Fontaines D.C. and The Bad Seeds‘ Jim Sclavunos have spoken out in support of Music Declares Emergency’s No Music On A Dead Planet campaign for Turn Up The Volume Week.
The campaign, which has been backed by the likes of Billie Eilish and Foals as well having shirts designed by Thom Yorke, Joy Division artist Peter Saville and others, is this week launching the Turn Up The Volume Campaign – calling upon the music industry to “reinforce its commitment to action on the climate emergency”. The campaign will run throughout the week, including Earth Day on April 22.
Now, Fontaines D.C. have joined the chorus lending some noise to call upon the government for urgent environmental action.
“The news has us all confused – distracting us with silly things people say and fabricated versions of reality, taking our minds away from the rapidly encroaching climate disasters,” bassist Conor Deegan told NME.
“The only way in which things can really change is collective action. If we don’t unite and work together to convince our politicians to legislate against climate change (that is, to actually represent the views of the people they were elected to) then we won’t have a world to argue in, never mind anything else.”
He continued: “The conflicts we have now will pale in comparison to the ones we will have in 50 years if climate change is not averted as much as we can. There will be a refugee crisis the likes of which the planet has never seen before due to rising sea levels, desertification, and war. Fresh water will become the new petrodollar as the earth dries up and crops cease to yield the way they once did. And the people who are in power, who are stopping the government legislating any of this, will not be affected at all. It will be the billionaires who survive all this, along with the tardigrades. And the rest of us will have no future.”
Deegan added: “It’s easy to switch off from politics, but we have a lot more power than we realise to change the world around us. We are not separate to our ecology as modern life would have us believe, but unbreakably a part of it. And it is our responsibility to care for our sick mother. It would be inhumane to consider otherwise.”
The Bad Seeds’ drummer Jim Sclavunos has also lent his support, arguing that as it stands, “every living thing on planet Earth is at stake”.
“There is no more important issue or greater challenge facing humanity at this moment,” he told NME. “The time for action – individual and collective – is now!”
This week will see artists will take to the radio, internet, and print to discuss their commitment to action and encourage their fans to get involved to be part of the solution.
For more information on the Music Declares Emergency Turn Up The Volume campaign and this week’s events visit here.
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