental crisis. To me, greed and the false power that it goes hand-in-hand with these days is the root of so many of our problems and of the multiple crises humanity is facing. In order to shift away from crisis and into living with true freedom, I feel we need to start demanding accountability from those in industries and governments, and prioritising integrity and community in place of greed and power-grabbing.”

“Bjork is one of the most influential women in music today and for me is definitely the most inspiring. I’ve been listening to her since I was 12 and her honesty, openness and her use of and exploration of her voice have always inspired me. When I read her Pitchfork interview “The Invisible Woman” with Jessica Hopper, I cried and felt my experiences as a female working mainly with men in the male-dominated area of electronic music and contemporary classical music validated on a new level. Reading about her experiences made me really angry but empowered – I could hear someone I truly respect and know is incredibly talented also say how hard things can feel, and so felt I was able to say “enough doing things the male way, it doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t interest me, I’m doing it my way now”. That is how LAIR was born. The whole Vulnicura album is emotional, raw, impactful, hugely powerful and extremely female – speaking with deep truth from the female perspective. Despite loving them all, ‘Black Lake’ is the stand-out track for me. I found it cathartic and again deeply empowering to listen to-  and to feel it through every level of my being. It is brave and bold and I am in awe at Bjork for allowing it to birth so fully, wholly and honestly. Pure inspiration. There is a line in it where Bjork sings “You fear my limitless emotions, I am bored of your apocalyptic obsessions”. Those words convey how I am feeling towards the world – I do have huge and bottomless emotions, I am beyond angry and am now bored of being told that that is wrong or unacceptable. I’m bored of the collective voice telling women that our intuition is not the strong tool it is, belittling the amazing power in our emotional world, not acknowledging or taking seriously our potential to create a world of nurturing beauty, light and equality rather than aggression, war and darkness. How that is looked down on as something that is not realistic or is ‘wishful thinking’ when I and many awakened women like me who own our power and know our potential are already creating that in our lives and the immediate world around us. When we women see how if we stop doing things the male way as our society is set up and instead command respect for doing things our way, we can enact great change. Change that will benefit all – men, women, children and this amazing planet we all share.”