On the face of it, Now Sounds is about producing art with young people… but scratch the surface and you’ll find the project is awash with stories about its young participants.

Weaving together various artistic disciplines, Now Sounds sees young people mentored by professional artists to learn skills in lyric writing and beat making, alongside skills in other art forms such as visual arts and dance.

But what makes Now Sounds special is that it amplifies the voices of young people, giving them a platform for their experiences, feelings and stories.

Hip-hop artists Flewnt AKA Josh Eggington and Optamus AKA Scott Griffiths have been involved with Now Sounds since its inception in 2022, as artists and creative producers. This year they've been working with young people from Champion Bay Senior High School (CBSHS) and Mullewa District High School (MDHS). as part of Now Sounds Midwest, the project's third iteration. 

From extensive experience working with young people, in settings that range from schools to the justice system, Josh and Scott find that music is a powerful tool for young people, especially those who are vulnerable.

“Music gives you the ability to take control over your own thoughts and your own mind,” says Josh. ”You can work through what is in your subconscious, what is in your conscious, you draw from really deep places.”

That ability to manage their thoughts can give a young person a sense of autonomy, even when they don’t have a lot of control over their situation, he continues.

“Through all the difficulties of my life growing up, I could always go back and find warmth in music or in my rhymes, because it was something that was really mine, and I had all the control. Those were my thoughts; even if they took the paper away…my mind still had that in there.”

It’s this personal experience that drives Josh to make music with young people. “When you start to give somebody even a bit of that [autonomy], it grows, and… you want more,” he says. “You know you want to be the best version of yourself.”

Making music also helps to give young people a different perspective, says Scott.  

“A big part of the broader work that we do within community settings, in juvenile prison, but also in a program like Now Sounds, is around the idea of being able to take yourself out of the goldfish bowl… the whole point of view, where you can see your life through another lens.”

As a facilitator, continues Scott, it’s about knowing when to step back.

“With effective facilitators who are there in a positive way, they're really taking their hands off the steering wheel completely. If you do your job as a facilitator, you're figuratively walking behind the car, and [the participant’s] driving the vehicle, because creativity is inherently about yourself.

“I think the power is in the lyricism and being able to provide a space for young people to say exactly what they want to say, not diluted, not spoken for.”

For the artists, a highlight of working on Now Sounds is witnessing that transformation, as young people find their voice. Now Sounds Midwest participant and CBSHS student Madi, for example, was already writing her own rhymes when the Now Sounds team arrived.

“The CBSHS music teacher Mr. Pickett had done a creative writing exercise. Other kids were doing poetry and stuff, but Madi asked if she could write a rap,” recalls Josh.

“We read her verse, we said, look, there's something special. And then when we met her, she brought more raps. She was a bit quiet, reserved, but she had a look of confidence as well.

“One of the things that really stood out for me was just how focused she was on having a really good crack at trying this rap thing, right? I mean, the first day we met her, she jumped on the mic, and all these kids were all doing the typical teenage giggling and laughing. And I remember she just didn't care about anyone around her. She was just like, ‘No, I'm having a crack.’

With a natural talent for both writing and performing, Madi has flourished under the guidance of Josh and Scott, making several recordings performing her lyrics, which will feature on the forthcoming music video.

Another student, Zephyr, has not only developed as a musician but as a facilitator, say the artists.

“Zephyr organised the whole choir, and then he ran it, he took charge,” says Scott. “He was fully organised, he got them around a whiteboard, wrote the melodies. He wrote the main drum lick too.”

In addition to the artists running workshops, videographer Andrew McIvor has been documenting the process. Like Scott and Josh, Andrew is drawn to working with young people.

“Working with teenagers reminds you of when you first got the passion for videography or for creativity, and you can see yourself and these kids. And it inspires you to want to cultivate that for them, because you can see yourself in them.”

And it reminds him of when he first discovered his art form, he says.

“That feeling is so magical.”

Read more about the Now Sounds Midwest artist residencies and hear the perspectives of participants Madi and Shayln.

Pictured top: Students experimenting with the drum pad // credit Jesse Pickett