School Ground Sounds
SGS has always aimed to discover and showcase talented young musicians in London. Their mentoring programme was introduced to complement this exposure with industry-level support from a team of experienced and professional mentors who share our passion for young people and their music. These mentors provide one-to-one support for 16-24 year olds who may be interested in pursuing a career in music. Here’s a quote from one of the mentees SGS had on the 2015 scheme, Ozzie, who is a young and talented drummer:
“If I had to describe my mentoring experience in three words it would be brilliant, helpful and awesome!. We set some goals which were to get in to a serious band and to prepare for work in the Industry. My mentor then gave me advice on some of the big things like networking, self-promotion and being self employed… But the most valuable thing I took from our time was addressing my time keeping something I didn’t think was an issue but now I’m so glad we spoke about it. I would definitely recommend mentoring to other students my age because it gives you a realistic perspective on the music industry and you can have conversations about things that teachers wouldn’t be able to help you with. It also got me motivated to start getting out there and to make opportunities happen for myself like my mentor did at my age. I will definitely make sure I organise to meet with a mentor all through my career and hopefully one day I might be able to be someone else’s mentor- that’d be sweet”.
Ozzie is now working towards an unconditional offer from BIMM, plays as a paid session drummer in three projects and is actively involved with School Ground Sounds. Mentoring sessions are completely free and happen once a month at an SGS safe space. If you are aged between 16 and 24 years old and would be interested in receiving some professional music mentoring then email: kayleigh@schoolgroundsounds. org for more info on how to sign up.
If you are over 21 years of age and are interested in becoming an SGS mentor then please contact the same address with a few lines explaining why you think you would make a great mentor. SGS are also looking for sponsors for their youth music projects so any help would be well received.