Category Archives: Uncategorized

6 of Cyclists, Half a Dozen of Motorists.

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

I love cycling, absolutely love it. It is one of the most leisurely things I do on a weekly basis where I do not think about anything else, along with surfing and running. I also am beginning to drive more and enjoy that too, but the more time I spend out on the road on either form of transport, the more I realise that throughout the UK, a majority of people on the road think that the rules are for everyone but themselves.

I cannot believe the amount of times I have cycled on a main road and people in cars have passed me driving whilst speaking on their phones. I once had to make a right turn where a car driving the other way was slowing down, I was unsure as to what he was doing and needed to be careful in order to make the right turn whilst indicating to the car behind me so I take a few seconds to ensure it’s eventually safe to turn right, the car behind me tries to drive on and nearly precedes to crash into me, just so it happens, he was on the phone.

Whilst being behind the wheel of a car, there have been times where cyclists have made utterly moronic and dangerous decisions too. I recently saw a cyclist cut across a three way junction, whilst traffic lights were given the go ahead for ongoing traffic. All in all, trying to give more blame to the other is completely fruitless, and each incident is judged upon for it’s own accountabilities.

I want to be as reconciliatory to both forms as much as I can, the highway laws are out there to accommodate for the two, but more often than not there is unnecessary conflict between the two parties where rage and impatience is blown beyond any sensibility. It was so tragic to read about the deaths of cyclists in London throughout last year and a there’s been recently reported feud between a cyclist and a motorist, where the latter kicked the former in the face so hard that he ended up partially blind and the driver ended up in prison himself for five years. Submitting to that rage, a few seconds of madness and that’s both lives majorly changed.

So here is the conclusion, a very simple one…whilst we are out there on the road, we need to be completely aware, considerate and sensible. It’s simple, but unfortunately, in practice, it is disregarded time and time again.

Is it really worth the risk of speaking to phone whilst driving, or cutting across red traffic lights while cycling or unnecessarily overtaking someone to cause danger just for the sake of saving a few seconds? Ask yourself these questions, because when it comes to an occurring tragedy, hindsight has its virtues, but prevention isn’t one of them.

Your Turn Challenge day 7 – A swing of momentum

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

What are you taking away from this challenge?

What a truly liberating and enjoyable experience this has been. After a week of accepting the challenge of writing an article every day and shipping out, I feel like I can actually do it, and that there is very little out there stopping me.

After just a week of writing, I have connected with the words of fellow writers across the globe, people have engaged with my own writing and it’s been amazing to see that there’s been this universal process of everyone wanting to express themselves.

Expressing yourself should be a normal thing, but it can be so difficult for some of us because we are held back by what other people think. By writing, we can disregard the latter, because we have created our own space where our writing is addressed to draw our perspective in a way that is complete and considered.

Furthermore, by writing, I am more focused in other areas of my life, my work, my leisure, my mind feels like it has been freed of something each time I write an article.

So my metaphorical hat off to Winnie Kao and Seth Godin for proposing such a marvellous idea. They have truly built a tidal swing of momentum, and I’ll be writing a lot more consistently from now on.

See you tomorrow!

Your Turn Challenge Day 6 – What would Chekov think of this guy?

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

Your Turn Challenge Day 6

Write about a time when you surprised yourself?

A Man stands in a city street; banging the top of a litter bin whilst chanting in a Rastafarian fashion ‘This town is great!’

In another town, a man in his 50’s regularly attends a nightclub where the music is blasting out; he sits in solitude and reads a novel, whilst men flirt with girls who dance in unflattering dresses.

In a coastal-based town, another man attends theatre shows on multiple occasions, on his own: all who work there understands his passion for an alternate reality as he soaks up the atmosphere inside the auditorium.

As I stand outside a students union with my friend, he points to an oak tree that has been paved around by the side of the road, and observes how it has been there before any of this concrete existed.

A councillor I meet for the first time at a pub explains to me the pride he holds in his job and that because of his duty, people can walk home safe at night, but laments at how nobody appreciates it.

Then all of a sudden, after reading short stories of an author during the day, it came to my mind whilst talking to this man to ask myself, ‘What would Chekov make of this guy?’

I really surprised myself that I asked such a question, but it really aided me in observing what this intelligent man was saying and why he was saying it. My thoughts before were that councillors are generally inept at their job, but here I am standing opposite one of them, having one of the most insightful conversations I had had in the past few months.

The reason I asked that question though albeit subconsciously is because of one simple reason, I decided to invest my time reading and exploring the minds of brilliant artists and writers who observe things that others don’t see, in an attempt to do the same things myself.

Every day, it is easy for us humans to become trapped in our own bubble, riddled with pride, entertaining our minds with trivial nonsense and be hasty to assume and judge others. I think it is important to get in the habit of forcing ourselves at least once a day to shift the looking glass so that we can observe something or someone without our judgement, preconceptions or non-confirmation bias.

Each town, city and village has its quirks, it’s charms and it’s repulsions, but the people there are what make it. It has come to truly fascinate me how the aesthetic of each town is built by such intricate details and characters. The people described above may appear to most as crazy, but in reality they are no different than the rest of us in what makes us human. The more I explore the minds of great writers such as Chekov, the more I realise for myself that life truly is a wondrous thing.

I sit in a café, looking out the window as people pass by rushing to and from places. The clouds gather and a heavy rainfall starts for a brief spell and then subsides to a ray of sunlight. For ten seconds…the street is clear and there is strange but peaceful stillness.

Your Turn Challenge Day 4 – The 3 Essentials of producing a good recording.

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

Write about something you’re good at doing.

On average, I would say that I spend 30 hours a week looking at a screen like this.

Screen shot 2015-01-22 at 13.10.39

Every once in a while, I sit there and think in order to have achieved what I am doing right now thirty years ago, I would have had to be sitting in a much larger room than my office right now, working on a mixing desk that would be the same value as a car then plugging through interfaces that would be twice the value of said car.

Like this.

Recording in SAE, Oxford

It’s pretty incredible how technology and software has advanced and here I am recording music on a laptop with a couple of microphones and an interface. However, the development in technology does not by default make one capable of producing a good record.

The drawback of having such an abundance of sound engineering at the tips of our fingers is that it is easy to forget the important elements of producing a good recording. A lot of the older records made in the 70’s that have become loved so fondly is because the people behind them were working with limitations.

I sat in a class at metropolis studios with Eddie Kramer whilst he told me the virtues of recording Jimi Hendrix with a four-track mix tape and it has been a revelation to me ever since that going to town and back with Pro-Tools 10 isn’t necessarily the way to achieving a good recording.

So, here are the three-essential things I believe are necessary to producing a good recording.

1.) The Song

Without a good song, a good recording is impossible. What is a good song then? The answer to that is subjective but I think it revolves around three words: and that is conviction, conviction and conviction! It’s about knowing what you want to achieve with your song, the emotion, the feeling or the atmosphere you are trying to create; that doesn’t necessarily mean including a strong chorus or hook, you may be able to produce a good song simply from one or two long notes. The more aware you are of what a song’s purpose is, the more likely you are of producing a good recording

2.) The Arrangement

The arrangement is probably where most aspiring writers initially stumble. You can have a plethora of great ideas but the key to then producing a good record is arranging them in a way that is sophisticated and logical. How much should one section be repeated? How much texture should be added? What is the role of the dynamics? Does that harmony really need to be there? When producing a record, one needs to have these questions continually running through their mind, and being decisive and honest about them when answering them.

3.) The performance

As with the song writing, it is all about CONVICTION in your performance. The delivery, the sincerity, the phrasing, the tone, the dynamics; It is about awareness of the details! In my previous record, there were some guitar solos that took me two hundred takes before I got what I wanted, other solos just required the one take. It is a bizarre process, but it is about what feels right.

When you listen back to your records, it is a very difficult task, but you have to truly ask yourself if what you are producing is at all close to what you want. It is by only being very honest with yourself, that you can expect to eventually reach as close to what you envisaged in that beautiful moment of inspiration.

5 examples of great records

There are hundreds out there, but here are the first five that came to mind, and include some of my favourite glorious moments of production. It is a good exercise for any producer, aspiring or experienced to do – sit back, relax, enjoy listening to music and finding out what they love so much about their favourite records and how it can influence their own work.

The Carpenters – Top of the world

 Talk Talk – I believe in you

 Jeff Buckley – So Real

 Mew – Am I Wry? No

Bjork – Mutual Core

Your Turn Challenge day 3 – The Spotify vs. Musical Artist conundrum

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

Day 3 – Write about something that you think should be improved

What truly defines the value of something? What really are the principle things that should be considered when anyone is paid a certain amount for what they do or a product is sold for a certain amount for what it is?

That is a pretty complicated question isn’t it? Things like that are incredibly nuanced but for most industries, it is a manageable question, from the price of coffee or designer clothing to the housing market and financial sector (without disregarding the obligatory bureaucracy)

Music on the other hand has in recent years taken that whole concept to another level and I have lost count about the amount of times that I have debated the issue or re-evaluated where I stand on the whole subject. Especially when the digital technology industry is moving so fast.

Over the last year, I have invested a lot of time into experimenting and mulling over ways in which I release and format my music. I use three main ways to distribute my music. My label undertakes one way and I deal with other two (I am very lucky to have a situation where everything is transparent and I have the option of distributing myself). The first way is through Bandcamp where I engage directly with my audience and the second is through a licensing company called Tunecore, which release my music to Itunes, Spotify and any other company willing to spare me a penny when my music gets played.

I was very reluctant to put up my music on Spotify and said streaming companies initially but eventually decided it was the best option to promote and advertise my first full-length release. I have countless spreadsheets of analytical data but if there were one thing I wish I could retrieve, it would be who out of the people listened to my music on Spotify, decided to buy a physical copy of my album. I would feel that then, I actually have some determination of how effective streaming companies are as a platform for discovery.

This is where the problem lies; streaming is a very grey area in terms of how music artists are paid. Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke are two figureheads to have spoken out about it and preceded to strip their catalogue from the service. Without, dwelling too far into the subject though, there is one fundamental improvement that needs to be made from both the streaming company and the artist: and that is attitude.

The attitude of streaming companies

It has been publicly stated that an artist is paid $0.007 per stream of a song. Over one year, I earned just under $20 for 3000 streams. What do you think of that payment? I’ll be frank, it comes across as approved piracy to me.

Spotify recently hit back at the criticism of Thom Yorke and Taylor Swift by stating that it has collectively paid out 500 million to artists in the last year. However, their argument disregards one major thing, and that is the fact that major labels tie in with this with deals that are not necessarily relative to the $0.007 per stream and a lot of the payouts would be to past catalogues, suggesting that there is a massive gap between those who get paid sufficiently and independent artists who don’t. I did do some research on Spotify’s explanation on how it pays artists, and only ended up feeling a bit more perplexed about the whole thing.

http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/

Whilst I am still confused enough to be unable hold an opinion that streaming companies are The Devil, I do question its sense of middle ground, and that’s where attitude needs to improve. Streaming companies need to make paying artists fairly and sufficiently a priority as they continue to grow.

In full perspective, it is still early days for streaming, and whether artists like it or not, it is rapidly on the rise, so we have to accept the reality.

The attitude of artists

Having said that about Spotify, I think a lot of the resentment and bitterness from some artists is misplaced and the attitude needs from us can be improved to some extent. Ultimately, as the artist, you have control over how you choose to format your music, you also have control over how you engage with your audience and communicate with them and add a sense of value to the art you display. Just because you release music, does not necessarily mean you have to stream it. The most important thing for any musician to remember when they are out there in the world trying to make music for a living is that music owes you nothing. One of the best artists in recent years to have embraced the new age of music is Imogen Heap. This wonderful woman has enlightened me with a big streak of positivity and I recommend any aspiring musician drowning in cynicism to read her story for a change in perspective.

There can be a simpler answer to the question initially asked.

What truly defines the value of something? You do.

Your Turn Challenge day 2 – Many more Phases to come.

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

Your Turn Challenge Day 2 – Write about something important to you.

Have you ever been blessed with an idea so lucid that it shifts your entire way of thinking; it transforms you to the point where your passion and drive becomes immoveable?

When I was 16 years old, I came up with the idea that I was going to make a record, I didn’t know how, where or when I was going to do it, all I knew was that I had to.

What proceeded was a four-year process of exploring music, enjoying the whole experience of writing and drafting, experimenting, then meeting a plethora of people who connected with my idea and wished to participate. My expression of such an idea meant that I ended up meeting two people who run a record label and were looking for just the kind of music I was making, connecting with fellow musicians who would become some of my closest friends and even being able to contact some of my inspirations for their input (Including Nik Turner who provided a guest solo on flute for us!).

Today, I celebrate the first anniversary of my debut album release entitled ‘Phases’ and under the band name Eden Shadow. A self indulgent progressive rock album. I hadn’t a clue of what was going to happen but when it did go out into the world and I was truly surprised that so many people embraced it and connected with it. The album has sold hundreds of copies in over 30 countries and I have had the pleasure of speaking to people who have bought this record from as far as Japan and USA.

edenshadow

Along with that, I learnt so much about the process of making the record. The concept of art, experiencing failure, learning to let something go, going with your gut instinct and accepting criticism. This record will be the first of many that I will make and looking back at this one, I know that there is much I can improve on, but the sense of uninhibited innocence I receive on the rare occasion that I listen back to this record is something I’ll always be proud of.

After a year to reflect on my first release and whilst being heavily involved in the production process of my second album, I am still discovering the infinite power of an idea. An idea is one of the most powerful things anyone can ever attain. My record got released because of an idea; the YourTurn Challenge that a plethora of writers around the world are participating in, is an idea so powerful that it is sparking a chain reaction of hundreds of other ideas.

So whenever one is graced with inspiration or an idea, my advice is this.

Explore that idea

Discuss that idea

Reflect on that idea

And Act on that idea

It may be one of the best decisions you ever make.

Your Turn Challenge Day 1 – Help! I’m having a post university identity crisis.

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

I have decided to participate in the YourTurn Challenge proposed by Seth Godin and Winne Kao. This challenge comprises of writing a blog every day for seven days and the following is my first article.

Day 1 – Help! I’m having a post-university identity crisis!

On August 8th 2014, I walked out of the door of the Academy of Contemporary Music and embarked on the first steps of my life where I would be no longer in full-time education.

In all honesty, I embraced the situation rather erratically, I fled off to France for a getaway weekend with friends of a friend, converted to vegetarianism, bought about a dozen new shirts and took midnight walks along the countryside of my hometown in Wales, looking up to the stars with some hope that they would provide an answer to my elusive question…what next?

The feeling of disorientation brought upon oneself after having going through the continuous process of being graded is inevitable. One of my favourite film directors Guillermo Del Toro says in his book that the toughest time in a man’s life is in his twenties because you are fiercely screaming who you are, but you have only half a notion of who you are. I can identify entirely with that. The future can be as terrifying as much as it is exciting, and what is to be experienced in success or failure remains uncertain.

What doesn’t add any assurance to the matter is that the current stream of British government in office could not give a flying saucepan about younger people. The hike in tuition fees and cutting housing benefit for under 25’s is stark evidence of that.

So we have a choice. Either we choose not to have a choice and submit to the rat race in cold comfort scarily akin to Noam Chomsky’s prediction, or we can choose that it be for us to look upon ourselves to gain a stronger sense of conviction of what we have to offer to this world and advise each other. After searching the Internet, I am pleased to say the latter is happening from young writers in good strength, and now I feel it is my turn to partake.

So here are three things that I eventually learnt and have helped me embrace 2015 with an open mind and I hope that it can be of more help to others.

  1. When it comes to learning, you have just started

I’ve discovered that at whatever age you are it’s irrelevant to the fact that you never cease to learn new things. So I’ve spent a lot of time searching and exploring, listening and reading. The power of the latter is undervalued to a certain extent. I have read arguably as much in the last six months than I have in my entire life. Reading forces the mind into thinking for itself and I have truly felt the benefits of reading anything; from Biographies of my inspirations, Tolstoy or Chekov, Plato or Aristotle to the poetry of Rilke and Keats. All of it has allowed me to continue to gain in wisdom in some form or another.

  1. Our generation has the time

For the generation above, I think it was more expected of people to go straight into full time work and live independently. For us, the scenario is different, it isn’t at all accessible for many of us to afford housing of our own for the time being and therefore it is acceptable for a fair amount of us to reside with parents to figure things out slowly but surely.

We can make mistakes; we can try our hand at different career paths how to live our lives following our passions. Whilst the central powers aren’t necessarily opening as many doors for younger people to work up a career ladder as previously, the internet has offered us a universal ability to create our own doors and establish our own ideas and make something happen.

  1. Enjoy the present moment

It’s very easy to forget this when you are young, have ambitions and the future is out there to attain; but the key to being able to truly enjoy it all is by fully embracing the now. Enjoying the present moment.

Whilst I can still walk among the stars for solace and serenity, one of Shakespeare’s quotes comes to mind. It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

Why are you doing the Your Turn challenge?

Just over a year ago, one of my lecturers, who is a blogger himself recommended that I should start tempting my hand at writing after observing my tendencies to be a deep thinker (a more apt description would be over-thinker). It was great advice and I have seen how liberating an experience it has been for him and have been somewhat conscious of how writing could hold the same virtues for me.

Since graduating, I have published a handful of articles, but in no manner, have I really dedicated to making a committed effort for it due to a number of reasons excuses including the crisis mentioned this article and tackling a host of a new exciting music projects. After seeing this challenge, I feel the time has come to get me into real momentum so that I can blog on a regular basis.

Save The Muni

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

It is with a mixture of anger and sadness that I come to write this article in response to what can be only described as decisions made on behalf of us of which the stupidity of said decisions goes beyond any scale of measure.

Yes, Rhonda Cynon Taff council, I am talking about you, so any council members reading this (of which I hope you some of you may) better grow a thick skin fast and prepare for the fire to which I am about to throw your way.

To explain to everyone the full context of these feelings that has arisen. It is as a result of the Welsh assembly’s recently proposed cuts in funding. In particular, these cuts have been targeted at creative arts and culture. A major example is the proposal to close a local historical and iconic venue, The Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd. The council’s decision is backed by the claim that closing the venue would save the local authority 400,000 pounds.

Save the MuniSave The Muni

Before I pick every possibly hole in this decision, let me make it absolutely clear that I am aware cuts at this moment in time are necessary. However, when heritage, culture and the arts as well as opportunities for younger generations come under threat, one certainly has to question the level of humanity in any individual who thinks that closing the Muni would be a good idea.

The Muni has provided a space for a variety of events that run from theatre productions run by professional companies or high schools, bands, including rather successful acts such as Funeral for a Friend, introductory showcases for writers such as Frank Vickery and Mal Pope as well as Comedy and variety nights to name but a few. It also holds itself as a venue in a town where much pride is held in calling itself the birthplace of Tom Jones.

Save The Muni

Bryn Celynnog’s production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Save The Muni

BBC wales broadcaster Amy Wadge has been a support to aspiring artists, and regularly performs at the Muni.

This leaves me with quite a blatant question, how much of a black hole is going to be left in Pontypridd once the Muni is shut? Indeed, there will most certainly be one, and it will more than likely be filled with a dead town at day and a drinking culture fuelled cattle market at night.

I can’t think of any further justification the local authorities can bring forward other than the amount of money, that closing the Muni would save: but this is where I am going to have a field day and suggest as politely (well, I’ll try) as I can where else the money can be saved.

It isn’t news to any of us that the level of stupidity in our council’s decision making runs beyond; but to make this absolutely clear, let me point out a couple of examples to show how much money is needlessly wasted.

It wasn’t 12 months ago, that councils had plans to put aside funds to regenerate Welsh towns. 10.5 million was put aside for Pontypridd alone. So what did they spend a substantial amount of the money on?…Optical illusion paving. Overpriced and dangerous paving that caused a great deal of accidents for residents and inconvenience for hospitals, don’t believe me? I wouldn’t blame you, so here is the news article. You may need to read it twice…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24494338

If that isn’t enough to convince you, does anyone remember this?

Unity Sculpture Costs

It’s probably only a faint memory to most because people can’t see it without crashing into a roundabout. The ironically called ‘Unity Sculpture’ didn’t bring that much unity between the authorities and the taxpayer once everyone was enlightened that officials had underestimated it’s cost by 30%- the overall price being 170,000 pounds.

Unbelievably, the council could have put aside half the cost of the Muni, had it not erected this big red piece of s###.

I would dig further holes in misguided spending, but I’m afraid I would be here all month, and there is a final point to be made.

By now, I hope that I have identified the significance of the Muni as not just a venue, but also an iconic home for art and community that can give a small town an identity and relevance on the cultural map. We the Welsh are a pride filled nation, and we have a right to be so. We have much to be proud of but we need to build on that. If the council goes ahead with closing this venue, we don’t only fail our honour to those we are proud of, but we also shut the gate of opportunity to nurture our talent and bring a further sense of disillusion to my generation as well as younger generations.

I grew up alongside brilliant talent led by brilliant people. I don’t think that should ever be seen as an area to cut; it should be seen as an opportunity to build. So let’s get creative. There are choirs, high school productions, professional productions, filmmakers, artists, musicians, comedians etc. all looking for a space to showcase their work, spearheaded by the likes of Rhod Gilbert, Amy Wadge, Stephen Preston and a host of other people with a passion for what they do. There is also an audience for it, and there is enough talent amongst events managers and marketers to bring that audience in to venue. Yes, it is ideal, but our pride would be misplaced if we didn’t believe that we were capable enough to achieve this amount of success.

We just need to prove that to the authorities, and show them how misguided their decisions are and how passionate we are and that within the walls of the town’s converted church, lies a home for us to express that passion.

I close by expressing my empathy for all of those affected and my admiration for everyone standing up against this decision. I am willing to trek back all the way from Surrey with my guitar and offer my further efforts to stop this closure.

Save the Muni.

Ryan Elliott

The Story behind Elgon

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

Elgon

There are some moments in life where everything comes together in a naturally beautiful way. Be that a place you may be at, an event, or simply a feeling that’s welcomed itself to you to which the best things are illuminated.

My band, Eden Shadow recently released a song that refers to these moments, entitled ‘Elgon’ and I wanted to share with you the story behind my inspiration to write it.

When I was 16 years old, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. A teacher from my school was starting to become involved with a local charity called PONT (Partnership Overseas Network Trust). This charity was a development project that linked my local town with a town in Uganda called Mbale. Hospitals here linked to hospitals out there, schools also, churches, etc.

To build this partnership, members, doctors, teachers and preachers started to fly across the globe to meet each other to work on projects, from building schools, homes and communities to engineering facilities and hospitals. What my teacher eventually came to question was whether students could be part of building this friendship. When she asked whether anyone from my class would be interested, I had this instinctive message sent to my head that obliged me to go…‘Ryan, this will change your life’.

After a full year of intense studying and fundraising, I joined 9 other students in July 2009 on what would be a journey I would never forget.

In the 10 days I spent in Mbale, I learnt an overwhelming amount of lessons. I discovered Uganda to be a beautiful country, and for all the poverty and corruption that runs through it, I met some of the most warmest, friendliest people out there I have ever met in my life. I have memories of people whose attitude always remained bright and positive, even in the direst of situations. From a girl my age, looking after her 4 younger siblings by herself because of their parents untimely passing, to a man dying of AIDS, and with every struggle, insisting to stand up to greet us when we came to visit. I had also visited a school high in the mountainous region between Uganda and Kenya, where a landslide had killed 200 people of which many were young students of that school. Still 6 months after the tragedy, they rebuilt what had been damaged and with every sheer level of determination, humbly welcomed us as their guests. I struggle to put these experiences into words, so hopefully the following images may help.

Image

Image

Image

After coming back, it took me a while to adjust to my normal life. It wasn’t before long that another trip out there was being organised for 2011 to give the opportunity to more students, and once again, I went to relive the experience. After my second visit, I had seen PONT as a charity in full effect and I was quite startled by the achievements that both communities had made and the challenges they had overcome. An engineering factory I had visited the first time was barely functioning; comparing this to my second trip, the factory was manufacturing a dozen hospital beds a month. In Schools, more computers were being installed into school facilities and struggling communities were becoming more self-sufficient. Much progress has been made. Much more work is certainly to be done, but with the faith that PONT is holding to, I have every sense of trust that it will be done. I hope to go out again some time soon, I hope that more students are able to experience the same things I have experienced and the partnership is able to build from strength to strength.

Throughout this time, I had been extensively writing material, and after my second visit, I was inspired to write a song that reflected some of the beauty I had experienced out there. I didn’t want it to be self righteous, political or riddled in the complications of poverty. I wanted it to be instead, about the beauty this world holds, and that would reflect the spirit of the many wonderful people I met in Africa despite the hardships and tragedies they had faced.

In a strange sub conscious way, the title ‘Elgon’ had approached itself to my mind; the name of the mountainous region that sits next to Mbale. I have gone to the top of that mountain twice and there are series of waterfalls there, known as ‘Sippi falls’. Through this series of waterfalls are numerous villages; most of which make their way by agriculture and cultivation.

Elgon Coffee

As you climb up to the falls, the air gets very clear. You feel as if you can see the entire continent: that conjoined with the rich green scenery of the woodland amidst the waterfalls makes the entire place astoundingly beautiful. It is one of those places in the world that enriches me with a heightened sense of joy. Everything in life seemed lifted when I was there, and I could have cried with joy at the extraordinary beauty of that place.

Image

That’s the feeling that inspired ‘Elgon’ and if there is any message that the song has, it is about experiencing those moments whenever you can. I think it is so easy at times to get bogged down in modern day life about worthless problems and be ruled by them. I have fallen victim to that time and time again.  Hopefully by writing ‘Elgon’, I have a continual reminder of the wonderful gift that is life so that I can cherish it and be aware of the profound beauty that can be experienced in this strange world.

I hope you enjoy this article. If anyone has ever experienced something similar, I would love to hear about it! Also, anyone wanting more information on PONT, here is the website. Feel free to also contact me should you wish to hear about any of the experiences I had out there in more depth.

PONT website

We are here, we can feel, we can shape, we reveal.