Music memorabilia by members of The National, IDLES and more are going up for auction to raise funds for the Tiny Changes mental health charity. Find out more information below.
Tiny Changes was set up in memory of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, who died by suicide in May 2018 after battling depression. It was launched by the late musician’s family – his brother and Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant, brother Neil and his parents.
Its name was inspired by a lyric from Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 song ‘Heads Roll Off’ (“While I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to Earth”), and it aims to improve the mental health of children and young people, with Hutchison’s family explaining that they hoped to continue “the positive impact that his art and music had on so many people”.
Now, famous faces across the indie world have joined forces to raise money for the charity, and donated various pieces of memorabilia to an upcoming auction.
Among the items hitting the auction block are two personal lyric books donated by Matt Berninger from The National. The two cover works are seen in the ‘Cherry Tree’ EP and the band’s ‘Alligator’ album, and neither has ever been seen publicly before.
IDLES’ Adam Devonshire has also donated a Fender American Jazz bass to the cause, which has also been signed by him. Find out more about the bass here.
Other items include an ‘All Hell’ test-pressing by Los Campesinos! – this was the copy owned by frontman Gareth David, and marks the first time the band have ever made a test-pressing available. It also features a hand-written tracklist by the vocalist.
Handwritten lyrics by Frank Carter are also up for grabs, and see the singer write out the lyrics to ‘A Wave Across A Bay’ – the track written by Cater in honour of Hutchison.
Elsewhere there is an Arab Strap original painting and LP bundle at the auction, as well as a round of golf with Bobby Bluebell & John Colquhoun, a pair of adult weekend tickets to the now-sold-out End of the Road Festival, a framed portrait of Hutchison, a one-to-one songwriting workshop from Billy Kennedy and more.
All prizes can be found here, and there is also a raffle taking place that includes many other prizes. Visit here to find out more.
In founding the charity, Hutchison’s family aimed to help support children and young people struggling with mental health. They also announced a national small grants programme in 2021, called the Make Tiny Changes Fund. Per the organisation’s official website, it “supports innovative ideas with up to £10,000”.
“Funded projects will make tiny changes towards equality and mental health for young people in Scotland,” the post read at the time. “We can only do that with your help. If you have an idea that will help young minds feel better and address inequality in Scotland, we’d like to hear it.
“We invest in new and existing projects. We fund research and support innovation that will improve young people’s mental health.”
The year prior, Hutchison’s brother and Frightened Rabbit bandmate Grant spoke to NME about the work of the Tiny Changes charity.
“Young people need a lot of help and attention, and it’s something that affects almost everybody. Not every young person will suffer from poor mental health, but our approach is a preventative one. We want to give them the tools and the skills to deal with it, even when they’re at a point when they don’t need them,” he said.
“The lack of understanding is the main thing I’ve been surprised by. I haven’t suffered in the same way that Scott did or in the way that a lot of the people that we will be helping have, and it’s an almost impossible thing to wrap your head around if you haven’t felt those emotions – but, it doesn’t take a lot to try and empathise, even if you can’t fully comprehend it.”
Grant also went on to highlight the aims of the charity, and outline how they aspire to overcome the issues often faced by those wanting to reach out for advice.
“When anyone, young or old, gets to a point where they want to try and find help, it’s just not easy. Expecting someone struggling with their mental health to just pick up a phone might even be too much – let alone filling out a form and see several different people. That’s going to be exhausting. The lack of instant help for people who might not be in immediate crisis really needs to change.”
He added: “Even though we’ve all been that age, what children and young people can teach us as adults is impossible to learn from anywhere else. Myself, mum and Neil are not mental health experts, so it’s important for us to take on board what people with lived experience and want to change things have to say. From the very beginning, we’ve set out that we are here to listen.”
Last year, the family of the late singer announced the release of a book containing his artwork and illustrations. It came after they collected the late frontman’s lyrics and artwork together for the first time in a book titled The Work in 2021– described by the surviving members of Frightened Rabbit as “a tribute to Scott’s unbridled creativity”.
Titled Living In Colour: The Art Of Scott Hutchison – the project celebrated the idiosyncratic, darkly comic, acerbic and romantic imagination of the frontman by presenting his illustrations, Frightened Rabbit artwork, sketches for fans, work from his time at Glasgow School Of Art and “everything in between”.
“We always had it in mind, especially after the unexpected success of The Work, but it’s always something I felt should exist,” Scott’s brother and Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant Hutchison told NME last August.
“We always knew that Scott was just as much an illustrator as he was a musician and a lyricist,” added renowned album designer DLT (Dave Thomas) – who worked with Hutchison across Frightened Rabbit artwork. “There was all this stuff that I’d talked to him in the past; things like making a visual book. This was something we always wanted to do and a no-brainer.”
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