Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and a newly-formed quartet featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers duo Flea and John Frusciante are among the artists who have donated previously unreleased music to a new benefit album collated to raise money for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund in their efforts to support artists and music professionals badly affected the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
The compilation album, titled Los Angeles Rising, and available for purchase now via Bandcamp, was put together by Love and Rockets/ex-Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins and English record producer Nick Launay, who has previously worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, IDLES, Killing Joke, Girls Against Boys and many more. Both men were forced to evacuate their homes and recording studios in LA during the January fires, which claimed 29 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.
Explaining the motivation behind the 16-track digital compilation, Haskins says, “As the wildfires were raging and destroying thousands of homes around Los Angeles, both my neighborhood and Nick [Launey]’s were instructed to evacuate. But we were the lucky ones. The fire threatening our homes and recording studios was thankfully extinguished by firefighters just minutes away, but countless musicians and friends lost everything.
