NextGen Music and West Sussex Music Partnership
We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with West Sussex Music! Our partnership presents an exciting opportunity for both parties to work together to provide our DJing and music production lessons to a greater number of students, both during term time and also through our new school holiday workshops!
Deen answered a few questions from West Sussex Music, discussing the new workshops and what the opportunity means to NextGen Music:
What does our partnership mean to you / NextGen Music?
Our partnership with West Sussex Music is undoubtedly an exciting opportunity for us, providing both parties with access to new resources and expertise. Over the last year we have been working hard on laying the foundations to deliver our unique take on Music Education through our peripatetic DJ lessons, across a number of schools. Now, through working with West Sussex Music, we’re excited to expand our services to a wider range of schools and offer many more students the opportunity to engage with the music they love, and in turn, ignite their passion for music studies.
Why are workshops like the ones you put on over Christmas holidays so important?
I believe these types of workshops are essential in connecting young people to music, specifically the music that they are interested in. From day one, it was immediately apparent how excited these children were to be there, and how eager they were to both learn and create.
We truly believe that music education boosts a young person’s confidence and communication skills - we’ve seen it time and time again, and this workshop was another prime example of just that. Students who were a little shy to begin with, were confidently sharing and discussing their creations by just the end of the first day. Being together and collaborating with their peers in a creative environment offers children the opportunity to express themselves in a judgment free zone, and to learn how to work effectively with one another.
It was important to us to deliver the best possible experience for the children; we wanted to ensure that the students left inspired and eager to continue creating after the workshops were finished. In truth, I think the students inspired us just as much as we did them. Their approach to creativity was so unrestrained and free flowing; you could see just how much fun they were having with the process, and their focus levels were astounding, there was no stopping them! By the end of the four days, I think we easily had an album’s worth of music between the students!
Do you have any particular highlights you’d like to share?
So many! Working with these students was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in a long time. Their positive attitudes and energy made the entire four days an absolute blast. We had one student compose an entire song from scratch - playing all the parts on keyboard, writing the lyrics and recording the singing performance. Remarkable! We had another student who shortly after learning the basics of music production, recreated the entire Stranger Things theme tune - incredible stuff. He then went on to produce music for video games for the remainder of the workshop - I hope he continues pursuing that avenue, he has a real ear for it! Seeing the students’ faces on the last day when presenting their fully finished rap songs with a polished music video and a fully mixed/mastered tune, was priceless!
What would you say to a child thinking about coming along but is nervous or not sure if the workshop is for them?
It’s completely normal to be a little nervous when trying something new, but the workshops are designed to be fun and educational - it’s a totally judgment free zone where you’re free to express yourself however you want, and we are here to support. Everyone is here to have a good time, learn new skills and develop their artistic abilities. Whether you want to pop your headphones on and keep yourself to yourself, or join in with some group collaborations, that’s totally up to you!
We had students attend the latest workshop who were anxious about coming along, but had smiles on their faces the entire time and said they’re definitely coming along to the next ones. The last workshop was so much fun - it’s not like school, promise! I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough.
