This Is The Fire: New Songs of Protest, Hope and Connection

'With renewed interest in the legacy of protest music, the time is ripe for a new era of communal singing. New songs of inspiration and empowerment that bring people together are needed more than ever. My new community-inspired album, This Is The Fire, is about hope, connection and the potential to transform. The songs are written, we just need your support to create the production that will transform it from a collection of songs to something special that feels right for the times.'. Erica Ruben, Former Executive Producer of Central Park Summer Stage, New York, says: 'Pete's ability to predict our cultural and media future were brilliantly manifested by the success of The Big Chill. Pete has always led the way, and many of us joyously follow him. He is a genuine visionary who has had a colossal impact on us all'. Pete’s musical journey began playing drums in bands through school and university days. Setting up the Cooking Vinyl record label in 1986, he founded The Big Chill festival in 1994, pioneering an international chill out movement which continues to this day. As an artist, he released his debut album Under One Sun as Chilled By Nature in 2006, featuring The Swingle Singers and Mozez (Zero 7). In recent years, he set up Campfire Convention, a social network and community platform geared around personal and social change; the platform also stages musical events with a community focus, including an annual Campout gathering which returns to Abergavenny in Wales from 7 to 10 August, 2025. Pete has long believed in the transformational power of music, and as a lifelong campaigner for peace, social justice and systemic change, he now returns to his roots with a project that feels both timely and timeless. 'Music connects us emotionally more deeply than anything else', Pete says. 'Singing together symbolises harmony itself – cutting across divisions, dissolving boundaries. These songs ask: what do we want from the world? How can we reimagine the future together?' Pete’s early compositions for This Is The Fire were first sung around the fire at last summer’s Campout gathering, provoking strong emotional responses and a buoyed sense of connection and communal joy. And the project has enabled Pete to find his own voice: 'I feel as if I have found new levels of self-expression which have been bottled up for years', he says. 'Seeing these new songs emerge in a context of community connection and social change has been deeply touching and inspiring'. DJ-producer Mr Scruff says: 'Pete Lawrence is a legend. In addition to his not inconsiderable DJing and producer skills, he has a gift for bringing together lovely people and creating something really special'. The This Is The Fire Crowdfunder campaign will now serve as the rallying point for Pete’s supporters to help bring this album to life. If the campaign is successful, the album will be recorded this autumn with acclaimed producer and multi-instrumentalist Gerry Diver, known for his work with Tom Robinson, Christy Moore, Shane McGowan, Sam Lee, Lisa Knapp and others. Gerry’s reputation for alchemical production and sensitivity to tradition makes him the perfect collaborator for this project. 'Please back our campaign and help us create a wave of smoke signals', Pete Lawrence says, 'a new generation of uplifting songs of hope that tap into a rich lineage of protest and connection. Universal songs that can be sung with optimism in community, around the fire, at home, in community halls and schools, in the streets, on marches, and even on the football terraces. Let’s light the fire together. Let’s raise our voices!'  

Watch the album preview below...