University of the Underground University of the Underground

Welcome to Moon Arkestra, a series of podcasts created by students of the charity University of the Underground’s Moon Arkestra Whistleblowing Residency. This tuition free programme was led by Artist Head of Programme Dr. Aditi Jaganathan from April 2022 to June 2022, as an investigation into whistleblowing as a political action but also an instrument and language.

This podcast was created by King Ali and Zoë as a part of this practice-based residency. Students unraveled the relationships between nation-states, music, political action and displacement. Moon Arkestra was composed of unique multidisciplinary creatives and musicians. Who joined Moon Convoy and toured with Tour de Moon around England, during May and June of 2022. Moon Arkestra members put together a series of experiences, and creative interventions involving political theory and musical practice with this podcast being one of them.

In 'Reflections from A to Z', Ali and Zoë discuss a range of topics that have inspired them over the years. 

Ali talks about coaching in relation to sports and music, how imposter syndrome affects confidence, mental well-being and ultimately team working abilities. 

Whilst Zoë talks about how species are categorised in the western science and fantasy realms, mermaids and the impact that classical musical education can have on in beating out creativity. 

Both understand the importance of listening, believing in yourself, re-learning how to be fluid and entering collaborative situations with an open mind-set.

They use percussive and melodic looping extracts from Vee's sound archive, recorded during Tour De Moon's Moon Convoy to illustrate how improvision and collaboration are used in music, sports, fantasy and daily life. 

"Hi, I’m Zoe, I’m a mermaid. I like to introduce myself like this because it’s telling a story about the human connection with mermaids and other otherworldly creatures out there.  Saxophone and Cello are my on-land instruments – I haven’t yet learnt to play them underwater – which is why I’m here to jam in space with the one and only Tour de Moon Arkestra." Zoe

"My name is Ali, also known in Barking as King. Growing up in Barking I found it hard to connect with the over achievers in my area, which lead me to a life of trouble. I’m the oldest son of a family of five kids, so weight has always been on my shoulders to be a man and an achiever. Since the age of 14 I used to miss my lunch break to go to the gym in Barking Abbey School, something I’ve always enjoyed. My family has never seen my passion in fitness and has always try to steer me towards the University route which deep down I hate, but try saying no to a family in my community? It never ends well.

My ambition is to create a league for young people through boxing which can later become an international success. When I started fighting with my friends it helped me battle my own inner demons. At first, I didn’t see it as a business potential, but when a number of people on social media started reaching out, I knew this could become something. In my research, I found that a man in Jamaica started something similar, and it was a success. I believe this would have good potential in the UK, and I would love to start it of in Barking. I’ve also reached out to the man in Jamaica and if this project works in the UK, I’m looking forward to working with him to globalize this project. My plan is to build a platform for young boxers just like in music with likes of GRM daily and Link Up TV." King Ali

Welcome to Moon Arkestra, a series of podcasts created by students of the charity University of the Underground’s Moon Arkestra Whistleblowing Residency. This tuition free programme was led by Artist Head of Programme Dr. Aditi Jaganathan from April 2022 to June 2022, as an investigation into whistleblowing as a political action but also an instrument and language.

This podcast was created by Eeshar & Chris as a part of this practice-based residency. Students unraveled the relationships between nation-states, music, political action and displacement. Moon Arkestra was composed of unique multidisciplinary creatives and musicians. Who joined Moon Convoy and toured with Tour de Moon around England, during May and June of 2022. Moon Arkestra members put together a series of experiences, and creative interventions involving political theory and musical practice with this podcast being one of them.

Christopher & Eeshar contemplate the deep meaning that music can convey. They relive some of their most pivotal moments while on the Moon Arkestra Convoy for Tour de Moon. Music in general is understood as an expression of the divine for both of them, and they recant the processes of crafting two songs while on the English roads. They discuss the structure of the pieces, the cyclical nature of life, and how silence is an important part of music making; both auditory silence and the internal silence that comes out of spiritual exploration.

Welcome to Moon Arkestra, a series of podcasts created by students of the charity University of the Underground’s Moon Arkestra Whistleblowing Residency. This tuition free programme was led by Artist Head of Programme Dr. Aditi Jaganathan from April 2022 to June 2022, as an investigation into whistleblowing as a political action but also an instrument and language.

This podcast was created by Vee as a part of this practice-based residency. Students unraveled the relationships between nation-states, music, political action and displacement. Moon Arkestra was composed of unique multidisciplinary creatives and musicians. Who joined Moon Convoy and toured with Tour de Moon around England, during May and June of 2022. Moon Arkestra members put together a series of experiences, and creative interventions involving political theory and musical practice with this podcast being one of them.

'I had questions for the Moon Arkestra - about our instruments. These are questions I asked myself during this experience.

We all went to the park, after one of our live performances at the moon convoy. It was a sunny day. Together, we sat in the grass and reflected on what we consider our instrument(s) to be, what we feel we can communicate through our instruments and what we are able to actualise for ourselves." Vee

Acknowledgments

Produced/edited by Vee

In conversation with:
Mango (Mirrored Fatality)
Samar (Mirrored Fatality)
Kingali
MayaLae
Zoe
Eeshar
Christopher
Fraz

Audio recordings
Moon Arkestra archive
Location(s) : Southampton, Newcastle

Welcome to Moon Arkestra, a series of podcasts created by students of the charity University of the Underground’s Moon Arkestra Whistleblowing Residency. This tuition free programme was led by Artist Head of Programme Dr. Aditi Jaganathan from April 2022 to June 2022, as an investigation into whistleblowing as a political action but also an instrument and language.

This podcast was created by mirrored fatality as a part of this practice-based residency. Students unraveled the relationships between nation-states, music, political action and displacement. Moon Arkestra was composed of unique multidisciplinary creatives and musicians. Who joined Moon Convoy and toured with Tour de Moon around England, during May and June of 2022. Moon Arkestra members put together a series of experiences, and creative interventions involving political theory and musical practice with this podcast being one of them.

mirrored fatality is an underground and interdependent Kapampangan and South Asian xenotrans experimental and healing noise punk duo. From May 11 to June 16, 2022, mirrored fatality completed a national United Kingdom tour with Tour de Moon’s Moon Arkestra: a collective of 9 multidisciplinary musicians aged 23-27 and performed “COCOON WEBS”, screened their short film, EARTHBODY(S)_BIOME(TRICS) featuring their Tour de Moon Moon Bounce single “BIOME(TRICS)” on Tour de Moon’s programmes: Moon Cinema and Moon Experiences in Bletchley, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Grimsby, Huddersfield, Blackburn, Barrow-in-Furness, Newcastle, Plymouth, Southampton, Farnborough, Crawley, and London.

In this podcast, mirrored fatality storytells their comunity altar, performances of UTOPIA, the Moon Arkestra Song, and REINCARNAGE. At Tour de Moon, mirrored fatality utilized radical imagination and truth seeking to cross-pollinate their DIT (Do-It-Together) framework “cocoon webs.” mirrored fatality’s “cocoon webs” combines care work, rituals, altars, holistic medicine, dance, performance art, music, spoken word, film, photography, painting, drawing, upcycled garments and fashion, anti-imperialist education, healing justice counter-spaces, and decolonial and trans queer of color collective ethos. mirrored fatality’s intention for “cocoon webs” is for QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) to embody their rage and holistic healing to disrupt the isolation from existing in a white supremacist capitalistic apocalyptic world to fight towards QTBIPOC-centered liberation. At Tour De Moon, mirrored fatality’s “cocoon webs” whisteblow against white supremacy, transphobia, and fascist imperialism in the United Kingdom, United States of America, South Asia, and Philippines to mobilize an international warrior network responding to transnational calls-to-action for mutual aid, land sovereignty, and prison abolition.

Welcome to Moon Arkestra, a series of podcasts created by students of the charity University of the Underground’s Moon Arkestra Whistleblowing Residency. This tuition free programme was led by Artist Head of Programme Dr. Aditi Jaganathan from April 2022 to June 2022, as an investigation into whistleblowing as a political action but also an instrument and language.

This podcast was created by Lae as a part of this practice-based residency. Students unraveled the relationships between nation-states, music, political action and displacement. Moon Arkestra was composed of unique multidisciplinary creatives and musicians. Who joined Moon Convoy and toured with Tour de Moon around England, during May and June of 2022. Moon Arkestra members put together a series of experiences, and creative interventions involving political theory and musical practice with this podcast being one of them.