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Besides most heavy alternative songs being about break ups, being angry in general, or whether they are giving a big F*ck you to society, some bands actually do use their music as a chance to promote environmental awareness. In Hearts Wake being one of those eco-friendly bands with the announcement of their latest album Kaliyuga, officially released in two weeks on Aug 7.
Back in April, the band posted to Instagram that the
“primary goal for this album was to reduce our carbon footprint however possible, whilst not detracting from the quality of songs or live shows”
The Kaliyuga vinyl and packaging is made from recycled materials, making it an eco-friendly alternative to plastic vinyls.
In Hearts Wake are not the first band to express their environmental concerns.
In 2010, 30 Seconds to Mars used their music video for ‘Beautiful Lie’, filmed on location 200 miles North of the Arctic Circle, to spread awareness of global warming leading to the melting of ice caps, and the future effects if people don’t start acting and thinking in an eco-friendly manner. Personally, one of my favourite YouTube comments from the ‘Beautiful Lie’ music video is “Dayum, Jared Leto is so ecofriendly he can actually plug his amp into the ice”. So, YES, 30 Seconds to Mars are THAT ECO-FRIENLDY!
Radiohead is another environmentally cautious band, who in 2008 had initiated a carbon audit of their own performances. They discovered that the major carbon contributors were from the transportation of audio equipment and from fans driving to and from shows. As an act to reduce Radiohead’s carbon footprint, the band swapped big stadium performances for smaller city venues that had multiple public transport options available, to discourage fans from driving to shows. The band even rejected playing at Glastonbury Festival in 2008, due to poor transport options for festival go-ers.
The article that mentions Radiohead's initiated audit: 'How Green Was My Festival: Exploring Challenges and Opportunities associated with staging green events' *linked below*
Anyways, back to In Hearts Wake's green initiative with the Kaliyuga album.
On the band’s last tour for their ‘Ark’ album, they saw how much waste touring can produce and recognises that “being a band that tours globally is problematic”. For example, the band had frisbees packaged in single wrap plastic, plastic disposable bottles, stage production equipment that produced plumes of carbon dioxide, and inflatable stage props that sadly ended up in landfill last tour. In Hearts Wake vowed in an Instagram post back in April that future shows will not use plastics or CO2 cannons.
Kaliyuga is the fifth studio album of Australian metalcore band In Hearts Wake. The album has already released the singles: ‘Hellbringer’ feat. Jamie Hails (of Polaris), ‘Son Of A Witch’, ‘Worldwide Suicide’, and more recently ‘Dystopia’ on July 8.
The band describes the naming of the album as
“Kaliyuga is the fourth & current age we are experiencing. A time when humanity would be forced to face itself through discord, destruction, disease, greed, materialism, & fear. But it is our belief that we were all born into these times for a reason. It is through our journey of discovery- both as individuals & as a community- that we have an opportunity to evolve and overcome”
This is just genuinely strong, inspiring and motivational life advice, that no matter what the struggles, we are built to overcome that sh*t.
The Kaliyuga vinyl was produced in the Netherlands by Deep Grooves Vinyl Pressing Plant, who are “the only vinyl pressing worldwide, producing premium vinyl records ‘as green as possible’ using recycled materials and fully functioning on green energy”.
Most distributors and stores refused to stock the recycled-made vinyl in fear of product damages, but the In Hearts Wake has made negotiations for JB Hi-Fi that if any products arrive damaged, will be replaced. Kaliyuga will also be sold at some indie record shops, Impericon De (a German company) and via 24Hundred which sells the UNFD record label’s merchandise.
Earlier this week, the band announced their plans to plant 1,000 native trees in NSW on Saturday August 8, the day after the full Kaliyuga album is released. Registrations are at In Hearts Wake's Facebook page. This re-foresting initiative is part of the band’s “pledge to plant 1 tree for every 1k views of our WWS music video”. Even though this event is in NSW, it would be great to see In Hearts Wake or other bands participate in planting across the rest of Australia or even overseas. It’s such a simple concept, easy to participate in, and a great way to bring out the community spirit of music fans who care for the environment.
The online response from In Hearts Wake fans about the recycled vinyls are fully in support of the production and buying of eco-friendly vinyls and other merchandise items. Some fans wished more bands would jump on the innovative “green” band wagon to help out the environment.
#moodymusic #moodymusicblog #moodymusicblogau #music #blog #blogger #punk #punkmusic #poppunk #rock #rockmusic #metal #metalmusic #heavy #heavymusic #punk #punkmusic #inheartswake #kaliyuga #metalcore #aussiemusic #vinyl #recycleable #ecofriendly #green Fri 24 July 2020