OCA Music student Laura Iseley Music Student on their commission for Viv Gordon Company for Zebra Day 2025 - Dazzling.
Listen to it below.
Dazzling
This song was commissioned by Viv Gordon Company for Zebra Day 2025 (31st Jan.) The topic for the commission was “community”. Zebra Day got its name from a survivor of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) who said that they felt like a zebra in a world of giraffes.
This caught on and many of us feel that difference, so adopted the wearing of zebra print clothing when we meet or wish to show solidarity with other survivors of CSA. We found out that a group of zebras is called a dazzle, which we also adopted to describe ourselves when we get together.
It’s an unfortunate truth that survivors usually feel silenced by our society which adds to shame which we carry, but is not our own. The shame belongs to the perpetrators, yet they can hide behind the silence.
For more information, please see Viv Gordon’s TED talk about being a survivor activist.
The making of the track,
From the time I saw the invitation to apply for the commission to the time I submitted it, I had just over a month. For me, this was a very short time, especially with my work commitments and end of year choir concerts. However, words began to come to me as I thought about the subject, as well as a rhythmic musical line which turned out to be a bass line. I scribbled down the lyrics whenever they arrived. I worked out the melodic line on my bass, but could not play it fast enough or flowing enough for my liking, so when it came to record it, I sang this line instead. I used the voice memo recording app to try things out. The lyrics ended up having a tune of their own and this fitted well with the bass line. I hummed and sang at home through many a meal being cooked. The structure was a basic AB, with it finalising as ABABBABBB. This suited the symbology of a growing awareness of community.
My husband gave me a quick introduction to Garage Band and I tried a version on my phone. The mic quality was not good though, so I borrowed my husband’s microphone and interface. This worked well. I set up a rhythm track and sang the main tune twice (two tracks) to give the effect of a couple people singing together. I then sang the bass line in the places I wanted it. Next, I sang a harmony line, then a lower harmony and a higher harmony. Lastly I sang a more improvised set of choruses for the end. I did this twice. I did not work out any of the harmonies, they are just what came to me at the time. The whole recording process (including learning how to use Garage Band) took less than half a day. All tracks were single takes. I tried a variety of built-in rhythm tracks from Garage Band, but did not want to use them in the end.
Thank you for sharing Laura!
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