To celebrate Youth Music Week 2008, Make Some Noise - the Youth Music Action Zone for Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent were invited young people form their projects to come together for a creative consultation event led by their Youth Liaison Officer, Louise Jutton  and two West Midland-based musicleaders Paul Wilcox & Paul Carroll.

Amongst the young people invited was Samantha Walker, who has just been appointed the first ever Make Some Noise Ambassador 'The best thing was being able to do what you want to do, freely, with help.'

Make Some Noise teamed up with the Stoke on Trent Youth Service to provide a forum for young musicians to get together and discuss what opportunities they would like Make Some Noise to offer in the future and to take part in a live gig challenge.

Louise Jutton said 'the group all fed back on marketing, project development and accreditation for Make Some Noise. It was helpful to hear some of the young people express their interest in becoming more involved in our activities'

www.make-some-noise.com 


 

As part of Youth Music Week, The Hive Music and Media Centre and New Roots (the Youth Music Action Zone for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin) held a live music gig featuring young local bands.

Young people came along to enjoy the bands, talk to staff and get involved in different aspects of the gigs – this included sound engineering, VJing or filming.

Every single aspect of the event - band line-ups, sound/VJ crews, marketing and promotion - was devised and organised by talented young people from the Youth Music/vinvolved Voltage volunteers programme.

www.hiveonline.org.uk

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, More Music in Morecambe celebrated Youth Music Week with a night of live music. The event featured performances from Pete Moser and Adrian Mitchell along with showcase performances of new songs by young artists, bands and soloists. 

www.mormusic.net

As part of Youth Music Week, CYMAZ - the Cornwall Youth Music Action Zone - hosted a live showcase event at the Livewire project in Saltash. This is is a new venue which was created with input from young people who access the project. As part of the event, young people were invited from across Cornwall to take part in order to highlight the work of CYMAZ, Youth Music and Livewire and to enable young Cornish musicians to meet one another and make links via their music.

www.cymaz.co.uk  

Urban Underpass Music Day was a day of non-stop music held in the most unlikely and unusual venue - the Underpass in the middle of a roundabout in Slough! Throughout the day there were performances by Slough bands and solo artists from the Swipe Music Centre as well as some inspirational adult support acts. As well as the many performances there were Djembe Drum Workshops and the chance to get some advice from accomplished singer songwriters, sign up for future songwriting workshops, meet Swipes tutors and sign up for lessons in Guitar,Drums,Violin Steel Pan and sign up for Vocal Coaching. 

As well as being part of Youth Music Week 2008, the event was part of a week long event organised by Slough's Creative Academy and also Community Safety who ran graffiti workshops throughout the week as well as other events in the underpass. 

Djembe drum workshops

Well, it's all over now :( but we ended on a high note at The Fly in London with an extra special Halloween Grand Finale.  Check out Mike Dignam and the Swims supporting Pete and the Pirates and playing us out for Youth Music Week 2008.

Mike Dignam

The Swims

The electronic lads from Devon have some quick words of advice for gigging young musicians

We're nearing the end of the Barfly tour (*sob*) but Minus Jack rocked the stage at Barfly York and drew our biggest crowd yet!

Check them out below

The boys from 3 Foot Ninja created a buzz in Birmingham when they performed at the Barfly and gained some new fans - including the boys from Pete & The Pirates!

Check out the vid below

Example has a couple of tips on how to make money and market yourself in the music biz.