CANBERRA has a lively new vocal group, the Australian Voice Collective, and they’re launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for their first concert.

“Still, We Rise,” says Paul Bissett, the artistic co-director and co-founder of the collective with Rachel Campbell.

Bissett says it will be “an innovative show combining live music, film and spoken word”.

The voice collective may only have been singing since October last year, but they’ve already released their first single “Seasons of Love”, while their second, “Lovely Blue Sky”, arranged especially for the group by former Canberra Artist of the Year, Peter J Casey, will be released next month.

Bissett says the group will also perform in the “Fearless Comedy Gala” in September, which will raise money for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service.

The main project ahead, however, is “Still, We Rise”, to be performed in November.

Telling a story of hope and protest, Bissett says: “It explores the idea that every voice, no matter how small, can make a change, and how voices united are unstoppable.”

The show will follow a loose narrative about trying, failing, succeeding and never giving up in the face of social injustice and will include pop, rock and songs composed especially for the collective.

But it will have a unique angle.

Bissett is also a well-known filmmaker, so he’s incorporating spoken word and short films, projected onto multiple screens.

But it’s not musical theatre in the traditional sense, they say: “Rather than having characters with conflict and dialogue, it’s about creating a feeling. The film element of the show will be a big part of evoking that feeling in our audience.”

The Australian Voice Collective has launched a Pozible campaign to help fund “Still, We Rise”, running until September 5. Pledges to pozible.com