Where Music Meets Nature: Short Film 'Refuge Alaska' Out Today
SUSTAIN MUSIC & NATURE, COMPOSER-MUSICIANS,
AND U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE - ALASKA REGION
UNVEIL REFUGE ALASKA
AN 11-MINUTE, FOUR-MOVEMENT FILM WITH ORIGINAL SCORE
OUT TODAY
DERRY DEBORJA (JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT), SAM KASSIRER (JOSH RITTER), AKIE BERMISS (LAKE STREET DIVE), AND MATT DOUGLAS (MOUNTAIN GOATS)
NASHVILLE, TN (September 27, 2024) — Nonprofit organization SUSTAIN MUSIC & NATURE joined forces with skilled composer-musicians and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Alaska Region to create Refuge Alaska, an 11-minute, four-movement short film set to an original score. Out today, the project highlights the stunning wildlife and natural beauty of 13 of Alaska’s 16 refuges. The film’s release is in celebration of National Public Lands Day, and the team recently appeared on Alaska Public Media’s KTOO: Juneau Afternoon to discuss Refuge Alaska and their organization in depth.
Board member, creative director and musician Sam Kassirer envisioned Refuge Alaska to spotlight lesser-known parks in Alaska. The project features four contemporary keyboardists and composers — Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit), Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter), Akie Bermiss (Lake Street Dive), and Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) — who each crafted unique musical movements.
SUSTAIN MUSIC & NATURE was sparked in 2015 when co-founder Harrison Goodale, touring with Parsonsfield, was inspired by the stunning parks across the U.S. and Canada. With his wife and co-founder Betsy Mortensen’s background in conservation and wildlife biology, they created an organization to foster a deeper connection with nature.
With traditional projects on hold due to the pandemic, SUSTAIN MUSIC & NATURE sought innovative ways to raise awareness about the fragility of public lands. In the absence of travel and physical gatherings, composer-musicians connected virtually, exploring northern landscapes many had never seen firsthand. Through videos provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — filmed by various videographers over the years — they sparked a unique artistic collaboration that blended music and film.
“Alaska’s refuges are some of the most remote in the nation’s 500+ national wildlife refuges,” says Harrison Goodale. “They are most at risk from climate change and continued political pressure from the petroleum industry.”
The four movements of the project guide the audience through an aerial journey over expansive landscapes, a terrestrial exploration featuring close encounters with flora and fauna, an underwater realm showcasing fish and marine mammals, and, finally, a foray into the winged world of birds.
SHARE / WATCH REFUGE ALASKA BELOW:
The first segment — underscored by tranquil melodies and twinkling keys hinting at the vast beauty waiting to be discovered — features breathtaking aerial perspectives that offer a bird’s-eye view of Alaska’s pristine landscapes. From the jagged mountains to the untamed forests, these aerial shots provide a unique and immersive experience.
Speaking of this opening movement, Kassirer explains, “When I see these aerial points of view of Alaska, I am at once taken back by how big and how small our world is at the same time. The sounds I’m using in this first piece attempt to mirror not only the breadth and depth of this wondrous land, but also how tiny and fragile each subject is in reality. My aim was to create a sonic experience that feels to me how these landscapes look, which are at once beautiful, dangerous, and vulnerable.”
The film’s peaceful harmonies shift into a discordant second segment, vividly contrasting Alaska’s intricate tapestry of flora and fauna. This transition paints a rich, auditory and visual portrait of the region’s natural world, emphasizing the beauty and intensity of Alaska’s ecosystems. Haunting chants introduce walruses, polar bears, wolves, and moose, followed by a focus on delicate earth-dwelling creatures, vibrant flowers, and lush greenery.
Akie Bermiss took on the challenge of this movement, remarking, “My segment of the film featured a lot of wide landscapes and massive herds of wildlife moving through them. I wanted to capture those two extremes — the broad panoramic stillness of those natural tableaus as well as the furious activity within them. It occurred to me that it could be interesting to use only voice to compose the piece, forcing myself to build large structures by laying one voice at a time. Hopefully, that serves to capture the vast yet intricacy of the footage it accompanies.” Bermiss continues, “Any opportunity to draw attention to the natural wonder of this planet and how it ought to be wondered-at (and must be preserved) is one I am going to jump at.”
For the third movement, Matt Douglas crafted an arrangement characterized by iteration, lucidity, and bliss, interwoven with a subtle thread of sadness, to capture the essence of the underwater world. This musical piece mirrors the serene yet enigmatic nature of the ocean, with its fluid rhythms and delicate melodies capturing the graceful dance of marine creatures.
Douglas explains, “There’s something fitting about a wind instrument expressing the motion of an underwater creature. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the two things... something that depends on air versus something that wouldn’t survive out of water? I affected the tones to give everything that underwater feeling. There’s also a 2020/2021 parallel in the composition, but maybe the music expresses that better than I can in words. Repetition, simplicity, joy, but a thread of sadness running through it. It could also reflect the work of conservation: hopeful, but with some grief at the same time. I have yet to travel to Alaska, but this project has given me a resolve to change that.”
Finally, Derry deBorja penned the score for the fourth movement, centered on the winged world of birds. Infused with serenity, the composition beautifully captures the majestic essence of these avians, reflecting their grace and freedom in flight. Each note echoes the ethereal beauty and unrestrained spirit of these winged animals, offering a poignant and uplifting conclusion to the film’s exploration of nature.
deBorja shares, “Composing music for Refuge Alaska afforded me the opportunity to take a closer look at the creatures that inhabit the extraordinary landscape. There is an inherent sense of drama and romanticism in the panoramic scenes of birds soaring across the sky, but every close-up view hints at a sense of personality, determination, and character you might find while observing people on a street corner. I tried to capture this duality within my score, as my time spent scoring this film has narrowed my scope from the macro of Alaska’s humbling vastness to the lively and often comical microcosm of bird life nestled within the stillness.”
Kassirer concludes, “Enlisting musicians to help raise awareness of these public lands with their own unique lens of composition made some truly powerful work. Refuge Alaska is a meditation and reflection on the beauty, value, fragility and importance of not only Alaska but of all of our natural surroundings.”
Producers:
Sustain Music & Nature
Sam Kassirer
Creative Director:
Sam Kassirer
Original Compositions:
Sam Kassirer
Akie Bermiss
Matt Douglas
Derry deBjora
Audio Mastering:
Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sounds Studios
Videography:
Ian Shive
Gerrit Vyn
Katrina Liebich/USFWS
Danny Hernandez/USFWS
National Conservation Training Center/USFWS
ABOUT SUSTAIN MUSIC & NATURE:
Sustain Music & Nature is a nonprofit that makes music a force for nature. Using the emotional hook of music and cultural sway of bands, Sustain generates new audiences for our public lands. Sustain produces music videos for our national parks, wildlife refuges and forests, hosts Trail Session hikes and concerts, and produces a podcast exploring musician relationships to nature and creativity.
Typically, Sustain Music & Nature employs two main strategies for raising awareness: Songscapes and Trail Sessions. During Songscapes, artists go on week-long retreats, immersing themselves in the landscape in order to compose a new song. Paired with footage caught during the retreat, Songscape music videos bring public lands to the artists’ fans. Trail Sessions combine educational hikes with concerts on public lands, offering an immersive experience to appreciate nature from a fresh perspective. By leveraging the emotional appeal of music and the cultural influence of bands, Sustain Music & Nature attracts new audiences to our public lands.
ABOUT U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE — ALASKA REGION:
At the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Alaska we are shared stewards of our nation’s last true wild places and world-renowned natural resources. The lands and waters of this place we call home nourish a vast and unique array of fish, wildlife and people. We cultivate a reverent awareness and respect for all things, from Alaska’s smallest plants and most iconic animals to its diverse communities and cultures. Today and for generations to come, we live with, live from, enjoy and learn from the wildness of this awe-inspiring land and the people who love it.