Misty Oldland, who’ve impressed me with her new album Forest Soul after a lengthy hiatus, finally found the time to tell me more about her new record, her mission and what moves her in the following interview.
Q: It’s been a while since the music world has heard something new from you. Where have you been in the meantime?
Misty Oldland: My second album was released in japan and I toured that (Luminous) and promoted that till 1998. Since then I have travelled studying music including visiting Philadelphia where I worked and hung out with The Roots and their camp…learning about beats and the art of freestyle, (which is to me the most exciting musical artform of true improvisation since the jazz greats.) I learnt so much there and even got to freestyle with them at their new york jam session.
Next I went to live in Bristol and studied/wrote and sung with Mushroom (formerly of Massive Attack) for nearly two years. I supported myself by rennovating properties and was blessed to be making music and learning with such gifted incredible people. The rest of the time was spent setting up my label and writing and recording the album…studying business, environmental issues, learning logic audio etc so I could produce music at home…and rennovating 2 properties to fund it all, so ive been busy!
Q: You are really concerned about our environment and the only artist I know, who takes care that her records are produced carbon neutral and donate a part of the record sales to Greenpeace. Please tell me how and why you’ve got involved in the ecological movement.
Misty Oldland: I have always been passionate about nature and that is reflected actually on every album. I began developing an idea for a computer game to do with re-forestation which is how I came across my business mentor Anita Roddick and began to see a how I could combine making creative projects with a ‘kind’ method of business. I’d always wanted to have my own label and passionately believed in creating a new business model. A sustainable model which was not dependant on the majors i.e.: corporate funding with their unfair share in profits making unrealistic targets that inevitably make artists careers short lived. I dreamt of passing this business model on to others and so the whole project became a reflection of my values and attention to this detail. The more I discovered about alternative packaging the more I felt responsible to bring these methods to the mainstream. It was a joy to not compromise on quality in the production and in the creative process. And I believe that there is an audience who will appreciate the care that has gone in to the production even if it may be slightly more expensive. Its all made with love…So the rest of the time was spent recruiting the gifted artists, scientists, musicans and business consultants to pull it off! Being independent has allowed me to make more of a financial commitment to the causes too. At the moment I’m giving 50p of every album sold Greenpeace. Imagine if Madonna, J-Lo or U2 could do that for the causes they support. That would equate to tens of millions of £’s for the movement! I totally admire George Michael for the way he’s taking care of business right now. Afterall, at the end of the day, how many £millions does one person really need?! Make Greed History!
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