Dance for Plants

Why having a boogie could save the planet

BY ELLIE ROCHELL

DJ Duo ‘Dance for Plants’ is holding a dance party at Checkpoint Charlie in the Baltic market this Saturday. With a devotion to music and eco-friendly events, the two told Mersey News Live: “Since our first party in February 2020 things have really grown in a big way, much more so than either of us had anticipated!”

Dance for plants was set up by Sam Forryan, 28, from Watford and Emily Shinagawa, 25, from Japan but brought up in Sussex in February 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic took over. Their passions lay within music and environmental causes, and they just so happened to find the perfect way to combine the two. Their tagline is: ‘Global Grooves for Plants and People’, six simple words which truly encompass what they’re all about.

Having met in Manchester as students, Sam and Emily started DJing for fun. They moved to Liverpool together, just six months prior to Covid-19, Sam said: “Working with local businesses has made us feel really welcome and part of the community.” The pair holds dance parties featuring their favourite tracks from all over the world, including Japanese acid jazz, Colombian psych-rock, Afro-Cuban fusion and Pakistani disco re-works. Not only this, for every ticket they sell a tree gets planted in Scotland and the remaining funds get donated to other charitable organisations.

Although not long after they began their environmental journey, the Coronavirus pandemic halted all the work they had planned to take place. So, throughout the past year and a half, they have taken part in litter picking events and even more to continue their work to better the planet.

Not only this, but the pair have also been creating podcast episodes and new tracks since the outbreak of Covid-19. Sam told MNL: “We talked about and played the music we were loving at the time and also environmental issues that we thought were interesting, such as rewilding and plastic in the ocean.”

Throughout the pandemic, Sam spoke of how he, amongst many other people, felt disappointed by the government. But he believes “The answer is not to be idle and complain but to do something about it! If through our small actions, and through working with local businesses and charities, can encourage people to collaborate and make positive changes, then over time this can have a ripple effect that can lead to real change.”

Their ultimate goal is to host and run sustainable parties while also aiding environmental charities to plant trees and to remove CO2 at scale from the atmosphere. They are partnered up with the long running charity, World Land Trust, who have been protecting our planet since 1989. Their work is well known, one of their patrons being Sir David Attenborough. Working alongside companies just like Dance for Plants, World Land Trust has raised over £25 million towards protecting almost one million acres of threatened habitats.

They also work with ‘The Future Forest Company’, a charity committed to reforestation and researching Biochar and Enhanced Weathering. They aim to plant 50 million trees in the UK alone by 2025. With four forests in Scotland already, they are well on the way to reaching their goal.

As well as sporting an environmental passion, Dance for Plants also frequently works close at hand with many Liverpool independent brands, organisations and charities. Some examples include RASA Merseyside (a counselling charity for rape and sexual assault victims),

Planet Patrol (a non-profit organisation that have picked up litter all over the globe) and A Slower Space (an independent lifestyle store based in Penny Lane).

The brand has also started selling t-shirts with their graphic designs on in support of Medical Aid for Palestinians, they created them with ‘Space to Escape’ a Liverpool-independent printing company.

When asked about their continual work with local independent businesses, Sam said: “Supporting and working with local businesses is absolutely vital to what we do.”

Although their priorities lay within the charitable donations from their work, Sam and Emily are also truly in this for the music. Their events are known for featuring an eclectic range of music, Sam told MNL: “I think that the dance music scene is so heavily commercialised, we want our parties to be a step back from that, with less emphasis on being so aggressively cool - a safe space where there’s room to dance, room to chill, and where you could hear all kinds of music that you might not hear anywhere else!”

The two remain in full-time employment but continue their pioneering work into the future of dance parties.

Their event at the Baltic is on Saturday 16 October from 4pm-12am. A Slower Space will also have a stall selling a variety of houseplants at the event, Dance for Plants said: “It’s really exciting to have such a well-loved independent business working with us and we’re looking forward to seeing what they’ll bring on Saturday, we’ll certainly be taking home a plant or two with us!”

Tickets available through the ‘Resident Advisor’ site.

Above is Emily (left) and Sam (right).

Below is Sam visiting one of the trees they planted in Scotland.