Posts Tagged ‘Luke Mines’

Danwei.org feature on Afterquake video of ‘Sala’

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Danwei.org article on the Afterquake track, ‘Sala’

From the Afterquake music project, the traditional Qiang minority song “Sala”. More about this video and Afterquake below.

One year after the May 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China, the Afterquake music project has created music with quake survivors to raise money and awareness for the ongoing reconstruction.

This song is a traditional Qiang minority song called “Sala”, but all the kids in Wenchuan seem to know it whether they are Han, Qiang or from another ethnic group. They also all seem to know the dance. The kids called it a guo zhuang (锅庄) song which means that you dance around a fire while singing it.

The vocals are by the girl in the video named Luo Shuang (罗霜), a 14-year-old first year middle school student from Wenchuan County. She is Han ethnicity. Her mother appears at the end of the video, on the site where they are rebuilding their house, which was destroyed in the earthquake. The accompanying music was produced by Abigail Washburn and Dave Liang, of the Shanghai Restoration Project. The video was shot and edited by Luke Mines.

To hear more of the music, see pictures from the project and to learn more about how to support Sichuan Quake Relief visit afterquakemusic.com, or support SQR by getting the tracks on iTunes or Amazon.

Proceeds from the music help to provide much needed quake relief to the 5 million who lost homes in the earthquake through the work of Sichuan Quake Relief.

City Weekend article and podcast on Afterquake

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Download the podcast interview

Buy an EP or Premium Charity Package

Listen to Dave and Abigail’s interview on NPR’s All Things Considered

From City Weekend

Folk singer Abigail Washburn and producer Dave Liang recorded songs and stories of students relocated after last year’s tragic earthquake. Abigail tells us about their CD to be released on the anniversary of the quake.

How did this project come about?
Last December, I was at Sichuan University teaching traditional American music … I hung out at The Bookworm (in Chengdu) with my friend Peter Goff, and he said, “It would be fun to get you out to these relocation schools … I’m involved in a group called Sichuan Quake Relief, which does all kinds of projects with the schools.” So, over two days, we went to six different schools … After I would perform, some of the kids would come up to me and share their stories and their songs.

What was your response to that experience?
After I left, I kept thinking, there must be something more I can do. I felt like I had been given these kids stories so directly and so personally … I had the idea to go back with my friend Dave Liang to make a pop album with the kids — something that would have mass appeal to bring attention and money back to the disaster zone.

So what was the process like once you were back in Sichuan?
(Sichuan Quake Relief) scouted schools to find the right mix of students … We wanted to have Tibetan and Qiang minorities represented on the CD because they had lost so many people in the earthquake.

Wow. And how did you work with the kids?
We set it up as an event. As soon as I got there, I played a show for all the kids … We asked the kids to sing songs for us. And then we asked them stuff like, “What did your parents used to sing you at night while you were going to bed?” So they came to us with these interesting songs and we recorded them there.

How long did this process take?
We spent four days at the school … Then we went up into Wenchuan, to the kids’ hometowns and visited with their parents. They hadn’t seen their kids since last August, so everyone was missing each other. We gave them portraits of their kids and let them listen to their kids singing their songs, and just connected with them. We also recorded them leaving messages to their kids, singing songs … and also the sounds of rebuilding.

Details

The CD Afterquake will be released on May 12, the anniversary of the Sichuan Earthquake. Find out more at www.afterquakemusic.com

Sichuan Quake Relief: sichuan-quake-relief.org
Abigail Washburn: www.abigailwashburn.com
Dave Liang and The Shanghai Restoration Project: www.shanghairestorationproject.com

(Above photo by Amanda Kowalski)