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Jump Studios

Musical Manu’s Time with Jump Studios

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Manu during Sound Wave sessions in September, 2020.

Manu, 14, who has been engaged with KWMC and Jump Studios since 2017, has talked to us about his experiences with us.

He has mostly spent his time doing the Sound Wave: After-School Sessions, where he has learnt more about doing what he loves: music.

Manu is a really talented musician who plays both the acoustic and bass guitar, the trombone and the piano.

Hi Manu! Tell us about yourself and what you do with KWMC and Jump Studios.

I go to Sound Wave, which is a course where you can make and share music.

What do you most enjoy from your time spent in the after-school sessions?

Collaborating with others.

What was the first thing you remember doing with KWMC and Jump Studios?

Attending Ctrl+Alt+Delete to play Minecraft with my friends. It was a lot of fun.

From the beginning to now, what skills do you think you’ve learnt from your time with Jump Studios?

I have learnt how to use some music software (including) Soundtrap, how to use certain equipment and how to create digital music.

What about how you think you’ve developed throughout?

My music has become more developed and I have become more capable and confident.

Tell us about your band: Monday at Five.

It formed after we saw a very cool marching band called the Ambling Band as a group, and thought it would be cool to make some music together. We started out playing covers but over time, we have started making some of our own music. We used to practice every Monday at 5, which of course gave us our band name. The covers that we started off playing many evolved around pop (with a little rock and afro-pop), and the songs we have started writing have a variety of genres, including indie, rock and reggae!

How did you find it to performing with your band at the media centre?

I found it very fun, although we were still getting the hang of playing together.

What has been your favourite memory so far in your time with KWMC?

Jamming with the other people at the start of Sound Wave sessions was very fun.

What would you tell another young person thinking about coming to an after-school session?

They are super-fun, they help you develop your creativity and they are very interactive!

Manu’s Band: Monday at 5, performing at Knowle West Media Centre.

It has been great supporting Manu in his passion and we hope to continue working with him for a long time. Please feel free to listen to some of the work he has created in the Sound Wave after-school sessions.

Interested in coming to Sound Wave: After-School in Autumn 2021? Sign up here!

Our February 2021 Half-Term: Young People Can Make (Virtually)!

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This half-term, we hosted a series of activities for Young People to get them engaging creatively and engaging with social issues. Over the course of three days, the 10-16 year olds discussed how they want to see their communities change, they learnt design skills, created socially active prototypes and even recorded their own podcast.

The poster for the half-term.

What did they get up to?

Just in case you weren’t aware, it’s not particularly easy right now to host our usual half-term programmes in person. So, we’ve adapted to holding the sessions over Microsoft Teams.

At the start of the week, each young person was sent a pack to try and keep them away from their screens for as long as possible – considering how many hours per day of screen-time they are having right now.

A peak at what was in some of the packs we sent out to the young people.

The first day was all about opening up the discussions for change.

What changes do the young people want to see in their communities?

Imagine the communities you’re in right now. What changes would you like to see?

“BE POSITIVE not negative” and “UP THE ANTI” stood out as some really positive messaging from the discussions the young people had on the changes they want to see in their communities.

There was strong dialogue around issues in the environment and different forms of discrimination, which really shows just how encouraging the next generation is.

Our second group really focused on environmental issues as their main piece of conversation, which is no surprise considering how big a topic it is today.

Whilst they talked about the need for renewable energy, it was also nice to hear a desire for new places where young people can socialise with one another.

Their Prototypes

With the discussions ongoing, the young people began creating their prototypes that could make a difference.

Here are just a short selection of the prototypes we saw…

A renewable, fit-bit style watch prototype that aims to keep you active.
A 3D Model of a Tea Bag aiming to make them more renewable.
A prototype of a petrol station with no petrol, only renewable electric energy.

But how did they find it?

This was only a sneak-peak of everything the young people got up to during half-term, but how did they find it?

It was really great to see just how much they enjoyed it.

It’s never going to be an ideal situation when they have to sit in their own rooms, rather than be in a creative and engaging environment, but to hear that they are still inspired and having fun is a fantastic sign.