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Son of bass player Rick Wills, who at the time of Daniel’s birth was a member of Peter Frampton’s band ‘Frampton’s Camel’. In 1979, Daniel and his family were relocated to New York when his father was hired to become bass player for Atlantic Records’ artist Foreigner. For the next ten years, Daniel was raised around some of music’s finest rock producers and musicians, from David Gilmour to Billy Joel.  Traveling the globe and experiencing first-hand the exciting, hectic and lucrative business of a super-group who filled stadiums and arenas worldwide.

In 1991 the Wills family moved again, this time back to the home country of both parents, to their hometown of Cambridge where they both grew up and met.

Daniel went to great schools and started playing drums and guitar at 12 years old. Mark Ronson, stepson to Foreigner’s lead guitarist, Mick Jones taught Daniel his first guitar riff, (Led Zeppelin – The Ocean). From there Daniel began writing original music and recording it himself.

At 19, Daniel enrolled in a diploma course in Cambridge for 2 years of Music Theory, Recording and Business Studies. After graduating, Daniel was then accepted and given a place within the Gateway School of Music program in association with Kingston University, London. There, Daniel studied Music Technology, Recording and Business along side professors who were also producers and engineers in London’s hottest studios including BBC Maida Vale and other highly reputable and globally recognizable establishments.

Daniel graduated with distinction on stage at one of London’s most reputable venues, The Royal Albert Hall in 1999, and after two years of touring around England playing drums in some great original bands he was offered the opportunity to go out on the road as bass and drum technician for Bad Company. Working for rock legend drummer Simon Kirke and his father on bass. The line-up also had super star vocalist Paul Rodgers. They toured America on a co-headlining tour with Styx and Billy Squire for seven months. At the end of the tour, Daniel decided to stay in the States and moved to Brooklyn.

In Brooklyn, Daniel reconnected with his past life friends from New York and began playing Drums for party promoter and DJ Samantha Ronson, who’s band also had recent pop star Duncan Sheik playing bass. In this line up they played some very highbrow events with press and celebrities a plenty.

Los Angeles would be the next destination to call home for Daniel in 2002, where he made new friends and connections in the music industry and then T.V. industry, working as a production assistant on the ABC late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel. Daniel then became assistant Tour Manager for Universal Records’ classic rock band Styx.

Daniel toured for 4 years with Styx, becoming their tour photographer and also shooting a hit music video with them for a cover version of the Beatles song ‘I Am The Walrus’ which Daniel shot all the video footage for. He also took the inlay pictures used in the 2005 release by Styx called The Big Bang Theory.

2005 was another relocating year, moving to Miami, Florida to follow his heart and start a family with fashion photographer and now wife, Beth Studenberg.

In 2006, after a photo shoot with OK! Magazine, Daniel hit it off with 90’s multi-platinum selling singer Scott Stapp of Wind-Up records’ Creed, and was hired to be Scott’s bass player in his solo band line-up. For the next sixteen months they recorded an album in Scott’s home studio.

Currently Daniel resides in Miami, Florida in a great area teaming with hot new talent, and is producing local bands, engineering for studio sessions and front-of-house sound for some of Miami’s most prestigious live venues. Also booking artists at most of the venues in Miami and recording original music of his own with collaborations between he and Miami’s finest musicians of all genres.

Daniel is opening a rehearsal studio in Miami’s art district of Wynwood for all the musicians in the area with nowhere to rehearse, which will also become a booking agency and artist management base.

Daniel’s passion for music and to develop talent to it’s fullest potential has generated a healthy respect among the musical community in South Florida and the future holds a lot of exciting prospects for Daniel Wills and the artists who work alongside him.

Check out Wills on SDFM here.

Connect with Wills online:
@willstheband on Twitter
Reverbnation

“Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper is thrilled to be a part of SDFM and offer to its subscribers some of the phenomenal local sounds coming out of Miami’s diverse and burgeoning music scene,” says Alexis Segal, Waterkeeper for Biscayne Bay. “Fusing the music and environmental communities is a natural partnership from which only great things can grow. We all love great tunes, we all love clean water and both are worth celebrating!”

Join Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper at the official Swim Drink Fish Music launch party on September 24th, 2011 @ Cafeina. Find the launch party on Facebook or go to Cafeina at 8 pm on September 24th. 297 NW 23rd Street. Miami, FL.

September 24, 2011 @ Cafeina

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – When Michael Pillitteri, general manager, Riverview Cellars Estate Winery saw his favourite artist, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip perform a few years ago, he listened attentively as Downie described his role as Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, and the work of the Swim Drink Fish Music Club in between songs.

Michael felt an instant connection to the cause and has since then decided to support the organization by giving a dollar of every purchase of Riverview’s Angelina’s Reserve Chardonnay 2008 to the organization. The wine is currently sold in-store and will also be released in Vintages at select LCBO stores in November 2011.

“As a kid growing up beside the Niagara River I always admired the river’s beauty, said Pillitteri. “Now I appreciate the river even more as our winery relies on it to ensure we get the climate we need to protect our grapes and sustain our business.”

The Niagara River is a VQA sub-appellation that hugs Riverview’s 22-acre vineyard. It is essential in helping the winery produce quality grapes for their wines. Niagara River’s large and fast flowing water creates convectional currents that draw cooler air into the gorge, moderating vineyard temperatures and extending the growing season.

“As a music lover and musician I felt an even deeper connection to Swim Drink Fish Music because of the club’s involvement with so many admired Canadian artists like Gord Downie and the Great Lake Swimmers,” said Michael. “Donating to Swim Drink Fish Music is a really unique way to support Canada’s lakes and rivers and I’m confident more people will take note of that as we start to promote the club.”

Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an online music and audio experience developed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in collaboration with other Waterkeeper organizations across Canada and the United States. The club brings together artists, activists, and citizens who care about clean water. An annual subscription fee ($9.99) provides access to the website where one can download audiotracks from artists who are also in support of the cause. The subscription fee helps Waterkeeper groups in Canada and the United States.

In addition to supporting the club through purchases of the Angelina’s Reserve Chardonnay 2008, membership cards will be sold in-store at Riverview Cellars Winery and at external events the winery participates in.

Riverview Cellars Estate Winery is a family-owned winery dedicated to producing high-quality, small-batch wines along the beautiful Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Riverview aims to please as many palates as possible with a wide range of wines suitable for any occasion. The winery has received several awards for their wines including two gold medals for the Gewurztraminer 2009 at the 2011 Cuvée Gala.

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Ciara McCann
Director of Marketing
Riverview Cellars Estate Winery
ciara@riverviewcellars.com
www.riverviewcellars.com

Miami (Dade)  - CityGreenLife is happy to announce a song contest in conjunction with Bayside Rocks Festival and Swim Drink Fish Music.

From September 19th to October 31st submissions will be accepted.  This is an amazing opportunity for local musicians to showcase their talent while supporting an incredibly important environmental cause: water where we can all safely swim, drink and fish.

The contest winner will be selected by a panel of industry leaders from within the local music community and will have the opportunity to perform the song live during this year’s Bayside Rocks Festival.  The winning song will be featured on the Swim Drink Fish Music website alongside other fantastic musicians like Broken Social Scene, Stars, Sirens and Sealions, and more. All songs submitted will be compiled into a playlist to be featured on CityGreenlife.com’s Monday Music Sessions.

“Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and Swim Drink Fish Music are grateful and excited for this opportunity to work with Bayside Rocks and CityGreenLife. The purpose of Swim Drink Fish Music is to raise awareness for the Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and all other Waterkeeper organizations worldwide.  Bayside Rocks is a premier concert event providing us with an excellent platform to promote our cause of conserving and protecting the bay,” says Dean Taha, curator of Swim Drink Fish Music and Board Member of Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper.

Swim Drink Fish Music is an online music and audio experience where musicians who care about clean water donate rare and exclusive tracks to the club.  SDFM subscribers get exclusive access to these tracks.  All proceeds from the site go to the participating Waterkeeper groups that work toward swimmable, drinkable, fishable water in their local watersheds.  In Miami, the Waterkeeper Alliance affiliate is Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper.

CityGreenLife coordinated this competition to bridge together music and the environment on a platform seen and heard by thousands. The goal for CGL at Bayside Rocks Festival is to decrease environmental waste, implement sustainable vendors, and support local talent, businesses and organizations. CGL’s mission is to elevate “green consciousness” through innovative initiatives, projects and partner development.

The Bayside Rocks Music & Arts Festival is scheduled for Saturday November 19, 2011 at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami. A mix of music will provide a feast of multicultural delights as World Beat music takes center stage, featuring musical genres for every taste, including Reggae, Jamaican, Latin American, Kompa, Caribbean, Rock ‘n Roll, and more.

Submission must include the following to be considered:
1.   Track (mp3 only, song quality should be at least 256 kbps and 44.1 kHz)
2.   Artist name
3.   Song title
4.   Artist bio (max 200 words)
5.   Artist photo (roughly 650 x 400 px)

Email submissions to:
Dean Taha at dean@swimdrinkfishmusic.com

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For more information:
Dean Taha
www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com /
Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, www.bbwk.org
786-486-3665
Email: dean@swimdrinkfishmusic.com

Mary Keel
CityGreenLife.com
305-458-1647
Email: info@citygreenlife.com

“Buzzards Bay Coalition staff and volunteers were delighted to participate with the Waterkeeper Alliance at the recent Train / Maroon 5 concert. We are grateful to Train, David Whiteside, and the Waterkeeper Alliance for the opportunity to engage with such a large and enthusiastic audience that shares concern for the health of Buzzards Bay and the environment as a whole.”

Miami, Florida (September 15, 2011) – Swim Drink Fish Music (SDFM), the exclusive online music club, is launching in Miami. SDFM will feature one-of-a-kind exclusives from area-artists.

Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an online music and audio experience at www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com and on Twitter @SDFM. Partnered with Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, SDFM brings artists together with activists and citizens to celebrate exclusive and rare music while creating swimmable, drinkable, fishable futures for their communities.

Today marks the beginning of the exclusive Miami launch of SDFM in Miami. For the rest of September, the online music club will feature amazing exclusives from Sirens and Sealions, The State Of, Krisp and John Speck.

SDFM’s monthly release schedule features new, rare and/or exclusive songs by artists who care about clean water. Now, with the official launch in Miami, SDFM is proud to play host to some of Miami’s up and coming music.
Miami’s SDFM launch comes to you via Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper: your voice for a Biscayne bay where you can safely swim, drink, and fish.

“Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper is thrilled to be a part of SDFM and offer to its subscribers some of the phenomenal local sounds coming out of Miami’s diverse and burgeoning music scene,” says Alexis Segal, Waterkeeper for Biscayne Bay. “Fusing the music and environmental communities is a natural partnership from which only great things can grow. We all love great tunes, we all love clean water and both are worth celebrating!”

Join Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper at the official Swim Drink Fish Music launch party on September 24th, 2011 @ Cafeina.
The online launch has begun exclusively at www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com. Check out the featured track by Sirens and Sealions and the new release by John Speck right now.

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Media Inquiries:
Dean Taha
Board Member, Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper
dean@swimdrinkfishmusic.com

Press subscriptions via hello@swimdrinkfishmusic.com

Event information:
Find the launch party on Facebook or
Go to
Cafeina at 8 pm on September 24th
297 NW 23rd Street
Miami, FL

CONTACT: Allie Kosela
allie@waterkeeper.ca / (416) 861-1237
Background: www.theswimguide.org and www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com.

Hamilton, Ontario – This weekend you have twelve great reasons to head over to Christie Lake: eleven musicians and one great beach.

Christie Lake beach offers 360 metres of sand and freshwater. The swimming area accommodates 6,000 bathers at a time, serves more than 100,000 bathers each summer, and has one of the cleanest records of all the beaches in the Hamilton area.

Whether you are a regular visitor to Christie Lake or venturing there for the first time, this weekend is the time to be there. On Saturday, non-profit organizations, local venues and some of the top names in music will come together for the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic. Take in performances by Daniel Lanois and friends Ray Lamontagne, Emmylou Harris, Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles, Sarah Harmer and more. Celebrate the region’s conservation lands, agriculture, and arts community. Be sure to look for the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper booth at the show.

Can’t make it to Christie Lake? You don’t have to miss out on the last days of the beach season. Just head over to one of eight other official beaches in the Hamilton area before summer ends. Find your closest beach today using Waterkeeper’s Swim Guide: www.theswimguide.org.

Concerned about water quality? Always check out Swim Guide before you hit the beach. Our new app has helped thousands of people make beach memories this summer. Download the Swim Guide app from www.theswimguide.org or browse beaches online.

“Swim Guide is the most important app you will download this year,” says Gord Downie. “It connects us to the important places that we’ve forgotten belong to us.”

As a special one-time bonus for music fans, be sure to visit Swim Guide between 7 am and midnight on August 27th . Look up Christie Lake beach and find a special giveaway offer for our Swim Drink Fish Music project.

Train's lead singer Pat Monahan and David Whiteside with Catawba Riverkeeper, David Merrymen and his wife Jen. (Charlotte, NC - August 2, 2011)

Delaware Riverkeeper recruited signatures against toxic “fracking” in their watershed in Camden, NJ. Buzzards Baykeeper passed out thousands of “Save Buzzards Bay” bumper stickers in Mansfield, MA. Both Waterkeeper Alliance and Hudson Riverkeeper had a strong presence on Long Island in Wantagh, NY.

It has been a great start to an exciting partnership and the Waterkeepers are forever grateful to Train and Maroon 5 for inviting us out to raise awareness about our anti-pollution efforts.

QUOTES:

“Thanks to Train, Maroon 5, Waterkeeper Alliance, and especially David Whiteside and Tennessee Riverkeeper for inviting us to the show. We educated some folks, got some new members and raised some funds. What a great partnership! Thanks, guys!” – Michael Helfrich, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper (via concert in Hershey, PA)

“Riverkeeper staff and volunteers had a wonderful time Friday night joining forces with Waterkeeper Alliance and Train to spread awareness about the Hudson River and the New York City drinking water watershed, while enjoying a wonderful show. Thanks Train!” – Dana Gulley, Outreach and Development Coordinator for Hudson Riverkeeper (via concert in Wantagh, NY)

Musicians Derek Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi live on Julington Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River, south of Jacksonville have been generous supporters of St. Johns Riverkeeper since 2004.

Susan first supported the organization by agreeing to play at Riverkeeper’s annual oyster roast in 2004. Susan’s gig was a crucial milestone in the development of the oyster roast into one of Jacksonville’s most anticipated events.

Recently, Derek and Susan played a private gig with other musicians, including Bonnie Raitt. The event’s host asked Derek and Susan to name their favorite charity, and they answered St. Johns Riverkeeper! The host presented the musicians a check made out to the non-profit for $20,000.

St. Johns Riverkeeper, and those who depend on a healthy St. Johns River, are sincerely grateful to Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks for years of generously supporting non-profit St. Johns Riverkeeper.

Check out their new album Revelator.

August 9, 2011 (Toronto) — Swim Drink Fish Music Club is excited to announce the launch of Chris Brown & Kate Fenner’s “Superior” as the new featured track.


Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an online music and audio experience @ www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com and on Twitter @SDFM. Developed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper, and Fraser Riverkeeper and partnered with North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper (Edmonton), Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper (Miami) and Tennessee Riverkeeper (Tennessee), SDFM brings artists together with activists and citizens to celebrate exclusive and rare music while creating swimmable, drinkable, fishable futures for their communities.


The Club’s monthly release schedule features new and exclusive songs by artists who care about clean water. Swim Drink Fish Music is proud to have worked with artists including Broken Social Scene, the Sadies, Dave Bidini, Gord Downie, Pete Seeger, Sarah Harmer, Stars, and Great Lake Swimmers.

“Superior” is featured now at www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com. Chris Brown’s projects and collaborations are extensive. He has travelled and recorded with The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, BB King, The Tragically Hip, Joan as Police Woman and DJ Logic, among others. As a producer, a diverse range of artists constantly seeks his talents, insight and creativity He has just produced Northern Redemption for The Abrams Brothers, and he and Kate are working on their first album together in four years. The two will perform at this year’s Ottawa Folk Festival.

Contributing to SDFM is a natural for a man who, through his contribution to arts, literature, and music, has always been committed to community building on Lake Ontario.

Kate Fenner says: “Waterkeeper is constantly working for us all at the most vital level, and it is wonderful that music can be a contribution to their efforts. Chris wrote Superior about the relationship between water and love: essential, ubiquitous, and never to be taken for granted. Both water and love need protection from our pollution.”

A Swim Drink Fish Music annual membership is $10. It provides unlimited access to the entire website and catalogue for one year. Members can download the songs, play them on any portable music device, and keep the music forever.

For more information, please visit: www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com. Media subscriptions are available via email: hello@swimdrinkfishmusic.com.

Interview requests or background, please call:
(In Toronto): Mark Mattson at Lake Ontario Waterkeeper: 416.861.1237

Chris Brown: MaryLenore Arsenault, Be-Bop Communications™ Inc. MaryLenore@Be-BopPR.com
647-344-0889, Twitter: @MaryLenore_PR
www.chrisbrownmusic.com; www.chrisandkate.com

Founded in 1999 by environmental attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and several veteran Waterkeepers, Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect over 100,000 miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. David Whiteside is the Tennessee Riverkeeper and also founded Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Coosa Riverkeeper. He has recruited many musicians to support Waterkeepers and also worked for MTV in 2008.

• Train: http://www.trainline.com/
• Maroon 5: http://www.maroon5.com
• Waterkeeper Alliance: http://www.waterkeeper.org
• David Whiteside bio: http://www.tennesseeriver.org/dwhiteside.html

Lets face it, many people are not ready to leave behind traditional rock ‘n’ roll music for the mainstream genres of House Music and Hip Hop. For some, the lack of new musicians who are continuing to play traditional rock ‘n’ roll/ blues is a travesty to the music industry. For those who share this common desire to embrace the classic tunes of the seemly distant genre now have a modern artist to embrace.

Jimmy Byron, who hails from the south side of Chicago is bringing back that long sought after flavour of rock ‘n’ roll, blues, rockabilly, and traditional country music sounds. Having relocated to Toronto, Ontario in 2005 and releasing a debut album “Gentrify You” in 2009 Byron is on the metaphorical prowl. His new found audiences in Toronto have helped to re-establish him and his band as powerful musicians with the ability to get the crowds rocking out to their tunes. His band contains a similar line up as The Doors in a later period of their career after bringing in the late Elvis Presley’s Bassists to play along side their keyboard, guitar, and drums. Like The Doors’ Jim Morrison, Jimmy Byron is a strong charactered front man while performing.

His contribution to SwimDrinkFishMusic.com, “I Need You”, is a live performance that shows his band’s ability to rock out with a vintage sound. We here at Lake Ontario Waterkeeper hope only the best for Southside Jimmy Byron. If you want to show your support for his band go see them play live at The Local on July 28th right at Roncesvalles Ave. and Howard Park Ave. in the west end of Toronto.

Dylan Mattson is currently interning at Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in Toronto, Ontario.

Produced by Jon Siddall (CBC Radio 2) & Brent Hodge (CBC Radio3)

Directed by Brent Hodge (CBC Radio 3) & Thomas Buchan (Battle Of The Bagpipes, Hope)

Also check out the Facebook event and the live performance video.

Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon film a 2 minute public service announcement for non-profit Hudson Riverkeeper.

Produced by David Whiteside. Cinematography by Braxton Whatley and Arthur Crenshaw. Editing by Arthur Crenshaw and David Whiteside. Additional support: Robert F. Kennedy III, Hudson Riverkeeper, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mary Beth Postman, Liz Nord, Charlie Berens, Trevor Martin, The Oracle of Bacon, Mark Martin, Esq., and Frank Chitwood.

The Tragically Hip have invited your local Waterkeeper and Swim Drink Fish Music on the road for their 2011 Tour. Starting on June 21st in Peterborough, Ontario, watch for your local water watchdog at these locations:

June 21 – Peterborough (Lake Ontario Waterkeeper)
June 25 – Bobcaygeon (Lake Ontario Waterkeeper)
July 01 – Toronto (Lake Ontario Waterkeeper)
July 09 – Ottawa (Ottawa Riverkeeper)
July 14 – Edmonton (North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper)
July 15 – Burnaby (Fraser Riverkeeper)
July 30 – Buffalo (Buffalo-Niagara Riverkeeper)

Watch for us at the shows and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for a super-sweet contest with Keen Canada!

The Bio:
Shade is a pop-rock quartet that plays warm, honest and catchy songs. Their sound has been likened to The Velvet Underground, Belle and Sebastian, and Cat Power.

The band is fronted by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jane Gowan, who started Shade in 2006 after moving to Toronto and hooking up with bassist Mary Harmer (Weeping Tile) and drummer Cam Giroux (Oh Susannah, Violet Archers, Holly McNarland).

Gowan is also the co-founder of the pop-rock group Spygirl, who have recorded 2 full-length albums. She is a seasoned sidewoman, having performed live and in the studio on keyboards, trumpet and accordion for several Vancouver bands, including The Neins Circa, Belinda Bruce and the Tawny Stars, and The Beige.

Shade’s debut album Highway is both polished and raw, with evocative lyrics, warm textures and simple arrangements. The album is produced by friend and part-time band member Tim Vesely (Rheostatics, Violet Archers). Jane and Tim are currently working on the second album, entitled One Last Show of Hearts (due out summer, 2011).

Shade’s website is here.
Shade’s SDFM tune is here.
Schedule is here.

If you can’t find fun and excitement in at least one of the above-mentioned words well then you may just be the lamest person ever. Now add them all together; swim plus drink plus fish plus music and it’s quite a potent recipe for nothing but tropical days and sun shiny rays. But really that’s not the point of this article, although, it all sounds like a perfect way to spend a day. What Swim Drink Fish Music is about, is a particular organizations solution to a global problem: clean, drinkable and fishable water. Founded by the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in Toronto, Canada as an online music experience and in collaboration with several other Waterkeeper chapters across Canada and the United States, Swim Drink Fish Music is a platform for musicians and music enthusiasts to share unreleased songs in exchange for advocating clean, safe, fishable and harmful free water.

The way it works is subscription based. For a nominal yearly fee of $10 you gain access to the website and all the music that has been made or donated to the project by artists such as Broken Social Scene, Holy Fuck, Stars, and Shade to name a few. For a complete run down check out the website www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com. Some songs are exclusively made for the Waterkeeper project others are just unreleased songs that the artist donates. Either way you get access to all the music and podcasts as well as new monthly released songs. Up until now the majority of the musicians involved with the project stem from in and around Canada hence it being founded in Toronto, however, over the next couple of months this is all going to change.

305Green is happy to share with you today the first official announcement that Miami musicians will now have the opportunity to imprint it’s flavor into the Swim Drink Fish Music mix catalog. This is not only a great opportunity to bring awareness to the cause of protecting and defending our most natural resource but also an amazing opportunity for musicians and bands coming out of Miami. We at 305Green believe Miami is on the map for great music across all genres and encompassing every single type of sound and rhythm known to ear and by participating in this project will only further propel Miami’s fast growing movement of musicianship across a whole new territory of wide open opportunity. This is a project that if you live in Miami and make music and you’re not involved with, well then you have to ask yourself, why not?

This is all made possible thanks to Dean Taha, a local Miami advocate and activist who has a repertoire that will make you take a step back and want to re-evaluate what you do in your spare time, but in a good way of course. He’s humble, yet confident. He knows just about everyone you know. Dean is a board member for both Rescue Earth and Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper. He manages a local band, Krisp, is a certified LEED associate, co-founder of GroundUp Collective and recently acquired a 120-room motel in Doral that he is going to ingest some new life into. He’s also happily married and the proud father of an adorable and quite bubbly little girl who definitely has a thing for live music.

We had the opportunity to chat a little with the man behind the Miami Chapter of Swim Drink Fish Music and here’s what he had to say:

Tell us a little bit about this initiative or project?

Swim Drink Fish Music was created by, the Ontario Waterkeeper in Toronto, Canada. It is a great music program where talented and conscientious musicians donate a song to the waterkeeper movement. It brings awareness to the cause of protecting and defending the worlds various bodies of water.

How did you get involved?

I am on the board of the recently launched Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, which is a member of the Waterkeeper alliance. I learned about the project and wanted to bring it to Miami. You can check out www.bbwk.org for more information.

What are your goals for this in Miami?

To work with the best talent this city has to offer in order to bring awareness to the cause of protecting our beloved bay and the surrounding watershed. Our Waterkeeper and Director of the board, Alexis Segal, is working diligently on the issues that affect our watershed. The program gives me an opportunity to support the excellent work that Alexis is doing by shining a light on the cause via a creative endeavor.

Is it an open format for music?

Absolutely. And working with local musicians is the initial focus. Miami has such a diverse talent and we intend on showcasing it.

What artists are you currently working with?

The State Of, The Hongs, Artoffical, and Fitzroy have all verbally agreed to take part. Spam Allstars and Arboles Libres are also confirmed. The band I manage Krisp will be donating a track as well. And of course there will be more!

What are the benefits for the artists?

They will be joining some excellent bands that have already taken part in the program including Broken Social Scene and Stars. Bands will get lots of good exposure from the site while doing something positive for the environment.

Are you planning to do a launch event and are you currently working with particular venues?

We are planning an official launch event towards the end of September. I am currently in discussions with multiple venues and I hope to announce some shows in the coming months.

For more information on the project or how to get involved you can email Dean Taha at dean@bbwk.com.

Here’s a video made specifically by, Swim Drink Fish Music. Soak it up!