Hot up-and-comers, Lo-Star, recently released their single Wake Up, in support of the UK Burma Campaign.

With record labels fighting it out to sign the band, they were the perfect choice to help promote the campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the atrocities going on in Burma. Lead singer and guitarist, Adam Harris, was on hand to chat to Ashley Partridge about Lo-Star’s involvement:

“It’s something that I felt very strongly about, with the boys, says Harris. “We were in the studio, recording, at the time of the big uprising in September and we’ve always been politically aware of what’s going around us, so we saw that and wanted to try and do what we could to help. We’d been working alongside the Burma Campaign for a while, it was literally a case of they were around the corner of our studio.

“We had the song written and it felt like a really apt time to rewrite it, to what was going on. We were staring at the TV in disbelief at what was going on. I wanted to put on a concert and I spoke to a lot of people - Luke from The Kooks, Johnny from Razorlight, a lot of people put their hands up for doing it.

“But management stepped in and told us we had an album to do, and put a stop to it. The Burma Campaign said to us if we can’t do the concert, how would we feel about putting out the single and giving them as much support as we could. We said we’d be honoured to.”

The situation in Burma has been described by the United Nations as a “Crime against humanity”, as its people are treated as nothing by a military dictatorship. Conditions of life are appalling as torture and rape are commonly used on ethnic minorities, while over 70,000 child soldiers are used by the army.

The video that accompanies Wake Up shows just some of the horrific images that the Burmese people see every day, but the slew of third world TV charity appeals could deaden its impact. Adam tells us how he feels about it:

“I sat in the edit room for hours upon hours, looking through some of the most unbelievable footage, so I can’t understand how anyone would be desensitised to it. There are children dead in the video, guys with heads smashed in with bullets. I really challenge anyone who’s desensitised to that.

“Having seen all the footage for hours and hours, when I first saw the video, I was just as shocked and it was just as new as the first time I’d seen any of it.”

He also points out the problems with public awareness of the issue:

“You’ve got the likes of Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox and Coldplay who support the Burma Campaign. But I think it’s like a lot of these things - as soon as it’s in the news, like there’s an uprising, everyone pays attention. The problem’s been there, certainly in Burma, for decades. It hasn’t gone away, it’s still there.

“As soon as something kicks off in the news, people sit up and pay attention, but then it goes again. I think a lot of the time it’s about maintaining that awareness. The problems’ still there, it still needs to be solved.

“It’s nice to think that a lot of musicians that get on the bandwagon can stay on it, but as it increases and decreases in media attention, so does their participation. For us, until the problem has gone away, we’re not going to stop supporting the Burma Campaign.”

Human issues and music have always had a close relationship, particularly in recent years. Live 8 and Live Earth have drawn worldwide support for big issues like climate change, while Leona Lewis has done her bit for Sport Relief. As phrases like “carbon footprint” become buzz words to make a band seem in touch with the world, Adam makes sure to let us know that Lo-Star are the real thing:

“It’s not going on a Bono-style crusade. Bands like The Hoosiers and Scouting For Girls, or boys, I can’t remember which one it is, I watch them and it’s like ‘What are they trying to say?’. Yes, there is a place for pop. There always has been, there always will be. But, if you can make people think with your music, then why not do that?

“It’s far more worthwhile to do that, than screw around with stick-on moustaches. There are real issues going on and you can actually do something to raise awareness, and help.

“We’re not known. We’ve always been politically aware, we’ve always wanted to make people think with our music. I guess we come from the Bob Dylan School, the ‘60s and ‘70s with all those songs that made sense. You still listen to a record like Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? and it’s still incredibly apt.

“No one knows who the hell we are, but if we can help raise awareness, which we are doing. People are starting to take notice, which is nice. That’s a really cool thing.”

But those that are seen to promote global awareness, such as Bono and Bob Geldof, often meet with criticism for their actions and questions as to whether they’re doing it for other peoples’ benefit or just to boost their own profile:

“If you ask yourself  ‘are they raising peoples’ awareness to what’s going on, raising money and doing something, pro-actively, that politicians aren’t?’, then, yes they are doing something decent.

“People like Bono, love him or hate him, they’re using their celebrity status to try and create something positive out of it. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You always have the cynics who say he’s doing it just to become powerful. How powerful can he get? He’s not gonna run for President, he’s not gonna run for Prime Minister, he’s just trying to make people aware of world problems.

“Very few people will sit and watch the News at 10 and take it in. But if they have it rammed down their throats and have their favourite musician saying – ‘Look, there’s something going on here’, they’ll listen to their favourite musician. They won’t listen to Gordon Brown.”

Lo-Star’s single Wake Up, is available in shops and on digital download. All proceeds from sales go towards the UK Burma Campaign.