One Voice Project
Music Charity
It all started with the baby Pete story in the news. I remember looking at Joey (the drummer of my band, Divine Oblivion) saying “Someone needs to do something about this. No one deserves to suffer like that, especially a child.” From then on, more and more child abuse stories seemed to come into the news. My band wanted to do something to make a big difference to these vulnerable children, but we just didn’t know how.
Inspiration hit me one night when I heard of a pub that had recorded its Saturday night karaoke singers onto an album and sold it to raise money for a local charity. I realised we could do something very similar, but on a much grander scale. My band (Divine Oblivion) talked it over, and we came to the conclusion that to make the album stand out and be noticed it would have to be the very best quality so it could give the top releases a run for their money.
We knew of a excellent music producer called Dan Foster and we decided to meet with him to discuss the idea. Luckily, he was just in the process of having his own professional music studio built in Hull called “Element”. We met him there amidst lots of sawdust, wires and bubble wrap and to our delight he loved the concept. We all decided to get the very best unsigned bands from throughout the UK to contribute one song each to the album, and to record it with Dan to give the album consistency.
The obvious choice for the charity was the NSPCC, and after discussing our plan to representative Claire Reading she suggested donating the proceeds to the Child’s Voice Appeal. The Child’s Voice Appeal was set up to raise money for Child Line, and we were shocked to hear that with current funding 1 out of 3 calls go unanswered. Every day, thousands of children and young people call Child Line to talk about a problem they face. Hundreds of caring adults also call the NSPCC helpline because they are worried about a child’s safety. The NSPCC can only ensure they have the right amount of trained volunteers and professional counsellors to answer these calls with the right funding. Answering one such call to Child Line costs £4.
From this, we decided to call the album “One Voice” as the project represented unsigned bands coming together as one to give a voice to vulnerable children in the UK. We are currently in the process of recording all the bands at Element studio in Hull, and we hope to release a single where each vocalist from each band contributes to one song which will be the title track of the album. The bands vary in genre, but all are in the Metal / Rock vein and we hope give a good scope of the amazing undiscovered talent in the UK!
Our aims with this ambitious project are:
1) To raise loads of money for the NSPCC!
2) To change perceptions about rock/metal music - an often feared and misunderstood genre. We hope to raise its profile and show it in a more positive light.
3) To show that a charity product doesn’t have to be a cheap/low quality offering - we want to prove that a charity product can be sold and promoted alongside mainstream music.
4) To inspire others to do something positive with their music, and to prove that by working together we can make a huge difference to those who need help!
We are looking to release the album in Spring 2010 with 100% profit going to the Child’s Voice Appeal. Plans are also being made for a huge launch show in London featuring all the bands involved playing live on the same day! We are also looking at doing a UK wide tour so watch this space!
For more information, please have a look at our myspace:
www.myspace.com/onevoicecharitycd
We really need more people to help and grow the project so it can be a huge success for Child line! If you can help in any way – through promotion, advertising or volunteering please get in touch:
Every little donation to the project makes a huge difference and we hope that with many people coming together and helping we can make become one big voice and speak out for vulnerable children. Many thanks!
