- By Farida Master
Anderson Rocio, the highly talented singer-songwriter who spends her time between visiting her family in Half Moon Bay and the city of dreams, Los Angeles, is excited about the world release of her Power in Us music video in June for World Ocean Month.
The official Power in Us video presents the work of 44 photographers and filmmakers coming together to amplify the voices of conservation.
Anderson, a classically-trained musician, couldn’t believe her ears when she was asked to write a song inspired by the pivotal Antarctic Climate Expedition 2023, on board the Sylvia Earle, a purpose-built ship designed for discovery in the most remote and beautiful places on Earth.
The request came from none other than Dr Sylvia Earle, a world-famous oceanographer, explorer and marine biologist who led The Antarctic Climate Expedition.
It attracted a top selection of brilliant minds including world-renowned photographers, filmmakers, conservationists, scientists, ocean luminaries and specialists in arts and economics, brought together to find creative solutions to the climate emergency.
While the song composed by Anderson was released last year on June 8, World Ocean Day, the official video release is scheduled for June 16 this year, World Sea Turtle Day.
“With over 400 submissions of footage from the world’s best conservation photographers and filmmakers, this video serves to remind us we all have the power to make the transformative change our beautiful planet so desperately needs,” she says.
Anderson believes no one is without power.
“Everybody has the capacity to do something,” says the songstress who won international fame after her song Paradise, appeared on the Netflix show Lucifer.
“We are using the power of music to celebrate our ocean.
“This is song appeals to our shared humanity to unite in the face of our environmental crisis.
“One-hundred per cent of the streaming revenue generated by Power in Us goes directly to support the Ocean Conservation, meaning every time you stream this song you give a little back to our ocean.”
Talking about how it came together, Anderson says she teamed up with Mother magazine which is centred around Mother Earth viewed from a female perspective.
“After stalking every photo and photographer that the magazine had ever crossed paths with, I sent a message to wildlife photographer, founder and editor-in-chief Melissa Schäfer.
“The magazine has become a beacon of hope and empowerment for women worldwide – proof that through storytelling and photography we can make a change in environmental conservation.
“I asked if Mother and their photographers would be the first collaboration for the Power in Us Project.
“Two days later, our two worlds came together to harness the power of music and media on a cosmic level.
“Melissa and I created a platform for creatives whose visual stories of our natural world would become the official music video.
“We knew that this song, paired with the work of photographers and filmmakers whose purpose was to protect our environment, would prove we each have the power to make the transformative change our planet needs, and when we come together we can be an incredible force.
“We were overwhelmed by the response. Photographers and filmmakers from around the world were sending us their footage for this video.
“We knew then they felt inspired by what we were doing, just as much as we felt inspired by them.
“This video is the result of all that inspiration packed into four-and-half minutes.”
Anderson, along with Wayne Pottow, co-founder of the Power in Us Project, will join Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) this World Ocean Month to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the DTRP at a Gala Dinner hosted at the iconic Jumeirah Burj Al Arab.
It will feature a live performance by Anderson, the premiere of the official music video for Power in Us, global ocean conservation figures and local partners.
- The official music video for Power in Us premiers on World Sea Turtle Day, June 16 on all platforms, worldwide, with 100 per cent of the streaming revenue for the film donated to SeaLegacy to further the collective power of storytelling for conservation.
