Episode 24 Recap
Episode 24: Listen Up: More Music as a Voice for Climate Action
Written by Eli Staton
[Left to right] Mike Roberts, songwriter/musician and Will Hammond Jr., singer
Great guest quote: ”It’s a way of edu-taining the people, you know, you educate them on the facts and then you entertain them through the music. And so, that’s really what we’re about.” – Will Hammond Jr.
Guests and Titles: Will Hammond Jr., singer and Mike Roberts, songwriter/musician
Host: Sean Mendelson
Summary:
We sit down with the two musicians behind Eco Soul Entertainment, which uses original soul, funk, and R&B songs to encourage adults and kids to take care of our precious planet. This Bay Area band has been in the trenches working with various local climate action groups. Their mantra? Make climate education and action fun and engaging. Take a listen to excerpts of three of their songs and see what they mean.
Why This Matters:
- Climate action can be creative: Music can be harnessed to promote sustainability, community resilience, and youth education in meaningful ways.
- Music with a message: A fresh, culturally resonant approach can mobilize broader public awareness across generations and communities traditionally left out of climate conversations.
- Making education entertaining: Crafting environmental topics (like electrification and geothermal energy) into intriguing, accessible, and joyful songs helps reach people who might not otherwise engage.
Key Takeaways:
- Music is an exceptionally powerful tool for climate action, uniquely reaching hearts where traditional advocacy struggles to engage.
- Eco Soul Entertainment uses their soul, funk, and R&B style to create fun and informative songs about climate.
- Mike Roberts integrated music with his climate volunteer work after finding traditional advocacy often unexciting.
- Will Hammond Jr. found a perfect marriage of his teaching background and climate interest through Rising Sun, a Bay Area organization focused on equity and sustainability.
- Eco Soul innovatively transforms “un-sexy” climate topics like heat pumps and geothermal energy into engaging R&B/funk songs. They also make songs for a younger, G-rated audience.
- The band envisions expanding climate awareness to youth and non-climate audiences, bringing their message into schools.
- The band dreams of organizing large outdoor eco-fests in the future.
Related Action Resources:
- Eco Soul Entertainment: Official website for the band.
- Project InnerSpace: Eco Soul Entertainment’s “Geothermal” was made in partnership with this group that advocates for awareness about geothermal energy.
- “I Like Flowers” Music Video Donation Site: Donations go toward the music video that raises awareness of the four above partners.
- The Switch Is On: This organization helps educate and provide electric solutions. This is where the idea for Eco Soul Entertainment and their song “I’m Your Heat Pump” blossomed.
- Rising Sun’s Official Website: (where guest Will Hamond Jr. works) This group offers climate careers to young leaders who provide “Green House Calls”: energy and water efficiency services to households throughout the Bay Area.
- Music Declares Emergency: Bringing artists, music professionals and music fans together to call for an immediate response from the government to respond to the climate change emergency to protect all life on Earth.
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Contact Us: Do you know a Bay Area-based Everyday Climate Champion? We’d love to interview them! Get in touch: EverydayClimateChampions@gmail.com
Website: www.EverydayClimateChampions.org
Podcast Production Team: Executive Producer/Editor: Dalya Massachi; Audio Engineer: Martin Sanchez; Co-Hosts/Researchers: Ellisa Feinstein, Isabella Genereaux, Sean Mendelson, Hasini Parepalli, Eli Staton. Logo Designer: Gabriela Vargas.
Keywords:
#eco-music, #climate music, #Eco Soul Entertainment, #I’m Your Heat Pump, #Geothermal, #I Love Flowers, #edutainment, #eco-songs, #climate songs