The Creative Climate

Music maker/activist/REVERB.ORG co-founder, Adam Gardner reaches back to the nascent years of his now ubiquitous nonprofit "dedicated to empowering millions of individuals to take action toward a better future for people and the planet." 

Adam chats with Perry about how life on the road with his beloved band Guster inspired him and his wife Lauren Sullivan, to become major players in the climate space. When REVERB first started up in the early aughts, "green was just a color," but now the organization can boast great strides in the endeavor of concert and event greening, the spearheading of multiple programs to reduce concert and tour footprints and engaging fans at shows to take action. Adam also gives props to Billie Eilish, Bonnie Raitt and Dave Matthews, and other music/climate trailblazers, and updates us on Guster happenings.

Adam's choice for Hottest On Record is 2012's "Lost In The Light" by Bahamas, an artist whose firepit-friendliness got him through the heavy pandemic months. 

Gardner urges all of us to visit musicclimaterevolution.org, a REVERB launched campaign, partnered with Climate Control Projects, that is working to unite the music community in the fight against the climate crisis. 

For episode 17 of the Creative Climate Podcast, Perry and Kirsten get into it with the supremely talented London-based, British-Ugandan Musician/Songwriter/Activist, LOVE SSEGA. 

Ssega was introduced to us through Alison Tickell from Julie’s Bicycle. Raving about him on our 15th episode, we were sufficiently inspired to reach out and ask him to come on the podcast. 

Ssega is a founding member, lead singer/songwriter for Clean Bandit, an electro-classical band that collaborated with the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras. He performed in front of 45,000 at Glastonbury on the Other Stage, live on BBC’s Jools Holland and to festival crowds from Tokyo to Rome.

Over the past few years, he has developed his solo repertoire which  invokes a distinctive, impassioned, and angular R&B electro-rap hybrid that is proving to be a serious voice in climate activism, particularly bounding off his life as a South Londoner. 

Ssega was moved by the story of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debra, a 9 year old girl who lost her life, afflicted by asthma that worsened as a result of the profound air pollution around London’s highly polluted through road, the South Circular. 

His music and his activism around this local problem, which of course illuminates a larger problem, led to his being selected for Seasons For Change’s Common Ground, led by Julie’s Bicycle and Artsadmin, on a national, year-long Climate Justice and Arts Activism commission in the build up to the UN’s COP26 environmental conference. 

His project “Airs of the South Circular” centres around uplifting Black voices in the climate crisis, specifically in response to air pollution and the communities around the South Circular.

“Airs of the South Circular” – multi-arts project – includes an album of new music, a specially-commissioned “Project Earth” comic by Andrew Kiwanuka, an information pamphlet of interviews and viewpoints and a visual trailer introducing the area.

Love Ssega's words and music can be found here: https://www.lovessega.com/

In this episode of The Creative Climate, Perry’s CCP colleague Kurt Langer joins as a guest host and interviews two participants from Climate Live Japan. Singer & track maker extraordinaire ermhoi, and Hanae Takahashi, one of the young organizers of the event, join the podcast to discuss climate change, music and how it all connects. 

Climate Live is a youth organized international concert series that took place online Saturday April 24th, 2021.  Concerts were organized in 30 locations around the globe to raise awareness about climate change.  The Japan team produced one of the largest of the events, broadcasting it live on YouTube from LOFT in Shinjuku. Climate Live International is planning more concerts around the world for October 16th, 2021.  Climate Control Projects has been honored to be serving in an advisory role to the international team since 2020.

ermhoi is an Irish Japanese track maker and singer.  She creates her own world and expresses it through a variety of languages and musical genres including pop, ethno, dance and improvisation.  Her first album Junior Refugee was released in 2015  through the Salvaged Tapes record label.  ermhoi, although essentially a solo performer, is also a member of Black Boboi and Millennium Parade. Her latest release Ep, “Thunder” is available on all streaming services.

ermhoi fans will love hearing her give (possibly) her first interview in English, though it honestly sounds like she’s done it a thousand times before.  She discusses her creative process, her connection to climate change, and also allows us to share the title track from her most recent EP “E” as our “Hottest on Record.”

http://ermhoi.com

Instagram: @ermhoi

Twitter:  @Dooonermhoi

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3kabIShRaQYKg8afAZ1kIc

Bandcamp: https://ermhoi.bandcamp.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFIfL3l7sKCRQKk4_HINvvA

Hanae, who in addition to being the country representative of ClimateLive Japan, is also a member of Fridays For Future Tokyo and studies art and media communications at university. The best places to follow her work with ClimateLive are here:

Web：https://www.climatelivejapan.com/

Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/climatelive...

Twitter：https://mobile.twitter.com/climate_ja...

Facebook：https://bit.ly/3ahyIQP 

In this, our 15th episode of the Creative Climate Podcast, Perry Serpa has some good 'ol chat with his new friend, Alison Tickell, CEO and co-founder of the beloved and impactful UK climate organization, Julie's Bicycle. Yes, they get into the rudimentary query of "who's this Julie?" and "is there really a bicycle?" (you'll have to listen), but there's some deeper convo that attempts to answer the questions, "how did we get here?" and "where are we going now that it's all changed?" The vibrant discussion happens through the lens of 2 music industry folks who remain keen on enlisting their friends in biz, many of whom are artists, to fix the planet. Alison shares her choice for Hottest On Record, Love Ssega's empowering track, "Keep Going (Just Change The World)," a likely paraphrase from Greta Thunberg. All a must-hear! 

Episode 14/LaunchLeft, Right? A Conversation with Rain Phoenix

Episode 14 finds host Perry Serpa and guest co-host, Jillian Santella in a serious mind meld with musician, actor, activist and fellow podcaster, Rain Phoenix. Yes, Rain drops weekly dispatches of her celebrated LaunchLeft podcast, an ever inspiring, high minded conversation with creatives, rabble rousers, legends and go-getters about the importance of engagement. Folks like Jane Fonda, Mick Rock, Ben Harper, Ani DiFranco, Michael Stipe and George Clinton, among many others, have visited the room. 

After we chat about her nonprofit work, sing the praises of fellow creators and explore the significance of simple, positive communication in our everyday lives, Rain turns us onto her new label (also called LaunchLeft) and offers up an amazing song called “So Sure” by Simone Istwa, for our Hottest On Record segment. Istwa grew up in a musical family with parents Sam Phillips and T Bone Burnett. “So Sure” is the first single from their forthcoming EP, Heartweb, available on June 4 via LaunchLeft. The song's video was directed by Nina Ljeti, who made Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto” video. A must-hear for sure! 

EP 13 of the Creative Climate Podcast sees our host, Perry Serpa mind melding with UK-based Music Declares Emergency campaign director, Maddy Read Clarke. No doubt, another music industry veteran at the ready for climate forwardness. Maddy goes beyond MDE's uber successful "NO MUSIC ON A DEAD PLANET" campaign to discuss plans for the near future, including TURN UP THE VOLUME and other collaborative activities and announcements around Earth Day with organizations such as EarthPercent, a new music industry-focused climate org headed up by none other than the iconic music maker/producer/visionary Brian Eno, among others. 

We also give Maddy the opportunity to tell her own music biz story, talk to us about the early days of Music Declares and their part in the XR-driven Marble Arch climate rally, and to even stake her claim to this episode's Hottest On Record, a new UK indie outfit called Roscoe Roscoe and their rocker, "Brain Retrieve." Incidentally, the band's  singer/guitarist Charlie Read Clarke, is Maddy's son. 

This particular episode (12) provides a singular focus- a music-maker/visionary/influencer/curator who calls himself Kisos. Perry and Kirsten chat with the man, the young legend about his much loved music video showcase, QUEERANTINE, that has provided an outlet for over 300 LGBTQ artists to-date, livestreaming every Sunday on Twitch. We also talk to the songwriter about, well, songwriting and time management, and other things that get in our way and wrap the proceeding with our Hottest On Record, a beautiful song called "He Didn't Want Me," by... yep, you guessed it, Kisos! The song is the latest single from his EP sweet nothings. Check out the official video in the link above. 

This one goes to 11. Perry and Kirsten corner singer/songwriter/guitarist/radio host/environmentalist/mensch/dad, Joe Sumner for an engaging back n' forth about Joe's post-Fiction Plane canon- a brand new album, forthcoming, called "Sunshine In The Night" and his newly released single "Hope," a get out the vote version of which ended up on MSNBC's Morning Joe butt 2 butt with Election Day, featuring a massive singalong that included the show's hosts, Joe and Mika, Sumner's pop, (Sting), Patti Scialfa, Ben Folds, Gaby Moreno, The Fantastic Negrito, Richard Marx, Southside Johnny, Juliana Hatfield and many more. Thanks again, Headcount.org. The rest is a love fest, the fact that Perry accuses Kirsten of being a marine biologist and flubs her name (Kristen), and Joe demanding that Perry STFU while Perry calls him a sailor, notwithstanding. Alas, chaos is staved off by a stimulating discussion extolling the virtues of nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis. Joe is then exposed as a newly anointed presenter/curator for Amazing Radio U.S. whereupon he is put to the test by choosing our Hottest On Record, a riveting find called "Men Of Steel" from Demetrius Ford, rendering himself victorious. 

Finally hitting the double digits, Episode 10 finds the dynamic duo of Perry Serpa and Kirsten Spruch, after a spell of yapping about Seinfeld, Sondheim and Succession, getting into it with documentary filmmaker, Claudia Rinke. Rinke recently completed work on a powerful film entitled NOW, for which she was screenwriter and creator, that explores the more human side of the Climate Movement with focus not only on its impact, but also the real people behind it all, their personal challenges and struggles with anxiety as they work to make the planet a more livable, breathable place for all of us. In addition to the palpable figures in youth movement, the film features interviews with filmmaker, Wim Wenders, musician/activist, Patti Smith and Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, and others. 

Read Claudia’s recent piece in Innovators, “What’s It Like Being A Young Activist,” here.  

Our Hottest On Record is a brand new artist named Emma Negrete. Recently featured in American Songwriter, Emma shares her spankin' new track, "Lost In Translation" with the Creative Climate. As mentioned in said publication, "“Lost in Translation,” a song Negrete says set her free, also marks a new beginning for the artist, who has released a handful of singles since 2018. Through her experience and writing the song, she also learned how changing one’s mindset can transform everything." One listen will prove the presence of a special artist who we'll be hearing much more from. 

For Episode 9 of The Creative Climate Podcast, join host Perry Serpa for some brief, New Year bloodletting on the State of the Union followed by an interview with celebrated visual artist, Nicholas Papadakis- a real treat for listeners who are fellow artists and photographers as Nick gets granular about his processes, recounting his attempts to paint bubbles, utilize a musician's brain scan as a springboard for a series and immortalize a road trip involving a friend with a penchant for wrapping herself around trees while naked. If that doesn't make you curious, I dunno what will. Seriously though, Papadakis makes for a fascinating featured guest and a longstanding champion of creative response.  Then, hear Rebecca Hart's gorgeous, "Horses," our Hottest On Record for this episode. The song was one of 9 tracks on her 2018 album, The Magician's Daughter. Rebecca is a Creative Climate alumnus having been featured on our very first episode commenting on her pandemic experience. She is a prolific singer/songwriter/playwright/actress/tarot card reader.