Music as Medicine is becoming a hot topic, even in some major hospitals, and is ever more important in a world in which the harmful effects of toxic drugs are more prevalent than ever before. The Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine (ISQRMM) is an organisation with a mission to provide researchers, practitioners, medical professionals and musicians with a forum in which to critically engage on the effects of music on the human mind, body and soul.
“Stanley Pedigree has been part of the New Zealand hip-hop scene for two decades. He’s written, produced, performed and recorded, toured the country, featured in festivals, started groups and gone solo. He’s a staple of North Island rap, and the latest video to his infectious new song, All Out, drops today.
Outside of our 600 island nation, rapper Stanley Pedigree may not be a household name, but something unique about his style sets him apart internationally, and it’s not just the accent. Stuff.co.nz, the biggest news website in NZ, has called Pedigree’s work “experimental and socially conscious,” but it’s even more than that. “Materialism by and large isn’t the Kiwi way. The prideful, self-centred theme is a hard sell in this part of the world. You’ll receive more ridicule than support with that kind of approach,” said Pedigree in a 2012 interview. “I like to think of myself as a conscientious rapper…I want my lyrics to mean something, to speak about real life.”
Outside of our 600 island nation, rapper Stanley Pedigree may not be a household name, but something unique about his style sets him apart internationally, and it’s not just the accent. Stuff.co.nz, the biggest news website in NZ, has called Pedigree’s work “experimental and socially conscious,” but it’s even more than that. “Materialism by and large isn’t the Kiwi way. The prideful, self-centred theme is a hard sell in this part of the world. You’ll receive more ridicule than support with that kind of approach,” said Pedigree in a 2012 interview. “I like to think of myself as a conscientious rapper…I want my lyrics to mean something, to speak about real life.”
When he began in the late 1990s, Pedigree’s early recordings were typically made in bedroom studios. Local hip-hop artists from Wellington and Palmerston North (Pedigree’s daily stomping ground) would join him and record, burn, and peddle their CDs and music videos to anyone willing to listen and watch.
Pedigree (center-right) with former group Illyspillaz (Photo by Sam Baker)
Later, Pedigree took advantage of arts funding opportunities available in the city and across New Zealand. He and his mates pooled their funds and applied for grants, allowing them to move into proper studios and more easily distribute their work. This art funding also presented the opportunity to do a weekly music-based hip-hop program for “at risk youth.” For four years, Pedigree helped coordinate and run the programme. With positive messaging in his corner and a part-time hairstyling gig on the side, he gathered a following and made an unconventional career out of this unusual, philanthropic, alternative hip-hop.
Pedigree performs at Chile Earthquake Relief Fundraiser 2010 (Photo by Sam Baker)
In 2016, Pedigree decided to study film in an effort to know more about production and to up his music video game. After completing his first year, a new film lecturer from America (that’s me, Derrick Sims) joined the program, and we hit it off both as professionals and as friends. At the time, I’d had a 10yr career as a film director and director of photography, and teaching in a classroom was a bit foreign. There were no resources to draw from, so everything was experimental, and Pedigree was sort of a guinea pig.
Pedigree on the set of The Invisible Woman dir. by Derrick Sims (photo by Matt Dobson)
Fast-forward to 2021, having worked with Pedigree on a handful of film projects, he approached me to direct his next music video, All Out. Over coffees, we threw around ideas landing on one where he and Teva Valentine (the other artist on the track) were two grown men having a 1990s, 8-year-old’s sleepover. That scenario got me excited and made me smile. That was the plan – just make people smile.
On set of All Out with former students Pedigree, Chok, Koolaard, and lecturer Sims (Photo by Sen Ski)
With that, we began. I brought on two former students, Abby Koolaard as First AC and Lawrence Chok as Key Grip on the shoot. That’s a great thing about teaching film – each year you build what you hope will be a good team, and these guys were some of the best I’d had. Production began, and together we created the “conscientious 1990s man-child music video” above.
Quoted earlier about the project, I said, “Being around Pedigree is a treat. It’s like hanging out with a little boy, to be honest. It’s infectious! And the things he raps about are sincere. They’re not sappy; it’s not sentimental. It’s about common experience but in a fun, fresh way. Stan’s not selling you something false or fake. He’s a genuine guy, and it comes across in his work and in his personality. You’ll see it in the video.”
Grow your own veg. I’ve just discovered this NZ channel by Aly Cook… read below & sub for good ideas to be self sufficient.
Aly is also a musician, she released a song recently called ‘Hello Hello, Welcome to the New Revolution’ … featured at EWR, you can listen to it here, and hear her story AT THIS LINK.
“Kia Ora my name is Aly Cook I live in Aotearoa (New Zealand) it is one of the more isolated countries on this beautiful planet , something that makes me thankful everyday as I feel it is a privilege to be born and raised in such an amazing place. I love to Garden and do things in an upcycle way, use the things that could go into landfill in a positive way, grow spray and free chemical free veges in containers, cook yummy vegan food, preserve fruit and live in a sustainable way as much as I can. So I hope you enjoy this journey with me . Please subscribe so you can see when my new videos appear.”
Throughout the history of music, protest songs have played their part in change.
It has been said “ music can change the world”. Music has the power to stir emotions, to enlighten causes. Over the decades songs of freedom and protest have led the way, offering a powerful and passionate viewpoint on any given subject, while urging listeners to come together in solidarity and to rise against racism, corruption, tyranny and exclusion. Now, more than ever, we need not only for artists to speak up, but for the public to support and understand those artists share their values. So we ask that if you are reading this you take time to listen to our playlist on Spotify and discover a new artist standing up for our rights.
Songs of Freedom of Speech
Songs of freedom of medical choices
Songs of standing to Oppression
Songs of Awakeness.
Nothing was ever changed in history without protest and sacrifice of those protesting.
In this series of articles we look at various artists from the 2021 Songs of Freedom Playlist
Nashville Artist Shawn Gallaway
One such artist from this playlist is Shawn Gallaway from Nashville in the USA. Shawn is releasing his music downunder and his message of a ‘Lovealution’. His two great songs ‘Hands Off!’, about protecting our children from unnecessary medical tyranny, and ‘Just Wait!, written with Dr Jane Ruby, encourages people to wait for the long term outcomes of this vaccination program to be known. Just Wait!
Shawn’s music is upbeat and positive in challenging times and you will love him on the playlist, however, he too has been subject to censorship. Yes they are censoring music and artistic expression now if it crosses the narrative. Shawn recently appeared on Infowars https://www.banned.video/watch?id=61450c7760f45409b31ebfe1.video and this garnered the Youtube version of his music video for ‘Just Wait’ 500,000 views before Youtube deleted the music video. Now the only version is on Rumble https://rumble.com/vly6pi-just-wait-shawn-gallaway-and-dr.-jane-ruby.html
Perhaps it is time to look for those artists standing up with the same values as you for freedom and play their music. They too are freedom fighters.
Incredulously, the world has witnessed a few decades of social and political change in as little as eighteen months. “Hello Hello”, the inaugural first single for the New Zealand and Australian music collective, The Eyes Open, echoes the legacy of thousands of music artists across the planet that have come before them, to express the emotions of a generation.
In a song that explores the somewhat comical absurdities that exist in our modern world today, “Hello Hello” is a vehicle for exploring hope in a, what so many fear, is a looming dystopia, while offering an infectious and toe tapping sanguine vision for a post covid world.
“This is personal. With so many small businesses closing their doors, and people feeling so worried about the future in this time of uncertainty, we wanted to share a message of hope.
For us, the revolution is all about coming together as a community.” The Eyes Open lead singer noted. “Welcome to the new revolution. Let’s go find a new solution. This is our anthem now.”
Tempering the angst of so many global artists releasing music about their lockdown experience, “Hello Hello” is a song that you simply cannot listen to without feeling buoyed with optimism. “Hello Hello” was written and produced by award winning and ARIA charting music artists in Sydney, Australia while the video was filmed in New Zealand.
The coming together of such a diverse bunch of creatives heralds a turning point in a global music industry smack bang in the middle of its own new revolution.
In 2020, a group of award winning and ARIA charting music artists in Australia and New Zealand started writing together over Zoom while in various stages of lockdown. Believing that the music of a generation defines its culture while simultaneously delivering it into a new era of political and social change, The Eyes Open is a collective of talented writers, lyricists, musicians, performers, film makers and producers stepping up to share their thoughts on the basic human story at this time of history.
Tapping into a collective universal question, The Eyes Open, tell the story of us all, through a somewhat aggregated pandemic experience.
Within The Eyes Open conclave, you will find award winning, ARIA nominated artists who have spent decades touring the globe bringing their music to the masses. The interruption that the COVID 19 lockdowns brought to careers and businesses afforded the collective the time to create and express and produce at a time when the business of music across the planet was changed for good.
The coming together of such a diverse bunch of creatives heralds a turning point in a global music industry smack bang in the middle of its own new revolution.
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