The Origin of Ragged Music by Dan Zambas
Myself and Gary Boast approached Alex Dunedin who was running the Ragged project to create the foundations of the music arm of Ragged at the beginning of 2011. Working alongside musical colleagues and venue owners we aimed to create the philosophies of an all-inclusive project that would strike a chord within the music industry on every level; from the musician learning their instrument to the large organisations that publish and sell music to the consumers.
We began by asking ourselves what resources would we have wanted at the beginning of our musical journey and begin to make them accessible to individuals wanting to take their music to society. We recorded unsigned artists, live gigs and co-ordinated over thirty events alongside Alex Dunedin at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This experience was invaluable to the Ragged project and helped validate the need for artistic creativity to be treated as an important aspect of social inclusion within society.
My commitment to Ragged is deep within my soul; it is not about an organisation, events or even one individual, but the utter belief that people are inherently good when given the right setting. In today’s society we are desperate to take responsibility for our lives and exercise philanthropy to improve the lives of everyone and Ragged will continue to develop and grow in front of our eyes. By helping each other to succeed and educate we are following the principles of the Ragged Schools and can only bring positive influence on the world at large.
In the 2010 my daughter was born, she was a huge inspiration for my involvement in Ragged; trying to visualise and affect the world in a positive way. Ragged itself requires a huge amount of dedication which as a father, musician and employee of a large business was becoming harder and harder to balance. It was because of these factors that I decided that my day to day involvement with Ragged had to come to an end.
I have gained some incredible knowledge and skills which will benefit me for years to c
ome and have started me on a path with music which would not have been possible otherwise. It is for this that I thank Alex Dunedin for his support for myself and my family and I entrust that the philosophy that was created by musicians for musicians will not be compromised and for years to come will only develop and strengthen social inclusion and music as whole.
Me and Gary will continue creating music, work with Ragged whenever possible and keep our music and conduct faithful to the principles which we instilled. Three degrees at a time…
Daniel Zambas
Creator of Ragged Music