How Groove Foundation kept rocking: looking back on a year of resilient music-making
At the end of this school year, Southampton Music Hub is celebrating resilience.
The past 16 months have been disruptive for everyone, and in the face of such challenging times, we have seen the city’s young musicians, and the adults who support them, show an incredible ability to adapt, to grow, to learn, and to reach out.
Music has motivated us to keep going, and it has also helped us to grow the personal qualities that are so valuable, not just because they make great musicians, but because they make us better people.
So at the end of this school year, we’re celebrating resilience.
Groove Foundation
Over the past year, Groove Foundation have been recording regular videos from their living rooms and bedrooms at home, to share on the music hub YouTube channel.
Elliot, the lead singer, explains:
“It was a bit weird at first, because you don’t know what it will sound like until it all comes together. When I’m recording, it’s just me singing and I have no idea how it will sound. Knowing my performance was being recorded, I would work hard to get everything sounding just right. I would kick mum and dad out to the garden to make sure the sound recording was really clear, and keep retaking until I got it right.”
“Elliot really took the videos on as a personal mission” adds Groove Foundation band leader Aidan, who also edited together the band’s video performances.
The virtual performances had an unexpected benefit too, as Elliot explains:
“My friends often can’t come to our live performances, but they have been able to watch the videos all year. We get excited for the premier, and then it’s really fun to see it all sounding great together.”
Over the past year, Elliot has also been able to have music lessons to help develop her singing, thanks to funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund. Elliot tells us what a difference this has made:
“It’s been so cool to have singing lessons to help me improve. Being in Groove Foundation is what got me into singing properly, and now I’m getting better all the time.”
Last week, Groove Foundation returned to a real life stage, after over a year away, with an eight song set at The Point. Elliot tells us what it was like:
“It was really fun to be back. It’s the best feeling. The whole band is there, you can hear everyone again, and you turn around and can see everyone else enjoying themselves. I had to remember to look after my voice though. You can’t take a break like you can when you’re recording at home!”
And it’s not just on stage that being back with the band makes a huge difference. Elliot again:
“It’s so fun to see everyone, deciding the set list, making choices as a band, and helping each other out again. We’re there to support each other after the show too, to share the excitement, and chat about how things went.”
Matt Brombley, Development Manager for Southampton Music Hub adds:
“Elliot, and her bandmates in Groove Foundation are inspirational examples of the resilience so many young musicians have shown this year. We know how hard it has been, missing out on so many of the shared experiences that make music-making so enjoyable, but they have done an exceptional job keeping things going online, with their impressive video performances, and then returning to the stage this summer.”
It’s not just Groove Foundation that have been back on stage. This summer, music hub bands, orchestras and other groups have been rehearsing and performing together again. If you’d like to join a music group, then find out more on our ensembles page.