By Jamie Salter
Pakenham based musician Brodie O’Halloran is launching an album comprised of songs produced by young Cardinia Shire artists.
Thanks to The Blackbird Foundation Prostars grants, Brodie is working on her passion project as part of her Master of Creative Industries at Melbourne Polytechnic.
Through the local Creative Souls Studio, Brodie has started a song writing program for students aged 14 to 16 who will write and record a song over a 10 week period.
Brodie will help mentor the students through the processes of producing a song.
As part of the grant process, Brodie meets with about 50 other recipients weekly on Zoom who discuss their individual projects.
“It’s good to get other peoples opinions and ideas because they’ll have tips you haven’t thought of,“ she said.
“I was working with the university about grant writing and funding and I found Prostars – it was a really short and simple process.“
The concept has been in development for over a year and a half, with Brodie planning to take the program to local schools if successful.
“I’m a music teacher so I’m offering it to my vocal students at this point who fall into the age group and have expressed an interest in writing music,“ she said.
“We’re up to week five. Basically everyone has finished their lyrics and the next steps will be the melody and producing the track, and then we will be in the studio.“
She said the free project was providing young people with an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise get.
“As a songwriter myself I’ve realised there’s not a lot of opportunities to get professional music experiences in our area, so we’re taking them to Soggy Dog recording studio in Upwey where they can work,“ Brodie said.
“I know how difficult it can be so I developed this program. I think it’s going really well.“
The six songs will be compiled into a digital album called Hidden Souls that will be available on streaming platforms around mid July.
