About a month ago, I first got news of a neat project happening in London that was all about raising the awareness of the potential dangers of prescription drugs. I thought it would be interesting to interview one of the brains behind the initiative so sent across some questions.
‘They must be busy’, I thought, on not getting a response and life continued until yesterday. I’d just taken a couple of Nurofen to combat a monster headache when I received a mail asking when the interview might be published. Calista from Voice of Aiko had gone to great trouble to respond but for one reason or another I’d not had sight of her answers.
Here’s the interview in full; a fascinating project and the sort of concept that Sonic Breakfast was established to write about.
(1) To the uninitiated, what is Voice of Aiko?
Hey guys! My name’s Calista Kazuko I’m a singer/songwriter from London and I’m representing Voice of Aiko today. Voice of Aiko is a new creative collective of musicians, filmmakers, dancers and artists joining forces to campaign for change. An artistic army on a mission!
(2) And what are you doing as your first project?
Our first project is called ‘Prescription Dream’ and is a collaboration of myself with the incredible producer musicians Samim, Miguel Toro and Jack Brown and incredible filmmaker Enya Belak Gupta. We are working with charities REST, MIND & APRIL to draw a spotlight on an ongoing global prescription drug epidemic.
(3) Prescription Drugs? They’re not so bad really, are they?
That’s what I thought before working on this project! But in fact prescription drugs can have potential devastating side effects and cause dependency. In England alone there are an estimated 1.5 million people suffering from doctor-induced Benzo drug dependency and more than 1 million patients are taking dependence-forming drugs unnecessarily. Antidepressants are also a major problem and statistics show that roughly 50 Americans die from prescription painkiller overdoses every day. Stopping medication (even low doses) cold-turkey can be dangerous, even fatal.
The figures are frightening and often people won’t realise it’s a medication they are taking, or have stopped taking, that is causing physical or mental changes or that they have become dependent on a medication.
There are great resources online to find out more at:
Www.mindincamden.org.uk/resources/articles/minor-tranx
(4) What’s influenced you to do this?
I saw a loved one suffer from the devastating side effects of anti-psychotic drugs when I was younger so I realised that medication can have a serious effect, but I didn’t realise that ‘everyday’ medications can have such an impact as well.
Then last year I met the incredible Millie from charity APRIL (Adverse Psychiatric Reactions Information Link). She opened my eyes to just how harmful prescription drugs can be and I was gobsmacked that I’d never even thought about it. I started talking to friends and colleagues and realised everyone has a story about medication affecting them or someone they know. We formed Voice of Aiko and wanted this to be the subject of our first project.
We live in a prescription world and are often quick to medicate, perhaps unaware of the potential side effects and often without exploring other alternatives first. Now I am aware of the potential dangers, I am able to make more informed, careful choices before popping a pill. If we can get more people talking and thinking like this too, our mission will be complete!
(5) Tell us about the live night you have planned…
To celebrate the collective’s launch and first release, Voice of Aiko are taking over Leman Locke Hotel in Aldgate on Saturday 29th September (sorry folks – missed this) for a magical evening of live music, art, dance, discussion. We will open the event with a conversation room with amazing representatives from the partner charities who will be explaining more about prescription drug problems, what we can do to help and answering any questions. This will be followed by a live performance from stunning musical artists Bumi Thomas and Sera EKE. The CA Contemporary Dance Company led by director Adrian Del Arroyo will be performing a truly unique commissioned piece inspired by the event‘s Prescription Dream theme and the night closes with a very special guest DJ set, drinks, dancing and delight!
50% of all ticket proceeds will go to REST & APRIL, supporting people with prescription drug dependencies.
(6) Any plans to take the live things wider than London?
For Voice of Aiko not for now – but we all have our own fabulous projects which take us far and wide!
I am in the process of making my debut solo studio album called ‘EMPRESS’ and am loving it! A history of Empresses throughout time this record will be a rollercoaster ride of epic sonic soundscapes! The album also explores the adversities women have had to endure throughout time and the relationship between powerful women and sexuality. I can’t wait to finish it and unleash it unto the world and plan to tour the album with my amazing band Fred Claridge and Sam Weston when it is released next Spring.
‘EMPRESS’ the album is available for pre-order exclusively at Pledge Music:
http://www.pledgemusic.com/calistakazuko
For live dates and updates please visit: http://www.calistakazuko.com and join the mailing list.
Awesome filmmaker Enya Belak Gupta who made the beautiful ‘Prescription Dream’ film is always working on weird and wonderful, totally inspired projects too. Enya is the most phenomenal multi-faceted artist, filmmaker, choreographer, creator. It’s super fun to admire her plentiful work in awe! You can follow her latest adventures at: http://www.enya-belak.com/
(7) What future projects do you have up your sleeve?
Voice of Aiko are excited to start working on our next project straight away with the aim of releasing in late January 2019. This project will be focused on refugee and asylum seeker children, in particular the children who were left in Calais after the Jungle was destroyed. We have some truly incredible artists and collaborations lined up, more to be revealed soon!
And just a couple of general questions to end the interview with::-
(8) Dream festival line-up?
Kate Bush, Freddie Mercury, Supertramp, Fiona Apple, Muse, Portishead, Aqua – IMAGINE!!!
(9) Favourite joke?
What did the number 0 say to the number 8??
……. NICE BELT!!!!!
Thanks so much for having us and supporting this project.
The Voice of Aiko army welcome you with open, haka-flailing arms!
sonicbreakfast 