Cooking up a recipe for success
 Alison O’Reilly
talks to Bell XI’s brian cosby about his recent visit to Tanzania
and The Cake Sale — an amalgamation of some of Ireland’s most
talented musicians who have produced an album in support of HIV/AIDS treatment
in Africa.
IT’S the most important and imaginative Irish record to be released
this year. Some of the biggest names in Irish music have joined forces
in aid of Oxfam Ireland and the Make Trade Fair campaign.
It’s rare records of this type get such a good review — usually
you can count on one or two stunning tracks however there’s not
one poor song on this album.
The Cake Sale features a loose, expansive and beautifully-balanced collection
of musicians including Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, The Frames’
Glen Hansard, The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, Josh Ritter, Gemma
Hayes, The Cardigans’ Nina Persson and Lisa Hannigan.
The man behind the project is Bell X1’s Brian Crosby.
“The idea was inspired by The Reindeer Section,” Brian admits,
name-checking a Gary Lightbody project from a few years ago.
“I had a bit of downtime and wanted to do something positive. The
idea of making a record for charity by co-ordinating the efforts of a
disparate group of people appealed to me.
“There was an overwhelmingly positive response from everyone who
was approached to write songs and get involved in the recordings which
made it relatively easy to put the project together — the only tricky
bit was co-ordinating everyone’s busy and conflicting schedules.
“But hearing the songs donated by all the writers for the first
time we realised we were involved in something very special.”
Heading into a Dublin studio in early 2006 Brian and Bell X1 bandmate
Paul Noonan along with bassist Nick Seymour and drummer Graham Hopkins
laid down the bones of all the songs.
He said: “It was an amazing experience in Tanzania — the people
were so welcoming and warm. The problems they face are so complex it’s
difficult to try and summarise my time there. There is such a stigma attached
to the AIDS epidemic purely because people don’t know much about
it.”
Vocalists and subsequent musical parts were recorded in a range of studios
and countries whenever and wherever possible with the success of some
songs only being tested when the various parts could finally be brought
into a studio to be stitched together digitally.
Finally after nearly a year of long hours poring over computers and mixing
desks The Cake Sale was finally finished. A real achievement only realised
thanks to a pooling of fantastic and generous talents with one common
aim.
Brian kept a diary during his stay in Tanzania:
Tuesday, August 1
It’s 10am and it’s an unbearable 43 degrees. There is no life
outside, as we see everyone scramble from one air-conditioned haven to
the next. We make it to the seaside to cool down in the hot sea water.
We see the famous super-extravagant 7-star Hotel Dubai complete with its
own private helipad on its rooftop. One room in Hotel Dubai costs US$6,000
a night — quite an extreme to be subjected to on our way to Africa’s
Third World.
Friday, August 4
An estimated 2million men, women and children live with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.
Today we’re visiting the Tanga AIDS Working Group set up by a group
of medical practitioners for treating people with HIV and reducing the
spread of AIDS.
As we arrive at the clinic I see a woman completely covered in a black
gown so as to disguise herself as she makes her way to the clinic. It’s
explained to us that this is a common scene and that AIDS still carries
with it a huge social stigma which alienates victims from their communities.
We’re shown around the complex and are introduced to some of the
doctors and the patients who are being treated here.
Reality now hits home for the first time on this trip.
The doctors here have developed herbal remedies for the treatment of HIV-related
infections and symptoms. Herbs are grown and ground into four powders.
White powder for increasing appetite, green powder for reducing fever,
black powder for skin infections and brown powder for fungal infection.
Patients whose white blood count goes below 200 are being treated with
generic antiretrovirals which are imported from India.
Sunday, August 6
We are in a town called Morogoro and are being shown around by an outfit
called MVIWATA — a farmers’ advisory service set up in 1993
to help small-scale farmers get a foothold on the marketplace.
The jeeps drive us up into the mountains and we are met by a group of
local farmers who have set up a Savings and Credit group for the local
area. We sit around in a circle and introduce ourselves. I have learnt
a little Swahili and am able to say my name and that I’m a musician
from Ireland.
After my introduction their faces are bemused. I’m not sure if they
didn’t understand my phonetically-transcribed Swahili or if they
are just confused as to what help a musician from Ireland can give them.
Monday, August 7
I knew a little about fair trade before I came to Africa and was aware
of farmers not getting a fair price for their produce in most of the Third
World. One of the main problems with selling local produce is that the
supply far outweighs the demand.
This is largely due to Tanzania not being able to compete with world markets
because First World countries giving subsidies to their home-grown produce
results in countries like America being able to produce cotton for a cheaper
price than Tanzania.
Marco Mtunga who works for the Tanzanian Cotton Board explains to us the
not-too-bright future for the country’s cotton industry should these
new trade agreements go ahead.
Not only will Tanzania not be able to compete with world markets with
their own cotton exports, they will also be under threat from imported
cotton from countries like the US which will undercut locally-produced
cotton and hence completely destroy the domestic industry.
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