Over 8 weeks, from October to December 2023, 7 young creatives at Tenbury Wells Ormiston Academy decided to focus their Forge project on singing, songwriting, acting and film.

“This project has massively boosted my confidence and has made me much more comfortable standing on stage in front of many people. “ - Forge Participant, Tenbury

Their sessions covered:

• Singing and stage presence with Daz Adderley
• Songwriting and recording with Alex Lowe
• Acting and devising a music video with Jimmy Bates
• Filming the music video with George Cleland

During their sessions with Daz Adderley, one participant wrote the lyrics to a song called ‘Tick Tock’, Daz then helped the group put music to the lyrics. With Alex Lowe, the group worked collaboratively on a new song which they called ‘Don’t Let it Break You’. Everybody contributed ideas for the song, and they used digital music software to create a backing track and record the vocals. Jimmy then explored themes within the song and helped participants devise a performance in different locations around the school, with George filming the performance and editing it into a music video.

These sessions culminated with a final showcase event held at Tenbury High, to which friends, family and teachers were invited. There was a live performance of their song ‘Tick Tock’ and a screening of their music video for ‘Don’t let it Break You’.