Week Three

Taking The Line off the stage and into the classroom.

One of the real highlights of the Change It For The Better tour has been Pez and Maya Jupiter’s visits to high schools to conduct a series of Line Master Songwriting workshops.

Accompanied by Dobe Newtown, one of this country’s great music educators, co-writer of the classic “I Am Australian” song, and legendary lagerphone belter for The Bushwackers, Pez visited Geelong High, Princes Secondary College in Melbourne and then was joined by Maya at Fort Street High School in Sydney’s inner west.

Each 90 minute workshop would start with Dobe setting the ground rules for the creative exchange that was to follow. This was a workshop that invited you to write a song or a song lyric on the spot. A song about the meaning of respect for your self and others, a song about relationships – wanting them, having them, breaking up from them, getting back together or even staying away from them all together!

Pez and Maya would then kick off with a slice of free-style rapping before joining small working groups of students to lend their ears, advice, conversation, questions and comments to the creative process that would invariably overtake the room.

The results in all three high schools were awesome. Inspiring lyrics – funny, tender, poignant, insightful, and explosive- and when the lyrics were read out of the songs performed on guitar or piano you could hear a pin drop.

Pez says “The Line workshops have been so special. Some of the words that come out just blows my mind. Once Maya, Dobe or I got to sit down and have a real heart to heart talk and engage with everyone, the walls broke down and all of this stuff just poured out.

My fan page has been flooded by pages and pages of love, both for the shows and the workshops... I'm already getting requests all over the place saying 'come to this school, come to that school.”

As one of the students Sam Wright remarked at the end of the workshop, “This is a great way to make you think aloud and create stuff at the same time. We all loved how much fun it was to start with nothing but a blank piece of paper and at the end have a lyric come alive and mean something.”

The Line will be publishing some of the best of what went down at the workshops, so keep a look out for that.

From Byron to Brisbane and beyond

“Everywhere the tour has gone we’ve been really welcomed ,” says Maya Jupiter as the tour worked its way from Byron Bay to Towoomba and Coolangatta before landing at Brisbane’s Hi-Fi Bar, “ A lot of people have told us they get this is a tour with a message about respect as well as being about our music.

The reason I said yes to being a Musical Ambassador for The Line is because I believe we do have the power to change this behaviour and this culture of violence in our society, and I just wanted to be part of something that was promoting respectful relationships. I believe that we are all worthy of love and respect.”

In fact the Brisbane show, a real tour de force with all three artists turning up the heat and beats to a capacity crowd, would prove to be the last of the tour as the volcanic ash blowing in from Chile forced the cancellation of the WA leg – much to the disappointment of Pez, Maya, 360, and The Line.

In the light of the cancellation Pez, Maya, and 360 issued the following joint statement:

“To all our fans in Western Australia we’re sorry we didn’t get to make it. We tried to beat the volcanic ash that closed down Perth airport but neither planes, trains or automobiles could get us there on time. So, reluctantly we have had to cancel the last leg of our Change It For The Better Tour.

To all those of you who bought tickets, you will be refunded in full.

To the thousands of you around the rest of Australia who turned out in force to see us, thank you, you’ve been awesome.

The three of us have had a great time.

To The Line thanks for all your support. We’re proud to be part of the Campaign.

It’s all about respecting yourself and others. Wherever you are. Whatever you’re doing. Whoever you’re with.”