Crowd Funding for the Girnari Jogi Group Album

Girnari Jogi Group preparing.
Girnari Jogi Group preparing.

Click to enjoy the music of the Girnari Jogi Group.Back in December 2011, I had called my friend Ustad Amb Jogi in Pakistan. I was visiting Ohio at the time, and thought it would be good to catch up with some friends I hadn't spoken to in a while. I  had hired Jogi and his group of musicians to record music for my short animated film Gul, back in 2008. I returned to the US, finished the film, toured around with it, then returned to share the results with Jogi and his group in 2010. That day in December 2011, on the phone, after some prodding, Jogi told me that he and the other musicians had lost their homes to flooding, earlier that year.I felt ashamed for not having called sooner. My second thought was that I needed to do something. Sitting a world away, what could I do for these wonderful musicians? I had one song that I had hired them to record. There was some unedited video footage from the recording session. Perhaps I could use these along with the photos of them I had already posted online in promotion of my film, to try and piece together a campaign to raise funds.

Ustad Amb Jogi on Dholak, with Mewa Khan on Harmonium
Ustad Amb Jogi on Dholak, with Mewa Khan on Harmonium

It was not feasible for me to raise enough funds to rebuild their homes. Still, I knew they could use whatever I could raise, but there had to be something more. I had discussed promoting them with recordings that others may have made of them before all of this, but no one every really gave them footage from shows, nor were there people interested in looking our for and promoting them.What if I used this campaign to pay them to create an album? Then they would be earning the money and it would work towards trying to create new opportunities for their careers. I already had a website, so I researched some shopping plugins for wordpress and decided on Shopp. I also started contacting people in the US and in Pakistan. I started letting everyone I met know about this campaign that I was putting together. My target was to get it up and running after Christmas and New Years, when people might be paying attention again. I enlisted the help of a few friends for recording at the Institute of Sindhology in Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan.

Sanam Chakori and Sherebano on vocals.
Sanam Chakori and Sherebano on vocals.

I went through my data backups and pulled out the footage, and the music only version of the score from my film. To me, this was the key to connecting potential crowd funders here in the US, with these musicians in Pakistan. I edited the video together, finished testing the shop portion of my website and finally launched the campaign, a few days after New Years. I used my facebook page, and fan page to send out messages with the purchase link. Everyone I spoke to learned about the campaign. By the time the campaign began, I had everything worked out as far as recording facilities, how to send the money directly to Ustad Amb Jogi and what to do with the footage for the new album once I had it. Now I just needed to raise the funds. I set a goal for $1,200 as that would be 4 to 5 times what the musicians would normally get paid for recording.Now that I had pushed myself so hard and put it all out there, certainly the money would come pouring in. Wrong! A few sales came through, but it quickly became apparent that things needed to pick up to make this goal a reality. I posted in all kinds of forums and groups related to Sindhi culture (Sindh being where the musicians were from in Pakistan). There was interest. People enjoyed watching the video, but it really did not increase sales.I started sending direct messages to everyone based in the US on my facebook. It took time to write all the messages, personalize them and try and connect people to what I was trying to do. Every day, I sent messages until I hit the facebook anti spam warning, then stopped for the day to start again the very next. Things picked up slightly, but on a day when I didn't campaign, nothing happened. I kept on it morning, noon and night around my work schedule.Every time someone purchased the music, I sent a thank you with them tagged in it from the Mad Guru facebook page. This showed up to all their friends and then to my twitter feed which was connected. I tried to use hash tags that would help with visibility. I kept this going for 2 months, messaging and remessaging to get through to friends and their circles.By the end of the campaign, there were over 90 people who purchased music to help the Jogis. I sent it all to Ustad Amb Jogi, all the while discussing what the purpose of the album was, how stories are what connects people and how their culture is what people wanted to enjoy. The Jogis were ready to go. With money in hand, they were able to hire a recording engineer and studio at the Institute of Sindhology for a very low cost thanks to the generosity of contacts there.

Zulfikar Ali Gopang, Recording Engineer
Zulfikar Ali Gopang, Recording Engineer

Receiving the recordings ended up being the largest delay in the process. I called from April to October to try and get the recording sent. I tried to have other contacts go and pick up the tapes to send me, but in the end a good friend Suffi Bilal Khalid in Lahore was able to get the tapes sent to him, which he was able to digitize and ftp to me as courier services refused to send music, probably due to piracy fears, though these were original recordings.

Jairam and Bhiko Jogi on Murli
Jairam and Bhiko Jogi on Murli

With the recording in hand, I've launched the album, and feel thankful to all those who chipped in $1.50 to $150, and placed their faith in the Jogis and myself. It had been a rewarding journey so far, and I hope to keep connecting the Girnari Jogi Group to new opportunities. Thanks Saeed Mangi for all the beautiful photos from the recording session, and for helping to make it possible to record at the Institute of Sindhology. Thanks to Fatah Daud Poto and Suffi Bilal Khalid for making it possible for me to ever even meet Ustad Amb Jogi and the group. 

Sanam Chakori and Sherebano on vocals, with Ibrahim Jog on Tali behind them.
Sanam Chakori and Sherebano on vocals, with Ibrahim Jog on Tali behind them.

The Music of Gul: A Journey Part 5

So, we had our musicians. Now I just needed to find a place to record and we would set a date that worked for everyone and do it. There were still many variables, but one important part had been handled. It takes a lot to slow down, let alone stop my friend Fatah sahib. At that time he fell ill with malaria. I didn’t really know what to say. I mean, here’s a man who really put himself out there for me, fallen terribly ill. He could not speak and all contact was cut off. I was staying with the students and then with Mangi sahib, who opened his home to me at this time. I was almost out of time, and I needed to get a place to record during this time.

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The Music of Gul: A Journey Part 4

I had little time left, and I was very angry at getting the run around. This second music contact I had basically wanted my time to run out and then have me pay them a large, unknown sum, for music that they would create after I was gone. He could not even play something basic to indicate what he had in mind. It was only thanks to Suffi sahib, sitting in Lahore, who kept calling his old college friends in Sindh to come and meet me, that I did not turn back empty handed.

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The Music of Gul: A Journey Part 3

There were some really fun things that happened while I was staying in the musicians building. I enjoyed walking the streets of old Hyderabad. The market, the old havelis with old plaques from their original Hindu owners, prior to partition were at once beautiful and a sad reminder of the divisions of politics and religion. The architecture was quite different than what I have seen in Lahore.

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The Music of Gul: A Journey Part 2

Yet it became apparent that my contact, a musician from a traditionally musical family (that had apparently skipped a couple generations), was not interested in connecting me to musicians. Instead, he went on about their big plans for my film. He told me that what I needed was very complex and they would bring in all kinds of musicians from remote areas to do the work. I kept asking about cost as well as some rough indications of what he imagined. He provided nothing. On top of that, he was very disparaging to the Sindhi folk musicians that I had brought music samples of. This was another red flag. If you need to put down others to prove your own self worth, and don’t offer any musical proof of it, something is very wrong.

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An Environmental Film

Environmental Film GraphicInterview on Gul - Human Rights Essay - Environmental Essay - Press KitGul(flower) is about contrasts. Humanity's impact on the environment is a strong theme of the film. Much of the visual development of the film came out of my surroundings. Here in Southern California, there are great swathes of natural beauty and industrial blight. On one hand there is a fascination in seeing the intricate leaves, and multitudinous branches of a forest of trees. It touches some primal core that seeks the comfort of soft floral colors and organic shapes. In stark contrast are the abominations that generate our electricity and process our filth. These inhumanly intricate structures with which we pretend to bend nature to our will are also fascinating and endlessly intricate, but with a morbid, claustrophobic, foreboding grotesqueness.We stand before both, minute and insignificant, but where one is magnificent in its grace and brutality, the other secretes a slow poison that promises a total destruction with no return. Humans are interesting creatures. Like the lion trainer's who put on a show with powerful animals that could destroy their impotent "masters" with an accidental swat of the paw, we court and create our own greatest dangers.These ideas parallel the greed of humanity, not only in its pillage of nature, but in its egotistical pursuit of its ambitions and agendas. Yet somewhere within all of that, is the excitement of opportunities, the newness of youth, the open possibilities of naivete and hope. Where concrete snuffs out life, rain crumbles it, revealing new green life, inching into sunlight. Gul seeks to connect on that visceral level in the natural and unnatural that concerns of our environment.Watch the film here.Interview on Gul - Human Rights Essay - Environmental Essay - Press Kit

A Human Rights Film

Human Rights Film GraphicInterview on Gul - Human Rights Essay - Environmental Essay - Press KitInspirationThe issue of human rights is of central interest in Gul(flower). I see the lack of human rights as the root of most social issues in the world. The power of storytelling lies in its ability to share experiences, educate and provoke thought. It is when people do not question the norm that human rights abuses go unchallenged.PurposeGul brings to light the question of our own free will in the context of human rights. Often we feel we do not possess the means to stop abuse. While we may not feel empowered to have a direct effect on the actions of others, we do have the ability to choose our own actions. This endearing truth kept me working on this film for years, as a personal statement attesting to the hope that I see in even the most difficult situations. I always had in mind that this piece could tell far more by not being over stated. The mind has an incredible capacity to fill in information as needed to create understanding. I realized that, I could make art that is participatory, rather than passive. At the end of it, I trusted in the audience to engage with the piece at their own level.ResponseI was reassured by the first screening in Seattle to Costa Rica, Romania, Iran, rural villages in India, small towns in Pakistan and beyond at the ability of all kinds of people to interpret art that is challenging and not spoon fed in its consumption. Social workers, parents, children, farmers, activists and all kinds of every day people have shared with me their insights, observations and passion for this film. It has been, and continues to be an amazing and gratifying experience to share it, without lengthy explanation, to be taken as is. A truth understood is far more powerful than one that is told.In Great CompanyGul(flower) screened at the 2009 Mill Valley Film Festival, with films such as Awakening from Sorrow: Buenos Aires 1997, Soundtrack for a Revolution, The Most Dangerous Man in America and many other hard hitting films about important social issues. Later it screened at the Seventh Annual Patios: New Orleans International Human Rights Festival, while I was in India volunteering. It has screened at numerous festivals, for which I am grateful, but Patios in particular was a big deal for me, as it meant that the work had reached its goal.Emily Ratner, from the Patios sent me a short bit about the screening that I really enjoyed:"The screening turned out to be a very interesting and powerful one. We unexpectedly hosted a group of 35 youth of color from a small town about an hour outside of New Orleans, and so one of the organizers (whose also a social worker) used the opportunity to talk with the students about child abuse, metaphor, and how experimental media can tell very real and painful stories. I think your film definitely threw some of the youth for a loop, but on the whole I think they were really into the experience!"I had similar experiences in India as I traveled through New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chandigarh giving flipbook animation workshops to kids at various non profit orgs, an art therapy workshop with an amazing group of HIV/AIDS infected women in Bangalore and wonderful discussions on Gul(flower) and the many emotions and thoughts it evoked throughout. It is a wonderful feeling to create art that encourages a richness of thought and discussion. To see that first hand has been one of the most powerful experiences of making this film.In Pakistan, I worked with a group of Multimedia Masters students in Lahore, using Gul as an example of the power of developing a concept into a finished piece. In the end, it has been an empowering experience to convey a lot that I have felt inside for a long time, without the use of words, in a way that strives to connect to that commonality of the human experience and the importance of human rights.Watch the film here.Interview on Gul - Human Rights Essay - Environmental Essay - Press Kit

Gul (flower) Music

I knew from the start that for Gul, I wanted a warm acoustic sound with a raw feel to it. Much like the visuals, that was the energy for this piece. After experimenting with different music on rough cuts of the film, I found the perfect match in Sindhi folk music.Thanks go out toSuffi Bilal Khalid of the National College of Arts in Lahore,Fatah Daudpoto of Communication Design at the Center for Design Excellence in Jamshoro, Sindh and Saeed Mangi of theInstitute of Sindhology in Jamshoro, Sindh for making it possible for me to connect to the right musicians and record their music.In the end it came down to a 3 hr recording session at the Sindhology Museum with audio engineer Zulfi, 2 DV cameras, 3 mics plugged into them, 5 excellent musicians and a constant loss of electricity.Ustad Anb Jogi Composer/DholakJairam Jogi on MurliUstad Mohammad Buksh on BanjoNasir Jogi on 2nd MurliIbrahim Jogi on TaliZulfi Recording Engineer on Music

Gul (flower) Credits

Credits:A Film byAdnan Hussain spent his formative years in the US, as well as Pakistan. A childhood fascination with writing stories combined with a steady diet of comics, cartoons and books warped his brain forever, leaving him no choice but to do what he does today. After years of visual effects and animation work, "Gul" marks his directorial debut, though mostly he directed a team consisting of himself. http://www.madguru.netwithSound Design byBrian StronerMusicians aquired byFatah Daudpoto http://www.fatahdaudpoto.com/Music by:Ustad Amb Jogi (Composer/Dholak) from Umerkot, is the grandson of the tabla player Ustad Khamuso Jogi, and trained under Ustad Nazir Khan.Jairam Jogi (Murli) is a seventh generation Murli player.Ustad Mohammad Buksh (Banjo) was born in Talhar and learned under his uncle, Ustad Bilawal Bailjum.Nasir Jogi (2nd Murli) is from Umerkot.Ibrahim Jogi (Tali)Zulfiqar Ali Gopang(Recording Engineer on Music)Recording Facilities byWebsite byJayson Joseph http://www.elephantswithguns.com/Thanks to:Saeeda Hussain, Tasadduq Hussain, Waqas Hussain, Kristeen Singh, Cholki Han, Terry Ziegelman, Zach Schlappi, Suffi Bilal Khalid, Saeed Mangi, Majeed Sumro, Naimat Sahib, Azam Bugti and all who encouraged, critiqued and took time to help in the process.

About Gul (flower)

Gul, a young girl, is awakened by her mother's dying breath. She struggles to recall her past. A child's view illustrates conflicts between abuse, self determination, human rights, and the environment. Her world manifests through visual poetry. Raw, expressive, painted style computer animation is scored with masterful Sindhi Folk music from the villages of Pakistan. With all that she finds, can love create hope in the face of oppression? Credits -- Music -- Press Kit PDF -- Gul Wallpapers -- Gul on Facebook -- Gul on Myspace -- Gul on Youtube