Assume the missionary position, press play and listen closely as DC Collard screws with your mind; from the tropical fever of his childhood to the predatory psychedelia of his adolescence to the melodious malingering of his manhood. It’s quite some journey and he’s just about lived to tell his tale!
—Matt Johnson 
Matt is the singer and songwriter of The The, a quality musician and mentor.

Fresh from a comeback world tour with British group The The, DC Collard has released a solo album that grapples with the demons of his past, as a child of British missionaries. Musically the album has the complex sound and sheer style that Collard brings to his music. But what gives this album its bite is DC’s passion. 

On A Mission is about the betrayal of childhood. It’s intensely personal, chronicling the grief and alienation of enforced separations that mission educators demanded, under their claims of God’s will. Half a century later Collard’s album speaks for a wider audience: these are songs for lost children. 

And he’s mad as hell. “Your mission statement is all out of date, mate,” he begins. And then he gets really cross. 

Collard went to a mission boarding school in the spectacular mountain jungles of Malaysia when he was five. Then when he was nine he flew to Britain—he calls it “a journey of deceit”—to go to a UK boarding school, his parents a world away. 

The album itself is a journey, from the pain and joy of his time in the jungle—the White Witch Jungle Stomp celebrates the fearsome cloud that besieged the school—to the deadening times that followed in Britain and the years that followed (Kansas City Blue). 

It’s bitter sweet, made bearable by the grace notes DC adds: the sounds of the Asian jungle, the monkey cups, butterflies and recurrent motif of the prowling tiger with which DC had his own connection. 

Collard’s virtuosity as a keyboard player makes this all look easy. It’s an album from someone at the top of their game. 

This is music that needs to be played at volume. The message needs to be even louder. 

(Full disclosure: Neil Chenoweth attended Chefoo School with DC Collard, and had a punch-up with him when they were both six). 
—Neil Chenoweth 
Neil is an investigative journalist and published author living in Sydney. 

DC Collard’s On A Mission paints an absorbing picture of childhood’s vivid experiences with a musical palette rich in diversity. Not merely a collection of songs but focussed on a personal journey of acceptance since then. The range of his ambition is equally matched by his virtuosity; it’s no easy task to play all the instruments oneself, but he achieves it with envious ease.  Well Done, DC. 
—Roger Glover 
Roger is a producer and songwriter. He also plays bass guitar for Deep Purple. 

Set within the frame of classic Beatles, Larry Norman, Pink Floyd along with a healthy dose of Blues woven with oriental undertones, and set inside Narnia imagery, this concept album takes you on a journey of painful realizations. There is enough light tones within the dark threads to grant some sense of balance, hope bleeding through the wounds of Mission.
—Wm Paul Young 
Paul is author of The Shack and a number of other acclaimed novels. He is also a child of missionaries. 

There’s something that fascinates me about records made with one artist playing most of the instruments - the journey from the ideas’ beginning to completion. And with an album that tells a story as personal this, I couldn’t imagine it being done any other way. Some impressive guitar work too from a keyboard master. 
—Barrie Cadogan 
Barrie is a top British guitar player and the lead singer of Little Barrie. 

I was fortunate enough to receive a pre-release copy of DC’s new Album project, and I must say I was not only pleasantly surprised but quite taken aback with the outcome. 

This is an absolute masterpiece and a ‘true’ solo (in every sense of the word, being DC performed all of the instruments and the vocals and narration) album, which has already and will continue to receive critical acclaim. 

A brilliantly dark distinct yet “English” Floyd-esque flavour flows over and throughout this project, and the intrinsic harmony structures inbred into our psyche by the Beatles etc are all present here to soothe the soul. 

DC’s affiliation with legends, in particular The The, would know him internationally as keyboard virtuoso and musical director but . . . I must add (being a bit of a guitar player myself) that his guitar work and tones on this album are delicious.  

Comment: Mission Accomplished! 

*For those history buffs the common denominator for DC and myself from back-in-the-day was his band JoBoxers of which I am very proud to have produced their award winning debut album “Like Gangbusters”. 
—Alan Shacklock 
Alan is the guitarist and a founding member of Babe Ruth. He has produced many artists over the years, including Mike Oldfield, Jeff Beck and Roger Daltrey. 

DC and I shared a similar dislocated childhood, the sons of people who worked abroad. This record resonates with me lyrically, and I very much admire his skill as a very tasteful multi-instrumentalist in bringing these songs to life, without a single trace of musical over-indulgence. 

The word ‘journey’ is overused; ‘trip’ would describe this record in a much better way. It takes you slowly and deliberately from one place, through several themes, to another, never losing it’s own thread, or it’s own singular sound. 

I always loved records that sounded like they were made at the same time and in the same place, and this is one of those. 

Beautiful. 
—James Eller 
James is a world-renowned bass player, composer and producer based in the UK. 

DC Collard is on a mission – in this very, very personal album he takes us with him on a journey revisiting the often-painful memories of events that have had a major impact on his life. There are no easy solutions or quick-fixes in this album. DC Collard does not compromise – He reveals himself not only as a formidable musical virtuoso, but also as a sensitive artist. There is poetic vulnerability in the heart-rending lyrics emphasized excellently by the music. It is a very intense album and deserves to be listened to carefully. 
—Kirsten Leed 
Kirsten lives in Denmark and is significantly responsible for reconnecting DC with his past through a private facebook group, which in part led to the creation of this album. 

This is DC Collard's story but it's also the story of many of us involved in Chefoo Reconsidered. Of course, this isn't all of DC's story, there is much more to his life and his musical career, playing with a who's who of other musicians but known primarily for playing keys with The The. But in this solo recording, DC has captured his early years growing up in Asia, returning to the UK and the impact that multiple separations and loss had on him. 

Almost everyone who has lived has a story (or stories) of tragedy shattering innocence and DC has captured in music and song his particular story of innocence, of magic places, of heart-wrenching sorrow, of fear and loneliness and ultimately his search for health and wholeness, reconciliation and redemption. Those of us who grew up in Asia and attended Chefoo will recognize the jungle sounds, the thunderstorms, names of familiar places and references specific to our story but any child who has faced traumatic loss will perhaps find resonance and comfort in his words. 

The musical style varies - from The White Witch Jungle Stomp ear worm to the rollicking, upbeat toe tapping Kansas City Blue, many of the songs feature DC's fast fingers on the keys (do not miss Beware: Mission Statement.) Some of the melodies will stay with you after just one listen. 

The song that I suspect will grab many people as it affected me is Like a Child Crucified. This might be the dark center of this record and the hardest song to listen to but it's so so real...'Like a child crucified I buckle in my seat/On a plane to foreign lands on a journey of deceit/Like a child crucified I focus on the pain/then numb myself to everything so nothing hurts again.' DC asks the question that many of us asked when we were separated from our parents or returned to our passport countries, 'How am I supposed to live in this foreign land? How am I supposed to give with nothing in my hand?' and later screams, 'Mother how I miss you, Father where are you now?' 

DC has some opinions about the policies that brought about repeated early childhood separations ('Negligent, remiss, irresponsible, reckless, foolhardy' - from Careless Children) but in the end he shares his story and the listener gets to decide what to do with his conclusions ('You can decide which hand is for you, the dance is yours...' from The White Witch Jungle Stomp.) There are references to scripture and religious imagery in several songs and one specifically at the end that left me haunted and wondering, wanting to know more of DC's story and thinking about my own journey. 

Anyone who knows DC knows that he lives generously and warmly with arms open wide for embrace. In this musical offering DC has embraced his story, putting words to his emotions and experiences that are often so hard to name and then inviting the listener to reflect on his or her own story. He has offered us a gift and an opportunity to travel with him on a journey from heartbreak to hope - but a hope that does not ignore the pain and scars and is not neatly and tidily wrapped up. It's real, authentic and been playing on repeat in my house. 
—Duncan Wilson 
Duncan is a psychologist based in Washington, DC. 

Very evocative and personal! Beautifully crafted melodies and rhythms, with haunting calls from the jungle. For me as a Chefusian, it seemed like a chronological narrative of childhood discipline and Asian flair stripped away in an emotional pedocide by the transition to the strange West, followed by an irresistible urge back to the roots of life. Then the Chefoo Reconsidered process of disappointment with the Mission but of unquenchable hope and longing, even for faith. Vision 2022 I interpret as hoping that the lease will be extended. And the ending is a wavering mix of cynicism and faith. 

I like the different genres of music, from the likes of Lou Reed and the Beatles to some punk and a smooth boogie bar piano, a sprinkle of Lennon's Mother and the seven words from the cross. 

Sometimes you feel cold fingers at your throat and sometimes righteous wrath, but then again also soothing relief and joy. 
—Anders Stenback 
Anders is an ordained minister serving the Swedish community in Phuket, Thailand. 

DC Collard’s illustrious musical career has largely been as an integral part of a band, ensemble or well-known record company artist, so it’s fantastic to finally hear and enjoy an album that solely and wholly belongs to him. 

The author cleverly takes us through an autobiographical musical journey which has echoes of Pink Floyd, 10cc and even some David Bowie. The opening track introduces us to the White Witch and it’s euphemisms, a local nickname for an ethereal mist which nestles eerily and beautifully in between the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia. This is a wonderful concept album about a youth and his experience, wonders and traumas of being a missionary kid in the 60’s. Full of musical parable and allegory, often times hard-hitting, pulling very few punches as in Like a Child Crucified. 

There is brilliant stuff on this album and every track is vastly different, yet none seem out of place and tie together beautifully from powerful heartbreaking ballads like End of the Tunnel to the wonderful Kansas City Blue, a great blues/funk track with great horn parts that had me smiling and immediately replaying it. The album comes full circle and ends with the way it began: a White Witch and some hauntingly played piano notes . . . 

DC has incorporated the instruments and pathos of his beloved Malaysia whilst relaying the pain that couldn’t be ignored on his journey. 

Great songs, well played, well produced, the album deserves repeated listens and lots of exposure! 

I cannot recommend it strongly enough! 
—Richard Lane 
Richard is a singer-songwriter, musician, producer, who spent many years honing his craft in Singapore before finally relocating to Southern England.