AGF Insider: Madame Gandhi on Conscious Change & Creative Impact
Welcome to AGF Insider, our insightful series where we bring you monthly interviews with industry experts.
Each month we catch up with an industry leader in the sustainability world to find the current trends and best practices
This month, we catch up with Madame Gandhi - award-winning artist, activist, and electronic music producer known for her uplifting, percussion-driven sound and message of gender liberation.
What are the best practices that you are seeing give the best results?
When everyone takes responsibility for their own actions, this is where the biggest impact can be made. I feel a lot more conscious about my own choices in the world from my diet, clothing consumption, events I attend, personal waste, and travel choices. As a born-and-raised New Yorker, I did not grow up with the climate sensibilities that I have today. As a result, I feel enormous personal growth in my own consciousness of choices, and this is why individual action is so vital to protecting the planet.
(Photography: Lindsey Byrnes)
What trends are you seeing this year?
I am very inspired by seeing some of my favorite mainstream fashion brands and clothing companies take a direct stand on sustainable clothing production. Many brands are afraid to take a perspective because they know that they are not 100% green, and they don't want to risk negative press. To that end, I am particularly inspired when I do see brands make an effort to investigate and champion their own closed loop greener manufacturing choices.
What are the obstacles?
As an American, from young we are taught to consume. Some argue that this is why the U.S. has a ‘thriving economy,’ but the larger question is: at what expense? For me, I believe the obstacles are having to untrain behaviors of mass consumption and convenience, which is incredibly challenging to do. It requires each of us to become agents of conscious change.
What’s the next big thing in sustainability in events?
As an artist, I feel grateful to be invited to perform at sustainable festivals like Burning Man, Boom, and Envision. Being invited to perform in these communities at scale has deeply inspired my understanding of what is possible. My intention is to use my gifts as a musician to keep inspiring positive impact and change, especially to engage communities like these.
We hope you enjoyed hearing Madame Gandhi’s perspective as much as we did.
Her latest album, Let Me Be Water - our AGF Pick of the Month in July, is an empowering, nature-inspired work blending electronic beats, spoken word, and collaborations with 50 women and gender-expansive artists. The album also features the sounds of melting glaciers, recorded by Madame Gandhi herself during her time in Antarctica, bringing climate awareness to the forefront through music.
Keep an eye out for next month's edition of AGF Insider, where we'll bring you more expert perspectives and fresh ideas!
