People In Your Neighbourhood

THIS IS A FREE GIVEAWAY ALBUM & A CREATIVE COMMONS PROJECT… which features Urban Soul Orchestra from the UK, and a melting pot of Auckland's urban ethnic artists and performers..
the music is free & parts of the album can be remixed and used for other creative works here :
http://ccmixter.org/people/BritishCouncilNZ

People In Your Neighbourhood is a project from the British Council New Zealand, which is part of our global initiative to create diverse and inclusive cities, and inter-cultural dialogues.
The project involves aspiring artists and performers from Auckland’s ethnic communities, working with the best of contemporary UK talent, to create an album, and perform a live music show.
The title “People in your Neighbourhood” is used both as a reference to the increasing multi-ethnicity of Auckland City, and as a vehicle to show the potential for intercultural collaboration in the arts in this rapidly changing City.

The Album:
Working with some of the emerging artists amongst Auckland’s Asian, Polynesian, Hispanic and European communities, an album was recorded that includes ethnic musicians and songwriters, alongside modern Kiwi urban producers and artists, collaborating to create a work that has modern production values, whilst still retaining distinct elements of culture.

THE UK ELEMENT

The Urban Soul Orchestra (www.urbansoulorchestra.co.uk) was formed in the mid 90's by violinist and string arranger Stephen Hussey in response to a demand for a new generation of progressive and forward thinking string musicians, who embraced and encompassed the cosmopolitan and diverse music scene in London.
Made up of a multi-cultural blend of London's finest instrumentalists, the USO have spent 15 years collaborating with many of the industry's most celebrated and successful artists including Soul to Soul, Gabrielle, Nitin Sawhney, Groove Armada, Keane, M-People, Sly and Robbie, Omar and Shola Ama.
USO are in a league of their own when it comes to adding the lushness of strings to recorded and live music, from community and ethnic based projects to some of the most well regarded modern artists of our time.
The British Council NZ is bringing 3-4 members of USO to NZ to perform as part of the two shows. The orchestra will record their parts for the album in London November 2008.
As live players USO will greatly enhance the People IYN live performance, and also add a unique depth to the recordings.

OUTCOMES

• Involvement of inner city Asian youth with marketing directly targeting and communicating with them in Korean, Chinese and Japanese. The quarter of a million Asian people in Auckland is identified as the key demographic to reach.
• Providing an opportunity for diverse NZ artists to actively participate with UK recording, live performance and arrangement expertise.
• A world-class cultural album and live event which enhances intercultural dialogue within Auckland city and its uniquely Asian –Pacific flavour, and extends the participants’ experience by providing a forum for this dialogue.
• Providing an opportunity to experience intercultural events not otherwise available in NZ. The beginning of meaningful engagement of ethnic youth with mainstream music producers.
• Allowing ethnic groups to hold on to their distinct culture while also experiencing mainstream Kiwi culture. Fostering a sense of belonging, and a desire to engage in the arts.

The People IYN project aims to contribute to Auckland City’s social fabric, by allowing ethnic community stars to be part of a recording, live show and documentary that shows the global diverse face of the city, while collaborating with some of the UK’s finest modern composers and instrumentalists from USO.
It will also enhance Aucklanders’ perception of living in the city, by providing a precedent for inter-cultural arts practices, and a forum for its emerging creative cultural leaders.

KEY PEOPLE

Mgmt/production team
Yasmin Farry – A founding member of Saama Productions and The Khuja Lounge, Yasmin is currently busy producing shows and coordinating events including being one of the key show producers for Air NZ Fashion Week (producing over 10 shows for the annual event every year including in the past Nom*D, Kate Sylvester, Hailwood, AUT etc).
Yasmin is the producer for the People IYN show, which also involves using the production collective Echo Culture.
Atip Wananuruks- Atip is one of Auckland’s leading stylists – heavily involved with Fashion Week, he brings and international styling attitude and face to the project.
As well as being a partner in a fashion retail business (MADE Boutique), he also holds an editorship with a young but international fashion and Lifestyle magazine NZ’s Black Magazine, and also freelances to the industry here in NZ styling and consulting. Hailing from a strong fashion and footwear background in the UK where he grew up, having worked for companies such as Kurt Geiger, Camper (set up first shop in London) and iconic British Streetwear label 'The Duffer of St George' (retail and PR). Atip also creatively works with his wife on her label MAW.
Cian O’Donnell – Born in the UK, Cian is a long-standing music tastemaker based at Auckland city’s popular boutique music store Conch Records. Conch Records forms a valuable network of 18-35 year old funky urban adults, and as such adds a valuable component to our continual marketing plan. As a founding member of The Turnaround, Cian also has his finger on the pulse in Auckland nightlife, hosting the city’s favourite party. Cian will be advising on music booking for the Auckland event, as well as promoting the project through his Conch store.
Natasha Beckman
Working between New Zealand and London, Natasha is currently Visual Arts Manager for Auckland Festival 2009, and the Manager for Urban Soul Orchestra. Natasha has over 10 years experience working in events management across the arts, specializing in cultural diversity projects. Recently she has been Orchestral and Tour Manager for Nitin Sawhney on the BBC Proms and BBC Electric Proms.
Natasha is the USO tour manager for this project.
Paul Sisifo Scheuer
Paul is a New Zealander of Samoan/German ancestry, who attended Otago Polytechnic Art School, and has always had an interest in art and sculpture.
Currently he is working as a practicing multidisciplinary artist, on both personal and commissioned works.
His main interests and disciplines include sculpture, landscape and garden design with experience across many different projects, including set design and environment design for weddings.
His influences vary greatly but are focused mainly on Asian/ Pacific/Folk styles, and the translation from traditional to contemporary.
Recycled materials are used as a main feature of his work and he enjoys the process of creating and transforming the apparently worthless, into objects of beauty or value.
Paul will be chief creative set designer for the event.

BCNZ:
Ingrid Leary – British Council NZ’s country director Ingrid Leary is a familiar face to Aucklanders from her twenty years of journalism experience, which has included being a TV3 national newsreader for a number of years.
Ingrid brings her considerable media experience to the table including an extremely effective and supportive media network.
Gareth Farry – Gareth, who is British Council NZ’s project manager for PIYN, has spent a number of years within the hospitality and music industries, and brings this experience here as the executive producer of the album.

Artists/performers

Joshua Jang
A young inner city Korean entrepreneur Joshua runs a radio show, a clothing line ISBIM (“I Still Believe in Miracles”), and is an experienced Korean language rapper. He holds shows for the inner city Asian hip hop audience that regularly draws 500+ people. His albums have been released in Japan, Korea and NZ.
Richie Setford
Richie will be well known to NZ audiences as the lead singer with now defunct band One Million Dollars, and current project Bannerman. Over the years he has featured on NZ airwaves, both mainstream TV and alternative radio/tv, with his unique soulful style and distinctive voice and musicianship.
Richie plays guitar and bass as well as singing, and has a reputation as a fine songwriter and live performer as well. Richie will be playing bass in the PIYN band.
Brother J
Brother J, who sings in Maori and English and plays taonga puoro, looks after all Karakia for the act. He is also an accomplished singer songwriter whose debut album "Be Bop A Nui" was nominated for a Tui in 2005. J has performed his Pacifico electric dub globally from Indonesia to Berlin and Barcelona.
Kadambari Raghukumar
Kadambari comes from the tiny coastal state of Goa in India. She's been a cover girl for Elle, worked with Tibetan refugees, doco and ad-film makers in India, alongside singing with various independent artists and bands.
Kadambari came to NZ in 2006 to study filmmaking. Now a reporter with Asia Downunder on TVNZ, this singer and Yoga enthusiast is a willing captive to the west coast and the Waitakeres.
Kadambari thinks celebrating differences through film and music alone can bridge gaps between people. What makes her tick? Reggae, funk, soul, Indian classical, languages and travel.
Khaled el-Shareif
Hip Hop NZ’s top voted hype MC (MC Bling) also does conscious and Arab-centric rhymes. For this project he will rap in English & Arabic. Khaled is a Palestinian Kiwi who has a strong sense of Arab identity and a keen ear for political expression.
Xiyao Chen
Xiyao Chen was born in Beijing in 1984 and brought up in a Chinese traditional music family. He is the third generation of a famous GuZheng performing family in China. He started to learn western classical music theory as well as piano, when he was four years old.
He began to perform GuZheng as a solo player or in unison at a very young age, in a lot of national and international concerts. Chen has also been in a number of international GuZheng competitions and won several golden awards since 1996. He has been featured on Beijing and China Central TV.
Levani Vosasi
Auckland's favourite percussionist, the Fijian Prince of percussion has played with everyone over the years in NZ and also with international Giants like Baba Maal and the Rolling Stones.
Anna McDonald
2006 Play It Strange overall winner Anna McDonald, also won the Lyric award at the 2007 competition. She was a featured soloist in the Auckland and Christchurch 2006 Xmas in the Park events, and in 2007 she won the Tamworth Australasian Junior Songwriting Competition in Australia with “Home”. Anna also took the Smokefree Rockquest Female Musicianship award in October 2007.
Baz Suamili
Niuean artist Baz Suamili got his musical chops from playing at his local Church for over 10 years as the music director. He is a multi instrumentalist with a voice like a Pacific Stevie. At present he is also singing lead vocals while playing the drums for reggae band Tenement Yard.
Ray Sooula
Ray was first spotted double timing rhymes at the West Auckland Word-Up talent competition in 2007. He took out the event with a humorous and catchy performance that showed a unique, and more importantly, authentic Pacific style. Ray adds this flavour to the duet with Baz Suamili on the PIYN album, simply entitled “Money”.
Maite Elguetta Clavelle
From an early age, Maite was immersed in a world of music. She attributes her love of the art form to the captivating quality of her grandfather’s singing voice. Her enthusiasm quickly matured during her early twenties into a consuming passion, the outlet of which was a vocal position as the lead singer of Iñalen (1998). The band, whose name in English translates to “Final Moment”, specialized in the performance of notable Latin-American Folk songs, which were infused with poetry readings. The band completed several tours of Chilean Universities before disbanding in 2002.
In 2005 she relocated to New Zealand where she enhanced her vocal talents by studying Flamenco Singing. In a relatively short period she became a regular feature at Tasca, a delightful Spanish Restaurant in the heart of Newmarket, Auckland. Maite continues to perform and record in Auckland.
Kelly Kahukiwa
Kelly has played sax and percussion in bands around Auckland (Flying Squad, Batucada Sound machine, Tangent), for a number of years and was also a navy band player during the day for ten years. At nighttime however, Kelly became Khuja Lounge's resident sax player, which is where he developed is keen ear for soul and funk.
Mani Fegundes
Mani is a Brazilian singer songwriter who has been in NZ for 10 years. He grew up in Sao Paulo Brazil where from a young age he was surrounded by samba, rock and soul music. By his mid teens he was fronting at regular gigs in the Mococa district. New horizons opened when he moved to NZ, and he formed the Brazilian band Brisa Louca (A "crazy breeze"), for an Auckland residency in 2000. He has also gone on to play with Batucada Sound Machine, and various other Latin influenced bands. He has a beautiful rich singing voice, and a spirit of adventure - he recently played Lenny Kravitz in the popular NZ TV show "Stars in Their Eyes".
Daniel Larsen
Daniel Larsen was immersed in language from birth, but refused to drown. To exact revenge, he has devised a form of poetry rather like linguistic water boarding. These acts of verse have appeared in publications such as aLiterate, Tongue in your Ear, Side Stream and Live Lines, and in performances, most notably at Poetry Live, where he is a regular. His work is interdisciplinary; exploring pollution, dance parties and the Internet; extending beyond rhetoric, conventional discourse and the concrete. Daniel’s spoken word piece “The Trouble with the Two Gods” has been recorded for the People IYN album.
Renee Liang
Renee Liang is a New Zealand-born Chinese writer who is becoming known as a spoken word artist. She has participated in many Poetry Slams, and runs the iconic Montana Poetry Slam every year. She is one of the organisers of Poetry Live, as well as many arts/literature/crossover events such as Metonymy, Winter Warmers at the Auckland Art Gallery, and Funky Oriental Beats. She has written a number of plays, of which three will be produced in 2009 in different theatres nationwide. She has also released three books of poetry, including "Chinglish", the lead poem of which appears on the PIYN album.
Mike Haru
Still a crowd mover guaranteed, Mike Haru is a DJ that will go deeper in the groove than most would dare, and mixes it up with tasty scratch flavours.
Lo Key by name and nature, Haru is the current resident at High Street's Rakinos but has also in the past been radio programmer for Mai Fm, like when it started and was dope.
Ekadek
Greg Brice (Ekadek) began his music career in the 80s at Vulcan Lane’s Last Laugh recording studios, recording for acts such as Peking Man before moving to Melbourne. In Australia he worked in the TV industry and produced live music, shows and films. In 2001 he returned to NZ, and to his roots to build customized kick-ass electronic analog music and recording equipment, and to provide a deep lush mix sound few in NZ have ever come close to achieving. Ekadek will be mixing the PIYN album.