Treatscast 02 - The Bernie Mix
We stand at an incredibly important moment in history. America, the most powerful and influential country in the world, has the opportunity to, in the words of Bill Hicks, ‘choose between the eyes of hate, and the eyes of love’. Bernie Sanders is the world’s best chance of redemption. He has solidly stood his ground with his beliefs and his principles since the earliest days of his long and successful political career. He is a man of honesty, integrity, kindness and wisdom. These are things the world needs today.
I wanted to get behind Bernie’s campaign, but not being an American citizen, I had to be a bit inventive. I had seen a lot of videos of Bernie’s speeches with uplifting piano music behind them. I was inspired to do something similar, but I wanted it to be more personal, like a conversation with an old friend by the fire. I began to research Bernie Sanders, his life and the music he enjoys, like classic Motown, rock & folk.
I listened to hours of his speeches, and was often brought to tears by the truth of his words. I had never heard a politician speak like this before on so many issues that I cared about. I realized that there were a lot of parallels between today and the Civil Rights movement of the 60s & 70s which Bernie was a part of. He has a 50-year history of standing up for civil and minority rights, fighting against discrimination, segregation and police brutality. He has a long record of standing up for what’s right, even when it is unpopular.
This got me thinking about the many protest songs that were written around that time. Classics like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’ and The Stylistics ‘People Make The World Go Round’. I had a few different versions of some of these tracks and wanted to see if I could weave them together in a narrative that supported and resonated with Bernie’s words. I coupled his quotes on Native American policy with some Native rock and folk by indigenous heroes Eric Landry & Willie Dunn, and I found a beautiful piece sung in Spanish by Agnès Jaoui called 'Sueno Ideal' to position behind his words about Latin America.
Where I wanted to include longer quotes to allow Bernie to go into depth about his beliefs, I used more sparse and ambient tracks by Jasper TX & Cliff Martinez. I tried to keep the warmth and informality of this fireside conversation, but somehow take it to a deeper, more emotive place. I wanted to create the vibe of those uplifting piano backed speeches but keep the intimate tone of the rest of the mix. This led to choosing a wonderful piece by Melbourne based composer, Helen Mountford, to pair with the earliest televised interview with Bernie Sanders that I could find, from 1988, where he is asked what kind of a person he would like to see as President of the United States.
Tracklist
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66 - For What It’s Worth
Buffalo Springfield - For What It’s Worth
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues
Monty Alexander - Inner City Blues
O'Donel Levy - People Make The World Go Round
The Stylistics - People Make The World Go Round
Michael Jackson - People Make The World Go Round
The Rationals - Glowin’
Eric Landry - Out Of The Blue
Willie Dunn - I Pity The Country
Tracy Chapman - The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Live at Madison Square Garden)
(House Finch singing song)
Las Cafeteras - This Land Is Your Land
Agnès Jaoui- Sueno Ideal
Curtis Mayfield - Rap
Curtis Mayfield - I Plan To Stay A Believer
Undisputed Truth - Ungena Za
Talk Talk - The Rainbow
Shuggie Otis - Tryin’ To Get Close To You
Jasper TX - Last Boat In
Cliff Martinez - We Don’t Have To Think Like That Anymore
Helen Mountfort - Tremble
Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
Bernie Sanders Quotes (with times and links)
1:04 A Conversation with Bernie Sanders (In 1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL8BpbWP7_8
1:57 Bernie Sanders | The Young Turks Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggFitmOTSok
3:53 Sen. Bernie Sanders: What would you DO as President? 1st Campaign Interview - Ed Schultz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmD1RG7u_g
6:52 Bernie Sanders - The Vox Conversation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5vOKKMipSA
7:09 Bernie Sanders - Talking Shop 5/6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk8OYHcHBX8
9:58 Bernie Sanders - The Vox Conversation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5vOKKMipSA
16:03 Bernie Sanders/Native American Policy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHK6SoSTlSc
25:34 A Conversation With Residente - Bernie Sanders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeYDrDjV48
33:34 A Conversation With Residente - Bernie Sanders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeYDrDjV48
38:47 Bernie Sanders - The Vox Conversation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5vOKKMipSA
43:16 A Conversation with Bernie Sanders (In 1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL8BpbWP7_8