DIRECT TALK(VISION VIBES)

Draft transcript

Chloe Potter / Host:

I'm Chloe Potter, and this is VISION VIBES, the podcast that brings you the stories and perspectives of people from all walks of life.

Music is found in all human cultures around the world and has been for tens of thousands of years. Our relationship with music is primal. We're now gaining a greater scientific understanding about the impact that music has on our bodies; as sound vibrations pass through our cells they impact our hormones, our breathing, our heart-rate and our brainwaves. The science is confirming what we already know: music affects us to our core.

Singing is one of the most immersive ways that we can connect our bodies to music - and singing in a group multiplies the benefits for our mental health and our wellbeing. Today's interviewee found sanctuary in singing from a young age as a choir boy at school in England, and now he shares his love of singing with as many people as he can. Gareth Malone is a British musician, song writer and choir master. He's spent his whole career working to bring singing to as many communities as possible. Working with people from all different backgrounds he's shown how singing brings people together no matter their gender, ethnicity or class.

Gareth has been at the forefront of making choirs popular in the UK. And he has had the opportunity to lead choirs on many special occasions including at the recent coronation of King Charles.

Gareth Malone:

I had to sit and imagine what it was going to be like on the day, you know, with King Charles in front of us and the whole royal family and 20,000 people there. And then I've got, I can see these 300 people. What are they going to be singing? What's it going to be like?

You just have to build a bubble around people, a sort of wall of confidence. You know, I have the confidence that you can do this. So, you should, too.

It was an incredibly diverse group we had on that stage. You know, we live in a country that has so many people from so many different backgrounds, and sometimes that can, that can be problematic, um, but not in a choir. You know, it was great. These are people who wouldn't, whose paths would never normally cross. And yet they stood together as one and sang as something sort of something British.

What I love about music is that it's mystical. At the center of it is something we don't really understand. You know, neuroscience attempts to explain it, but there's something just magical about what happens to human beings when music is playing or when they're performing music that we can't yet explain. And I rather like that. That's one of the great mysteries.

When you focus on music and you let it in, it can be spiritual, it can be uplifting. It can help with a lot of things. You know, if you're depressed, if you're, if you're grieving. Singing is one of the, I think is probably the only thing that uses your mind and your body. It uses the memory, it uses the imagination, it uses the, you know, all the motor skills to get the breathing going.

When you are singing it is all encompassing, which is why it's such a wonderful thing for mental health. We become one when we sing with other people. We feel like we're part of a team. You know, whether you're just going to a sports match or you're going to a more formal music setting, everyone needs to feel like they're part of something bigger. And that is what music is, that's what singing is so brilliant at because you just, I don't know, you touch the infinite.

(Choir singing)

Chloe Potter / Host:

Gareth first came to the attention of the British public when he hosted a television series that documented the creation of a choir made up of military wives - those left behind as their husbands served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The true stories captured hearts and went on to inspire a feature film. And since the series aired a total of 72 new choirs have formed across the UK and the world, regularly bringing the benefits of group singing and the chance for self-expression to 2,000 wives in the military community. It was a really important milestone for Gareth.

Gareth Malone:

The first series you were watching somebody young working things out for the first time. You know, I was in tears. I was…I was making mistakes. You know, I look back now and think, Oh, why did I choose that song? Why did I do that? Why did I make that decision? But I think the audience liked that, the honesty of that and the journey of that.

And in the end, on that first series, you know, the results were not staggering. But what was what was staggering was what the experience meant to the young people and what it meant to me. And I think people really were amazed by that thought. I don't think anyone had really considered what choirs could do for young people.

(Choir singing)

Gareth Malone:

It felt exciting to me because it was an important story in this country at the time. You know, everyone was talking about whether or not we should be going to Afghanistan and Iraq. And …and no one was really talking about the people that were left behind, but the bodies were starting to come back. And I suppose the choir, military wives, was an extension of us coming to terms with the fact that this had a very, very real cost for many families in this country. I think they had no voice. Military spouses were just a sort of forgotten group of people.

But from day one, working with those women, you know, they sang readily. They were excited about it. They needed a sense of community. It could also do more than that, it could also make them heard. I think, I think they realized that quite early on and they really were heard.

I'm very glad that those women are still singing, and that it's doing what I know it can do on a weekly basis. You know, you don't need the glamour of television and the excitement of performing for the King or the Queen. What you really need is some people in a room with a piano and somebody who's passionate about music for it to work. And that's the most important thing, it's the sort of grassroots weekly rehearsals. That's the thing that does the, that does the magic.

I think the picture of choirs in this country has changed completely. You know, it's not just me, but having a series on television, that's been so successful, showing what choirs can do for people has encouraged a lot of people to go and join their local choir.

Anyone can join a choir now. It doesn't have to be auditioned, it doesn't have to be sort of fancy. It can, anyone can do it. Everyone can learn an instrument. Everyone can sing in some way. You might not be great. You might not think you have any potential. But everyone can get better. Everyone can get something from making music with other people. So… The great lesson that I've learned over the course of my career is what music can do and how it can bring people together, how it can unify, how it can heal, how it can cross great divides. And I think that is something we all need in our lives, you know, whether we think we're musical or not. You know, I think music has amazing powers.

Chloe Potter / Host:

I recently heard sound described in the most beautiful way: sound is touch at a distance. It's clear to me that music can bring all the comfort and warmth of a loving touch. The science is now confirming that music offers us all sorts of healing benefits at a cellular level. And we can find freedom in it too. And singing? Well, it offers us yet more: A freedom to express ourselves, to allow our voices to soar, releasing whatever we need to release. And listening to Gareth leaves me convinced that there are few better ways to find connection than to sing in a group.

If you find the original Direct Talk episode on the NHK WORLD-JAPAN website you can hear even more from Gareth and hear more of his choirs performing too. I really love the way he describes the fizz of a perfect harmony of notes.

I am not a natural musician but encouraged by Gareth I will certainly be looking for more opportunities to sing in my life, whether it's in the shower, at karaoke with friends or belting out some favorite Christmas carols at home with my children. I really hope you can do the same.

That's it for this episode, thanks for listening. I'm Chloe Potter.

Do join us next time for more mind-expanding stories from inspiring people on VISION VIBES.