Flames
by Gwen Howard
[Video Description: There is a dark blue background. On the left of the screen, taking up 2/3 of the screen, is the 'Flames' video. On the right is a video of Elizabeth Morris, a Deaf woman, in front of a white background with some speckles. Elizabeth is a white woman with blue eyes. She has long and blonde hair. She is wearing a black top with a black jacket. She is translating in American Sign Language. The 'Flames' lyric video starts with a title card that reads "Flames" in the bottom left corner and "by Gwen" in the top right corner in white, bold text on a black background. A rhythmic keyboard part plays under this. When the words begin, the lyrics replace the text on screen in the center. There's a sudden stop in the music and the black background turns into video of slowly moving bright orange, yellow, and red paint mixed together. In the middle of the screen, there's a circle of brightly colored particles that gets bigger and smaller as the music gets louder and softer. Over this background, the lyrics appear in bold, white text before a phrase and disappear when the phrase is over. At the end of the video, the screen turns to black. There is a credits list in white text in the bottom left corner reading "Songwriting, Production, and Vocals – Gwen Howard, Audioreactive Video Programming – Gwen Howard, Guitar and Bass – Dominic Rae." The video fades into the same dark blue background from earlier. In the left corner is The Disability Collective logo in white. Below that is the graphic for No Body Left Behind. On the right is a photo of Gwen, a person with pale white skin from the shoulders up with blonde hair that reaches past their shoulders. They are wearing a maroon shirt, clear-rimmed glasses, and headphones. They are singing into a microphone and have their eyes closed. An audio wave in white plays overtop her photo as she speaks. After she finishes speaking, this fades into the end card, featuring the same dark blue background, the No Body Behind Logo in the middle, the TDC logo on top, and "thedisabilitycollective.com" at the bottom]
ASL Interpretation by Elizabeth Morris
GWEN HOWARD (she/they)
Based in London, Gwen Howard (she/they) is an electronic musician and music educator from Los Angeles, California. Her work is informed by her singer-songwriter origins, and spans disciplines including songwriting, composing, production, scoring, and sound design. She takes inspiration from musical influences such as Bon Iver, Laura Marling, and Yebba.
Her work has been licensed to St. Rogue Records (Sony/ATV), placed in major international television spots such as "Married at First Sight," and featured by organizations such as the Illuminated River Foundation, Iklectic [off-site], and the Barbican Centre.
Howard graduated summa cum laude with a B.M. in Popular Music Performance from the University of Southern California where she studied under Patrice Rushen, Paul Jackson Jr., and Vince Mendoza. She is now pursuing a master's degree as part of the inaugural postgraduate Electronic Music cohort at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Howard takes a special interest in the intersection of electronic music, gender equity, and disability rights and sees her artistic practice as an extension of her activism.
Website: gwenhowardmusic.com
No Body Left Behind is an online campaign centred around the disabled community’s concerns regarding the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, including mask and vaccine mandates. We hope that this campaign will raise awareness around those who are being left behind as the world returns to “normal”.
We are currently raising money to go directly towards paying the artists and Deaf Interpreters who are featured as part of this project. We are relying solely on donations from our incredibly community to support this project!