Survival International

I just finished recording a song with Jason Mraz, for a soundtrack to a TV show on the BBC called Tribe. The sow is about a man who goes to live with tribes and he must do everything that the tribes do, and he apparently gains their respect. Normally, I am opposed to anthropologists who study native people for their own advance. I am also opposed to a native people being turned into a corporate TV show, but this show, and the soundtrack that the song will be on is being used to raise money for an organization called Survival International, which works to support native tribes all over the world through advocacy, campaigning, and education.

http://www.survival-international.org/

Making the song was a unique experience. Jason lives outside of San Diego up in the hills on an avocado farm. It's very peaceful. His house is a beautiful Spanish-style hacienda, and inside I saw that his house is pretty much the house that every one of my friends in college wished they had. Tons of cool artwork, antique collectibles, toys, Pac-man painted on the walls, big movie screen, pool, pool table, instruments everywhere, a piano in practically every room, surfboards, skateboards, and golf clubs. I'm pretty sure he has a lot of fun. He has a beautiful recording studio in a separate house. Jason is a really sweet person. He was very hospitable, and his girlfriend and his housemate, Bushwalla,, made everyone a healthy lunch.

When I was asked to write a song by the organizers of this project, I had never seen the show, but was given a bunch of recordings made by various tribes. I fell in love with one particular track from Tanzania. It was basically some drumming and a man chanting. I wrote a song to the track and put it all together on my computer. When I got to Jason's studio, Martin, the producer of the soundtrack, told me that they weren't interested in using the actual tribal tracks, but more interested in making the songs more for the western world. So we changed the groove a bit. The song came worked really in that groove. It had the same lyrics and melody, just a different groove.

We cut out one of the verses that I wrote, and Jason wrote a cool sung/spoken poem to put in its place. It was nice to collaborate with another writer. It's something I haven't done that much. You learn a lot about your own process watching someone else's.

After eating a big lunch, family style, around a long table, we went back to the studio and tracked it. I played electric guitar, Jason, on a nylon string guitar, we both sang, and Martin played the drums. We got a take that we liked, and then Jason re-did his vocals, I redid a guitar solo, and added a second acoustic guitar, Martin put down a Bass track, and Jason's drummer friend Toca, put down some congas and some humming.

To give you a little taste of the song, here are the lyrics to the verse we didn't use.

A child is born from earth and ashes
Never given the wings to fly
Misunderstood by the masses
Placed with the stars among the sky

I don't know when the show will air or when the soundtrack will be released, but when I do, I will be sure and let you know.

Cheers,

Brett