Hi all,
Posted this somewhere else, but it is more appropiate over here:
We have literally thousands of similar pics by now. I took the liberty of showing a few of those over here..(It's always nice to see how & what others are using their arrangers for & I wish more would participate)
However, we do not think that we are special in any way or form. Neither are we professionals like many others over here. We just use our love for making music to also care for the down & outs and try to do something practical about it. It is not always easy, and we are not always thanked for doing so
But it does give us a satisfaction & fulfillment that is hard to describe... It's like getting high on some sort of drug and the effect takes a long time to wear off. And having an arranger is perfect for what we do, as most of the time it's only me & Monica.
Like I said over at another forum where someone stated that most of the time he is only the quiet guy in the corner, being totally ignored, providing the music only.
That's most certainly not true for us. Yes, it takes boldness, but we choose an area, open our mobile sound trailer & then blow away!!! For the next hour or so, no one cannot be aware of us or what we do. We do not scream or act uncivilized, but then also we are definitely not the silent type in the corner. Our sound is powerfull & travels far. We specifically go to some of the more popular outdoor places from time to time as this message has to get all the exposure it can.
Also, since no one pays our bills, we can pretty much do anything we please. Sometimes we'll play in an old age home, sometimes at some of the more popular flea markets, sometimes inside a shopping mall, sometimes outside a shopping mall in the parking area, sometimes in the veld where the down & outs live under the trees, sometimes in the squatters camps & sometimes even in the centre of the black townships. Our normal audience range from the rich & super civilized (although mostly cold hearted) right down to the poor & sometimes even barbarians.
We have been threatened on many an occasion, sometimes by local residents, sometimes by police activists, sometimes even by the down & outs themselves. Bags with snakes have been thrown at us. We've driven right into the midst of the occult, whilst they were operating, and did our "thing" there. On one occasion, barbed wire was erected to prevent us from reaching out to the down & outs in an specific area. Our Rover has been to places where the Landrovers of most have not yet been.
However, there are ALWAYS good results and we thrive on the lives being changed. We see some of these afterwards, being changed from a state of being complete drunkards & outcasts into being civilized, employed, well clothed and in their right minds. It does not get any better than this...
Over the years, we've accumulated many interesting tales that we can one day share with our children.
I designed & built our sound trailer specifically for this, and it works extremely well. When we one day have the finances, we'll upgrade to a truck & hydraulically operated mobile stage trailer. This we intend to take right into the heart of Africa, as this is our ultimate vision. The only thing standing between us & this being finances... That's why I work full time for a living, and we reach out in our spare time only. However, everyone has to have a dream, & this is ours!
Keep well all my friends,
Henni (and my lovely Monica)
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Make sure you'll fly forever!