Last December, as we were considering quitting the Brilliance, our friend Mark Reddy sat us down at a funny little tiki bar in Chicago and dared us to dream:
“What type of music would you make, if you could make it?”
We came to the conclusion:
We want to create art that inspires empathy.
Having heard that, Mark went on to tell us about what he’s been working on. He told us about a group of 800,000 who were born into an uncertain future. They’re losing their jobs, being deported, and are filled with increasing fear:
What’s going to happen to me?
What’s going to happen to my family?
What’s going to happen to my brothers and sisters?
In our desire to inspire empathy with our music, the story of DACA dreamers captured our imagination.
We were commissioned that night to write a song for dreamers but before we would write anything first we wanted to meet with some dreamers and get proximate with our actual neighbors. So mark introduced us to some dreamers who live in New York.
And honestly it was humbling and inspiring.
One of the dreamers that we met for lunch told us his story. He explained that in high school he was a member of the ROTC and his dream was to become an officer in the military and then eventually a firefighter in New York City. His dream was to serve.
It’s these stories of courage and love that inspired this suite.
May you see the stranger, the other, and be reminded to dream again.
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