Lou Reed and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello are among the first signatories of Occupy Musicians, a campaign supporting Occupy Wall Street and the worldwide movement against income inequality. The website aims to co-ordinate performances at Occupy sites and showcase new works by signatory artists.
Occupy Musicians is a sister site to the bookish campaign at Occupy Writers, the lensing of Occupy Filmmakers and the speech-bubbles at Occupy Comics. "There is a sizable force of musicians from across every genre of music who support this movement," organisers said. "[This is] a website for musicians to show solidarity with [Occupy's] protesters, organisers, and supporters."
As with Occupy Writers, whose signatories include Margaret Atwood, Rick Moody, and Lemony Snicket, Occupy Musicians is not just a rallying of the usual suspects. Although the list includes well-known campaingers such as Jello Biafra, Gang of Four's Dave Allen, and Fugazi's Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, the list spans genres and generations. Rapper Talib Kweli rubs shoulders with British saxophonist Evan Parker, and the bassheads at Glitch Mob stand next to the Flaming Lips' Kliph Scurlock. Alongside septuagenarians such as Roy Harper and Frederic Rzewski, there is Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus.
Other noteworthy names include Amanda Palmer, Bill Frisell, Dan Deacon, Kimya Dawson, John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, Marc Ribot, Saul Williams, Pauline Oliveros and Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda. More names are being added, but updates are coming slowly: "Volunteers are entering each and every name by hand," the creators say. This is the only reasonable explanation for the current absence of Billy Bragg.
