Hedley Rocks for Social Change

In a year that has seen large-scale disasters bring the world’s poor into focus, also apparent is the fact that young people in Canada are committing themselves to fighting the social injustice that can cripple youth elsewhere.

One organization that aims to empower Canadian teens and make positive change worldwide is Free the Children – and among the celebrities joining the organization are homegrown rockers Hedley. The band will perform on Oct. 15, 2010 at We Day in Vancouver (those not in Vancouver can watch a live stream of the show at CTV.ca), a Free the Children event that aims to encourage social awareness and promote the organization’s work to build schools throughout the developing world.

Youthink caught up with Hedley’s charismatic frontman Jacob Hoggard to hear about the guys’ recent trip to Kenya and how it’s changed their perspective on life and their music.

YT: You guys are ambassadors for Free the Children. Why did you choose to get involved?
JH: I guess it was realizing that we had the power to influence people, or had the opportunity to change people’s minds and open up people’s eyes. We started to look for somewhere that we could get involved with and call home and join a family, and Free the Children is exactly that.

YT: Do you feel it is important for artists to support causes and give back to society?
JH: At a certain point. There is that opportunity for artists to reach a lot of people with the things they say, an opportunity that most people don’t have. So the ability that an artist possesses – whether they like it or not –
to affect change is very real and apparent and I think it’s an important thing to take advantage of once you really understand what you’re holding in your hand.

Hedley lead singer Jacob Hoggard in Kenya | Photo courtesy of Free the Children

YT: You recently returned from a Free the Children trip to Kenya. What were some of the highlights of your trip?
JH: I was so excited that we got to go and help build houses in Kenya. It was really exciting for me because I grew up in construction so it was really exciting to give back to something I used to love doing and also just to work alongside some of the local guys there.

Also, going to see some of the schools and seeing how much work Free the Children has actually put into this and seeing it actually manifesting into something. A lot of people donate sometimes to charities with a measure of blind faith and they’re kind of hoping that the money gets to where it’s supposed to go. So for me to go down and see how much work they have actually put into that place and how much fruit was coming out of the project was really exciting for me.

YT: What was the most shocking thing you learned in Kenya?
JH: It was a serious shock to learn and understand how much people in Africa survive in a necessity-based society, whereas we in Canada live in a consumer-based society. And we definitely are a lot more wasteful. There is no garbage in the rural streets of Kenya because they don’t have any waste to throw on the ground. They cook everything that they find on the earth so they don’t waste anything.

Hedley guitarist Dave Rosin (right) in Kenya | Photo: Janelle McFarlane

YT: You’ve said that you’ve been forever changed by your experience of travelling to Kenya. How have you changed?
JH: Once you go on a trip like that, and you really start to understand how large the world is, and how even though you’re waking up and falling asleep to an alarm clock and your microwave and you’ve got your air-conditioning on and your cable TV plugged in, that doesn’t mean that life isn’t still going on around you in other parts of the world in a much more different and difficult way sometimes. And so I guess it’s almost a constant reminder that I have now to remember what really is important and how many people do need our help.

YT: Do you think your songwriting will be affected by this experience?
JH: Absolutely, it already has. We’ve already been writing from a completely different standpoint and I think some of the content that we’ve been starting to come up with has really been representing where our frame of mind is because it’s easy to see how much it affected us by the song ideas we’ve been coming up with lately, so absolutely.

Jacob Hoggard (left) and bass guitarist Tommy Mac in Kenya | Photo: Janelle McFarlane

YT: Were you socially active back in high school?
JH: I was socially something. Or I was something active. I was kind of a bit of a brat growing up in high school. I struggled with paying attention, showing up on time. I wish I could have been one of those honour roll, stand-up kids, but it just kind of didn’t work out that way – which is fine for me because it led me on all sorts of different paths in life. It eventually brought me to a place where you appreciate the difference between right and wrong.

YT: Why would you encourage teens to get involved with organizations like Free the Children?
JH: As we’ve been travelling to schools and been involved with Free the Children and really wrapping our heads around how much the programs that Free the Children has developed within the school systems are helping students, it’s really incredible to see. It’s such a positive outlet for a lot of kids. Had we had the same opportunities 10 to 15 years ago in school, I think we’d see already a much different world. So it’s very clear that change is taking place and the progression to developing a completely different frame of mind for students is happening... so right now it’s just kind of a matter of time.

To find out how to get involved, visit freethechildren.com.