Making Tracks past participant performs at Breakfast Event

February 11, 2016April 27, 2016Leave a comment

This morning we ran a special breakfast event to raise awareness about our ‪Music in Prisons ‬work and how it connects to our community programmes Making Tracks and Sounding Out, presented by our Artistic Director Sara Lee. The event was kindly supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers at the wonderful social enterprise bistro Brigade (on Tooley Street) – big thanks to them for providing the venue and laying on a fantastic spread of breakfast goodies.

Special thanks to Helen and Gary from Making Tracks and Sounding Out respectively, who gave a beautiful acoustic rendition of Helen’s song ‘Origami Hearts’.

Hear a full band version of Helen’s song ‘Origami Hearts’ below;

Making Tracks at Pop Brixton, Helen and TruStar

Making Tracks gig tomorrow; mentor’s blog

January 20, 2016Leave a comment

It takes real guts to sing in front of people. This week, former participant Helen is returning to MakingTracks as a mentor, helping a new, nervous cohort of young people as they prepare for the gig tomorrow (St Marks, opposite Oval station, 7pm).

As she explains, it’s a big deal for the young people even to turn up for the sessions, let alone to sing in front of each other, or to an audience!

“We all face challenges and trials in our life. Sometimes I forget just how scary it was performing for the first time in front of people. I’ve been working with a young person who has extremely low confidence, and I’m suddenly reminded of the first time I ever sang in front of someone. I used to be so scared of it, I never told people I liked music.

“He really wants to perform in a track, but is struggling to rehearse in front of the band. I really feel for him because I can see how much he wants to, but can’t right now.

“If you come and watch the gig on Thursday, please be mindful that some of the biggest challenges the young people are facing this week aren’t just the gig. For some people, they struggled to turn up to sessions, and even perform in front of the band. It’s a really daunting experience, but I can already see confidence levels improving, people stepping out and pushing themselves. They are all really trying and focused and I can’t wait for the gig!” Helen, Making Tracks mentor

Join us to support and celebrate the young people on Thursday 21st January 2016 at St Marks, Kennington (opposite Oval station) at 7pm.

Listen the the album created on the previous Making Tracks project below:

Making Tracks at Pop Brixton

November 30, 2015April 27, 2016Leave a comment

We’ve said it before, but once again we’re extremely proud of the young people who have taken part on the Making Tracks programme. They made last Thursday’s event at Pop Brixton really special, both with their superb musical performances and their open and heartfelt speeches about how the programme had affected them.

Primarily the event was a showcase opportunity for three Making Tracks alumni, Helen, Nirobi and Terell (aka Paradox) who have all completed the programme and then returned to assist further groups of young people as a Making Tracks mentor. As well as being very musically talented, the commitment they have each shown to helping others has been admirable. It was lovely to have such a big and appreciative audience filling the Pop Box ready to enjoy the show.

The MC for the whole evening was the brilliant Terell (aka Paradox). He did a fantastic job of keeping everything running smoothly. The Making Tracks alumni performed six original songs, including a new whole-group track, Ghost, which brought the evening to a rapturous close. The audience were clearly very impressed by all the music and made it known with their applause and post-show tweets!

Assisting musically were two of our Sounding Out alumni, Gary and Adrian (aka Tru Star), Royal Academy of Music Open Academy student Sunshine, who provided some beautiful and inventive accompaniment on the harp, and Project Leader extraordinaire Emma. Our Personal Development Manager Hermione co-ordinated everything on the day and during rehearsals and Creative Programmes Manager Jake was responsible for all the planning.

Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of a ceremonial cheque by Andrew on behalf of the Promenader’s Musicial Charities, for their allocation of donations given by this year’s generous Proms goers, to support upcoming Music in Prisons projects. Our thanks to Andrew for coming along – the audience loved seeing the big cheque.

Thanks also to St Mark’s Church for providing rehearsal space and Pop Box Brixton the performance venue. The staff at Pop Brixton were very helpful and friendly and the Pop Box proved a marvellous platform for the young people to display their talent.

Last but not least, thanks to everyone who came along to cheer on our Making Tracks stars!

Making Tracks album ‘Back in the Day’

August 25, 2015Leave a comment

The eighth cohort of young people on our ‘Making Tracks’ programme formed the band ‘Amazing Youth’ and created the album ‘Back in the Day’ – which they performed live at St Mark’s Kennington in June 2015.

Listen to all six original tracks performed live below:

The ‘Amazing Youth’ band; Bonnie, Jess, Holly, Jordan, Reginald, Edward, with ‘Making Tracks’ mentor Helen.

Supported by ‘Royal College of Music Open Academy Trainee Lorena, ‘Sounding Out’ support musician Gary, and Irene Taylor Trust project team Charles, Rex and Rob.

The project was run in partnership with the Prince’s Trust Fairbridge Programme Kennington and kindly supported by the National Foundation for Youth Music, Lloyds Bank Foundation, the Walcot Foundation and Wates Foundation.

CD sleeve artwork by Steph Ramplin:

Making Tracks project Day 4 – performance time!

June 18, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

The pre-gig anticipation:

As it happened…

The post-gig reviews…

Making Tracks project Day 3

June 17, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

The ‪‎MakingTracks band have created 4 cracking tracks to perform in the gig tomorrow (7pm, St Marks church, Kennington – opposite Oval tube station). Our Personal Development Manager Hermione caught up with Edward this morning to ponder the importance of music!

H: Why is music important to you?

“Music is important to me in my life because it’s entertainment. It is something that I can listen to when I’m bored or feeling sad or just feeling horrible. I can just listen to music to help me feel better. So, I think music is very important in our lives because it just helps us feel better.”

H: What’s it like being part of a band?

“Well, it’s actually different because you have to put in a lot of work and you have to stay focused because you’re the one setting up goals and trying to accomplish it. You’re actually doing your own creative work. It’s satisfying. It’s something you can be proud of.”

H: Why should people come to the gig tomorrow?

“I think it’s something new to see and it’s just an experience that they can look up to and just admire.”

Making Tracks project Day 2

June 16, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

The wonderful Helen has returned as a mentor this week and will be giving a special performance in Thursday’s gig alongside Gary (Sounding Out) and Lorena (Open Academy Trainee).

Here is what she had to say about the project so far:

“I am buzzing about the upcoming gig. There are some amazingly talented people in this cohort and I can’t wait for people to be able to listen to the amazing tracks!

I’m so lucky that I’ve been able to come back and mentor on this project, as Making Tracks is a massive part of my life. The only thing I struggle with is that they don’t happen more often!”

Making Tracks project day 1

June 15, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

Our eighth Making Tracks project started today and here is the moment where Holly, seen here with Helen (Making Tracks mentor) and Lorena (Open Academy Trainee), realised she had found the perfect line for her song!

Hermione spoke to her at the end of the day:

ITT: How did it go today, Holly?
Holly: I think today was amazing and I think I made it stronger with my voice. I can see how much higher I can go and what other talents I can use with my voice and I can obviously use it for the future.

ITT: How are you feeling about the gig?
Holly: Really excited – like REALLY excited!

ITT: What do you think people will think of the songs you’ve created?
Holly: They might get emotional or they might want to get up there and dance with us!

Please come along and support (and dance with!) the young people this coming Thursday, June 18th at 7pm. St Mark’s Kennington is opposite Oval tube.

One week until Making Tracks project

June 11, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

Only a week to go before the next Making Tracks gig. Hermione, our Personal Development Manager, has been to meet some of the young people involved prior to the intensive project and sent back this report…

“Excitement is building ahead of the big gig next week! Here’s a sneak peek of some lyrics created by new band recruits today:

“Where’s the kindness gone?
We’re meant to say hello
Community’s what matters
But here the story goes.”

Come along and see how these lyrics develop and support a group of fantastic and brave young people in what is likely to be their first public performance! Thursday 18th June, 7pm, St Mark’s, Kennington, SE11 4PW. Opposite Oval station.