MusicFusion

20/12/2024

2024 Thank Yous!

What a year it’s been! Thanks to all who have supported Music Fusion in 2024. Every like, share, donation and spreading the word in general really does help!

Thanks to our funders this year; Youth Music, UK Youth, Blagrave Trust, OPCC, Vivid Plus, Children In Need, Hampshire County Council, The NHS, CO-OP and The Portsmouth Cultural Trust.

Big shout to our friends at Lumico for donating studio equipment that has really switched up our recording game and Asda for funding our studio Glow UP.

Thank you to our amazing team of Music Leaders and Trainees! Hats off to all of you, you’re making a massive difference to the young people you support, week in, week out.

Thanks to the team at The Spring Arts Centre for making us and our attendees feel so welcome and at home.

Finally, thanks to all our incredibly talented young people, we give you opportunities, but you do the hard work! Thanks for inspiring us on a daily basis, we’re super proud of you all.

Merry Christmas, keep your eyes peeled for some awesome Rockschool videos appearing soon!

18/12/2024

27th Dec! A wonderful night raising money for Rowan's Hospice and Music Fusion.

Expect some great takes on classic and modern covers, plus an amazing atmosphere.

We’re thrilled to finally announce the lineup for this years Christmas Covers Party at The Wedgewood Rooms on 27/12/24.
Eagle-eyed typography fans might be able to work out some of the acts involved...

17/12/2024

Massive thanks again to Lisa, Katy and the team at Asda for their super generous water donation! Keeping our young artists hydrated during sessions and events!!

12/12/2024

Well here's the last batch of amazing photos from The Rockschool Showcase for this week!

Fear not, there are more, plus we're editing individual videos of each performance!

Here's the incredible EP they recorded:

https://strongchoicemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hope

Thanks for everyone's kind words and support for the release, it's very much appreciated!

Photos by our talented pal Joe Watson.

10/12/2024

Some more epic shots from The Rockschool Showcase!! More to follow. :)

Check out the out the EP of originals here:

https://strongchoicemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hope

Photos by our talented pal Joe Watson.

09/12/2024

What can we say?? The Rockschool Showcase was an incredible night! So many different styles, so much heart!

Massive thanks to all the amazing artists who performed, to Neil, Archie, Leon and the rest of the team for putting on such a great night, plus to all who braved the weather to show their support!

Here's a link to the newly released EP of originals from Rockschool attendees, please give it a listen. :)

https://strongchoicemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hope

Photo by the talented Joe Watson. Loads more photos and videos to follow!! :)

06/12/2024

Rockschool is nearly ready for blast off! Doors now open, show starts at 7pm!

03/12/2024

November Update:

We have broken a Music Fusion record this month! 83 x 1-2-1 sessions have been delivered by our amazing team of Trainees and Music Leaders in November! Thanks to everyone for all their hard work, it’s been great to see so many young people making music they love. For context, the previous record was 60, so we’ve really gone all out!

Group Sessions and School Provision have also been super busy this past 4 weeks, with Matt and Kizz delivering at Sharp’s Copse School for HMEH’s Power of Music Project, Ben working with the students at Cowplain Resilience Centre, plus great attendance numbers at The BASE, Beats and Bars and Rockschool.

The Rockschool Team have been busy prepping for the Showcase this Friday 6th December, plus on an original EP to be released very soon! We’ve heard some tracks already and they have honestly blown us away. The musicianship, songwriting skills and amazing vocals are testament to all the hard work they put in throughout the year. Join us this Friday from 6:30pm to celebrate their 2024!

There were various other great wins this month; Jinx and Mike visited BBC Solent to chat about Music Fusion and the funding we’ve received from Children In Need, Sarah’s young artists from Jam Café visited us to record a track, we went to a wonderful exhibition at Park Community and had some lovely donations we’ll be thanking people for soon on socials!

The Mavericks Hometown Project was successfully wrapped last week, with round ups from the team. It’s been an insightful and positive journey, working with partners like East Hants Mind and OPCC to give young artists a voice, plus address important issues in our community. So many highlights; regular tracks releases, documentary footage, amazing performances, VIP days and more! Here’s a special music video of a track by STB The Kidd, filmed and edited by the talented Jay Harris.

Facilitated by Music Fusion, The Mavericks are a team of young people, a series of award winning albums, documentaries and live performances, plus a network ...

02/12/2024

This Friday 6th Dec! Doors at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm. :)

The Rockschool Showcase is always great fun and a wonderful celebration of achievements throughout the year. we're looking forward to some fantastic originals and cool twists on some classic covers! :)

28/11/2024

Mavericks Hometown Round Up (Jinx's Version)

Our young people restore my faith in the future. Let me explain...

The team at Music Fusion have just wound up a 12 month project. When we asked our young people what the theme should be for this album, they all said, “We need to focus on our home town”. So this year the Mavericks focused on the Portsmouth postcode and surrounding areas. One album, a documentary series and Celebration event later. By working with our young people, what have we learned?

1. That our young people worry about drugs, knives and crime in their communities. In their experience, the cause of this youth crime / violence is lack of opportunities; and food, money, housing, education and employment.

2. The role music has to play is important. The criminal lifestyle is glamorized by drill music. Some young people do aspire to be a criminal because of it. However, the music will only ever be a result of the lack of opportunities for our young people. Fix the problems in our communities and the music will change to.

3. The role that Music Fusion plays is vital. The Mavericks HomeTown project targeted young people who were disengaged and disenfranchised. We gave them somewhere to go, something to do, and a cause to get behind. Through music we gave them a voice, and a platform to be heard. With this power comes responsibility. I am proud of the honesty, integrity, authenticity and credibility of what they have produced. With Music Fusion’s support, their legacy is to be role models to those young people still on the edges of our communities.

It is quite astonishing what our young people have achieved. However, they have only been able to do so much through the support of a great team of music leaders, partners, friends and families. We have learned that our work affects a lot of people, and that we are all in this together.

How can you help? Play, like, share and comment on the young people’s music and videos - this helps enormously. Make a donation to support Mavericks via our website - we're always grateful for every penny.

• https://musicfusion.org.uk

If you are a rapper aged 14-25 who wants to use their music to instigate change, then get in touch. Or can you introduce us to amazing people who could help to amplify or fund our work. We particularly want to talk to any 'named artists' or music brands who are looking for an authentic and credible cause to support, so please do recommend us.

Finally Thank you to the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner and Rusty Sheriff’s Xmas Covers Crew for funding this album, documentary series and epic celebration event.

https://youtu.be/DTQSaaU3jOM?si=Lvasp-wDScoThj6J
Music Fusion - more than just a music charity

Facilitated by Music Fusion, The Mavericks are a team of young people, a series of award winning albums, documentaries and live performances, plus a network ...

27/11/2024

Mavericks Hometown Round Up (Matt's Version)

What a journey this past year has been! This time round, we were able to take a step back, try new things and really look at what the Mavericks project represents.

That is passion about what is right, passion for community and passion for personal development.

This new (and still growing) group of Mavericks are so incredibly talented, they look after one another and they are a strong family.

Although this Mavericks project wasn’t taken on the road, we did get to take the workshops to new places. I particularly enjoyed working with the young people at The Lighthouse. The music they create was authentic and really came from a place of support and experience.

We also prepped a lot of songs at The Base. The space there allowed us to constantly work on new material for this project.

Another highlight was the inclusion of our local artists. The insight they provided to our young people, really demonstrated the possibilities and opportunities out there for our upcoming artists.

Releasing single songs regularly rather than just one whole album was a new and interesting approach. I think it was great to have a constant output of quality music and I thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck in during the process.

I of course have to give a nod to both Kizz and Leon who have delivered exceptional work throughout the project and are shining examples of how to be a fantastic Music Leader.

Anyways, I’m going on a bit so I’d like to finish off by saying is thank you to Jinx & Mike for being the best bosses in the world. Thank you to everyone that has supported this project. Big ups to all the young people and VIPs involved and a huge thanks to the funders.

Who’s ready for the next one? 😎

Facilitated by Music Fusion, The Mavericks are a team of young people, a series of award winning albums, documentaries and live performances, plus a network ...

26/11/2024

Mavericks Hometown Round Up (Mike's Version)

Looking back on each Mavericks project always conjures up many excellent memories, Hometown is no exception. This year focused on addressing issues locally, from knife crime to drug use, mental health issues to lack of opportunities.

I was so impressed by each participant’s individuality, the way they carried themselves and how great the original music they made is. It just goes to show how, when offered an opportunity, young people work hard, bravely share their experiences, collaborate in inventive ways and show great respect to Music Fusion and each other.

It’s been an honour to watch people progress, hearing the tracks as they were released throughout the year, a participant winning an award, the team performing amazing tracks live, a lot of them for the first time. Additional points for music videos and interview skills!

The VIP Day was a special event to witness, where everyone dug deep to write incredible songs, worked smoothly as a team and supported each other. I think this year’s celebration event could be the best one we’ve ever had! Special performances, red carpet interviews, VIP tours and a fantastic turnout, it was a really proud moment for myself and the whole team.

Thanks to all the young people that have given their knowledge, experiences and voices to this years’ Mavericks, plus to Matt, Kizz, Leon and Jay for all their amazing work. On to the next one!!!!

Facilitated by Music Fusion, The Mavericks are a team of young people, a series of award winning albums, documentaries and live performances, plus a network ...

18/11/2024

In case you didn't catch our interview on BBC Radio Solent Friday, here's the audio clip! :)

Thanks again to Katie and the team for inviting us! :)

15/11/2024

Thank you so much to Katie and the crew at BBC Radio Solent. Mike and I had a great time popping in to talk about how Children In Need support Music Fusion.

12/11/2024

Everyone at Music Fusion are super excited to announce the date for this year’s Rockschool Showcase. Not only have our young people been working hard rehearsing for the performances, they have been recording as well. What does this mean? Well - expect some authentic, credible live music – plus a bonus EP release on the night.

For those of you who have been to a Rockschool Showcase before, we will see you there. For those of you who are new, I highly recommend you come and support one of the best young music events of the year.

Friday 6th December 2024
Doors open 6.30pm
Show 7.00pm – 9.30pm
Entry: Donations Welcome
The Spring Arts Centre – PO9 1BS

Thank you for supporting our young people, the music they make, and the stories they have to tell.

11/11/2024

Well this doesn’t happen very often!

A couple of months ago I got a cold call. A gentleman called James said he worked for a scrap car company and wanted to raise some money for us. All he needed was our bank account details.

After a short time of quizzing James as to why I would pay any attention to one of so many cold calls, James explained. “It was his job to support good causes. He had found Music Fusion, and immediately related to our work….. as he also loved music, lived locally and understood the daily challenges our young people faced. “

So I took a risk on a cold call. Today, £4,700 popped into our account from Scrap Car Comparison. This equates to 212 hours of studio time for our young people.

Thank you James, and Scrap Car Comparison. During times when traditional funding is drying up, and we rely more and more on corporate support….. you guys really stepped up.