Spot familiar places in Derbyshire on Lexi Whiteside's video for her Hippy Song?

Lexi said: “The Hippy Song was a birthday present to myself. Having gigged around the world, the song has always made people smile with the tongue in cheek lyrics so I thought why not release it and see if we can make a few more people smile.”

She chose the Peak District to shoot the video, visiting such beauty spots as Rowter Rocks in Birchover, Monsal Head, Lumsdale and Two Dales in a chauffeur driven VW camper van owned by a Chesterfield based company which hires the vehicle out for weddings.

Lexi wrote the Hippy Song when she was just 12 years old. She said: “I used to play the song in my first band called The Originals, a band which formed at Brookfield School in approximately 2004. When the song was originally played, it was a lot more aggressive and had more of a punk sound. The genre of the Hippy Song is alternative indie; the sound is heavily influenced by music from the Mod & New Wave era, in particular, The Jam with a busy bass line & Welleresque guitars.

"The song has finally been recorded by Glenn Birks at his recording studio, The Catford Studios in Brimington. It hasn’t been reworked since it was first played but the sound/production is a lot more refined. The song features Glenn on bass too. Glenn is the bassist in local bands The Nutty Boys and Rattus Inheritus (The Stranglers cover band). Glenn also filmed and produced the official music video.

"Songwriting is something I have always loved to do but I was too scared to release music. 2023 is the year I decided to stop letting fear prevent me from pursuing my dreams.”

The Hippy Song was released at the end of July, a month after the official video had been posted to YouTube so Lexi decided to make an unofficial video to coincide with the song’s launch. She said: “This consists of many local faces saying “I want to be a Hippy” including Fonz Tramontano, Aaron Brown (The WonderWhys), Richard Dilks and Glenn Birks (Nutty Boys), as well as, local Elastic FM radio presenters.The opening of the video had to feature my grandma, local legend Peggy Whiteside who is no longer with us but was renowned for spreading kindness and joy. The video also includes people from all around the world. I wanted to create a video that brings people together and for people to have fun getting involved with the release.

"The unofficial video was inspired by this famous quote "Music has no borders, no race or color, no limits of country, no ethnicity. Music makes the people come together” - Pope Benedict XVI. The chorus of the Hippy Song includes the lyrics “I want World Peace and Harmony”.

Lexi, who is from Brampton, Chesterfield spends a lot of time travelling and is currently on an adventure that would satisfy any aspiring hippy’s wanderlust…..”I am currently backpacking around Australia; I feel so incredibly lucky,” she said.