A band with a message to spread are coming to east London’s Lovebox Festival to entertain audiences with their unique sound.
Playing on the bandstand stage, in Victoria Park on Saturday, July 19, Formidable Vegetable Sound System will be showcasing their eclectic style and promoting sustainable living through high-energy music.
Formidable Vegetable frontman Charlie Mgee said: “I feel like it’s important to the entire human race and when I studied permaculture I was looking to live more self-sufficiently.
“After studying it, I realised we needed to adopt an all hands on deck approach to clean up some of the problems that have been created. Music was a great tool to get the message across in a digestible way.”
The award-winning group hail from Fremantle, Western Australia, and have gained acclaim for their infectious approach to the divisive topic.
Now on a global tour, they hope to reach the masses promoting awareness of environmental issues.
Charlie’s studies of permaculture, a design system based on ecological principles, inspired an album of songs. These were based on a book by Australian environmental designer, David Holmgren, who coined the term, and endorses the band.
Charlie said: “It sounds like it could have gone horribly wrong and something that would make a lot of people cringe, but my favourite quote from the author himself who I contacted was, ‘I didn’t cringe once’. He has come to see us play and has been at the front dancing.”
Charlie added that audiences can expect a quirky and eccentric bunch of Australians singing about producing food and making compost.
He said: “It’s kind of like taking Django Reinhardt, 1930s swing music and cramming it through a synthesizer at 120 beats per minute with mashed up Paul Porter samples and a ukulele. People should come because it’s banging – but also they might learn something.”
Text by Shekha Vyas, originally published in Hackney Gazette
Ticket details are available at loveboxfestival.com.