There are dates and events in time that will forever be tattooed on your brain, that will hold a level of significance never forgotten. The birthday of a loved one, the passing of another, your wedding day, first kiss or your favourite team winning that elusive trophy for the first time.
I have a few of those myself as we all do, but there are two in particular that have shaped my life like nothing has before (and never will). May16th, 2014 was the day I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and was the beginning of a 14 month odyssey that would mentally and physically take me to the limit. The next is August 1st, 2015 which was the day I finally made it back home from hospital. This Friday is a decade to the day that should of course be celebrated and that’s my intention with this upcoming compilation album.
On April 7th, 2015, I was admitted to hospital for my second own stem cell transplant which did not work and I ended up spending 116 days in hospital with two weeks to live, until the stem cell charity Anthony Nolan found me a donor and saved my life. This was after having 14 months with cancer in 2014/15 as you know.
I want to pay them back with this milestone of a decade of being alive when I shouldn’t be with a Wrongpop Bandcamp compilation album to raise funds AND awareness for Anthony Nolan. The release date is August 1st, exactly ten years to the day I was released from hospital. The album will be available for that month only, taken down and the money given to them.
I also want to use this album to raise awareness of the charity and encourage people to join the stem cell register to help save lives like mine was. The album cover features the note that my donor wrote to me in 2017 as a reminder to make the most of this second chance.
There’s 76 tracks on this beast , with half of them being exclusive to the album, and a few written specifically for the occasion! All genres are covered throughout, with bands like Poly-Math, Shit and Shine, KLAMP and Modern Technology sitting comfortably next to Art Brut, CHROMA and Penfriend like old friends at a reunion party. There are also some songs written just for hte album, with a cheeky group put together by Mr Scott Lee Andrews, featuring The Armed.
One of the exclusive tracks was kindly donated by my good friend Jake of the band in violet who has collaborated with SHTËPI with the exclusive track ‘the middle’ and I’m grateful to Echoes and Dust who are sharing the World Exclusive a day before its release. Enjoy the track and this Friday you can have it all to yourself along with 75 more, all for the price of a tenner! Save the link below and treat yourself while saving lives at the same time.
