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THE STORY
In 2022 I was commissioned to create a socially driven work that would combine my practice as a drummer, producer and composer with my work as an ‘activist’. For some 25 years I have been producing, curating and facilitating inclusive music making experiences aimed at triggering positive change for people that have, or are, suffering from issues related to homelessness. This pathway began when I was a student of music in London and has taken me on a journey around the world, working with the most inspiring, beautiful, generous human beings. All bought together through our shared passion for music.
The artistic concept is about illuminating the concept of Shelter and raising awareness to the cruelty of Homelessness. The process took 4 years and was focused around site specific creation. The first year was spent researching various issues surrounding land preservation and human rights, housing policies and both legal and philosophical constructs of shelter, and what that means for us. I talked with colleagues and friends that work with Homeless support organisations and listened to people and their stories, slowly finding the core themes of the commission. I then began to create, first by exploring through site-specific visits to ‘rough-sleeping’ spots in the city, where I experienced the space, took field recordings and visual documentation. Later, I returned with two members of The Mystifiers Collective, Ivan Torres - Cello - and Donnie Adams - Vocalist / Rapper / Spoken Word Artist, where at the ‘location spots’ we talked, played, wrote, created and recorded.
The next stage was developing this material into two albums, Grit & Dirt, featuring various vocalists and instrumentalists from The Mystifiers Collective.
Alongside Farhad Khodadzade we then made the same trips but with a stills camera and then film to create a piece that quite literally illuminated these ‘shelter’ locations in Amsterdam. The final stage of the creative process was developing the print material (Posters / Zine / Postcards) in collaboration with my long-time friend and chief of the art department behind (UK based imprint) WW Records, Pete Lewis. To further establish this link and to bring Preservation to wider audiences, WW Records are releasing an E.P featuring reworkings of 4 of the album tracks, created by Old Man Diode and Guy Wampa.
Preservation is a call to action. A culmination of over two decades of experience, absorbing heart-breaking stories, listening and connecting to unique but unheard voices and creating artistic spaces for the unseen to become seen. The story of homelessness is a human one, the consequences for people suffering from this injustice is devastating. The cause is complicated, but solveable. Preservation is about bringing awareness to the harsh reality of these living environments, to the dignity we all deserve and the right to the safe physical space we call Shelter. - Guy Wood 2025