Young Producers: Getting inspired for Crossroads

November 19, 2021November 25, 2021Leave a comment

Earlier this week Young Producers Demi and Marleigh joined Jake and Matt for a field trip to the Southbank Centre to get some inspiration for their Crossroads event on 2nd Dec (put it in your diary!) from Soojin Suh Coloris Rrio as part of the London Jazz Festival!

Young Producer’s blog

Session 4 involved discussing set design in relation to our lighting and props, creating an elevator pitch for the event and for ourselves as young creatives.

As the venue is a church I feel as though it was very important for us to establish how we design the space to make it look more like a music performance venue. We were informed of our budget to make this happen and Demi got to work with finding props online that would help us. As artistic producer, Demi also created images that we could use to post on the ITT’s instagram stories alongside questions to ask prospective audience members.

Meanwhile, I came up with a few questions to ask Rob, to compliment the elevator pitch that we created. As Rob is one of our music leads and a very important part of the team, I look forward to hearing his responses and working on the music for the event on the 2nd December.

After a quick bite of some street food by the Southbank Centre, the night was rounded off with watching a jazz gig in the Purcell Room which we had mixed reviews about. The venue was quite intimate and with purposeful lighting along with a neatly designed stage, the gig left us young producers with a few things to consider for our own event.

For me, being able to link what you learn to real life (as we were able to by watching the jazz performance) has helped me to remember and evaluate what I’m learning along the way as we put it into practice. This is something that I’ve really enjoyed being able to do so far and I look forward to continuing to do so.

Marleigh, Young Producer

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.

Young Producers film: Spirit of Utopia

December 10, 2019November 10, 2021Leave a comment

In autumn 2019 we began working with three new Young Producers, who had all previously taken part on our Making Tracks programme. Together they devised, developed and delivered their own music event, ‘Spirit of Utopia’, to provide a performance platform for other young musicians and “an evening of meaningful happiness” for the audience at The Old Church, Stoke Newington, on 21/11/19.

In the words of Lucine and Montell, this is the story of how they created ‘Spirit of Utopia’.

The Young Producers project was supported by The London Community Foundation ‘ESDF Saving London Lives’

Young Producers is back! Don’t miss ‘Spirit of Utopia’ performance on 21st November

November 6, 2019November 10, 2021Leave a comment

We’re delighted to introduce our 3 new Young Producers: Lucine, Jahanzeb and Montell. For the last few weeks they have been working together to decide on their induvial roles and the theme for their gig, which will feature other young people who, like them, have previously taken part on Making Tracks.

Lucine is taking the lead on Operations, Jahanzeb will be masterminding Communications and Montell will be the Artistic Director. Together they agreed on the theme of ‘utopia’ for the performance and decided on the title Spirit of Utopia.

Join us on Thursday 21^st November at The Old Church, Stoke Newington, London:

Spirit of Utopia is a free event, but please book as space in the venue is limited – register here.

The Old Church is one of the most interesting arts venues in London – the capital’s only surviving Elizabethan church!

The Young Producers visited the space earlier in the week so they could begin to plan how to decorate it and stage the performance. They have some great ideas to make it special and bring the theme of Utopia alive.

Montell’s reflection:

“I feel that today was really good because we got to see one of the oldest standing churches in England and got to see the cool and exciting design and building. We also had a nice talk about classical music with the Southbank Centre. Plus, at the church I got to play the organ.”

Lucine’s reflection:

“After visiting the venue we had more scope to work with! I felt I was better able to chair our discussion, keep things on track and listen to everyone’s ideas. We seem to have a finalised concept and contingency. I feel more prepared and ready to begin putting things together. The venue manager was super helpful, he answered all our questions well and offered some great décor.”

Jahanzeb’s reflection (audio clip below):

Young Producers is supported by The London Community Foundation ‘ESDF Saving London Lives’

Young Producers: Paradox & Nirobi 1

July 4, 2018Leave a comment

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

Our Personal Development Coordinator Lauren caught up with them at the end of day 1:

Lauren: So how have you found your first day in one word?

Paradox: Good, still.

Nirobi: Interesting, started off understanding how to structure an event. We brainstormed ideas for what we’re going to talk about, and then now we’re checking venues, which is awesome. We get to see the kind of venues that are out there and what would be good for this type of event.

Lauren: Getting first-hand experience of what working with venues is like.

Nirobi: Yes exactly.

Lauren: Things don’t always go to plan…

Nirobi: Yes, one of the venues was closed, but luckily I’ve been there before so I know what it looks like downstairs!

Paradox: Probably not going to use it though, because that was disrespectful, they don’t deserve customers.

Nirobi: They don’t deserve our amazing talent and art! But we got this one, this current venue we’re checking out, called The Lighthouse and we’ve been to Hoxton7 as well, nice and intimate – I liked downstairs.

Paradox: Just looked at three or four venues and chatted to the booking agent, to see how many people go there on the daily, having a show and thought about what venue would be best.

Nirobi: We looked at the sizes and how many people we could fit in there… one of them was 300, so we’re looking at it realistically and seeing that we don’t want to have too big of a space and then it might look empty and not be as ‘lit’. Whereas if it’s smaller and intimate… plus, people that are already coming in from the street, so that’s possibly a better idea but we’re still thinking about it.

Lauren: Any learning?

Nirobi: I’ve never really looked at the logistics of how you put on events. I just go and think ‘wow this is amazing’, but actually it’s a lot of work!

Paradox: It’s good to get an idea of, when you see a booking agent, what questions you need to ask.

Nirobi: I want to develop how to promote and get people noticing more.

Don’t miss the gig on 25th July at The Lighthouse (62-68 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3A)!

Young Producers: Sesh N Sauce LIVE!

March 6, 2018Leave a comment

We’re feeling very proud of our Young Producers Müqzz and Yung Hamlit and all the young people who took to the stage at their ‘Sesh N Sauce’ event in Lewisham last night (postponed last week due to snow). The performances were magnificent – professional, original and entertaining! So much musical talent! It’s so inspiring to see the young people we work with on Making Tracks continue to flourish on Young Producers – and wonderful to have some familiar faces returning to share their new musical ventures with us.

Young Producers: Müqzz blog 3

January 25, 2018February 8, 2018Leave 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 Young Producers Müqzz and Pedro are collaborating to put on a gig involving other young people and will be blogging about the process.

On our third day at Young Producers, we attended the Sounding Out gig. The Fish Police were the first act to perform and I was blown away with the performance. It was quite odd, something I’ve never seen before. The sounds were great and I could see the whole crowd bopping. I never knew who they were, which gave me high expectation, but they managed to meet.

I managed to see all the acts before the actual gig at rehearsals and I was lost for words by the songs that Inside Out were going to perform. No words can do any justice but I have to say Alcoholic is my favourite song. It’s a song that gets you thinking, deep and has a strong message. I like songs with a story and a meaning behind it and I was glad to hear that song. Seeing it in rehearsals and then seeing it on the day, the song was bought to life and I could see the crowd enjoying it.

Before the Inside Out performance, Phaedra, a violinist group performed. Classical music isn’t really my cup of tea but their performance was amazing. It was something that I’ve never seen before, I’m used to listening to more contemporary music.

What I’ve learnt about the event was the different styles of artists that performed. Some of the songs had strong meanings and it told a story. It made me ponder about my experiences and gave me inspiration to write songs when I got home.

Young Producers: Müqzz blog 2

January 18, 2018February 8, 2018Leave a comment

On our second day at Young Producers we decided the name of our show which is Sesh ‘n’ Sauce. We then visited the two possible venues for the show which were Fox & Firkin and DIY Space.

I really liked the atmosphere of Fox & Firkin (Lewisham), quite quirky and contemporary. However the train station was quite far from the venue which could be a problem for people coming to the venue. It was set in a pub which means it is an open place, so anyone can come in and join. Also this means we won’t have to do a lot promoting.

The next venue was DIY Space for London (Peckham). The train station was quite far away from the venue. I liked the performance area – it was like a rave type feel. With this place we would have to do a lot of promoting to ensure we have a crowd unlike the other place this venue is a closed place.

In conclusion, I would go for Fox & Firkin. I like the vibe it was giving. There’s a pub so people can buy drinks, food, sit comfortably and enjoy the gig.

Young Producers: Pedro’s Blog 1

January 11, 2018February 8, 2018Leave a comment

The first day of Young Producers was just like any other first day; getting adjusted and calibrating to the type of challenges/activities we’ll undertake to accomplish and succeed in.

It was really about deciding and assuming our roles (Me and Müqzz ) , and getting to grips with the terminology of an event, the anatomy of it , and lastly understanding the Arts Award and what will be required from us to achieve it .

In short it was quite a good day in terms of stress and workload. The butterflies are gone now, so the next day should be more of a valiant effort from me.

Young Producers: Müqzz blog 1

January 11, 2018February 8, 2018Leave 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 2 Young Producers Müqzz and Pedro are collaborating to put on a gig involving other young people and will be blogging about the process.

On our first day at Young Producers me and Pedro were introduced to the lovely Irene Taylor Trust and their amazing office. Lauren took us around the building and went through the boring stuff (Health & Safety).

We all sat in a meeting room to brainstorm what is a producer and here is what we came up with…

Afterwards, we went on to picking our roles each. My roles are; liaising with artists, promotion & marketing and managing schedule of the show.

We then listed down what we need to focus on which are; target audience, which artists to get for the show, name of the show, venue, equipment we need, sort out live band and schedule of show.

Lauren listed out steps to organising an event which are…

We then began making deadlines to complete what we need such as venues and promotion/marketing sorted out before February.

Muqzz (AKA Abdul) – Silent but Deadly

July 13, 2017July 13, 2017Leave a comment

Have a listen to Muqzz’ (aka Abdul) new track ‘Silent but Deadly’, written and performed on the most recent Young Producers’ event: ‘Summer Awakening’.

We first met Abdul on a Making Tracks project back in April, when he and the rest of the band Southsiders recorded an amazing album; Sounds of Creativity. Everyone at the ITT is looking forward to hearing more from Abdul!