Playlist: Big Blue Bus
A soundtrack for taking action and maintaining stoke, from the SCHroadtrip bros
Pre-pandemic, you might catch Hans and Nick Schippers of the Parley Ocean Protectors Network traversing coastline and country in a big blue bus, stopping at beaches and schools to take and inspire action against marine plastic pollution. Since setting out with a wild idea, the brothers behind @schroadtrip have journeyed up and down the US West and across Canada, reaching over 18,000 students and removing plastic debris from 42 beaches and counting. Times change, the work continues — albeit in a different format (educators, get in touch for information on virtual lessons).
To close out Plastic-Free July, Hans and Nick put together a playlist with some of the music that’s kept them going and motivated through break downs and uncertainty, something we’re all feeling more than ever today. Nick shares the story behind each track below. Listen, enjoy, share, and take care.
1. Rita is Gone – The Marcus King Band
We saw Marcus King play live in a small Seattle tavern a few years ago and got to chat with him afterwards. He is a legend of an up-and-coming artist and the song really is just a joy to listen to.
2. Fragments – Jack Johnson
Jack is one of our role models, and one of the few artists utilizing such a large-scale platform to explicitly discuss environmental issues. This song in particular discusses plastic and integrates the threat with many of the systemic problems we face as a society today. As my favorite artist and likely Hans's as well, Jack and this song pretty much sum up the things we are working to change.
3. Two Fish and an Elephant – Khruangbin
This and the next one got us through the Oregon Coast on our first tour during the 2018-2019 school year. We’d left Portland for the Oregon Coast, and as soon as we hit it, our bus broke down. We then proceeded to dry up any money we had by renting a car to get to teaching obligations and pay for bus repair. With nothing left, including food, we spent our last $100 on a cheap hotel room for the night. We thought the trip was over, dead in the water before we even hit California. The next morning we were finally able to get the bus back. It was running like a champ! We set off down one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world. Over the next week, we were able to raise enough money to keep on going, as well as score some of the best surf along our journey — all of this while teaching hundreds of students for consecutive days. These two tracks set the tone for those rainy cold February afternoons along the coast wondering whether we would be able to fulfill our mission or not.
4. Dern Kala – Khruangbin
See track 3 :)
5. Foreign Bodies – Radiation City
As we began to hit our stride and move into Northern California, teaching more and more students, we also began to notice slightly warmer water when surfing. “Foreign Bodies” is a song from one of our favorite surfer's edits. That surfer, Noah Cohen, is now a friend of ours and a pro from Canada. The track is paired with a summer scene where the sun is out and Noah and crew finally wear thinner wetsuits. It reminds Hans and me of summer surfing in Washington State, which is a brief window of about 2-3 months where you finally don't have to wear a hood on your wetsuit or boots on your feet. It brought us a feeling that aligns well with springtime and new beginnings.
6. Wheat Kings – The Tragically Hip
When we rounded out our first year of teaching and set off for Canada to host cleanups with Parley, we knew only some small tidbits about our neighbors to the north. It seemed as soon as we crossed the border local Canadians were intent about sharing their culture, explaining to us all the good things Canada has to offer and who we should know about in terms of Canadian icons. One group that kept resurfacing was this band, The Tragically Hip. They began to fill the bus with sound and on early mornings as we drove across some of the most barren parts of the country, Wheat Kings started to make a lot of sense.
7. Marinade – DOPE LEMON
This is one of the songs that seemed to be on repeat in the small Canadian town of Tofino. When we finally hit the West Coast again after driving across Canada, we heard this on repeat in all the coffee shops and other small businesses. It became so ingrained, we played it on the speakers when checking volunteers in for cleanups around the area.
8. Trench Town Rock – Bob Marley & The Wailers
"One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.” Along our journey we have always come back to Bob Marley for positivity. With plastic pollution we face a massive issue that is at times daunting. Playing some Bob always resets the mood and keeps the stoke alive so that we are able to be our best selves to reach and educate the people we do.
9. Ei Nei – Ei Nei
A group of good friends, including one of Hans's best friends from Oahu, Ei Nei is classic Hawaiian Music. As youth, we grew up travelling to the Hawaiian islands often. Hans went to university there and this song really speaks to a form of music that we've learned to love and appreciate throughout our lives. Hearing our good friends play the music only makes it that much more meaningful.
10. Jungle – Tash Sultana
Tash Sultana really started to take stage as a major artist during our travels. In Canada, we hosted one of our most significant cleanups at Whistler Mountain Resort. When we first arrived, this song was blasting. As mountain bikers came flying down the hill and we stood struck by the magnitude of the operation of the place, we heard a voice yelling, all the while “Jungle” blaring in the background. The voice came from one of the resort managers, who we were meeting with to plan the cleanup. To this day, Hans and I laugh at the fact that she came strolling through all this pandemonium unfolding like it was just another day on the job. Very few places on Earth seem to normalize such a high energy atmosphere. Whistler is definitely one of them.
11. Permanent Holiday – Mike Love
Mike Love is all about spreading the love. This song stands out as a favorite because it discusses taking a stand for what you believe in. For us, that is plastic and ocean/environmental issues more broadly.
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