We are Music

April 6, 2023

The Story of We are Music

We are Music www.we-are-music.org.uk has been operating in Tendring, the most deprived area in Essex, for 13 years working with children and young people helping change lives through popular music. Over the years, We are Music has provided in excess of 5,500 hours of tuition, working with over 700 young people, and a survey in 2019 showed that over 23% were still either playing music, performing in a band, went into further music education, or were working with a portfolio career in the Music Industry. There are three parts to the work:

Harwich Rock School which provides regular rehearsal and learning sessions for young people, 9-16 yrs.

Get Known provides supporting activities for young people 16-25 yrs. helping them advance their careers into the music industry or further education. Providing live performance videos and studio single track recordings as well as performance opportunities.

Outreach Work including the Rock the Tower project in Jaywick.

WAM Artists won the MFY National Partnership Awards for Rock Pop and Urban in 2013 and 2014 and WAM bands played at the Music for Youth Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in 2012, 2014, and 2016. In 2018 two WAM acts were invited to perform at ‘English Week’ in Biberach Germany. Most of WAM’s recordings result in the artist being played on BBC Introducing Radio.

The “Challenge” or “Opportunity”

The WAM Youth Council, comprising young people from Harwich and Jaywick, identified what was most important to them. Music was essential to their wellbeing and mental health issues among young people in the area was a real problem.

Key outcomes:

A range of live performance opportunities and events, including two major annual events
Regular music sessions at WAM Harwich
Regular music sessions at WAM Jaywick to re-start after a two-year break
Taster sessions for recruitment and “prospecting” for new talented artists 
Saturday “open house sessions” at WAM Harwich where young people could meet jam, organise bands and gigs and just hang out with people with similar interests
Professional support to help talented young people into the music industry.

Why the group or practitioner chose to partner with ECC

To increase wellbeing through performance was essential so a request was submitted to ECC Arts & Cultural Fund to run the Simple Things Festival and to restart WAM Jaywick.

ECC Cultural had supported WAM previously in 2016 when they provided a grant to assist with the Landslide Festival in Brentwood, run by We are Music and the young team.

ECC had also been involved alongside Essex Music Hub in funding the Rock the Tower sessions at Jaywick Martello Tower. Re-opening this was considered a high priority and so funds were requested to run for 40 weeks (one year of term time sessions). Sessions started in June and will run through to April 2023. Previous WAM work at the centre had produced a girl band and encouraged an autistic young man to progress a career through music and to take a University degree.

How ECC / the culture team responded

We Are Music’s application to the Arts & Culture Fund clearly outlined the Tendring young residents it aimed to engage with via a programme of live music and teaching sessions and a festival, using music as a fun and exciting way to benefit project participants.

The ECC culture team has supported the project via regular catch up’s, offering assistance wherever needed in terms of marketing, PR, and general project advice.

The Results

The Simple Things Festival on Saturday 2 July 2022 attracted an audience of 542, involved many local organisations, and returned £4,000 in funds. Outcomes included:- 

Genuine feel-good factor for young people and the local community 
Commitment from local community and supporters for a 2023 Festival on 1 July 
Youth Council of WAM working on the organisation
Invitation for three young bands to play the 2023 Cosmic Puffin Festival at West Mersea 
Invitation for acts to play the 2023 Clacton Beach Festival

The success of this year has provided a real stimulus for the We are Music Youth Council to get involved in organising a large event and has done much to improve the wellbeing of the young people involved.  

Jaywick Martello Tower WAM Music Sessions. 

This project operates weekly sessions, providing full band teaching. ECC funding, along with the provision of the Martello Tower has enabled us to support these sessions until May 2023. Since opening, the distribution of flyers and word-of-mouth has resulted in growing numbers each week. Young people from the Jaywick centre were able to participate in the Simple Things Festival in June. Outcomes to-date include:- 

Two autistic brothers, who attend Market Field School, are learning guitar with a view to joining a band 
A one-to-one session is being run with a young boy who cannot mix in a group environment. 
A young drummer from the Harwich operation is being trained to become an assistant music leader. 
One of the former Jaywick students, now 21 who is autistic, is helping with the training sessions 
The WAM Youth Council, comprising young participants, who shape the direction of the charity, now includes three young people from Jaywick.

The Youth Council has established a Saturday open house session at Harwich to enable young artists to mix, jam, organise bands and events.
Additional funding from Tendring District Council has been secured to enhance the Jaywick project and extend support beyond May 2023. 
The participants of WAM Jaywick are to play at The Harwich Kingsway Hall show on Saturday 17th December with an anticipated audience of 200+.

Additional Funding:

In September ’22 the National Lottery Community Fund gave WAM a grant to support core community activities for three years. This excludes WAM Jaywick and support to help talented young people into the industry.
In September ’22 Tendring District Council gave WAM a grant to continue the operation of Jaywick WAM in 2023.
More plans are being developed for helping talented young people into the industry and more funding requests are being submitted in October ’22.
An application to the 2023 Essex Arts & Cultural Fund will be submitted.

Getting Involved

Here at Essex County Council we are passionate about Arts & Culture and keen to support projects across the county. If you have an idea you’d like to share with us, take a look at the Arts & Cultural Fund webpage on the Explore Essex website here and get in touch via email us: culture@essex.gov.uk