Everyone has a responsibility to take an active role in life— participating in one’s family, community and society. I care about life, justice and equality. It’s not a political thing, it’s common sense.
artist spotlight
photo by Kane Hibberd
~John Butler
The Journey to Home John Butler Inspires Hope and Awareness by Meredith Montgomery
W
hen singer-songwriter John Butler sees a performance that gives him chills, he leaves the show feeling like he could do anything. “If I can give that feeling to one person at every gig I play—because of what that experience gives to them, what it gives to me and in turn, what it gives to the world—if I can be a vehicle of that energy, then I’m doing my job.” But Butler, who is now Australia’s highest selling independent artist of all time, never thought this would be his job. “I thought I’d be in Special Forces, a professional skateboarder, an artist or a teacher, never a musician,” he says. Butler was 11 when his family moved from Los Angeles to Pinjarra, Australia. He lived a Huckleberry Finn-like life in this beautiful but isolated riverside town, but he also experienced xenophobia and racism firsthand. “It seemed my skin was the right color, but I had the wrong accent. Things could change really quickly when I’d begin to speak—like suddenly I was getting chased,” he recalls. 28
New Mexico
NaturalAwakeningsNM.com
These experiences have kept him humble and down-to-earth through his musical success, but they’ve also helped fuel his outspoken and impassioned advocacy efforts for peace, environmental protection and global harmony. “We live in an opulent society where everything is done for us. Our trash gets taken away—we put it in a bin, put the top on it and it’s like putting the top on your mind. We don’t know what hole it’s going in and there’s no sense of responsibility once it leaves our hands. And the opportunity to pollute and use plastic is getting easier and easier. It’s a convoluted situation,” he reflects. His activism efforts are currently focused on the anti-fracking movement in Western Australia and speaking out against plans for the world’s largest coal mine to be built in North Queensland (which poses a threat to the Great Barrier Reef). A portion of his ticket and album sales often benefit charitable organizations, meet-and-greet experiences include a reusable water bottle and the band has utilized Globelet’s system to eliminate single-use plastic at some of his concerts. Butler carries his own straw, utensils and water bottle and has a garden and rain catchment system at home, but he wishes it was easier to do more, noting, “If we’re sending people to Mars, we should be able to have greater access to green energy.” As a parent, Butler is careful not to discourage the future stewards of our earth, so he keeps his fatherly advice simple—treat others as you wish to be treated, and recognize that everything has a cost. “When our kids say ‘I want this’ or ‘I want that’, I remind them to think about the cost of having those things. What resources were used to make it? How does that affect the environment? Is it worth it?”
