I've pieced together the story of Adil Dhalla and his quest to bring a little more happiness to people on the move... Check it out:
The TTC system, or at least parts of it, got a bit more cheery this morning as a troupe of ukulele-wielding self-described gangsters put on an impromptu show for commuters. Dubbed the Project Ukulele Gangsterism," the lighthearted intervention was reminiscent of some of the projects organized by Improv Toronto like the No Pants Subway Ride.
WED APR 24, 2013
“The whole motivation for this was spreading a little joy,” says Adil Dhalla, who orchestrated the event that saw performances at various stops along the Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth lines.
Ukulele gangsters will shake up unhappy public transit commutes
MUSICIAN, ADIL DHALLA. - ADAM BEN-ARON
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"Some pursue happiness, others create it." It was this very quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that inspired entrepreneur and musician Adil Dhalla to begin thinking about ways he could help make Toronto happier. An east-ender working in the west end, he found himself no longer complacent with the unhappiness commuting brings. He grew tired of negative associations with transit in the city.
"If you ask someone what the most miserable part of their day is, they'll tell you it's when they take the subway, it's when they have to commute. These are places where we don’t have an opportunity to connect," Dhalla tells me over coffee at the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI).
It is here where he applied for and won the first CSI Awesome grant to fund what he's called Project Ukulele Gangsterism. His plan to create a ukulele orchestra comprised of like-minded and socially innovative thinkers is already underway. More than 20 people from the CSI community have signed up to disrupt morning commutes with a performance of the original track "Have An Awesome Day." It's an idea that breaks some rules, or as Dhalla puts it, "challenges conventions," in an effort to help improve transit in an alternative citizen-driven way.
A chapter of the Awesome Foundation, the CSI Awesome grant concists of a board of trustees that each pitch in $100 a month to grant a project creator $1000 to help make an awesome idea come to life. Toronto has had an Awesome Foundation for a while, but this is the first time a non-city specific chapter has been created. Dhalla will use the money to provide participants with ukuleles to learn the songs and document the experience through film. The entire thing will be made into a music video. Inspired by the piano installations that took place across Toronto last summer, Dhalla hopes the ukuleles will further encourage community by continuing the legacy of leaving instruments in public spaces.
"It's a great experiment that will change some personal worlds, that will change how people in Toronto think about their commute and each other, and will send that little ripple of change through the city," says Heather Laird, the "Dean of Awesome" and one of the trustees who voted for Dhalla's project. She says they received all kinds of submissions, from the scientific to the artistic, but Dhalla's idea struck a chord for its community building potential.
The project was in part influenced by Dhalla's experiences in New York. A previous resident and frequent visitor, he fondly recalls the common experience of having a commute interrupted by buskers, reminiscing over one time when two guys came on the subway playing "Guantanamera" with a little guitar and a big sombrero. In Toronto musicians are required to audition annually at the CNE grounds to obtain a license from the Municipal Licensing and Standards. This is similar to New York, but here in Toronto the permits limit musicians to specific areas.
"What makes New York incredible is they believe serendipity is too important to be left to chance. They have rules, but they also have opportunities for chaos and creativity," Dhalla says. "[Project Ukulele Gangsterism] is for the creators, the nonconformists, for the collaborators, for people who fundamentally believe that we have some control over serendipity and energy. It's this idea that we're all connected."
The ukulele itself is in part responsible for at least some of Dhalla's enthusiasm, he says. He began playing a couple years ago when he learned about theCorktown Ukulele Jam, a weekly meet-up that takes place at the back of the Dominion, a bar located at Queen and Sumach. Stephen McNie and David Newland, two members of the 80's acoustic cover band the McFlies, founded the Jam in December 2008. At their first meet-up in January 2009, more than 40 people attended. The community has since grown to include more than 1,500 members.
Ukulele's soaring popularity in Toronto isn't new, McNie says. In fact, the movement is a representation of what he calls the "third wave of ukulele popularity," something he credits to social networking and video.
"This third wave came about because of the Internet," he says, naming popular websites such as BoingBoing! and YouTube as catalysts. "There's no sign that this is ending. In fact, what you're seeing more and more of is kids in parks, sitting on the steps, enjoying making music by ukulele, putting life on pause for a moment and enjoying a song. What could top that?"
Part of the reason for this is also that the ukulele is affordable and accessible. Basic models retail for $30. The simple strings and sound lends itself to happiness. "The ukulele projects a friendly demeanour. It's hard to sound harsh. It's easy and it brings joy," Dhalla says.
The simplicity and sense of community the ukulele brings has caused the Corktown Ukulele Jam to act as a "microcosm of Toronto," McNie says. The weekly meet-ups are incredibly diverse. Participants range from 18 years of age to 85 and come from all cultures and walks of life, including the head of surgery for a major Toronto hospital. "It’s a perfect representation of what Toronto is all about. The theme that binds us together is the common desire to enjoy the making of music and engaging in each other. That’s a powerful concept that breaks down all the usual barriers that can come with people. That’s very much what Toronto is about."
Building on this, Project Ukulele Gangsterism will begin rehearsing "Have An Awesome Day" next week. They plan to disrupt transit with happy-go-lucky songs and sing-alongs sometime in April, before releasing the music video sometime in May.
"This idea really spawned from my feeling that life is fundamentally better when you find ways to connect beautiful moments with individuals, including strangers," Dhalla says. "We are a city full of strangers. It's so ironic because the allure of the city so often is this idea of bringing everybody together."
More than 450 million passengers ride the TTC each year, with an average of 1.5 million each workday. While the city explores ways to improve transit, Dhalla sees it as an opportunity to take cues from his New York past and combine it with his passions for music and community by using an instrument and a channel that has become truly Torontonian.
"There's this idea of trying to change the discourse around the commute in a way that no one expects," he says. "I'm just interested in a different way of trying to make transit better."
Sheena Lyonnais is Yonge Street's managing editor. You can follow her on Twitter@SheenaLyonnais.
Sheena Lyonnais is Yonge Street's managing editor. You can follow her on Twitter@SheenaLyonnais.
Project Ukulele Gangsterism
Project Ukulele Gangsterism: The Unedited Story
February 28, 2013
Adil Dhalla ( also known as my brother) receives $1000 from the CSI Awesome Foundation to take one of his crazy ideas to the next level. He was super happy and thanks to his Facebook post the idea starting getting legs.
Beginning of March, 2013
Adil is joined by his two comrades Leah Pollock and Amanda Penrice to bring the idea to life and the planning begins. Somewhere in this time CSI staff member Barnabe Geis suggested the name Ukelele Gangsterism and it stuck.
March 23, 2013
Leah and Adil release the first cut of “Have an Awesome Day” on Youtube. Around this time thefirst official piece of press is launched which was shared in many, many other news sites including City TV.
March 28, 2013
Things get real serious; a Facebook page is created. This also happens to be the same day that the $1000 was spent on a ton of new ukuleles purchased for the list of growing gangsters.
April 1, 2013
The purpose of PUG is identified and the mission is clear:
Project Ukulele Gangsterism (PUG) is inspired by the Emersonian idea that while some pursue happiness, others create it.This project is for the creators – but is also for the collaborators, the courageous and the nonconformists – who share the belief that our lives are made richer when we engage with strangers and take the time to meaningfully connect with people who cross our paths in everyday life.In the spirit of Awesome, our plan is bold and unprecedented. It is a hack on the unhappy and specifically, the daily commute. Why the commute? Simply put, it’s increasingly a miserable activity, full of long faces and disconnected people.Let’s challenge that convention. Let’s break some rules. And let’s attempt to create a ripple effect of awesome. We’ll film the whole thing to, so that the story of the crazy innovators and their ukuleles will scale far and wide.
April 2, 2013
The gang started forming at the first PUG rehearsal.
April 5, 2013
The first gig happens with a handful of pugsters on set at Ryerson.
April 16, 2013
The second unofficial performance happens with a small group at Pechakucha Toronto.
April 17, 2013
The day is here! The 30+ gangsters united and hacked the Toronto subway system. You can see the whole day captured in this video. And the press rolls in from BlogTO, Torontoist, Grist,Yahoo Canada, The Grid, Trending City and more in the following days.
Photo Cred: Nick Kozak
April 19, 2013
Overwhelmed by the response from the community and interest by others to participate, PUG announces that it is going from a one-time hack to a two-time hack.
April 25, 2013
Leah and Adil create a Youtube video on how to be a gangster for the individuals who expressed interest in getting involved outside of Toronto. This uke group in Lansing, Michigangave the song a try, as did these grade 6 student singing their own version over the PA system at school and we saw this piano version from a gangster himself.
June 12, 2013
Practice starts for PUG hack #2. We have people from all over the city join who caught wind of PUG in the media and from friends.
June 26, 2013
The second, and equally as awesome, Hack the Path takes place in the Toronto underground PATH system in the early morning rush hour time. You really need to watch the video to see what happened.
September 16, 2013
Just when we thought it was over, PUG announces that it’s coming back for its third and final hack.
September 23, 2013
Practice starts and the location of the final hack is revealed.
September 26, 2013
The biggest and baddest hack yet takes place as over 30 gangsters storm and unexpectedly crash the registration of TedxToronto. In front of thousands, we sang to attendees of the day-long conference and pulled out an actual (not metaphorical) milk box where Adil performed his own TED talk. Yes, this was unknown to all TED presenters, attendees and event organizers.
There you have. The story of PUG.
I started this blog post thinking I wanted to write about how awesome it has been to be apart of the story and to do so I started laying out the facts and looking at the PUG-olution. That’s when I realized that the events spoke for itself. In a span of just 6 months an idea went from birth to inspiring thousand to it’s own movement. I was at 2 out of the 3 PUG hacks and I’ve got to say; regardless of how many people we have touched, I feel the most moved and happy from what we’ve done. I’m all for spreading joy but doing so when people are least expecting it or when they are at a low is an even more magical feeling. It’s actually pretty electrifying. Sure you’re going to have grumpy morning people who wonder why you’re in their way and look right past you BUT you’re going to have thousands of other who stop to watch you perform, laugh when you tell them they rock and go forth in their days smiling because of you. Not to mention the thousands more who read or see a video about it later and are reminded why they love Toronto. If every one of those people were to make just one other person smile as a direct effect of them being happier, well, you’ve left your mark on an entire city.
Thank you to our pugstastic leaders (Adil, Amanada, Leah), thank you gangsters for joining from all parts of Toronto, thank you people of Toronto for letting us into your morning commute and have an awesome day everyone.
http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/04/ukulele_gangsters_descend_upon_the_ttc/
Ukulele "gangsters" descend upon the TTC
The TTC system, or at least parts of it, got a bit more cheery this morning as a troupe of ukulele-wielding self-described gangsters put on an impromptu show for commuters. Dubbed the Project Ukulele Gangsterism," the lighthearted intervention was reminiscent of some of the projects organized by Improv Toronto like the No Pants Subway Ride.
Local photographer Jason Cook stumbled on the scene at around 8:00 a.m. "A flashmob of 30-odd people with ukuleles were singing a very sweet song to morning commuters on the TTC," he explains. "It was a lovely mood booster, and everyone left with big smiles."
Organized by Adil Dhalla, who I happen to know is a big Toronto booster, the event was supported by the first CSI Awesome grant, which is a spin-off from the local branch of the Awesome Foundation. Fittingly, the song the group played this morning is titled "Have an Awesome Day." In putting the event together, Dhalla and company were able to accomplish two modest but noble goals: to shakeup the monotony of the commute and get people in a good mood on their way to work.
Nicely done, everyone.
PHOTOS
Photos by
WED APR 24, 2013
PEOPLE
Mensch of the Week: Uke mob commander Adil Dhalla
More than 40 ukulele-toting “gangsters” interrupted morning subway commutes earlier this month with a rendition of their original song “Have an Awesome Day,” which they documented and released as a music video this week.
Dhalla says similar movements are now forming in Chicago and Michigan, and requests to play events have been flooding in, but the group remains tight-lipped about future plans.
“We know we’re not a band, but rather a bunch of happiness hackers,” says Dhalla. “The key to our success are the elements of surprise and serendipity”
Got a suggestion for someone we should mensch-ion? Email mensch@thegridto.com.
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