The Hottest Day Yet!
The sun has been blazing in the sky now for several days. The whole country is suffering with our third heatwave this summer and today we are really feeling it.
Our third series of ‘The Lyrics, The Music and The Money!' is just about to be aired on WayOutTV and to promote the series, Dr.Jacqui Norton and myself are on route to Swinfen Hall Young Offenders Institution to do a workshop on ‘The Music Industry today and how you earn money from it’
But today, it’s been a tough ask. We were up at 5:30 am to get the train from Northampton, but can you believe it… it’s so hot all the trains have been cancelled!
Our Plan B is to book a car to take us to HMP Swinfen Hall and collect us at the end of the day. Not ideal… and we can’t really afford it, but we also can’t let down the workshop participants who have been looking forward to this opportunity, so we bite the bullet and opt to arrive in style.
It was worth it. No running for trains or changing platforms, and the bonus is we miss the rush hour! We also arrive early and as we sit outside waiting to be collected at the gate, a sweet lady offers us coffee. Today isn’t a visiting day so she was wondering why we were lurking outside the offices. The coffee hit the spot and it gives us time to gather our thoughts.
Swinfen YOI is set in quite beautiful countryside. We reflect that it seems sad that none of the young lads will ever get a chance to enjoy it.
After passing security, we are ushered up to the library where today’s workshop will be held. It is stiflingly hot, and we haven’t even started yet. Someone produces a couple of fans. That helps.
The lads are escorted by prison officers and already look fatigued by the heat when they arrive. Prison officers escort them from their cells and collect them at the end of the morning session. They are eager for us to begin.
Dr.Jacs (as she is known in our TV series) always shakes everyone’s hands as they arrive. We tell them a bit about our own life in the industry. Then it’s down to the nitty gritty. Our aim is to ‘Educate, Mentor and Inspire’. We want the lads to get something from the day that they can take away or maybe even work on in their cells. The aim is to offer hope in a dismal place that might just kick start a new way of thinking that will hopefully bode well for their future.
They don’t disappoint and they are curious and eager to learn. Many people have the erroneous idea that the Music Industry is a glamorous profession where being ‘a star’ is the only option. We bunk that myth straight away. The Music Industry today is a portfolio career made up of all different job opportunities and careers. The ‘Star’ bit, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and since ‘the artist pays for everything’ they soon begin to understand all is not what it seems.
Naturally some are anxious to show off their skills. Someone has brought in a guitar and they want to play us some original material. For Jacqui and I this is perfect for the workshop. We get to explain copyright, publishing contracts, doing co-writes, royalty splits and record deals and we talk about all the supporting roles around the industry that don’t require qualifications... just dedication and yes… talent.
Considering this is one of the hottest days of the year we are heartened by the fact they all return for the afternoon session.
No matter what you read in the papers serving a prison sentence is no picnic. This is not a holiday camp and although our workshop might sound like a pleasant distraction, this venture is educational and each participant must complete our work book before they get our certificate endorsed by the Arts Council.
We do not want any of these lads to return to prison. We of course have no idea why they are serving time or how long they have got left on their sentence, but if we can inspire a few to move on to better things; nothing much else matters does it?