“At The Glastonbury Festival, earlier this year, we bumped into the wonderful people from the Save The Arctic campaign. After hearing all about the aim of the campaign, we decided, right there and then, to give Greenpeace our backing for such a worthy cause,” said Gus Unger-Hamilton, keyboardist for alt-J.
“We signed the petition and gave Greenpeace one of our songs, ‘Dissolve Me’, to use as a soundtrack in their short film, about an all female team of ice climbers that climbed to the top of Europe’s tallest skyscraper, The Shard building in Central London.
Gus continued, “our ticket allocation for an intimate show we are playing in New York City on Dec 16th just happens to be 30 pairs of tickets, so it feels fitting to help raise awareness of the plight of the Arctic 30, who are currently out on bail, but unable to leave Russia, because of their arrest while campaigning to save the Arctic.”
The group now known as the ‘Arctic 30′ are 28 Greenpeace activists and a freelance photographer and videographer who sailed to the Pechora Sea this September to peacefully protest Arctic oil drilling. After trying to hang a banner on an off-shore oil rig, the 30 and their ship, Arctic Sunrise, were seized at gunpoint by the Russian Coast Guard. They were held under armed guard for four days as the ship was towed to port, then locked up in “pre-trial detention.”
alt-J join a powerful movement including other musicians such as Paul McCartney, Madonna, Thom Yorke, and Damon Albarn, as well as several heads of state and other influential voices who have been calling for the Arctic 30 to be released. Though the activists have recently been granted bail, they have not been allowed to return home to their families and and remain charged with hooliganism. If convicted they could face up to 7 years in Russian prison.
We have all been shocked by the treatment of the Arctic 30 and the Russian authorities’ extraordinary overreaction to their peaceful protest” said Iris Andrews, an Arctic campaigner at Greenpeace.
She continued, “but the global outpouring of support has been amazing to witness, and we are thrilled that alt-J are joining the call to free the Arctic 30 by so generously offering up these tickets.” “Since a Joni Mitchell concert helped launch the organization over 40 years ago, Greenpeace has had a proud history of working with musicians to help draw focus to our most important campaigns. We are very proud to count alt-J as supporters of our campaign to protect the fragile Arctic from destructive industry and climate change.”
Fans can enter for a chance to win one pair of tickets for each of the Arctic 30 here: canvasbackmusic.com/arctic30
Learn more about the Arctic 30 here: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/Save-the-Arctic/Russian-Climate-Action/Arctic-30/
ENDS
For more information, contact Travis Nichols at Greenpeace: +1 (206) 802 8498 [email protected]
