'With music there's no language barrier'

'With music there's no language barrier'

As artistic director of Hear Me Out, Johanne Hudson-Lett was experiencing  all the usual worries ahead of one of the organisation’s gigs: “Will it be well organised and all possible scenarios covered?”

But unlike most music promoters she had other, bigger worries, too: “Will The Unknowns band be here to play on the night? Will an instruction arrive from the Home Office to inform them that they are to be deported or moved from their accommodation to a different part of the country?

“Now, that is fear,” she admits. It arises because the band members are asylum seekers.

They met and formed a band (“We picked the name because there are a lot of talented people out there who are unknown, as we are now”) in an asylum hotel in central London during Hear Me Out workshops. They mix musical styles from the Middle East, Europe and Africa and their songs speak about their homeland, family and hopes for the future.

About 28,000 people a year are locked in UK immigration removal centres and similar settings with no end date. Their lives are stopped while authorities decide their fate. Hear Me Out helps by taking music into the centres — “because music can be freedom”.

“We want to give people a voice and to feel human and to feel like they are being treated with respect,” says Hudson-Lett.

“It also shows there is somebody who cares, because a lot of asylum seekers, wherever they are, whatever places they are in, are so lonely.

“What we want to do with our music is make them feel somebody is listening to them and we will do what we can.”

Band member Kidu agrees about the organisation's importance: “Honestly speaking. I was desperate, I knew no one. Then through the group I found people.”

The organisation works in two hotels housing asylum seekers in London, at Napier Barracks in Kent (which has been used since 2020 as “temporary accommodation” for those seeking asylum), runs music workshops, and  has “two phenomenal bands that we really want to push into the public eye because they’ve got such an important message to tell.”

Helping inform the public about the asylum system and about the stories of asylum seekers and refugees is important, says Hudson-Lett, “because people only know what they hear on the news, and therefore they are getting only one side of the story.”

Music is a great way to communicate, she adds, “a great way to use your voice, whether through the lyrics you are writing or a song you are singing. So for Hear Me Out it’s a wonderful art form that enables us to bring people together to enjoy at the same time.

“We believe music is a way of people connecting with each other and with their emotions.

“With music there’s no language barrier and music is such an effective way of communicating with people of all ages and different cultures.”

And the Unknowns gig? Was it a success?

Hudson-Lett gives a definite thumbs-up: “It was a true celebration of their incredible talent, their cultures and homelands, and the uniting power of music.”

Hear Me Out: https://hearmeoutmusic.org.uk/

The Unknowns full performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3t7JbCfZPM&t=258s

Photo credit: Hear me out