MOTZ AID BLN x Syrias Vibes

In the second part of our MOTZ AID series, we are honoured to collaborate with Syrias Vibes, a charity founded by Dublin born DJ Calvin James and his brother Andy in response to the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria. For the past seven years the world has watched from afar the death and destruction trailing in the aftermath of Syria's Civil War. Pairing with music events to raise much need funds for the Syrian cause, the boys direct the money to various humanitarian projects working to help communities devastated by the war.

Calvin has been in the thick of it over past two years, spending time on the ground in Syria to provide hands-on aid to civilians through his volunteer work as a medical assistant.

In preparation up for our upcoming gig in Berlin in partnership with Syrias Vibes, MOTZ had a chat with Calvin to find out more about some of the work he has been doing.

You’ve paired your love of dance music with your humanitarian work as a strategy to help raise much-needed funds in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Tell us a little about Syrias Vibes and how it all started?

Syrias Vibes is an initiative of The SCOOP Foundation, a NGO that my brother and I started nearly 10 years ago. I volunteered in Syria in 2016 for 7 months and started the campaign when I got back to Ireland.

What is it about music as a medium that drew you towards this collaboration?

I began Djing in New York almost 20 years ago and when I came home I was part of the Bodytonic, Hospital, Synth Easwood, Family and Monster Truck collectives. I've always been involved in promoting in some shape or form so it was natural to go down this route as our primary source of fundraising. A lot of people want to help make the world a better place but aren't sure how to do it or find they lack the skills or the time so just coming to one of our nights sorts that out!

You’ve been volunteering with Hevya Sor A Kurd (Kurdish Red Cresecent) in Qamishli on the Syrian-Turkish border. What has the experience been like and how are things there at the moment?

I loved it out there, sometimes it was incredibly overwhelming, dealing with suicide bombings, battles and such. I worked with an amazing, very experienced team so no matter what was going on or coming down on top of you I felt safe in the hands of the Heyva Sor team.

Right now things are strange there. I was there in August and my movements were very restricted, like going to the local shops or the bazaar were off limits. It wasn't like that even during the height of the ISIS war. Also right now Turkey are planning to Invade Rojava, the Kurdish region in North Syria. On World Kobane Day last week they conducted airstrikes in the Kobane region and plan to continue. The Kurds have halted the fight against ISIS to re-route to Kobane, a move that many feel will help the Islamic State regroup in other parts of the country.

Syria Vibes has been active in Syria for the past two years now. What kind of work have you been doing?

We are supporting displaced persons in between Idlib and Afrin. We were funding HSK's ambulance service but the Italian government took over there. We're also in Iraqi Kurdistan funding a mental health programme for survivors of the Yazidi genocide of 2014 by ISIS. I'm here right now and we're working on art workshops for kids and young adults.

Over the past seven years the people of Syria have had their lives devastated by a war they never wanted in the first place. How is the morale of the Syrian people at the moment?

Obviously they're tired and just want the war to end, whoever comes out on top. It's hard to gauge what comes next though. The Sunni majority don't like the Kurds, who in turn don't like Sunnis. Also the government might start murdering FSA and other opposition fighters and supporters. Also the government have proven that they don't have the capacity to fight radical Islam and when the remnants of IS, Al Nusra etc regroup, they won't be able to deal with it.

You’ve written of the horrors faced by Syrians, including very small children, the majority of which will never make the news. What is your opinion of European attitudes and news reportage on the Syrian War?

There's nothing really in the news about it now. The media and the people of Europe are burnt out, as are the Syrian people. The attitude of the media and the far right with the refugee situation didn't help and the governments didn't take equal responsibilities in sharing resources and accommodating refugees. If you look at Lebanon almost a quarter of the population, a quarter are refugees and in Ireland many people are moaning about 2 or 3 thousand people. The media showed everyone exactly what these people were fleeing but many are still against supporting and accepting refugees. 2018 folks!

Show your support

To show your support come along to MOTZ BLN: Philipp Strobel, Swarm Intelligence, Patrick DSP & more taking place in Arena Club this Friday.