Drowned in Sound Why Hope Over Fear Trumps No Music On A Dead Planet: DiS meets PVA’s Ella Harris
"My brothers are 20 and they're always like 'we are so cooked.' And I'm just like no we're not. There's hope but you just gotta believe, you gotta believe in something."
That quote accidentally captures Music Declares Emergency's strategic shift from awareness to action. After five years of "No Music On A Dead Planet" the Hope Over Fear campaign is building action hubs in grassroots venues - real physical spaces where fans, artists, and local communities organize around the climate crisis.
In this episode, PVA front-person and MDE Campaigns Manager Ella Harris explains how the campaign works, why music fandom is inherently empathetic practice that translates to organizing power, and how she balances making escapist art (PVA's intimate new album No More Like This) with building climate infrastructure.
The conversation tackles touring economics (trains cost £150, flights are just £30), why even festival headliners need day jobs, artists' fear of speaking out, and what £500 million in carbon offset funds could actually fix if redirected toward infrastructure.
This is about hope over fear. Real-life organizing over digital despair. Infrastructure over individual guilt.
This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Qobuz, the ethical music streaming platform. Visit drownedinsound.org/playlists to discover new music in Hi-Res lossless quality and start your 30-day free trial at qobuz.com/dis.
Edited by:
Josh Craggs at Dubble Audio
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: No music on a dead planet
02:10 – Wearing multiple hats: PVA and Music Declares Emergency
05:00 – Music fandom as an empathetic practice
07:30 – From merch to movement
10:45 – Action hubs and the future of grassroots venues
15:30 – Touring economics, energy costs, and structural limits
19:00 – Artists, activism, and the fear of speaking out
24:30 – Nature, creativity, and why hope needs infrastructure
31:00 – What £500 million could fix in the music ecosystem
35:00 – AI, empathy, and what human music still does best
38:30 – Outro: Depth, not breadth
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Links & Resources:
Music Declares Emergency - Learn more about the No Music On A Dead Planet movement, the Hope Over Fear campaign, and how artists, industry, and fans can get involved.
Music Venue Trust - Support and protect the UK’s grassroots venues
The Green Rider - Ideas for ‘green’ clauses for inclusion as part of your tech or hospitality riders.
Hope Over Fear Campaign - The campaign funding real-world action hubs in grassroots venues, focused on collective climate action and community organising.
No Music On A Dead Planet - The global artist-led movement connecting music, fandom, and climate justice.
About the host:
Sean Adams is the founder of Drowned in Sound, an independent music publication championing underground and independent artists since 2000. DiS explores how music fans discover their collective power through journalism, podcasts, and community organizing.
Related episodes:
- EarthSonic Live: Music, ecology, and collective action from Manchester Museum
About Ella Harris:
Ella Harris is the front-person and vocalist of London post-punk/electronic trio PVA, whose second album 'No More Like This' (produced by Kwake Bass) explores desire, devotion, and emotional indentation through trip-hop-influenced soundscapes.
As Campaigns Manager for Music Declares Emergency, she leads the Hope Over Fear campaign, establishing action hubs in grassroots venues across the UK and Ireland. Previously, she founded Group Therapy Collective during lockdown, releasing two compilations featuring Yard Act, Mandy Indiana, and others to raise funds for Help Musicians, Black Minds Matter, and Music Venue Trust.
Guest links:
- PVA on Bandcamp: https://pvaareok.bandcamp.com
- PVA on Instagram: @pva_are_ok
- Ella Harris on Instagram: @lime.zoda