Young Producers blog: reaching the Crossroads

November 17, 2021Leave a comment

The Young Producers programme is all about supporting young people to curate a live music event to showcase young artists; the project was forced to take a hiatus in 2020 for obvious reasons – so we’re doubly excited to introduce our 2021 Young Producers: Demi, Mariana and Marleigh.

Join us at 7pm on Thursday 2^nd December for their event ‘Crossroads’ at beautiful music venue The Old Church (Stoke Newington, N16 9ES).

The event is FREE but please RSVP to projects@irenetaylortrust.com so we have an idea of expected numbers.

The Young Producers have jointly put together a blog below about their experiences so far…

Initially, Marleigh had a lot of different expectations for the project. He was surprised to find that the venue was already booked, but was thankful for the support and was looking forward to branching out his skills, always looking to develop himself as an artist and music producer.

Demi was excited about learning more of the marketing side of things and gaining experience to apply to her career as a DJ.

Session 1

The first session took place online, a first time for the Young Producers scheme, and was focused on creating an event initial idea and understanding the event timeline and our roles. After meeting everyone, we played an icebreaker exercise in which we were given a secret themed event which the other Young Producers had to guess from asking questions. We had to think about the target audience, location, venue, lighting, music, seating plan and more to work it out.

The morning of the session ended with a talk from freelance producer Marie.

Demi: “I’ve met Marie before on Making Tracks, she’s really cool and gives really good advice as a freelance producer.”

We also decided our roles in the group. There’s an Artistic Producer, a Communications producer and an operation producer in our team; we have all been working together and merging ideas but also have our own responsibilities to develop the project.

The rest of the session was focused on researching our ideas and presenting them to the group, sourcing images, fonts and text that inspired us. We created a mind map of initial ideas to work with and drew connections between what we brought.

Marleigh: “I realised from the session that there’s a lot of things I don’t know, but was looking forward to learning more.”

It was very different and challenging to not be in the same room when starting this project, when you’re not there in the space with other creatives it is definitely a different atmosphere, but we were still able to showcase our ideas to the group and start the process of creating a theme for our event.

Session 2

The second session was all about creating the event flyer and learning more about how to market and develop the brand of an event. When discussing our initial ideas from session 1, we decided to ask the group “What’s important to you in your life?” and started from there.

We found that our thoughts related really well and started to focus on the idea of ‘road to self-discovery’. Marleigh shared with the other Young Producers that this reminded him of Big Zuu’s album cover for Navigate, and that it shared a lot of common themes. From this, we found our imagery for the event of roads, signs and streets to relate to the idea of finding your own path, and came up with the event name: Crossroads.

Marleigh: “It felt like a bit of a rollercoaster, and at times proper stressful. As ideas were flying around it felt uncertain, but when the drafts of the flyers began being sent through by Demi the theme really started to come together.”

Mariana: “The last two sessions have been really informative and really helpful as I understood more about creating and putting up an event. We looked at social media, creating a theme and event marketing.”

Session 3

Today was our third session of the Young Producers programme; so far we have down our ideas for the theme, the venue where the performance will take place and we’ve also created our flyer that will promote the event on social media.

We went to visit the venue and we had to think and decide where the audience will be and where the artists are going to be performing. We also had to think about any restrictions that may be in place, if we wanted to include refreshments, capacity considerations and any creative ideas for the background and stage setting.

There’s more work to be done and we’ll give you an update on how things are going.

Don’t forget to RSVP for the performance! projects@irenetaylortrust.com

The Young Producers Team

Louisa’s Blog 4

June 14, 2017June 21, 2017Leave a comment

Young Producers is a new project for young people who have taken part in Making Tracks, supported by the Arts Patron Trust. Our second 2 Young Producers are collaborating to put on a gig involving other young people and will be blogging about the process.

This morning we met Jake at London Bridge station and then went to a cute little cafe called the Breakfast Club, where they played old music very loud!! I loved it, they also did a cool retro selection of drinks.

After that we got on a bus to Battersea to the Magic Garden – like the name, the garden was beautiful with sofas, old cabs and cool drink bars. We then waited and ate our lunch talking about the show for a few hours until the open mic night started! It was amazing – there was loads of actual musicians and people just going there for a sing song!

There was one man that reminded me of me he was so nervous but the audience was so supportive! Shouting to him he’s doing so well, he kept swearing lol! It made me want to do one there! Just have to get some songs ready. Also there was some crazy acts but they were very enjoyable. leaving the audience talking still after they left. There was a large selection of hip hop, soul, r&b and all original music. Overall a very enjoyable experience would defo do it again.

So improvements i’d suggest would be.. can you do covers? And if you can’t play an instrument, can you get someone else to play one for you? Do they have winners, or does everyone get a free meal as its Sing For Your Supper?

Ola’s Blog 3

June 7, 2017June 21, 2017Leave a comment

It’s the third session of Young Producers and our workload is increasing steadily. we made our way to the Southbank Centre to watch the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform. We arrived at about 4pm and the performance was due to begin at 7:30pm so we had about three hours to work on our event. Lauren, Louisa and I had a discussion about what our social media strategy would be. I came up with suggestions of pictures we could take around the Southbank building to post on our social media seeing as we were close to landmarks like the London Eye and the Royal Festival Hall.

Later, we had a call from Jake telling us that he had organised for us to speak to Sally – one of the members of the orchestra. My role was to come up with questions to ask her. We then recorded some Instagram videos and vines, we ran into a bit of a problem because it started to rain so we decided to take pictures of the performance area instead.

The performance started on time, the setup was amazing with all the instruments. The performance was conducted by Japanese conductor Tadaaki Otaka. We listened to the works of Elgar, Tchaikovsky and Walton. The orchestra sounded incredible and it was inspiring to watch a large number of people playing together as a unit. The level of team work involved really showed and seeing the orchestra play gave me some extra motivation to make sure that our event is just as good.

Ola’s Blog #2

May 31, 2017June 21, 2017Leave a comment

It was straight to business on day 2 of our project. Lauren presented us with a draft of our flyer it looked really good (shout out to Luke) but we decided to tweak the colour scheme to make it fit better with our theme for the event. We swapped the background colour which was a kind of orangey-red to sky blue and we made some adjustments to the images.

The afternoon session was the best part of the day, we met with Alex, co-founder of LeeFest (now Neverland) – a summertime music festival/theme park. He had a lot of knowledge to share and he gave us some great advice. You could feel the knowledge pouring out of him that it was hard to keep up!

Alex gave us a lot of tips on how to make sure that our event was successful. He summed it up into five points which was basically:

Book the talent
Budget
Book the venue
Marketing/Advance information
Share/Check venue space

All of these points have several sub points which are too long to share in this blog but you get the point. Alex runs a small music venue now with a capacity of 100. Although some of the information he gave us wouldn’t necessarily apply to our event because ours is not for profit, it was helpful to learn about what it takes and the challenges involved in running a successful music venue.

For the next session, we are planning to shoot some video vines/pictures as part of promoting our event on social media. We will also be visiting the Southbank Centre to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra so keep your eyes peeled!

Young Producers – Ola’s Blog #1

May 23, 2017June 7, 2017Leave a comment

The first day on the Young Producers was very enjoyable, I met our manager Lauren and my partner on the project Louisa for the first time. They were both great and we worked really well together.

The morning session was very challenging, there was a lot of information to take in, a few things to sign and we had a discussion about what our vision for the project would be. We decided on a Summer theme, also we wanted to make the event about a celebration of young talent in London.

After settling on a theme, we then brainstormed on what the flyer is going to look like and other ways we could promote the event. Our ideas ranged from posting the flyer on Instagram, creating a Facebook events page, involving other charities that already work with Irene Taylor Trust and releasing a video vine.

In the afternoon, we had a discussion about what type of artists we want to play at the event. we also had to set a plan for the next sessions. In the next session we will be speaking to Alex who is a venue manager, we are hoping he will be able to give us some tips about the challenges of hosting an event and how to make sure that our event is successful.

For the next session, we are looking forward to seeing the draft of our flyer and to record a promotional video to go on the Facebook events page.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Young Producers Blog: Young Producers and ITT present “Artistry Breakthrough”

March 3, 2017March 15, 2017Leave a comment

Young Producers is a new project for young people who have taken part in Making Tracks, supported by the Arts Patron Trust. Our first 2 Young Producers Helen and Johnny are collaborating to put on a gig involving other young people and will be blogging about the process.

Johnny’s Blog #4:

On the day of the event spirits were high. The performers met with Jake from The Irene Taylor Trust and Alex (owner of the venue ‘Haunt London’ on Stoke Newington road and sound technician for the night) for a sound check and run through of the songs. It’s always good to get a rehearsal on the same day as the event and make sure the mics and instruments are at the right levels. Hearing all the tracks from the superband at the final venue was great. It was nice to hear all the solo artists that we called in from previous projects (Paradox, Nirobi and Pedro) that I had seen perform before. I was looking forward to seeing them share their new material.

We went through the hosting speeches to be prepared for what we were going to say to introduce the event. After a break, we came back to the room transformed into the final ‘Artistry Breakthrough’ look, which was amazing. There was a banner to represent the Irene Taylor Trust and a projection of the the front cover of the event’s flyer. This made a great background for pictures of the performers, to show what event they were performing at.

Once all the guests had arrived, it was noticeable that we had accomplished a full house, so we were off to a flying start. Helen and I delivered an introduction to the night with some background information of the Young Producers project, the event’s name and our experience with The Irene Taylor Trust. We gave a special thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

We then jumped straight into performances with 3 tracks from the superband followed by 3 solo artists. We decided to split the running order to 1 superband song followed by a solo artist. This felt like the best option to space out the entertainment and keep things interesting. The music was so inspiring, to see everyone expressing themselves like true professional artists, it was a real encouragement and the atmosphere was electric. The audience was really supportive and evidently loved the show as they cheered on all the artists and contributed with crowd participation.

We had a surprise speech from Lauren to congratulate us as Young Producers with a card on stage, it was a really thoughtful gesture and pleasant surprise. After the event, the ITT team packed the equipment away in the van and we had some of the audience give their opinions of the night, as part of our “voice of the people” vox pops. We had some insightful feedback from guests of the evening, that meant us to hear what people thought of the event.

Overall the night was a huge success and I would do it all again if I had the chance to. I’m looking forward to supporting and being involved in future projects with the Irene Taylor Trust. Sending all the love, respect and appreciation to the charity, Arts Patrons, Alex, musicians and audience for a life changing experience. It has helped me grow as an individual artist and professional person. I really feel as though anything is possible and I have a real positive outlook on life and future prospects, both musically and career wise.

Young Producers Blog: “We all Experience ‘Breakthrough’ Moments”

March 3, 2017March 15, 2017Leave a comment

Helen’s Blog #5:

The day of the gig has arrived!

It was a later start than the previous two days, but everyone still came with the same mindset to put their all in to everything they did.

We got cracking with ‘Everybody Needs Music’, because I expressed my concerns about harmonising.

After some more thought on it, I decided to go on to the keyboard instead. The part was trickier than I had expected, and the tempo to which I was playing changed during the song. I felt like between harmonising and playing the keyboard, I didn’t give my best performance to the song; which was a real pity, as it was my favourite one.

It was really frustrating that I was unable to play the keyboard part perfectly on the night, but I had to remind myself that I am human, and humans make mistakes; and I’d only played my part twice before the live performance.

We then rehearsed ‘Phoenix’, and ‘Strive’; which both went well, before the soloists rehearsed their tracks.

By this point, I was feeling really stressed out, and wish I had been able to enjoy the rehearsals more.

It was time for the performance, and I felt a little calmer. Johnny and I went up to introduce the event, and it went well, even though we had never rehearsed what we were going to say. We then started the gig with ‘Phoenix’.

In the rehearsals, this hadn’t gone very well, but the performance sounded fine.

Paradox then went on to perform his two tracks, which were brilliant. His second track; ‘work like that’ was especially good, as he got the audience involved by getting them to join in on parts of the chorus.

We then moved on to ‘Strive’; which again, went really well. I hope Louisa was pleased with it, because she did amazingly.

Next, it was Nirobi, who performed 3 tracks. As always, she was wonderful. My favourite track of hers was ‘Parallel Universe’; it’s still stuck in my head!

Then, we performed ‘Everybody Needs Music’ which went really well; even though I felt like I’d messed up on the keyboard.

I was feeling flustered again after messing up, and then said the ‘thank you’s to everyone, totally having missed out Pedro’s solo tracks.

Despite my mess up, Pedro went on stage and performed three amazing tracks, as if nothing had happened. I found I really related to some of his lyrics, and really enjoyed hearing his tracks. I guess that’s just part of performing; but it was so nice to see how everyone had grown and progressed during their time with the Irene Taylor Trust, and how, ironically, I was one of the first making tracks participants performing that night, but people who’d started their journey later than me seemed less nervous and more professional.

However, I wasn’t ashamed, or embarrassed, I was just really happy for everyone else, and felt so privileged to have seen parts of their journeys.

This is what the Irene Taylor Trust is all about; not numbers and statistics, but being a platform for music lovers to develop both their musical ability, and their ability to make themselves a better future.

We all experience ‘Breakthrough’ moments, but the Irene Taylor Trust have provided me with some of my favourite ones. I couldn’t be more proud, and happy for all the performers, for breaking through all the obstacles.

I’d just like to say a few ‘thank you’s

Firstly, to the Arts Patron’s Trust, for funding and supporting the Young Producers project, and to all the performers and project team. But also, to the people working really hard behind the scenes, like everyone at the Irene Taylor Trust, in particular; Jake, Lauren and Luke. Also, thank you to everyone who came, and does/ has supported the Irene Taylor Trust; you have helped change, in my case even save, lives.

Young Producers Blog: Everybody Needs Music

March 1, 2017March 15, 2017Leave a comment

Helen’s Blog #4:

The ‘Super Band’ was reunited today.

We started off knowing that Johnny wanted to move away from the guitar and bass, and be up front, doing vocals, but didn’t have the baseline for the song.

Johnny wanted us all to be involved in the process of writing the song, so we started off by Gary playing some different genres of music, and us all voting on which one we felt was best suited to ourselves, Johnny, and to the event.

Eventually, we decided on a blues genre song, and then had to decide whether to have it in a major key, or a minor key; of which Gary played both, and we decided on the Minor key one.

Whilst the rest of the band were working out the musical accompaniment; Fudge, Johnny and I worked on the lyrics.

The beauty of a blues song, is that you can sing about almost anything, and it will still sound amazing, but we decided to keep on the theme of music, and wrote a chorus.

We then wrote a verse for Fudge, in which we added some elements of the chorus.

I was trying to harmonise, but was finding it really difficult, as I’ve never harmonised before, and it was a bit daunting because Fudge has such an amazing voice, and totally kept to the melody, whilst I went off track a bit.

It was challenging, but I persevered.

Young Producers Blog: Holy Rehearsal days at Saint Mark’s Church in Kennington

March 1, 2017March 15, 2017Leave a comment

Johnny’s Blog #3

We spent the two rehearsal days in the same building that I first met members of the Irene Taylor Trust, for a making tracks project where we produced, recorded and performed an album in a week. It was nice to be back in a familiar venue with friendly faces, that I have worked with previously. I also grew up in Kennington so it always brings back childhood memories when I’m there.

Making music in such a big room is so refreshing; the sound really echoes through the space around you. There’s something really humbling about making music in a church and it felt like it contributed to us producing soulful sounds and righteous lyrics.

Helen and I were accompanied by a crew of talented musicians that work with the Trust on various projects: Emma (Producer, instrumentalist), Gary (Guitarist), Adrian (singer songwriter) as well as Tegan (Percussionist) from the Royal Academy of Music and Rachel (saxophonist) from Guildhall. We also called in Louisa (singer songwriter) and Pedro (Lyricist) who had both been on a previous “Making Tracks” project with the Trust. It was a really strong team and a pleasure to work with a full band and other vocalists. Lauren, Jake and Celia from the Trust were also there to support us as an audience and document the experience with film, photography and recordings.

We spent the next two days producing 3 tracks: Helen’s poetic song “Phoenix”, Louisa and Adrian’s insightful song “Strive” and Adrian, Pedro and myself wrote to a groovy blues song called “Everybody loves music”. We got some recordings of each of the tracks so people could hear them back, outside of the sessions in preparation for the gig. It was really helpful to have other songwriters there to assist with lyrics and encourage us to contribute to the messages of the songs.

It’s quite exceptional how a roomful of musicians can work so well together, to construct such quality music in such a short space of time. I always find it really inspiring when working with the ITT and it just goes to show what you can achieve with like-minded creatives, to express yourself and have some strong material to perform for an event.

Young Producers Blog: Forming the ‘Super Band’

February 28, 2017March 15, 2017Leave a comment

Helen’s Blog #3:

We met for the first day today, to form a ‘super band’ consisting of previous making tracks participants, ‘sounding out’ mentors, a student from Guild Hall, a student from the Royal Academy of Music and Johnny and I.

Between us, we were able to form a band, with everything from a drummer to singers/ rappers.

I am always nervous to form a band with a new set of people, but everyone was really nice, and I felt like we were all included and equals.

We started off with ‘Phoenix’; which was a song I had written whilst in hospital. When it was written, I only had access to a 5 string guitar, so, as you can imagine, it had to be totally reworked musically. I was also unhappy with some of the lyrics, so with Fudge and Louisa’s help, we rewrote some of the lyrics.

It was a difficult process for me; firstly, writing about anything positive, and secondly sharing something I hadn’t shared with anyone before, so I felt quite hesitant, but everyone was really supportive, and after a good couple of hours; the song was finished.

We then started on a previous Making Tracks project song, ‘strive’, as Louisa wanted to revisit it.

The recording sounded amazing, but it was difficult to pick out the chords and replicate what happened in the recording, but we all put our heads together and persevered, and got a brilliant end result.

The chords and the pattern they were in felt quite unique, which was really special for us all. Louisa then put her verses over it, and Fudge wrote two rap verses. I was on the keyboard, and Emma helped me come up with a melodic harmony to the part she was playing on the synth.

At this point in the day, we were all starting to feel pretty tired, and I was really struggling to keep to the correct rhythm during the song.