Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1047665
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 NOVEMBER 2018 THIS WEEK MUSIC day, we all have the gift to encounter our fortunes and misfortunes, and this is a power, a compression to our chest, to create a better space inside and out- side of ourselves for the benefit of all. AM: This land we inhabit is under- going a process of sheer abuse and so many of us have been struck by that very violation. There is no time to take a step back and breathe, the air has be- come toxic and complaints are on the rise. We have glorified the idea of be- ing busy… it's almost an ugly thing to be idle and yet, mental illness is on the rise. It is undeniable that a portion of that is due to the environment we find ourselves in. My point is this: you cannot cure depression and generalised anxiety by sitting next to a tree, but we have definitely reached a point where the reliance on substances is suggested in order to lodge ourselves further into a framework that doesn't suit our na- ture. We have almost wilfully departed from the essence of our being in order to worship a false god, and that false- hood seems to be seeping into every facet of our day to day lives. The hyperreality of social media, adverts, rent prices and large cement boxes... There's only so much one can live with a reliance on appearance and the virtual before breaking down. How many people have carved out their mind in order to fit inside a box they didn't want to fit in to begin with? How much of ourselves is there left to con- tort? We tend to internalise notions we didn't want to internalise in the first place yet somewhere along the line we still make them ours and live by them. But to hell with it all. Mouth to Mouth is the sound of unravelling all of that and soaring once more. What do you make of the local musical scene? What would you change about it? CT: I see the local musical scene as abundant in itself; there is a lot of crea- tors, collaborations and projects hap- pening constantly and supported in different ways too. Though, at times, I do miss the honest and genuine ex- pression of what really lies inside. There's also an absence of representa- tion – it can't be that in Malta we only have white Maltese people who create and perform. I definitely think there are certain barriers and that the local scene can be more open, complete and rich in this sense. What's next for you? A one-way ticket, without any plans! Mouth to Mouth will take place at the Malta Society of Arts, Republic Street, Valletta on November 9 and 11 at 20:30 and 20:00 respectively Fatima AM (left) and Claire Tonna. Photo by Kim Sammut "We have glorified the idea of being busy… it's almost an ugly thing to be idle and yet, mental illness is on the rise" – Fatima A.M. "There's an absence of representation in the music scene – it can't be that in Malta we only have white Maltese people who create and perform" – Claire Tonna