Charlie McGee

Formidable Vegetable Sound System – Australia, International

Charlie McGee is the most famous permaculture singer in the world as a ukulele-strumming ecological troubadour. He independently founded the band, Formidable Vegetable Sound System, which is sowing the garden of our minds with the seeds of change to ‘turnip the beets’ for people, plants and the planet. They are dedicated to inspire local action for global issues and now find themselves firmly planted in the fertile soils of the growing regenerative movements worldwide. The ideas behind many Formidable Vegetable’s songs have been inspired by Charlie’s early upbringing in remote indigenous communities and subsequent off-grid life in the bush, as well as  drawing heavily from aspects of the permaculture movement.

Charlie grew up in an off-grid mud brick shack among trees, chickens and a veggie garden, later graduating to a waste vegetable oil powered fire truck he converted to a tiny house. His TEDx talk about how to make the world a more regenerative, diverse and fun place through writing fun songs with purpose reflects his passion for communicating complex information in entertaining ways, which is something that ancient cultures have done for thousands of years.

Inspiring minds young and old with songs about simple solutions for living a good life. Working tirelessly through bushfires and pandemic lockdowns, the band has gone next level with their commitment to making the world a better, kinder and healthier place through funky, family-friendly tunes for raising awareness and grassroots action around ecological & social issues. No strangers to the international festival circuit, Formidable Vegetable have toured to more than 20 countries over the past decade and even received praise from the United Nations, who hailed their song ‘You Are What You Eat’ as the official soundtrack to the International Year of Soils. 

But since their groundbreaking decision in 2019 to stop flying (and according to the BBC, become the first band in the world to turn down the opportunity to perform at Glastonbury due to the ecological impact of international travel) the band has been finding new ways of using their unique brand of musical activism to compost the problems of the world and grow community-scale solutions in their place.

Formidable Vegetable certainly walks the walk of sustainability and regenerative living wherever they can on the road and at home, lighting the way for other ecologically minded folks to do the same.

Location: Australia

Organization: Formidable Vegetable Sound System, Grow Do It

Website:
1) http://formidablevegetable.com.au/
2) https://www.growdoit.org

Video 1: Yield Song
Video 2: Live Performance
Video 3: TED Talk