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“We are playing music to change the world”


I discovered Playing For Change” for the first time about five years ago, when I heard a song with Roger Ridley, that my friend Katia suggested. Recently I sent them an e-mail, asking to meet. Soon, I found myself chatting with Mark Johnson*, inspirer and creator of  “Playing For Change”.

* Mark Johnson is a Grammy Award Winning Producer / Engineer and Award Winning Film Director. He has worked with eminent musicians, film and television producers and with famous artists such as Paul Simon, Keith Richards and Bono among others. He has devoted his life to connecting the world through music, having filmed and recorded musicians in over 50 countries.

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If “Playing For Change” was one person and the Greek people were another, how would you introduce yourselves to them?
Playing For Change is a movement of people around the world who believe that, no matter how many things in life divide us, we will always be strong if we use the power of music to unite us, to transcend the things that divide us: our race, religion, political points of view, how much money we have… “Playing For Change” was built on the idea that we’re all human and music brings us to a place where we’ re all connected. So we travel the world with our mobile recording studio and our small crew of cameras, we record and film musicians all over the world and we create songs and videos such as “Stand By Me”, “One love” and other “Songs Around the World

We then assemble some of the best musicians from those videos to be the “Playing For Change Band”,which is a travelling, touring band.

None of these things mean anything unless we give back to the people. So, we created the “Playing For Change Foundation”, a separate non-profit organization that builds and supports music and art schools all over the world.

 

Was the whole concept of “Playing For Change” an inner need or was it inspired from something else?
Well, originally the first idea for the project came when I was working in New York City. In the subway station I hear this performance of two monks, one is playing a guitar and the other one is singing in a language most people don’t understand. But on this day nobody gets on the train. Everybody is listening to this music and all those people are united through this music, even if they don’t understand the language. This shows that music is the universal language but it also shows that great music can be created everywhere.

I realized then that the best music I heard in my life was on the way to the studio and not in the studio. And if I was to spend my whole life in the studio I was never going to capture that magic. That was when I decided to bring the studio to the people. That experience was the birth of “Playing For Change”.

To start taking this thing around the world, we knew we needed the right song. Then, ten years ago, I met Roger Ridley, a street musician in Santa Monica, California, and that was sort of the next chapter of the project. I was walking around the streets and I heard him singing the song “Stand By Me“. He just had so much soul, so much talent! I ran over to watch him and I just thought “what an amazing song for people around the world to sing together”.

So, I approached the man and said “hey, can I come back with some cameras and some recording equipment? I want to record you and film you playing “Stand By Me”. And I’m going to travel around the world, put headphones on musicians and add them to the track”. And he agreed. When I came back and asked Roger “with a voice like yours, that sounds like Otis Redding, what are you doing singing out in the street?”, he said “man, I’m in the joy business. I come out to bring joy to the people”.

I think that was really the thing that kick-started the whole project, because this man was playing music to make people’s lives better. And that’s the whole point because here we have the ability to show all these different cultures and races and religions and all these people playing the same song. So this is really where Playing For Change would come in; from those monks in the subway of New York to Roger Ridley in the streets in L.A.

 

Roger Ridley Stand By me

 

What makes it a “movement” and not just another “band” and how are the musicians being selected?
I think it’s a movement because of how much it matters to so many different types of people. A band can represent one particular style or multiple styles but a movement represents multiple cultures and it becomes more than just music. The music is part of it, it’s really the tool we use to inspire people. But then it’s so much more we can do, like with the “Playing For Change Foundation”.

Street musicians are there to offer to the hearts of the people and there is no business between them and the audience. There is just music. Since we come from the streets we will record the musicians everywhere, all over the world. We recorded and filmed outside so people can feel comfortable and also so the people can see a window into the world. It’s a beautiful world and instead of seeing it on a TV with so much violence and so much division, when you see it through music it’s easier to see that perspective.

We meet different people and use word of mouth; the musicians tell their friends we’re coming, we tell them the songs we’re working on and find people that really want to play on them and so on. Then obviously it is also the top- down version, like Keith Richardswho said “ok, I want to be involved in the songs around the world. Pick anyone of my songs and we’ll take it around the world”.

These are ways to put totally different styles of musicians who may or could never meet, who could never fit in the studio, and get them all to play and record a song together.

 

In a few words, what exactly is a “song around the world” and how much time do you need to create one?
A “Song around the world” are multiple musicians all playing on the same song, live and in their own environments (usually thousands of miles apart), one at a time and each person is hearing whoever proceeded them. For example, a musician in Los Angeles plays a guitar and sings, then we go to South Africa and put headphones on a Zulu choir and they sing along on the same song. We record them and film them, then we go to New Orleans and we put headphones on a musician and we add the trombone and so on. We go around the world adding musicians playing on the same song, recording them and filming them.

Some of the songs take years to make. Others just take maybe six months. It’s a lot of travel. Each new piece we record is live in that place so we have to physically go there, the same group of us.

 

What kind of differences have you observed from different people, cultures, countries and continents in response to your undertaking? More important: are the similarities more or less?
The similarities are definitely more. I started this idea with a question: can we inspire the world to come together with music? And the answer is “definitely”! Everywhere you go you are seeing it happen, everywhere. So, what we are doing is simply putting that into a place where people can come and watch it. And it’s happening all over the world.

Musicians all over the world have the same connection and when music plays, it just lifts up and unites people in every society. That’s the thing; everybody has the perseverance to do something, whether rich or poor. Anywhere in the world, music is the way that helps people get through the tough times in life. That thing is common, everybody has it and you see that everywhere.

It is also a way for people to have some kind of context, to move forward in life. It’s a great way to get rid of racism and prejudice and stereotypes. That’s what music can do. We see that every day, we see that happen in any kind of society.

 

clarence grandpa curitiba live

 

Here’s a cliché: “music unites people”, it has no borders. You’ve made it happen. Do people embrace your vision and connect with it?
There’s a really wise man and a great friend in America, he’s 93 years old and his name is Norman Lear. He’s been a producer and a partner on our project for a long time. He says that there are three things in life that remind us we are all connected: music, laughter and transcendence. Being a part of something bigger than yourself. So when you think about that, they are the things that we all share, everybody, everywhere. So because of that, a project like this is just representing that. You say that people follow my vision but it’s not my vision. It is just the reality of what we’ve already been creating in the world.

The vision I have is to unite people in the songs around the world so people can see it. Because when you see it online and since people can’t always travel, it gives them a chance to see the world in a positive way.

 

I believe that there’s a need of groups of people, teams like yours in various forms of art, to do something like what you did. What would you advise them?
I think the most important thing in success is perseverance. It doesn’t matter how hard things are. If you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it. Also, the journey is the destination. If your intention is to create something then you will create it.

In the poorest places and in the toughest times, that is when the best music, the best art can be made. Because that is when people need it the most and it’s part of their identity. It’s not music for entertainment, it is music for transformation, for survival.

 

What is your impression of Greece’s present state of affairs?
I think that the people of Greece just need to unite and to move forward in a way that they realize, it is never the individuals the problem as much as systems, that are keeping the people down. I suppose systems of corruption and greed exist everywhere in the world. What we need to do is to find positive solutions to move forward. Music is a great tool to remind us of our humanity and whatever choices we make.

Every step we make in the right direction, it gives everyone hope and opportunity to create a better future.

 

Would you consider adapting any greek song to perform “around the world”, with the collaboration of Greek musicians? Would you mind if we sometime offered some suggestions?
I would love it! You should send me some ideas. To incorporate some of the Greek musicians in our videos would be an amazing honor. I would love some of the instruments that I’ve seen from there and it would be really interesting to incorporate them to some of our videos. So let’s work on some ideas!

 

Join the Movement!

mark-CONGO-KIDS-OK

 

 

 

 

 

More info and songs:
https://playingforchange.com/
http://playingforchange.org/
https://www.facebook.com/PlayingForChange/
https://www.facebook.com/PlayingForChangeFoundation
https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayingForChange


 

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