Dairy products made from cow’s milk are often left until very last in the progression from 'omnivore'/carnist to vegan.
It’s often thought that these pose no reason for concern as they are obtained ‘naturally’ and ‘without harm’, that a cow ‘gives her milk’ easily and willingly, and that the horrors of other farming and slaughter methods don’t apply.
However, cows are mammals, and basic biology of course requires a cow to be impregnated and give birth to a calf for her milk production to kick in.
The calves are usually removed within mere hours of birth, causing trauma to both the mothers and the calves, which is why I have called this post “dairy’s inherent despair”.
MC Pony’s new single "Mother and Child" depicts this moving story of a mother cow giving birth to – and then being separated from – her newborn calf.
The co-writer, James Donnelly, also features in the choruses with his acoustic duo partner Naomi Crain, as "James and Naomi".
Credits for the official music video:
Artwork, including that used for the single cover art: Adrianna Mammino
The first chance to hear this song live in Sydney is coming up on Saturday 22nd April at a special fundraiser for Animal Liberation NSW. See https://giantdwarf.com.au/events/animal-liberation/ for more details and tickets to this one night festival event - including vegan dairy options such as cheeses and chocolates to sample and buy!
Date: Saturday 22nd April 2017 (three weeks before Mother’s Day!) Time: 6pm – 10.30pm, show runs 7pm – 10pm with an intermission Event name: Dairy Truths & Music for the Animal Liberation movement Venue: Giant Dwarf, 199 Cleveland St, Redfern Tickets:Advance purchase: $10 concession, $20 full price (on the night: $15/$25)
The "Mother and Child" single will be available to purchase after the launch event, through digital music stores including CD Baby, iTunes, and Google Play - see veganthused.com/motherandchild for all the details!
And above all remember: with oh so many vegan dairy options to choose from and delight in, there is no need to partake of the products of despair!
I am so excited to announce that there is another MC Pony release on the way.
"Born to Die" is an evocative 'first-person' account of a broiler chicken's sad existence. Co-written with fellow Sydney-sider Robert Pearce, and featuring Tayberry as guest vocal artist, we hope this track will help spread a greater awareness to the reality of 'broiler farming'.
The single will be released officially late next week but you can already give it a spin on YouTube or Facebook.
I wrote a love song over half a decade ago called “The Icing on my Cake”. It’s a sweet little ditty (pardon the pun!!) that doesn’t fit for MC Pony and also isn’t ‘commercial’ enough to use for pitching to other artists. But I still wanted to share it somehow, and with today being Valentine’s Day it seemed appropriate timing to release this particular track into the world.
Enormous thanks to Kristin Lajeunesse of Will Travel for Vegan Food for supplying so many shots of various delicious vegan desserts she has encountered in her travels + editing this all together! Thanks also to an anonymous friend for lending me her amazing vocals. :)
Are you vegan? This is a song for you to celebrate the anniversary of the date you went vegan! If you don't know the date, how about picking 1st November, World Vegan Day, and playing it for yourself then? This also gives you another great excuse to eat some vegan cake!
If you're not vegan, you probably still know someone who is, so why not send them the link (http://bit.ly/HappyVeganniversary) to bring a smile to their face!
Happy New Year! Let's start with a little bit of fun... here is the first ever MC Pony music video – the live performance of “Pony in da House” at Sydney's 2013 Cruelty Free Festival. After several years of having to say “sorry, there's nothing up online yet” when people ask about MC Pony's music, I can finally change my reply to “check this out!” :)
