Winter Jams returns to Umbrella: Winter City Sounds in Adelaide this year, presenting a three-day music industry induction programme for 13-17 year-olds.
The popular workshop gives aspiring young musicians a fundamental understanding in songwriting, recording, stagecraft and technical production.
Head Of Training for Music SA Matthew Hayward says Winter Jams is an excellent opportunity for those embarking on careers in the music industry. “It’s great to see the new generation of young singer-songwriters and kids that are ready to explore their creativity and learn from the mentors we have here at Music SA,” Matthew says.
“They’re able to get these relevant industry people who are actively involved and they get to hang-out and play music with some of their idols.”
Over three days, students will gain vital knowledge and experience that forms the bedrock of a professional musician’s understanding. Day one is devoted to songwriting and crafting a tune, while day two focusses on aspects of recording and live performance.
The programme concludes on the third day with a run-down of setting up a small P.A. “A real key of the programme is making it really relatable for young people,”
Matthew says. “It’s not a traditional theory-based course; we’re not teaching scales, we’re teaching things like how to work as an ensemble, how to write together and how to explore whatever’s on the team’s mind in terms of songwriting.”
Winter Jams 2016 - image © YouTubeThe climax for Winter Jams is the live showcase where students get to perform their own songs in front of an audience at Club 5082 in the City of Prospect. In this way, the programme presents perhaps the newest and freshest music out of South Australia. “One of the changes we’ve made for this year is we’ll actually be holding the Winter Jams workshop at Club 5082, the postcode for Prospect.
“That’s an in-built venue space with its own P.A. and staging area so it’s like having a venue for these young people to learn the ins-and-outs of performance, which is fantastic.”
Following the industry adage of ‘it’s who you know not what you know’, Matthew says Winter Jams puts an emphasis on building relationships within the industry that help establish younger musicians. “Especially if you’re a parent and you want to support your son or daughter, it’s a really great way for them to get out there and also to make friends. It’s good that it has that social aspect too.”
Winter Jams takes place at Club 5082 (Adelaide) 13-15 July.
