Speaker 1: Pushkin, I'm really grateful for you taking the time to
Speaker 1: speak with me real quick about what you guys are doing.
Speaker 1: I mean, Music Cares, to my mind, has always been
Speaker 1: such a great resource for the music community. Many people
Speaker 1: have many things to say about the big bad record industry.
Speaker 1: I feel like Music Cares, though, might be one of
Speaker 1: the true oasises within that industry where it's just like,
Speaker 1: you know, you guys do so much good stuff. And
Speaker 1: it's been a wild week in LA and everyone's affected.
Speaker 1: But being as we're a music podcast and we have
Speaker 1: people who are musicians who listen and people who are
Speaker 1: in the area who are affected, I just thought it
Speaker 1: might be nice to get a quick chat with you
Speaker 1: about how you guys are helping and you know, if
Speaker 1: anyone's listening who might need help that you guys are
Speaker 1: a resource for them.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, justin let me just tell you
Speaker 2: how much I love your podcast, and it means a
Speaker 2: lot that you take a moment to bring us out
Speaker 2: here and to feature us a little bit. Thank you.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm amazed. You know who Music Cares is.
Speaker 2: We don't really do marketing. We just started social media
Speaker 2: what I think a year or two ago, you know,
Speaker 2: so it's hard for us in an organization to sometimes
Speaker 2: get our own story out there, So we really appreciate
Speaker 2: you giving us an opportunity to speak. Yeah, we were
Speaker 2: leading into a Grammy Week, which is normally a very
Speaker 2: busy time of the year for all of the various
Speaker 2: Grammy organizations. Music Cares was founded by the Recording Academy
Speaker 2: thirty five years ago, and so we're one of their
Speaker 2: affiliates if we are a five oh one C three charity,
Speaker 2: and so we have our big fundraiser during Grammy Week.
Speaker 3: It's called Music Cares Person of the Year.
Speaker 2: It usually takes place the Friday before the big telecast,
Speaker 2: so it's sort of like the charity gala of Grammy Week.
Speaker 2: So it's already a taxing time period and Music Cares,
Speaker 2: you know, over half of our operating budget is raised
Speaker 2: that night. Eight you know, our ability to do our
Speaker 2: year around Music Care's mission happens because of that charity
Speaker 2: gala every year, so you can imagine the pressure around that.
Speaker 2: And so the tragedy that started to unfold last week
Speaker 2: has really been a massive pivot for the organization.
Speaker 3: I mean, I guess, in one hand.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful thing that we're on the brink of
Speaker 2: our fundraising gala because you know, the monies we raise
Speaker 2: go directly back into the music community. But on the
Speaker 2: other hand, it's just, I mean, there's no good way
Speaker 2: to really look at it. It's just a terrible disaster and
Speaker 2: it's terrible timing for everyone involved.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what are some of the ways you imagine being
Speaker 1: able to help because you know, of course there's like
Speaker 1: the mediate disaster that's presently ongoing and hopefully getting on
Speaker 1: the way to contend, but there's you know, a whole
Speaker 1: multi year sort of fallout of this where you know,
Speaker 1: people will just be out of homes and have lost
Speaker 1: equipment and this is all new. But how do you
Speaker 1: guys imagine you might be able to help? And who
Speaker 1: are the kinds of people who's should be looking to
Speaker 1: you guys for assistance?
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, good questions, justin and your instincts are right.
Speaker 2: Disasters aren't just these moments of crisis where the disaster
Speaker 2: is actually happening. Disaster relief. Unfortunately, it has a very
Speaker 2: long tale. The stories go on because you know, crises
Speaker 2: hit people in different ways.
Speaker 3: There's not just you.
Speaker 2: Know, one cookie cutter way and health in human services
Speaker 2: organization like ours can help people. So what normally happens
Speaker 2: is we have a first round of aid that goes
Speaker 2: out and we try to standardize that as much as possible.
Speaker 3: This, you know, we do that.
Speaker 2: We've been doing disaster relief since Hurricane Katrina, and you know,
Speaker 2: so this is very similar type of protocol we we
Speaker 2: put into place. For example, we were already still doing
Speaker 2: a disaster relief on Florida and the Carolinas for the
Speaker 2: storms on this last ball. We did this during COVID
Speaker 2: as well, and usually there's an initial relief effort, right,
Speaker 2: so that's like a standardized in our case fifteen hundred
Speaker 2: dollars financialists issiness grant.
Speaker 3: And a five hundred dollars.
Speaker 2: Grocery gift card that's ATF restricted which means you can't
Speaker 2: buy things other than groceries with it. And we have
Speaker 2: that first sort of standard round because we know people
Speaker 2: are still in this case evacuated or you know, without
Speaker 2: access to utilities, kids are out of school. Things are
Speaker 2: different levels happening to a lot of people, and so
Speaker 2: we just try to get out as quick as we
Speaker 2: can those first initial rounds of relief and then you're right.
Speaker 2: We move into sort of recovery resiliency services in coming months,
Speaker 2: even a year out longer than that. It really depends
Speaker 2: because right now people are still evacuated. So one person
Speaker 2: might go home and they've lost their entire home. Another
Speaker 2: person might go back and realize, oh, my goodness, my
Speaker 2: home was saved, but you know, I have smoke damage
Speaker 2: or something else. Right, So the full scope of the
Speaker 2: disaster that we're looking at right now is not We
Speaker 2: just don't know. It's not been fully revealed to any
Speaker 2: one of us that are involved.
Speaker 3: So your instincts are right.
Speaker 2: It goes on far more than just this moment of
Speaker 2: disaster relief, where it's important just to think about people's food,
Speaker 2: their shelter, their safety, things of that nature. And then
Speaker 2: we move into services like mental health, addictionary, recovery, you know,
Speaker 2: instrument and replacement, equipment replacement, we help with insurance claims,
Speaker 2: things of that nature.
Speaker 1: Wow, who are the kinds of people that I guess
Speaker 1: can reach out to music cares for those kinds of
Speaker 1: basic needs in the short.
Speaker 2: Term, So our mission is specifically for music professionals. We
Speaker 2: ask people to demonstrate in this in disaster relief scenarios
Speaker 2: three years of working in music in any capacity. So
Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be a musician or a creator
Speaker 2: or a performer. It could be anyone who works in
Speaker 2: some form or fashion in the music industry. So in publishing,
Speaker 2: it could work in publishing, a label executive, they could
Speaker 2: they could be you know, live tour crew, really any facet.
Speaker 3: Of the music industry.
Speaker 2: We can support with our services, and we ask people
Speaker 2: to reach out to us at Musiccares Relief at musiccares
Speaker 2: dot org. Just tell us your situation, let us know
Speaker 2: what's going on. Where are you right now? Are you safety,
Speaker 2: have your basic needs met? What is it that we
Speaker 2: can help you with? If people are willing to share
Speaker 2: a broader narrative of what's going on, If that maybe
Speaker 2: they already know they've lost their homes, and then we
Speaker 2: have sort of an approval and vetting process, and at
Speaker 2: that point then we'll release those initial realms of relief.
Speaker 1: There's another group of people who imagine might be listening
Speaker 1: who aren't musicians, or they might not be directly affected
Speaker 1: by what's happening, and they might be wondering where they
Speaker 1: can give money. Do you guys accept donations?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we are public charity, so we accept donations. We
Speaker 2: need donations. I mean, I think we already have well
Speaker 2: over a two thousand people who have come to us
Speaker 2: saying they need help, and we're still in the active
Speaker 2: crisis currently, and you know, if we were to just
Speaker 2: get out that first round of aid to them, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to do that math in my head. You know,
Speaker 2: there's at least four million dollars already right there in
Speaker 2: just this first round of aids, So it definitely could
Speaker 2: use support if people are in a position to give.
Speaker 2: Our donation page is Musiccares dot org slash fire Relief.
Speaker 1: Okay, amazing, Well, thank you so much. I don't know,
Speaker 1: is there anything else that you think people should know
Speaker 1: or anything that'd be useful for you guys to get
Speaker 1: out in terms of your mission.
Speaker 2: And well, one more thing I'd love to share if
Speaker 2: I could, is just that you know, we're here all
Speaker 2: year long and we work with music people in times
Speaker 2: of their own personal crises or even just in the
Speaker 2: you know, preventative healthcare things of that nature, or health
Speaker 2: in human services organization.
Speaker 3: So I just would love our community to know whatever
Speaker 3: part of music you.
Speaker 2: Happen to work in music Cares is there for you
Speaker 2: and that you can come to us anytime. It doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be disaster related moments. I just love people
Speaker 2: to know that, you know, to check out our website
Speaker 2: Musiccares dot org and and know that we're here for
Speaker 2: anyone should they need.
Speaker 3: Them that help.
Speaker 1: Always really grateful that you guys do that work, because
Speaker 1: you know, none of us get into the arts because
Speaker 1: we're necessarily you know, financially, you know, financial wizards, that
Speaker 1: we know how to take care of ourselves and plan
Speaker 1: for retirement or handle health care needs. You know, it's
Speaker 1: like sometimes we're just driven by a passion and all
Speaker 1: these other things in life, of course come up, whether
Speaker 1: there are moments of personal crisis or disaster events like
Speaker 1: this fire or Krtrina, And so really grateful that you
Speaker 1: guys exist and can help in times like this and
Speaker 1: then more kind of mundane times.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, so appreciate that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's not an easy path for sure, but
Speaker 2: we need that passion. You know, that passion is what
Speaker 2: makes music as an art possible. And so Music Cares
Speaker 2: exist because we respect the power of music in the
Speaker 2: world and we need people to keep making it. So yeah,
Speaker 2: certainly let us know if anyone out there needs some help.
Speaker 1: Incredible, thanks so much, Laura, And we'll have all this
Speaker 1: information in the episode description, so if anyone who's listen
Speaker 1: and wants to donate, they can. We appreciate it all,
Speaker 1: check it out, or if they need help they can
Speaker 1: they can reach out to you guys.
Speaker 3: Great, thank you again for having us here, like we're
Speaker 3: big fans. Very succeeded when you when you reached out.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: No, no big fans of what you guys do, so yeah,
Speaker 1: really grateful. Thanks guys,