If you’ve ever spent a fortnight on a tour bus, you’ll know it’s not exactly the pinnacle of peak physical fitness. However, two of the scene’s most recognisable bassists are ditching the bunks for bike saddles this April. The 1975’s Ross MacDonald and Brian MacDonald from PVRIS have announced they’re taking on the legendary Land’s End to John O’ Groats challenge to raise money for Nordoff and Robbins.
The pair, joined by mates Darren and Matt, will be pedalling a massive 1,100 miles—better known as the “LEJOG” route—from the bottom of England to the very top of Scotland. They’re looking at knocking out around 100 miles a day over two weeks. It’s a proper shift, but it’s all for a cracking cause. Nordoff and Robbins is the UK’s largest music therapy charity, and it costs about £19,000 to train a single therapist over two years. The lads are hoping to raise money to put as many new specialists through their paces as possible.
Ross was inspired to get involved after The 1975 picked up Best Group at the charity’s Silver Clef Awards. He heard a moving speech from Bev, whose daughter Ruby has found a lifeline through music therapy while navigating life with autism and ADHD. Ross has stayed in touch with the charity ever since and even brought Brian along for a session at their London centre recently to see the work firsthand.
“I believe that music therapy really changes people’s lives,” Ross said. “My life is taken up massively by touring and being in a studio, and this challenge is pretty much the most opposite thing I could think of doing. It’s going to be beautiful and horrendous.” Brian added that the motivation came from a simple WhatsApp from Ross asking if he wanted to go for a ride. “I’m going to be doing it for the people that will benefit so much from what we can get in terms of donations.”
We’ve kept a close eye on Nordoff and Robbins’ work over the years, especially their presence at the Scottish Music Awards where the likes of GUN have been honoured for their support. As a charity, Nordoff and Robbins is seeing costs increase at every corner while demand for their services has never been higher.
If you fancy helping the guys smash their target, you can chuck a few quid their way via Enthuse.
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Header image by Jeremy Banks
The 1975: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify
PVRIS: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
