I am a Frome-based musician and I have written a song called the Magic Money Tree to campaign for social justice. This year I started recording it using some wonderful musicians from Frome and Bristol. Because the song has grown into a project beyond my expectations and has generated a huge amount of enthusiasm from my local community I now want to put a music video with it to broaden its reach. (Please see below for The Story about how and why I put this together and plans for the future.)
The Cost
I need at least £2000 to make the video and to complete the final production stages of the song. I am offering plenty of rewards so please take a look.
The Shoot
First a big thank you to everyone who came to Rodden Meadow and joined in the fun. It was a gorgeous day and everybody was great. A big thank you to Howard Vause for his excellent directive skills and wonderful positivity. We got a lot done in a short space of time.
Next
So next is the post-production work where the time, hard work and of course the money goes. The crowd funder only has a couple days left so please give whatever you can so we can get the video looking as good as possible and help get it out far and wide.
The Song
The song is a written in the style of African Highlife music but of course fused with a hint of my own eclectic mix of English pop, soul and jazz. I have been lucky enough to get some fabulous musicians to help me create it, including the master of funk Pee Wee Ellis on saxophone, and now some great local film-makers. Now I want to bring in at least 100 people who would like to have some fun making this film with me.
I am also in the stages of collaborating with some people to include a comedy routine within the song to highlight the story. Humour, I believe, is an excellent way to show the full weight of a situation but keep people
engaged.
Growing the Project - The Story
I wish to use this video to be the initial seed for my bigger project that I am calling PIPPA - People In Positive Politics Association. This is about taking the 'party' out of politics and putting the 'people' back in. It is a call those willing to create a society based on equality, compassion and fairness. This will only happen if we, the people, choose to discover this for ourselves and rebuild our communities based on these important qualities. It will also only happen if we work collaboratively. The more people I can get involved the better, and the more people we can get talking about this problem of inequality the more we can do to solve it. I believe we need to start by recognising that this issue is now out of control and that we need to work towards ways of making changes now.
My story is one of choosing to take responsibility for what I see in the world around me, deciding what my strengths are and use them to get activated. I believe I can make a difference not because I am special but because I believe we all are and we all have something to offer that can make a positive change in our community if enough of us choose to.
Three years ago I was inspired to write this song in response to Amber Rudd and Theresa May's insistence that there is no such thing as a magic money tree. Now everybody knows that governments are capable of finding great sums of money to fund their needs at the drop of a hat when it suits them. We also have the interesting situation of some wealthy individuals and companies holding huge amounts of money in off shore accounts tax free.
As our country has seen the divide been rich and poor grow since the legislation has allowed for these loop holes in the law, I have become motivated, realising that we all have the power within us to make change happen, to do something positive about this.
I am, for now, its just me, although I have many people in my community wanting to support me. When this project becomes more than a just a vision - and I believe this music video will be the catalyst and the voice, spreading the word and giving the project a focus that will call people in - then I will start to build my team. At this point the project will no longer be 'mine' but a community project. Please join me.
Many thanks
Vicki x