Invisible Children has been (second) home to Krista Morgan for over a year now. She came in as our online Staff Writer right before we launched KONY 2012 (lol), and she helms the ship of everything social. Born/bred in San Diego, Krista is a cool mom to Hudson Fox and Gillian. She would like me to include that she named them after characters in The X-Files. COOL MOM ALERT.

As part of our series Five Songs That Matter To, Krista here provides the select tracks that have brought heavy significance into her life.

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William and Kevin. We’re women. For real.

It’s one of those things that is small, but reminds you just how much you take your own version of normal for granted. Like how I always thought that Kevin was a boys’ name. In Uganda, most Kevins are girls.

At first, this can be rather confusing. Especially since in Luo the third person pronoun is the same, gender-neutral word (en) for both he and she. In Luo, you infer the gender of the pronoun from the name of the person you are talking about, but in English we have to be more specific. The differentiation is often lost in translation, leaving room for such opaque communications as:

“Kevin is such a great mom, and now he’s pregnant with a third child.”

I’ve learned that there is a playful alternative to he/she in Luo: dakoni (that woman) and nyeeni (that man). But you can’t just go around rudely referring to ‘that woman’ or ‘that man,’ it’s only appropriate as a joke among peers.

Which brings me to group relationships. There are two words for ‘you,’ in (singular) and wun (plural). You on your own, and you as a part of a larger whole. In English, I tend to find ‘you’ are always on your own. In Uganda, a lot more time is spent simply being together. If you go visit someone, you don’t just drop by to say hello, you plan to spend the day or the afternoon sitting together. You stay and eat a meal together.

Relationships are reinforced by the language that you use. Through your words you connect with people, distance yourself from people, identify with people. As an outsider, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to completely explain or understand all the nuances of hierarchy and relationship. Frankly, I often very much enjoy being me by myself. But in the great enjoyment of company and value for the inclusion of others, I find something to admire.

Sometimes, differences can be uncomfortable. Sometimes, they make you laugh. Sometimes, they make you learn.

And when you’re a woman named William, you just have to make up your mind to enjoy the surprises when they come.

This is a special blog post because we actually just finished recorded an acoustic session of this very song with Vancouver’s Bear Mountain.

Their debut album XO just got a fancy re-release, and it’s chock full of electro-emotion. “Faded” is exactly that – a rare blend of synths and sincerity (shameful alliteration, yes). A lot of music of this genre loses the humanity in the whirling of “the sound,” but lead vocalist Ian sees that the heart is not neglected.

The band is currently opening for Bloc Party on their North American jaunt, and we saw them play last night at the House of Blues in San Diego. The visuals provided by Kenzo are next-level and a perfect accompaniment for Bear Mountain’s sound.

Find the band’s live dates [HERE].

We’ll be debuting their acoustic performance in a bit, but for now enjoy the studio version of “Faded” here:

The recent resurgence of Clare Maguire is one of the most welcome surprises of 2013. She’s featured on the current single from BURNS, and she’s been dropping demos and covers via her Soundcloud that are hinting at a new minimalist approach that is frankly beautiful.

Today via our idols at The Line of Best Fit, she is premiering another demo from her recording sessions for her second full-length. “Changing Faces” is a subtle Joni Mitchell/Annie Lennox declaration of devotion. The lyrics are sweet/the vocals are raw. It’s ideal.

Listen to Clare’s new demo here:

We started a feature in the fall about songs that matter. As Invisible Children Music, we mainly care about music that moves us.

This series seeks to expose and explain the five songs that empower our individual supporters and staff. We featured Malika Quemarias and Jedidiah Jenkins, and we’re re-booting today with Alex Naser-Hall.

Alex is the current Artist Relations Communication fellow and has been at IC for (roughly) three years. He was raised in Kentucky, matriculated in Chicago, and confused in New York City. He has an addictive personality, and music obsession began early.

These are the five songs that matter to him and why.

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01. “The Good That Won’t Come Out” – Rilo Kiley

This song and this band and this album were everything to me in high school. I started listening to Rilo Kiley in the height of my angst, and I immediately connected with this track. It’s all about not living up to potential and the lies we tell ourselves to let us off the hook. I treat it as a cautionary tale and source of inspiration to not succumb to apathy.

02. “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” – Lauryn Hill

I first heard this song on a drive in the Rocky Mountains with my father during the summer before I entered high school. I had never listening to Lauryn Hill before, but I just randomly bought her album at Target. It’s now one of my favorite albums of all time. No one expresses the truth like Miss Hill – even today. This song is always a stand-out to me. I tend to gravitate towards songs that have a “middle fingers blazing” vibe of self-awareness and realization. This is that in a really beautiful ballad form.

03. “Pull My Heart Away” – Jack Peñate

I’ve been a huge fan of Jack Peñate since his track “Torn On the Platform,” but this is the one song of his I’d take on a desert island. I was in a bit of a life crisis in the spring of 2011 when I was deciding what I wanted to do with the rest of my summer/fall/spring/life. I got in a car at the beginning of an eight-hour trip with the intention to move back to Chicago and finish my degree. At the end of the trip, I was resolute in staying in San Diego and going after a job. “Pull My Heart Away” is all about putting things in their place and not staying just to re-live what used to be. I still re-visit this track every time I’m making a big life decision.

04. “Selfmachine” – I Blame Coco

Again, I’m drawn to a song about self-realization and empowerment. My college experience was brief and pretty unbearable, and this song helped me be okay with that and realize the power I have in changing things I don’t like. I guess you could say this was my anthem for dropping out. Sorry, parents.

05. “Waltz” – Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple just gets my pseudo-dark soul. This is far and away her most uplifting track, though. I needed this my senior year of high school when I was beyond ready to graduate. “Waltz” encouraged a calm that I desperately needed. A lyric from this might have been my yearbook quote (it was).

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Read our other features on: Malika Quemerias // Jedidiah Jenkins

Top photo by Chadwick Gantes

It’s quite difficult to be at the office currently as we are overcome with sadness that our spring interns are no longer here. Alas, we must carry on. Here is this week’s collection of tunes we’re feeling. We’ll dedicate this set to the Invisible Children Spring 2013 interns. We <3 you.

Launch the mix [HERE] and be sure, as we always moan on about, to support the artists.

01. SMALLPOOLS – “Dreamers” :: Summery guitar riffs galore on this cut from new band Smallpools.

02. JOSH WELLER – “I Forgot To Tell You You’re Beautiful” :: Breezy track/brutal lyrics. We have serious love for Josh Weller, so we’re happy to have all this new music coming.

03. ELIOT GRACE – “Rebecka” :: I haven’t been able to get this song off my mind. It’s pure 80s power pop that is begging to be in a soundtrack to a film about lovers who finally re-connect after years apart. I’ve developed some “really beautiful” vocal harmonies to this song, so expect my remix soon.

04. RUEN BROTHERS – “Walk Like A Man” :: We can’t say the whole “Johnny Cash/Phil Spector/Black Keys” thing enough. These two brothers from The UK have the most unique sound.

05. MAYER HAWTHORNE FEAT. JESSIE WARE – “Her Favorite Song” :: I saw “Jessie Ware” attached to this track, so it’s an immediate favorite.

06. GLITCHES – “Only Time Will Tell” :: Sneaky contender for early anthem of summer 2013 here.

07. MIKKY EKKO – “Disappear” (Demo) :: Mikky’s been on our radar for a year or so, so we were beyond pleased when he blew up with his Rihanna song “Stay.” In anticipation of his forthcoming debut record, he shared this demo last week. If this is what he considers a “demo,” then we’re all going to be blown away by the “studio” cuts.

08. SOLANGE FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR – “Looks Good With Trouble” :: It’s no hidden fact that we are into everything Solange does. I’d say that the original version of this track was a highlight off her EP, but everything was a highlight. Kendrick Lamar hops on this new edit to add his casual flow.

Ghost Beach will be joining The Jane Doze and Noah Gundersen as special musical performers at the Fourth Estate Summit this August in Los Angeles.

The duo from New York City, comprised of Josh Ocean and Eric “Doc” Mendelsohn, have built serious buzz based off their electro-pop singles and energetic live shows. We’ve been fans of the band for a couple years now, and they DJed a MOVE:DC after-party for our staff that went (quite successfully) off.

Our confidence that Ghost Beach will provide a highlight of the three-day conference is very strong. Their 80s vibes with modern synths combine for a dance-party-ready sound that will be glorious.

Get the Ghost Beach feel with their track “Miracle:”

MORE DETAILS | VIDEO TEASER

The Keep A Breast Foundation and Invisible Children have been nonprofit BFF’s for years. It was a relationship galvanized on Warped Tour that (uncommon to other bonds people form on the summer festival which we love so dearly) has actually been beneficial and long-lasting.

The Keep A Breast Foundation™ is the leading youth-focused, global, nonprofit breast cancer organization. Their mission is to eradicate breast cancer for future generations. They provide support programs for young people impacted by cancer and educate people about prevention, early detection, and cancer-causing toxins in our everyday environment.

We asked Shaney Jo Darden, Founder/Global CEO of The Keep A Breast Foundation, to answer some quick questions about her organization and their partnership with Invisible Children for this summer’s Fourth Estate Summit.

When was the moment that Keep A Breast went from being just an idea to being a full-on organization? What were the motivating factors? And what led to the start of Non-Toxic Revolution?

When I decided to leave my great, full-time job as a denim designer for Sole Technology (etnies, Emerica, Altamont) and work full-time without a paycheck on Keep A Breast was when things got real and KAB became a full-on nonprofit organization. I had saved up just enough money to live for one year without an income, and let me say it was rough! However, I knew that if I could really focus on what my heart was telling me to do, I could make it work and eventually afford to pay myself and grow the organization to be able to hire others who could help to fulfill our mission of cancer prevention. It had become clear that Keep A Breast was more than an art project; it was a movement that was organically spreading and gaining support because the information was so valued and needed for young people.

We started the Non-Toxic Revolution program when I had started to research the environmental links to cancer. I was surprised at the amount of toxins we are exposed to in our everyday life! I read every study I could find but unfortunately most of them were written by scientists using words I didn’t know. The information was really tough to understand and left me frustrated. Not knowing how to take the facts and make changes in my own life, I decided that it was our job to help get his information to young people, and we did! NTR makes this dense, scientific data easy to read, easy to understand, fun, cool, and most importantly, it empowers young people to become activists and to bring the information into their own lives, families, and communities so that they can live a healthy, cancer-free life for years to come!

In this generation, much like every other generation that has come before now, there are activists – those that are passionate about change and people that are willing to dedicate their lives to something they believe in. I think the generation of young people today has more tools and resources than I did to make social change and philanthropic efforts more successful and widespread. I’m 40 years old so when I was a teenager I had a lemonade stand in my neighborhood and donated the money to the local animal shelter. We didn’t have the internet, cellphones, Twitter, instagram etc…at that time the extent of my reach was my hand-painted sign and everyone driving down my street that could see it. Times have changed in such a short period of time and it’s so awesome to see young people so passionate about giving back!

The A Team is a grassroots street team that uses social networks to spread the word about KAB’s mission, programs, and initiatives. Powered by word-of-mouth marketing technology Fancorps. The A Team turns awareness into action! Team members share KAB information with friends, family, and neighbors online as well as at the coffee shop, in school, at work, and anywhere awareness is needed. The A Team relies on member participation to brainstorm new activities, create forums, and develop new ideas for the A Team and Keep A Breast. The biggest success was their ability to help us place top 10 of the Chase Giving Awards and win $10,000!

I believe that there is no being at the top, there is no winner, and it’s not a competition. My life is about service and following my heart to make this world a better place. I want to do that with friends and have fun and smile along the way. KAB, NTR and The Fourth Estate is all about the greater good, uplifting individuals, our communities and our spirits.

Sharing ideas and sharing the wealth. No one wins alone, we all win together.

Keep A Breast and NTR are honored to have been asked to be included in The Fourth Estate this year. We look up to and admire all the other organizations involved. Honestly my goal is to be there to educate and give as much as we can to the attendees. My team and I will be there with open minds and hearts and are excited to learn from others and the experience.

The core of Keep A Breast lies in our face-to-face educational component of our “traveling education booth.” It’s so important and vital for us to have opportunities to interact and educate young people face-to-face.

Attendees of the Common Good Exchange will have the opportunity to participate in our real-time photo booth as well as engage in some of our NON TOXIC DIY activities.

MORE DETAILS | VIDEO TEASER

Louisa Rose Allen, more known as Foxes, has been having a VERY LARGE year; She released some impressive pop nuggets in 2012. Both “Youth” and “White Coats” were on strong repeat in our office, and we ate up everything else she touched as well.

Then, she hopped on lead vox of a song by Russian-German wunderkind Zedd and exploded worldwide. “Clarity” has been remixed and reworked in numerous ways, and they’re all mint thanks to Foxes’s soaring vocals. She’s also currently featured as a vocalist on two massive albums – Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock And Roll and Rudimental’s Home.

In her off-time from being a sought-after hook songstress, she is working on material to include in her still upcoming debut full-length album. Thus, her latest offering – “Beauty Queen.”

It’s a dark song that starts off a bit “Light My Fire,” which is wonderful. The video is the perfect representation of the track with a lot of models falling and some appropriate Disney clips scattered in.

Watch the video for “Beauty Queen” here:

We’re very honored/excited to announce that we have been chosen to premiere an exclusive clip from our film with La Blogotheque at this year’s Mountain Film Festival in Telluride. We have an official name for the film now, and we’re ready to get the ball rolling on showing the world the doc about our supporter-funded trip to Uganda with The Polyphonic Spree and The Very Best.

Invisible Children Artist Relations Director Kenny Laubbacher will debut an excerpt from the film at the renowned festival taking place May 24 – 27.

Read Kenny’s updates from the trip [HERE] and [HERE] and return here for updated information the international film release.