Rise from the Ashes
“A Remix Event for the Australian Fire Recovery Effort”

The phoenix hope, can wing her way through the desert skies, and still defying fortune’s spite; revive from ashes and rise. ~Miguel De Cervantes

The devastation of the Australian wildfires will be with us forevermore. There is no way to truly scale it in a way that is comprehensible. It burns beyond our ability to focus on all aspects of the damage and loss. For some it is personal, for some it is blurred in the distance of another far away place. In all cases, we are each affected, whether we realize it or not. The fires are still burning, and when they subside, the effects will leave scars for longer than our lifetimes. It is in how these scars heal where we have a choice. Part of that healing is through acknowledgement and in expression of what we have experienced.

For this reason, ccMixter has decided to hold a special remix event to honor the need to express and share our stories through song. Rise from the Ashes is inspired by one of our long standing members, Scomber (and his family), who is experiencing first hand the impacts of the Australian bushfires. His song “Ordinary People (Rise from the Ashes)” will lead us in an event that gives hope and healing through music. We all have a story to tell, we are all experiencing some form of Climate Crisis wherever we are on Earth. Scomber invites you to add your voice and talent to our culture and community that shares music and empathy with the world.

We send love to all our esteemed Australian artists, including Rob Walker, Debbizo, and Ash Stewart.

Sackjo22 has generously offered to donate $1 per uploaded remix for this event to an Australian bushfire nonprofit. Inspired by Sackjo22’s pledge, Snowflake, Jonatha Chance, Apoxode & his girlfriend, and Copperhead will do the same. Should anyone else wish to join the team of donors, let us know and we’ll add you to this list.


We’ll focus on recording pells and samples January 31-February 14. Remixes will be emphasized February 15-29, but as always, remixes, samples and pells are welcome anytime during this event.

PELLS
SAMPLES
REMIXES

A very special thanks to Scomber for inspiring this event, and for helping us organize behind the scenes. It hurts, to learn about all of the human lives impacted so terribly, and such a devastating amount of wildlife and habitat lost. Music is healing and hopeful, and I’m grateful for that.

This is such a touching idea and I was so devastated to watch this catastrophe unfold from a distance here in North Carolina. Despite that distance, I nonetheless have shed tears for the many animals lost and homes destroyed.

I look forward to participating and also offer to donate $1 per uploaded remix.

My girlfriend and I pledge $1 to the Australian bushfire nonprofit for each remix submitted for this event as well.

Thanks everyone for jumping in and bringing your support to this event the way you do! Your inspiring content fuels the fire of this event.

I am listening to the remixes which are so moving…and inspiring! I need to take a break from listening now to work on something new… .

I had a private message from Copperhead who let me know he is going to chip in too, for every remix.

Many thanks to all, and to Stefan for honouring Circling with the supreme distinction of CC Mixter (Ed Pick) , with the voice of Snowflake, for Rise from the Ashes.
I am honoured to have participated in this experience in this way.

Thanks to all of you

Sorry I got in on this a little late, I was in B.C with my friend who contracted the Corona virus :-( She’ll make it, thankfully, but many more will/have not.

Thanks to everyone who’s contributing to this. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything to add. I haven’t really written any words or music for about a year. I’m experiencing a kind of creative paralysis where I feel that I’ve said everything worthwhile and there’s nothing to add. The bushfires have added to this sense of futility. Perhaps some things are just too big for words.
We can have empathy for ‘those people over there’ but how can we translate this into effective action? There is no ‘over there’ anymore. We are all a part of the problem. Everything the climate scientists have been predicting for twenty years is accelerating – the wildfires, the flooding, the melting of the ice caps – but the powerful use their wealth and influence to install populist puppets who stymie any effective change. Our government here encourages us to donate to Bushfire Appeals while still supporting the building of new coalmines and the excavation and exporting of even more coal.
I feel like I’ve been fighting for sanity and justice for so long. But to what end? Over twenty years we planted an acre of eucalypts as koala food when we used to live in the Adelaide Hills. But over thirteen MILLION acres of bush and koalas have been destroyed this summer. Critically endangered dunnarts and glossy black cockatoos on Kangaroo Island may be extinct. Wiped from the face of the earth.
I feel very old and very tired.
Thanks to everyone at ccmixter for thinking of us…

Thank you to everyone who contributed such powerful work to our Rise from the Ashes event. We’re especially thankful to Scomber for creating this hopeful theme, during a time of great challenge. We also send our love to all Mixters down-under.

There were 37 remixes contributed to this event! There were also 14 pells and 22 samples contributed. I think I’ve listened to them all (or at least close!) and have been so moved and inspired by the music created in the spirit of new possibility.

I joined the group of Mixters donating $1 per remix for this event, and I rounded up to $52.50 (US) for 14 trees. After doing a bit of research, I decided to donate to planting native trees and plants in Australia in the wake of the fires — Australia has lost about 40% of its bushlands and forests. Planting trees not only offers habitat to animals, but also helps in just a small way to get one step closer to carbon neutral. The journey to that point helps all of us.

The org I donated to is: Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund.

Thank you again to all of you who contributed, reviewed and listened to the uploads for Rise from the Ashes.