When the Music Gets Loud – The Songs That Shaped Us

I grew up in rural Cornwall, where not a lot happened.
There weren’t protests or rallies or scenes to be part of. But there was always music.

And music — even quietly — was everything.

It was my escape and my anchor.
A glimpse into other worlds and a reflection of my own.
I didn’t need to be in the city to know there was something bigger out there — I had The Maccabees, Vampire Weekend, The Coral, and The Libertines on repeat. They were my compass, gently shaping how I thought, felt, and saw the world.

Music made me feel connected — instantly — to people I hadn’t met yet.
To ideas I hadn’t formed yet.
To values I couldn’t name yet, but somehow understood.

🎤 Today, that connection still matters — maybe more than ever.

We live in an age where people are exhausted.
Tuning out. Shutting down.
Worried that saying the wrong thing might cost them something.

But look at what’s happening in music right now — and you’ll find that same thread I felt all those years ago. Artists reaching out. Trying to hold space for truth, discomfort, and hope.

At Glastonbury this year, Bob Vylan said something loud. It unsettled people.
It was called inappropriate. He was criticised — not just for the moment, but for the message.
But maybe what made people uncomfortable wasn’t how he said it —
it was how close to home it hit.

Bob Vylan’s music reflects a reality many would rather not look at.
But that doesn’t make it any less real.

🛡️ Then there’s Massive Attack — not just performing, but protecting.

They’ve quietly helped build legal support for artists who speak out.
Because truth-telling in today’s music industry is no small risk.

Speaking about injustice, war, climate collapse, or Gaza might cost you your label, your tour, your income. And yet, some still speak.

What Massive Attack are offering isn’t just solidarity. It’s infrastructure.
For creativity. For truth. For resistance.

🎙️ Meanwhile, artists like Kate Nash and Paloma Faith are using their platforms to go deeper.

Kate talks openly about the lack of women in music production, about mental health in an industry that pretends it’s fine, and about keeping your integrity in a world that loves to flatten it.

Paloma Faith’s podcast The Faith recently featured economist Gary Stevenson (of Gary’s Economics), and together they laid bare how broken our economy really is — and how it’s working exactly as intended for those at the top.

These artists aren’t just making content. They’re creating conversation.
And like the music that raised me — they’re reflecting back a version of the world I know to be true.

🎪 Glastonbury is still that messy, beautiful field of contradiction

It’s peace flags and PR, idealism and industry.
But it also still holds the echoes of what it was built for — rebellion, community, and open air space for truth.

So when someone like Bob Vylan disrupts the stage, maybe that’s exactly the point.

Maybe that’s what music has always done best:
Say the thing no one else will — before we even have the words.

👜 Why we started Paws for Peace

We’re not musicians.
We’re not politicians.
But we believe in the same thing:
That creativity still matters.

It can still start conversations when people are too tired to argue.
It can carry messages when people are too scared to post.
It can whisper truths when the headlines are shouting something else.

That’s why we make T-shirts, tote bags, and designs with meaning.
Because for some of us, wearing something with heart is a start.

“I care.”
“I still believe in better.”
“This isn’t just noise.”

💭 If you’ve ever felt like the world stopped making sense…

You’re not alone.
Maybe you just needed a song.
Or a story.
Or something quiet but clear to hold onto.

This blog isn’t here to tell you what to think.
It’s here to remind you that you can think — and feel — and create something in response.

Even now.
Especially now.