Lokashakti is an idea I’ve been working on putting together for a few years now. Things have recently come far enough that the music aspect is finally taking shape, so I’m looking for about 3-4 other people to start playing with. I’m looking for people who can both sing and write songs, and also seriously wail on the guitar, bass, drums, or keys. People who can play more than one instrument (or even instruments other than those just listed) are one hundred percent encouraged, and you’ll be in good company.
I’m looking for people who love music as much as I do, who think it can be a force for good in the world, and who also have diverse interests and influences: hip-hop, qawwali, electronic music, Tuvan throat singing, bomba y plena – the more eclectic the better. Although I enjoy and listen to most all types of music, I come from a punk / hardcore background, which understandably colors a lot of what I do. The songs on the Three Stories EP, though, I hope give a little bit of a sense of how different I’m willing to get, and I’ve been thinking for a while that this band would actually be best served by not conforming to any specific genre. The one common thread I hope will be the lyrics, which is why I’ve felt that “protest music” is probably the most apt descriptor of what I have in mind.
Needless to say, I’m anticipating this band being defined as much by the things we say as by the music we play. For example, the three songs I’ve recorded so far are quite obviously anti-war, and I hope to continue in that vein, attempting to make strong political messages palatable by enveloping them in music that on its own is genuinely good. My lyrical interests coincide with those of the organization, and run pretty much the full range of progressive ideas, centered mostly around peace and social justice, and spurred into existence by a government that in so many ways goes against so many of the things I believe. Basically, I have big aspirations for what a group of politically conscious people can accomplish when they work and play music together, and hope to create something that will seriously upset the status quo. All this will probably end up getting us arrested at some point, but not to worry – it’ll all be in good fun.
Finally, and of course I’m pushing my luck with this last one, it’d also be great if people had some other skillz that can help the band and the organization be all it can be. A definite plus would be if you knew how to code a smooth-looking website, or had a background in film / video production, or maybe if you were adept at the business / legal side of things (contracts / taxes / nonprofit law / how to get us out of jail / etc.). The ability to speak more than just English is pretty necessary, too, as hopefully someday we’ll be taking this show on the road.
About me real quick, I’m 33 and grew up outside of Boston. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12, and was in straight edge bands as a teenager. I play all the instruments on the EP, but I’ll probably stick to playing guitar and singing when the band finally gets rolling. 
Philosophically, I’ve been a vegetarian and a pacifist since I was about 15. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a degree in Nonviolence. I speak French and Spanish, and moved to New York in May of 2009, where I spent a year living / volunteering at a soup kitchen and laying the groundwork for Lokashakti. I now live in Harlem and am pretty much trying to do this organization and this band as full-time as I possibly can. If you think you’d be a good fit, definitely hit me up.
Thanks for reading.
– Will (will@lokashakti.org)