As we journey out of winter, it’s worth looking in the rear-view mirror at the many things we’ve learned during a prolonged lockdown period.
With the government laying down this new ‘Road Map,’ we at AudioActive are mapping a route of our own back to normality, bringing with us a new appreciation for virtual technology and an eagerness to get back to face-to-face work with young people across Sussex.
From new music to new projects, you’ll find it all in this quarterly newsletter.
“Being able to connect is so important, it’s brilliant we can still make music together virtually. The young people have been really flexible and open to trying new things- our tutors are multi-talented and just superb and really care about what they do. We can’t wait to return to face to face but we have made real-life magic happen through our virtual meetups.” - Jo Bates, Project Co-ordinator
Online, on the phone, on the beat…
Throughout what was at times a very harsh winter, there was some comfort to be found in the regularity of our online sessions. It may be harder to get young people into a Zoom call than into a glitzy music studio, but the lack of sound barriers and the opportunity get more one-to-one attention from our Music Leaders has been a big positive.
(Thursday night’s EQUALISER ONLINE in full swing)
That said, we’re well aware of how intimidating an unknown video conference can be for young people and perhaps even more poignantly, we know that not every young person has access to the technology needed to take part. So weekly phone calls, touching base in an informal way, has been another way that our practitioners have stayed in touch with those who they would usually be making music with.
We’re optimistic and eager to get back to meeting up in person with young people once the time is right, and are adding a new weekly drop-in to the AudioActive line-up…
"AudioActive’s really good for people without money. I really appreciate what's been given to me with SHIFT and REBOOT too - I'd still be trying to work out how to use Garageband on my iPad and asking to borrow my dad's phone for recording." - A 12-year-old mentee
Introducing… VOCALISE.
Having run some successful pilots already, we’re delighted to launch a project that focusses on Young Women’s mental health: Vocalise.
It’s a weekly song and lyric writing session for young women with a focus on the positive effect that singing, rapping and making music can have on a young person’s mental wellbeing. Those who attend the free sessions are encouraged to let it all out in a laid-back, women-only space.
The project will largely be led by two of our existing, experienced Music Leaders; Cate Ferris, who is still smashing it with her infectious work with our female-only music production session, Equaliser, and Marina Perryman, who is the Project Co-ordinator of our recently expanded Young Men’s mental health motive, Room to Rant.
Front page news in Worthing 👀
There was a familiar face on the front of Building Adur & Worthing recently, as the Worthing council’s magazine focussed on our ongoing work in the town.
We’ve got ambitious plans to do much more in Worthing, too, as our CEO Adam revealed in a Q&A interview: ‘We want to make something unique, a space where people can also drop in for a coffee and meet others, where there’ll be space for the odd intimate gig, selling records, like-minded music companies and multi-use project spaces to accommodate our work with young people and emerging artists.’
Young People aren’t the only ones learning… 🍎
With live gigs and even studio sessions on hold for the majority of winter, we were really keen to keep all of our Music Leaders working in these testing times. Running several training days proved to be a hit with all in attendance, as a collection of smiling rectangles took part online.
As always, it’s really exciting to see our roster of artists engage in youth work, sharing their knowledge with the next generation of local musicians. So much talent in one screen.
One of our Young Music Leaders said: “The best thing was interacting with all the other mentors and listening to everybody explaining how they approach sessions and the different ways things have worked for different Young People.”
Our SHIFT programme is growing!
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve got continuation funding for our long-running partnership with B&H Adolescent Services, SHIFT.
The next two-year project will see us broaden our existing programme to include young people who are experiencing poor mental health, insecurely housed and homeless young people, and young ex-offenders. We’re so grateful for the support of the National Foundation of Youth Music and Clock Tower Sanctuary in delivering this project as well.
New tracks EMERGE from dereck d.a.c. and Casper 🎵
As you may know already, we’re working with two really exciting young acts as part of EMERGE, our talent development programme supported by PRS Foundation. Both artists have released new singles recently, with d.a.c. sharing ‘dereckVsLIFE’ from a forthcoming debut LP…
…and Casper putting out Text Me Twice on the oh so esteemed label, Majestic Casual…
…exciting times.
United We Stream DJ Competition 🏆
Back in November, we launched a competition for young local DJs with United We Stream and Up 2 Scratch Academy. The #10MinuteMix contest was open to all under 25s in Sussex, with all entries being heard by our team of esteemed judges.
The three highest-rated submissions have now been announced and awarded some prizes to help them take their skills further… lookout for the outright winner on a United We Stream broadcast soon.
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