Music producers Mark Ronson and Madlib have collaborated with Sprite, Fresca, and Seagram’s to make “clear” music from recycling sounds and beverage bottles.
These two artists created the “Recycled Records” project by chopping, looping, and distorting sounds from the sorting of clear PET bottles to when preforms made from recycled plastic are blown into new bottles to be filled.
These sounds were used as basslines, snare drum sounds, and other pieces of the audio puzzle to make a versatile collection of seven tracks.
There are four facilities capturing ambient sound: WestRock in Atlanta, Ga., Indorama Ventures in Fontana, Calif, Southeastern Container in Enka, NC, and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling in Downey, California.
Madlib explains that “a great sample doesn’t have to come from other music, it just has to make you move.”
“The thud of a plastic bottle going through a recycling facility is, in its own way, a piece of art, it has the ability to transform,” added Madlib.
“Being able to take sounds from the recycling process that are so different from what I’ve used in the past, and flipping it into a whole new format, is a great example of the versatility of sound. Now any cat has the opportunity to make some dope sounds of their own.”
Ronson also shared that “sampling is an art form which is constantly regenerating.”
“The tiniest sound, whether from an old record or from the world around us, can inspire an entire piece of music. I learnt from my heroes, DJ Premier and Q-Tip, who all made incredible albums from sampling… and it’s stayed an integral part of my work up until today.”
Consumers can access the “Recycled Records” EP and produce their own “clear” music by remixing a library of recycled sounds.
The project also marks the brand’s significant switch from green bottles to clear PET packaging, helping to reach The Coca-Cola Company’s World Without Waste sustainable packaging vision, which makes 100 per cent of packaging recyclable globally by 2025, cut down virgin PET use by 3 million metric tons by 2025, and use only 50 per cent of recycled content to make bottles and cans by 2030.
- Recommended reading: Sweet success: Coca-Cola helps convert CO2 emissions into sugar.
