Last September, I’m Not From London’s Will Robinson shared plans for his ‘Be Scene and Heard’ project, bringing together young deaf adults to give them music industry experience. Songs, videos and friendships were made throughout the three week project, which finished this February. We share their work below…
Though hosted virtually, the Youth Music funded project brought together industry professionals and young people aged 16-25 to collaborate on songwriting, recording, performing and producing music videos during a free-to-attend workshop.
Ruby Bond - Times Right Now
Ruby Boyd, who is partially deaf, worked with fellow participants and mentors to record her song Times Right Now which she wrote during the lockdown.
Speaking about the project, she said: "It’s been amazing, I’ve genuinely really loved it. Everyone was incredible, very encouraging and supportive and it was great to work with people. I’m hard of hearing but I also have other disabilities so for me, it being online was a way of not being different and I really liked that.
“There were good connections, it felt like we were all on the same page. I hope I can be part of something like this again. It went really well, and I’m going to miss it! "
Daisy’s Dream
Daisy, who has Downs Syndrome and is also partially deaf, has been isolating at home with her mother Jackie throughout the pandemic. At the outset of the project, Jackie was concerned that Daisy may have been left behind but with the help of the mentors, she wrote a song based on her favourite musicals and how they made her feel. The video encapsulates her feelings throughout lockdown and her hope to go outside, enjoy music, and rekindle her friendship face to face with her best friend.
Mum Jackie said: “I would say to anybody in this situation to get on board with an opportunity like this, because it’s such a valuable experience. This has been something I couldn’t have paid for, I couldn’t have afforded all this time with people who are professionals in their field, so to have this project has just been amazing."
Zig Da Kid and Jamie Elless - Clay Man
Clay Man was created by participants Jamie Elless and Isiah aka Zig Da Kid who worked on this song by recording vocal samples from various participants and mentors. Jamie worked her magic stretching the sounds and adding ambient and moody vibes to the tune while Zig worked on the animation. The result is a wonderful surreal short film and track, made entirely remotely, with additional colour and editing by Fred Glenister.
Jamie said: “Over the past few months it’s been really difficult to get projects started, so to have three or four tracks to work on during this project was ideal and being back in an environment where people are making again. You could see how happy everyone was to be doing this.”
“I don’t personally have any hearing difficulties, but it was really good seeing representation for people who do on this project. It felt like everyone was on a level playing field, no one was disadvantaged, we all got an equal say and share of the work. It can be really easy as an artist to get overwhelmed and feel you’re not good enough, but really all you need is a group of people to bounce ideas off and make something that’s collaborative.”
Bassey feat. Owen Brindley - Touched
Deaf young man, Owen Brindley inspired Be Scene and Heard when asked I'm Not From London if he could sign for a band at one of their gigs. It became apparent gigs could be excluding deaf people and led to the creation of the project. As part of this, Trevor Easton aka Bassey invited Owen to join his band as a signer and this is the first single Touched. The video features members of the Be Scene And Heard crew signing the lines.
Mentors were deaf actor/dancer Joseph Fletcher and West End musical theatre performer Molly May Gardiner - who have worked with choreographer and director Mark Smith of Deaf Man Dancing which fuses dance with sign language - along with singer, songwriter and producer Rudi, vocalist Ben Hellings and a vocal coach, filmmaker Fred Glenister and deaf student Owen Brindley.
With 12 million people experiencing hearing loss across the UK - one in six of the population - the project was designed to break down barriers and develop confidence by bringing together deaf and hard hearing young people with the mentors to create music and videos.
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