Rupa Marya, lead singer of local band Rupa & The April Fishes, is in the middle of an international tour, but it’s about way more than her music:
RUPA MARYA: We are conducting a seed exchange around the world, so we are taking a suitcase full of heirloom treasures that belong to life, belong to the commons. They are not for sale they are for exchange. So the first ten farmers that show up at our show with seeds that they saved to exchange can get in for free.
This purposeful approach to music is common for the doctor turned bandleader. Her tour is to promote her new album called BUILD, and it kicked off at the idea-packed Bioneers conference in Marin County last month. The tour ends tomorrow night at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Rupa spoke with KALW’s Holly Kernan about what inspired her new album.
Click the audio player above to listen to the interview.
Rupa and the April Fishes are playing at the Great American Music Hall on Friday, November 9.