The L Project Uncovered... interview with Georgey Payne and Sofia Antonia Milone

Following the big announcement this morning that the second L Project Song will be released later this year, we spoke to co-ordinators Georgey Payne and Sofia Antonia Milone about what we can expect...

So...when are you aiming for release? When can the fans and supporters buy the song?

Sofia Antonia Milone

SOFIA: Our aim is to release We're All Human on May 4th, an inspired suggestion by a fellow LGBT+ social media community pioneer, Kevin who runs Wipe Out Homophobia and is a big supporter of our project. 

We always try to set a date that is memorable, last year it was the day after my birthday, this year we're capitalising on May the Forth (be with you)! It just so happens to be a Sunday, which is the day the charts start calculating sales. Our aim this year is to get this song played on mainstream radio - and to do that, we need to make the top ten. 

It's ambitious, but given the success of our previous song It Does Get Better, the massive community supporting us, and all the experience we've gained in the process, we feel it's a target hopefully within reach. And if not, we'll increase awareness trying!

You had a massive success with the first song 'It Does Get's Better' - why did you decide to do a second song?

SOFIA: After the success of first project we had even more sponsors come forward. We put aside that money, hoping to save it for something really special. We did consider making an awareness video for our next project, but before that became a reality, I received a rough demo from Georgey of the first draft of We're All Human. It was clear to me this was what we were looking for, this would be our next project, and both Georgey and I agreed, with a little polishing of the lyrics we could have a truly great, positive, and widely appealing song.

Georgey Payne

We also knew that we wanted to give our supporters, and the community a chance to be involved, so we asked people to submit video auditions to participate on the track, something that we can both say was a wonderful process and which brought us some really talented people to add to our pre-selected pool of brilliant musicians and voices.

Thanks to Georgey's great skill and vision, and the talent of everyone involved, the recording at Dean St Studios went even more smoothly than the last.

What has been your favourite experience of performing 'It Does Get Better' over the last couple of years? (I liked it when Betty joined you at LFest last year)

GEORGEY: For me it's been doing the live performances with lots of different artists and that great feeling when everyone in the crowd sings the song back at you. With this in mind I wanted to make sure the next song was also a great sing along number. Another experience I loved was seeing the LGBT community get It Does Get Better into the charts - it was an amazing time when the song was first released, watching everyone pull together to make a stand and say "listen to this song".  

SOFIA: I've enjoyed every public performance of It Does Get Better. Like Georgey says, the response we get from audiences, no matter how big or small, are incredible, not to mention the connection you have with them. But I really loved our overseas visits last year - working with new artists and meeting so many amazing and inspirational people, all working toward this common goal of support the community and seeking equality.

Congratulations on pulling off a massive undertaking in getting the artists all together for the second song - how many of you were there?

GEORGEY: We made sure this time that we had some male voices on the track as they felt a little left out of the first song, and we knew we wanted more range in the vocals too.
We had 5 talented musicians, 14 lead vocalists, 8 choral artists who came down to the studio in the evening to be part of singing the choruses at the end, 7 crew comprising of videographers, runners, hair stylists, and photographers, 1 studio engineer, and 1 studio assistant. There was a grand total of 36 people involved.

You were all in close proximity for 2 days, what was the atmosphere like? How smelly did it get? What was the funniest moment?
SOFIA: I'll be honest, it could have become a little bit smelly - we were all in the darkened cave that is studio recording, and it got warm, especially for those who were in the live room! But everyone is so focussed, you hardly notice. There was a really amazing bubble of love and respect amongst everyone there, like we all knew we were part of something really special. 

I think Julie Price, one of our project bloggers, and now also an official artist singing on the track, gives the best impression of what it was like on her blog [http://thelwire.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/recording-were-all-human-projecteers.html] of the weekend. 

Funniest moment? Georgey and I spent most of the time in the control booth, so we probably missed a lot of the amusing action going on in the green room, but I did hear a very strange alien vocal coming out of a human at one point... it may be in the blog.

What can we expect from the song?
GEORGEY: Imagine a charity song like We Are The World but for LGBT people instead. The feedback we've had so far has been really incredible. It's catchy, anthemic, and great to sing along to. More importantly it has a strong message that we are ALL human, and that it shouldn't ever matter who we love or how we live our life.

For more on the L Project, visit www.thel-project.com

By Katie
 

Breaking news: L Project to release LGBT charity single We're All Human worldwide this May

As the UK's first wave of same-sex newlyweds settle happily into married life, The L Project gears up to repeat their success of 2012 with a second LGBT charity single, We're All Human, to be released this May. Recorded by a diverse group of LGBT artists, every penny earned from the song will be donated to LGBT charities who work to promote diversity and equality.

On hearing a rough cut of the new song, recorded during February LGBT history month at Dean Street Studios in London, one of The L Project's collaborators described it as "We Are The World, but for the gays!". The passion among the 19 artists - this time both male and female - can be heard in every beat and every note, with consensus among them that this is "even better than the last one".

The L Project's previous song It Does Get Better, released in 2012, made number 11 in the official UK indie charts, despite all the artists being unsigned.

The song also topped the iTunes and Amazon charts for over a week, and received coverage in leading international LGBT magazines and local BBC radio, all without any professional promotion. That song continues to raise funds, through download sales, YouTube views, related merchandise, and royalties, to help prevent LGBT bullying in schools.

Georgey Payne, the songwriter and producer of We're All Human, says, "Since the first song we've built up a massive network of support through social media. This time we hope that the mainstream media will pick up our story, so that even more people will download the song, and be part of changing the lives of LGBT people who need support. Some of that help will be financial, as we give every penny earned to the charities - including royalties - but we also have lots of stories about people all over the world being helped just by hearing the words and knowing there are people like us who care."

The UK might have progressed a lot since 1999, when the country had the a largest number of anti-gay laws in the world, but others aren't so fortunate, as highlighted during the SOCHI Winter Olympics. As the media outrage fades over Russia's attitude towards the LGBT community, The L Project steps in to help keep the flame alive.

"It's easy when you're part of a majority to take the view that because you don't experience an issue, there isn't a problem. But the evidence is undeniable. Media stories focus people's attention for a while, but when the stories stop, people become complacent, and inadvertently become complicit in allowing things to not only continue, but potentially worsen - not just in Russia, but in India, Uganda and around the world," says Sofia Antonia Milone, who runs the project alongside Georgey and who also collaborated on the lyrics of the new song. "Of course the LGBT community would prefer human rights to be based on the simplicity of being human, rather than having to be fought for and listed separately in law," Georgey adds. "That's what we wanted to get across with this song, and we want that message to reach far and wide."

The benefiting charities this time include the Russian LGBT Network which helps LGBT victims of abuse in Russia, and also Mermaids, the UK's youth Transgender charity.

The L Project plan to release an official video to coincide with the song's release, preceded by a series of behind-the-scenes videos on Youtube. These videos will show some of the less visible contributors to the project: videographers, photographers, hairstylists, and runners, all of whom worked tirelessly and - just like all the artists - for free.

The L Project will also be playing a sneak preview of We're All Human a short time before the official release. The preview will be made available via a secret link on Facebook and The L Project website, www.thel-project.com.