Music and Protest

Virtual Debate

Which form of musical protest is most effective to provoke change? This question we asked musicians and scholars from all around the world, from the composer Dave Philipps to the ethnomusicologist Martin Daughtry. Their answers are quite different. A virtual debate from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds (see and order corresponding book here).

Quotes

«The role of the artist is to raise awareness, to push boundaries, to address issues that are of a global concern. This can and will influence people in many different ways.»

Dave Phillips, Noise Musician (Switzerland)

«You might worry your song is not being heard, that it’s just a little grain of sand. But think what the beach is made of.»

Minuit De Lacroix, Composer and Singer/Songwriter (Mexico/Germany)

«I define protest broadly. Helping a girl to get out of her unhealthy relationship with a pop song or saving a man’s life with an anti-suicide song is as much a successful protest as rallying people on the streets, the way bands like System of a Down or Rage Against the Machine do.»

Trullesand, Singer, Songwriter, and Producer (Germany)

«Music has an immense political potential. Think of national anthems. Even people who are not very nationalist find themselves viscerally moved when they have to stand up and recite one.»

Charles Hirschkind, Anthropologist (USA)

Video Debate Statements by

Martin Daughtry, Ethnomusicologist (USA)
Rudolf Eb.er, Musician (Switzerland)
Filastine, Musician (Spain)
Antye Greie-Ripatti (AGF), Vocalist, Musician, Composer, and Producer (Germany)
Charles Hirschkind, Anthropologist (USA)
İpek İpekçioğlu, DJ, Producer, and Curator (Germany)
Kimi Kärki, Musician and Metal Scholar (Finland)
Keith Kahn-Harris, Sociologist and Metal Scholar (UK)
Johannes Kreidler, Composer (Germany)
Minuit De Lacroix, Composer and Singer/Songwriter (Mexico/Germany)
Kamen Nedev aka Acoustic Mirror, Scholar and Sound Artist (Spain)
Dave Phillips, Noise Musician (Switzerland)
Annette Schmucki and Reto Friedmann aka Blablabor, Composer and Writer (Switzerland)
Trullesand, Singer, Songwriter, and Producer (Germany)

Video Cut: Stephan Hermann, Coupdoeil

Some quotes from this debate were published in the second Norient book Seismographic Sounds.

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Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World

€50.00

The second Norient book «Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World» introduces you to a contemporary world of distinct music and music videos. Written by 250 scholars, journalists, bloggers and musicians from 50 countries.

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Published on June 28, 2016

Last updated on August 11, 2020

Topic

Protest

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Seismographic Sounds

Seismographic Sounds: Debates

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Bedroom Producers

Virtual Debate

by Norient

In the 21^st century, the world’s musical hits and trends are often created in bedrooms, where musicians exchange files online without meeting and jamming together. Therefore we asked people from the Norient network: can a bedroom producer change the world? A virtual debate from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds (see and order corresponding book here).

Quotes

«Bedroom, toilet. Mega studio, dungeon. It doesn’t matter. It all starts and ends with the head. The problem stays with the platform on which the materials are being projected. YouTube, SoundCloud and such… this is not enough. Realtime physical interaction is the crucial generator of change. You all know that.»

Meira Asher, Sound Artist (Israel)

«I don’t think so, if you stay in your bedroom. Making a bedroom production is like making a CD or a vinyl release; it is just one step. So, if you upload a video do not expect – as some people do – to have done all your work; do not wait for success, or wait for the world to change.»

Geert-Jan Hobijn, Founder of the Label Staalplaat (the Netherlands)

«The question is: can there be seven billion different forms of expression? I guess so. The bedroom is a great and safe place to test this out, so go ahead.»

Antye Greie-Ripatti aka AGF/Poemproducer, Musician (Finland)

Antye Greie-Ripatti performing at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London with Gudrun-Gut (photo: GanMed64, 2010)

«You might worry your song is not being heard, that it's just a little grain of sand. But think about what the beach is made out of.»

Minuit De Lacroix, Singer, Producer and Multidisciplinary Artist (Mexico/Germany)

«With enormous talent, perseverance, and lots of luck, a bedroom producer can change the world. Most of the evolution I notice in music stems from the work of bedroom producers. Often they are very young with little or no experience with professional music, no concern for how their music should sound or where it might fit. They just create what they want to hear. However I don’t believe anybody can change the world alone. The greatest beat is most likely to get immediately lost in the shuffle online unless a core of people, or better yet, an influential figure, sheds light on it.»

Benjamin Lebrave, Producer (Ghana)

«Change happens from the most insignificant things and bedroom producers can do insignificant things. So, change is not just a big bang. It’s usually kind of a phased change.»

Jesse Samba Wheeler, Ethnomusicologist (USA/Brazil)

«Maybe they can’t change the world, but they give more details to it.»

Effy B, Radio Producer (France)

«Change comes locally and individually. And that will hopefully have a butterflyy effect and change the world for the better.»

Salome MC, Rapper (Iran/Japan)

Video Debate Statements by

Meira Asher, Sound Artist (Israel)
Effy B, Radio Producer (France)
Giacomo Bottà, Scholar (Finland)
James Costello, Artist (Ireland)
Minuit De Lacroix, Composer and Singer/Songwriter (Mexico/Germany)
Rona Geffen, DIY Musician & Artist (Germany)
Gregg Michael Gillis aka Girl Talk, Mashup Artist (USA)
Antye Greie-Ripatti aka Poemproducer/AGF, Musician (Finland)
Geert-Jan Hobijn, Founder of the Label Staalplaat (the Netherlands)
FrankJavCee, Blooger and Musician (USA)
Benjamin Lebrave, Producer (Ghana)
Wayne Marshall, Technomusicologist (USA)
Salome MC, Rapper (Japan/Iran)
Merz, Artist (Switzerland/UK)
Javier Polo, Director (Spain)
Marilou Polymeropoulou, Graduate Student University of Oxford (UK)
Cande Sánchez Olmos, Music Scholar University of Alicante (Spain)
Bit-Tuner, Musician (Switzerland)
Jesse Samba Wheeler, Ethnomusicologist (USA/Brazil)

Video Cut: Stephan Hermann, Coupdoeil

Some quotes from this debate were published in the second Norient book Seismographic Sounds.

Published on February 11, 2017

Last updated on August 11, 2020

Topics

Counter-Culture

DIY

Loneliness

All Topics

Specials

Seismographic Sounds

Seismographic Sounds: Debates

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Speaking Hip Hop Vernacular

Film

by Norient

1+1 is a new worldwide recording project, presented by Norient and Sound Development. The project aims to produce and document great tracks from upcoming global artists. 1+1 brings together unexpected artist pairings and showcases them to new audiences. Season 1 debuted in 2015 with artists from Egypt, France, Iran/Japan, Japan/US, Switzerland and Togo. Watch the documentary from the first recording week in Honolulu, Hawaii between July 9^th and 1^th, 2015. For more material (tracks, videos, articles, photos) on 1+1 check the project website here.

Contributing Artists

Salome MC is an Iranian multi-media artist who started her artistic journey as one of the first female hip-hop MC of Iran in 2002. Having graduated from art school in Tehran, she added experimental audio/visual art projects to her field of work after moving to Japan, and had various performances, exhibitions and screenings around the world. Musically she brings Persian/Turkish folk melodies into her rap verses, creating a fusion of urban sounds and fantasy tunes. She has self-released three albums which covers a combination of socio/political issues, philosophical ideas and personal affairs.

Born in Tokyo, raised in Tanzania and England, Shing02 came up in the independent San Francisco Bay Area scene in the early ‘90s. He is one of the few known multilingual rappers to perforn in Japanese and English. Also a producer and activist, his music addresses issues of social justice, education, and identity. Over the course of his independent career starting in 1995, he has collaborated with various DJs and musicians as an MC, most notably with the late Japanese hip hop producer Nujabes. As the inventor of the Vestax Faderboard, he toured around for a few years with the free-jazz trio, Kosmic Renaissance. Currently Shing02 lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Film Credits

Director: Vincent Ricafort
Artists: Salome MC, Shing02
Project Coordinator: Hannes Liechti (Norient)
Assistant Editor: Kali Kasashima
Appearing Musicians: Beatboxmike aka «Mikee Mic» (Beatbox), Nicholas Kaleikini aka Saxwillard (Saxophone), Gotaro Oshitari (Piano)
Background Music: Nujabes feat. Shing02: «Luv(sic) Part3» / Salome MC: «Concealment» / Salome MC & Koohsar: «Warp and Weft» (Produced by Daniel Doel)
Special Thanks to: Eunji Paula Kim, Banzai Media, Lana Lane Studios, Delmore Uto, Mark Spangler, Nia Schmidheiny (Sound Development)
Track Produced and Recorded at Lana Lane Studios and Blue Planet Sound
Recording and Mixing Engineer: Jules Washington
Subtitles English/Persian: Salome MC