No Music On A Dead Planet: Artists speak out against climate change on Earth Day

To mark Earth Day today (April 22) and Turn Up The Volume Week, a number of artists have spoken out in support in No Music On A Dead Planet’s campaign for government action on climate change.

• READ MORE: Savages’ drummer and Music Declares Emergency co-founder Fay Milton on climate change – “Music needs to get real”

Music Declares Emergency’s No Music On A Dead Planet campaign for Turn Up The Volume Week is calling upon the music industry to “reinforce its commitment to action on the climate emergency.”

No Music On A Dead Planet has been backed by the likes of Billie Eilish and Foals as well as having shirts designed by Thom Yorke, Joy Division artist Peter Saville and others.

Now, a number of artists have spoken out to amplify the conversation.

“We support Music Declares Emergency over here at the Squid camp because global warming is the biggest threat to humanity the world has ever seen,” Squid bassist Laurie Nankivell told NME. “As musicians we hope to be one of the leading forces for change, as we all need to change right now to make this work.”

Declan McKenna meanwhile, said: “I’m backing Music Declares for a greener music industry, and a greener world. This November in Glasgow world leaders will decide on our future at COP26. It’s past the time for serious commitment to green energy, green jobs and a greener, safer future.”

Skunk Anansie icon Skin said that “over the last year we’ve seen how vulnerable the live music industry can really be” and that now was the time to “step up” and “spread the word”, while This Is The Kit said that it was essential that we all “start thinking further than what we see in front of us in our comfy consumer day to day lives”.

“Even if we’re lucky enough to live in a society where our rubbish gets collected and taken away from our houses, we have to remember that nothing goes away – it just gets put somewhere else,” she said. “Whether it’s burning or burying or dumping it in the ocean.
It doesn’t go away. It’s still in our world (for generations to come) being poisonous. We have to take responsibility for the waste we make or better still, we have to stop making as much waste!”

• READ MORE: “I’d rather be called a hypocrite than do fuck all”: how music is tackling climate change

She continued: “We have to try and stop using as much electricity. Problem solving isn’t the answer. Prevention of the problem in the first place should be the answer. I don’t want to rant on for ever here, but I cannot stress how crucial it is that we clean up both our act and our ideas. It may take a whole lot of cultural and social rewiring in order to shed some of our bad habits, but we must.”

Maisie Peters added that it was “important that people do as much as they can, but this is a global issue for which governments have to be responsible.”

“They have to act responsibly and the more pressure we can put on them to do that, the better. We need a safer, fairer, greener world.”

This week also has also seen The Bad Seeds‘ Jim Sclavunos and Fontaines D.C. speak out in support of Music Declares Emergency, while record labels Beggars Group and Ninja Tune have unveiled plans for its operations to become carbon negative in the future.

For more information on the Music Declares Emergency Turn Up The Volume campaign and this week’s events visit here.

Speaking to NME about the organisation’s goals in 2019, Music Declares Emergency founder and Savages’ drummer Fay Milton said: “There’s such a short period of time to make the changes we need to make, and to make people wake up and realise that there isn’t time for everyone to change everything they do.

“To use Greta Thunberg’s analogy, the house is on fire, and there isn’t time for whoever started the fire with their cigarette to quit smoking before saying the house is on fire – it’s on fire now, and we need to fix this. Let’s change our lifestyles, let’s fly less, let’s use less plastic – but ultimately what’s needed is a governmental response.”

She added: “People are getting used to the word ’emergency’, but we shouldn’t – it really, really is an emergency. Every single day that we’re not doing something, it’s putting the world in more danger.”

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