The story of the project.
Music is by far the raddest way to learn stuff! Our band Formidable Vegetable Sound System has been touring around the world for the past three years singing songs about permaculture (ecological design) at some of the biggest festivals on the planet (Glastonbury, BOOM) in the hope of inspiring people to start growing food everywhere and to take better care of the planet.
After releasing two albums ( Permaculture: A Rhymer’s Manual (2013) and Radish Beets (2015)), we’ve decided that the people who most need to learn about this stuff are KIDS! Therefore, we’ve decided to gear a brand new bunch of electroswing/funk ukulele tunes around getting ideas about growing good food, good vibes and good fun across to children (and adults too!)
With song titles like “Break It Down (Compost Song)”, “Free Range” and “Kimchi!” we’re hoping to make a lighthearted, inspiring album aligned with the permaculture ethics of “Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share” combining practical nuts ‘n bolts advice with deeper ideological lessons such as seeing oneself as a part of the whole.
We road-tested the new songs recently on a tour to schools in outback Queensland where the kids (and teachers) LOVED it! Ultimately, this is something we’d love to get out to schools, as there is a huge movement toward school gardening and sustainability education for kids at the moment and this could potentially become an awesome teaching tool if combined with the current curriculum.
Don’t get us wrong, this will be no feeble ‘plinky-plonky’ children’s album! We’ve teed up with some of the finest musicians and producers we know to make sure that it’s some of the best music your kids have ever heard!
Featuring on the album will be: Michael Barker (John Butler Trio, Split Enz) on drums, Mal Webb (Oxo Cubans & legend in his own lunchbox!) on horns & bass, Kylie Morrigan (Orchestra Victoria) on violin and quirktastic electronic production from Spoonbill, as well as a cornucopia of guest musicians, clowns and funambulists!
All we need now are a few sheckles to get the ball rolling. It won’t take much to get the album recorded and mixed, but any extra we can raise will go towards marketing (let’s get permaculture to kids all over the world!) and some super-fun-happytime animated video clips such as this one we made a few years ago with our exceptionally talented mate, Dropbear:
All going to plan, the album should be finished and out by January, 2016.
Thank you in advance for your generosity!
Love, Charlie & Formidable Vegetable Sound System.
For more information and to help support Formidable Vegetable Sound System fund this project, please click here for the funding page.
