FAC Insights: Dale Vince’s zero carbon vision for the music industry-interview by John Robb
FAC Insights is a forum for us to showcase and share long form pieces looking at various parts of the music industry and the society that shapes it. Pieces take the form of videos, interviews, discussions, articles and more. This week we are delighted to share this interview where our very own FAC Board Director John Robb interviews Dale Vince.
With his company Ecotricity, Dale Vince is the UK's leading green energy provider. After spending fifteen years on the road as a traveller and being in the middle of the action at the Battle Of The Beanfield, he taught himself to build windmills and generate wind power. His ‘can do’ attitude is based around the ideas of Green Populism and its key focus of energy, food and transport which has become a manifesto for modern living.
Instead of making green issues a dour alternative to life, this is about incorporating what we love doing, but doing it in a ‘clean planet first’ way. This is how Dale Vince sees making change, as demonstrated in his role running the world’s only (so far) vegan football club - Forest Green Rovers, creating vegan food for 2000 primary schools, creating diamonds from air and being a key player in electric transport.
Saving the planet and having a good time are key and that’s why Green Populism also includes music. Just before the pandemic Dale was working closely with Massive Attack on ideas to create a close to zero carbon tour. Some of those ideas can be replicated across bands of any size. It's a complex task, of course, involving the unravelling of decades of old thinking but there are key areas that can be looked at:
1. Travel
Music means miles and miles of pollution but with a different mindset there are solutions. Post Brexit international touring is going to be problematic, but cutting down on flights is key. Many Northern Europe cities are actually reachable by train and it doesn't take much longer to get to Berlin or to Paris by rail. There is also the added advantage of no waiting around in airports or getting charged a fortune to put your instrument on a plane. In the meantime, we may be stuck with longer haul flights, but electric planes are coming - Dale Vince, amongst others, is working on them, but for now, think before you travel.
2. Backline
Are the days of lugging backlines across Europe over? Gas guzzling splitter vans lugging amps from A to B have an environmental cost. This may have to change (Brexit carnets are also a huge hurdle to this) and most festivals already use one backline for all the bands. Maybe funding should be provided for venues to provide basic backlines so bands can travel light and clean.
3. Cutting down on plastic
Currently already many venues have stopped the use of plastic bottles. Providing you with facilities so you can fill your own drinking receptacle. The days of venues post gig back and front stage being heaps of broken plastics could soon be over.
4. Food waste
How many riders are left behind in back stage? Time to order just what you need. Maybe go the whole (soya) hog and take meat off the table as well - it’s better for you and the planet.
5. The fans
We are literally all in this together. As musicians and as fans. Once the band is Eco-sorted how do we get the audience to the venue with as close to zero carbon as possible. Massive Attack had done some thinking about the problem of large audiences driving to gigs. Solutions included public transport being built into the tickets and also closing car parks at venues. To really make this work would mean musicians taking on the role of trying to integrate local public transport. A real hands on approach to changing the world - smaller bands have less power to do this but it’s always good to try and join the dots if possible.
6. Clean and green energy
In the future clean energy will be used to power most venues and electric vehicles. Maybe an initiative between Ecotricity and the UK venues would be interesting?
7. Merchandise
Merch is key to survival on the road but can we clean this up and try and get rid of the plastics as much as possible. Use cleaner resources to create T-shirts etc. Yes, it does take a bit of messing around and I’m not sure how to make cleaner and greener CDs and vinyl but we are trying to recalibrate a culture that is so ingrained in tradition.
There is a solution to every problem and the micro problems will keep coming but we are creative people and this is all about thinking outside of the box.