Home Interviews Features Podcasting Subscribe

Interviews


Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews •

Next Wave #1183: Chance Peña | Next Wave | Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews

Chance Peña’s appearance on The Voice US at the mere age of 15 has catapulted him to success at the pop-folk world. CLASH writer Amrit Virdi caught up with the singer-songwriter before he switches the Texas country for UK stages in his upcoming tour.
“When I reached 15, there was a crossroads where I had to decide whether this was something I wanted to do, and The Voice opened my eyes to fact that this is a real career and I needed to work hard – or work my ass off, for lack of a better term.”—...
Music Teacher •

Second home: World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens

The charity World Heart Beat now has a second education space in London. MT's Amrit Virdi dropped by to see its facilities and meet the staff preparing young students from a range of backgrounds

The gardens of the US Embassy, surrounded by the new builds of Nine Elms and the regenerated Battersea Power Station, aren't where you'd expect to find a music academy driven by ‘a non-exclusive, non-elitist philosophy’. World Heart Beat is a registered charity, with 45 teachers and 400 students at the
CYP Now •

Interview: Ashley John-Baptiste, BBC journalist and presenter

Amrit Virdi speaks to BBC journalist about his new book on his care experience.

As a BBC broadcast journalist, Ashley John-Baptiste has become a household name, working as a presenter on The One Show and hosting documentaries including Being Black at Cambridge.

Baptiste has also been vocal about his time growing up in care, creating a documentary in 2022 titled Split Up in Care - Life Without Siblings, where he discovered he had half-siblings – despite being told by social workers growing up t
Music Teacher •

Vying for vocational: the future of diplomas

MT's Amrit Virdi catches up with course leaders and students about vocational music qualifications and their future, amid the rise of T Levels and funding scares

Gone are the days of assessing music solely through exams. The landscape of music education has adapted and grown since the introduction of the A Level course some decades ago – namely with vocational courses, first introduced in 1994. Further education (FE) diplomas have opened doors to the music industry as well as higher education,
CYP Now •

Partnership campaigns for better lives for young care-experienced Londoners

Care-experienced young people have worked with the council to create the Pan London Care Leavers Compact, a better offer for young care leavers.

Provider: Partnership for Young London, Children in Care Council and London Councils

Summary: Care-experienced young people have worked with the council to create the Pan London Care Leavers Compact, a better offer for young care leavers.

Charity Partnership for Young London has led a city-wide project to create the Pan London Care Leavers Compact, s
Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews •

Next Wave #1169: Dylan Gossett | Next Wave

Dylan Gossett has played a part in using social media to re-introduce the world to folk and country music… and gotten Noah Kahan’s seal of approval in doing so. CLASH writer Amrit Virdi spoke to the Texas-born singer-songwriter across timezones on Zoom about finding your feet in the industry and bring country music to life on stage.

“I was definitely brought up around music – my parents loved it. Listening to the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson laid a foundation for me and my brother Bla
Music Teacher •

Sally Daunt interview: star of the show

Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Music & Drama Education Awards, Sally Daunt has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding and policies around music and neurodiversity. MT's Amrit Virdi meets her to find out more.

AV: How does it feel to have won the award?

SD: Absolutely extraordinary. My colleague from the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) Music Committee was the person who nominated me and I knew nothing about it. It was an enormous surprise.

AV: What inspired
CYP Now •

Merseyside young people develop career skills through literary self-expression

Marginalised young people are empowered to express themselves by writing books about their lived experiences.

Comics Youth CIC, an organisation helping young people to publish comics, launched the Marginal Publishing House in Merseyside to give young people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity a chance to share their stories.

The youth-led organisation publishes solely marginalised authors under the age of 25. Originally funded by the National Lottery and set up as a coaching and mentor
The Rodeo Magazine •

Blossom Caldarone on her London influences and Fair Play

Blossom Caldarone is set to bring her fun and expressive music to Manchester for Fair Play Festival 2024 on 6 April. I spoke to Blossom ahead of the festival to find out more about her musical journey… and her love for Manchester.

[AV]: Where did your love for music begin?

[BC]: Probably with the Annie soundtrack as a very small child – I loved the theatrics and storytelling. And then playing in orchestras, as I loved being part of something. Music always makes you feel like a part of somethin
CYP Now •

Charity highlights importance of specialist roles to support neurodiverse children

Safer London has said its expert caseworker roles to support neurodiverse children are vital at a time where there’s a “lack of money for services”.

The two caseworker roles were introduced in August 2023, with the specialists having training and advanced knowledge in working with neurodiverse children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Safer London say 26% of young people they worked with last year were neurodiverse.
• Additional Family Costs for Children
CYP Now •

Programme launched to promote evidence-based parenting interventions

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and Foundations have collaborated on a programme which will trial evidence-based parenting interventions in four pilot areas.

York, Merton, Stockport and Wirral are the four pilot areas for the scheme. Foundations and YEF will work with these local areas and their family hubs over the next two years to show the impact of local evidence leadership on evidence use and implementation as part of a family hub approach.

Funding will be given for specific parenting inte
Music Teacher •

Readipop: the charity bringing participant-led music into schools

MT's Amrit Virdi reports on Readipop, the independent charity engaging students with music in the Thames Valley.

To most observers, music is an underfunded subject, often resulting in students missing out on experimentation to broaden their interests. Readipop, established in 1998, offers young people – from primary age up to university – in the Reading and Thames Valley area the chance to engage interactively with music.

Youth clubs, community bands, festivals, a record label and outreach are
CYP Now •

Mermaids’ chief Lauren Stoner on the future of the charity and LGBTQ+ inclusivity

LGBTQ+ charity Mermaids is moving forward after an "unprecedentedly difficult time", its new chief executive Lauren Stoner tells CYP Now.

Mermaids has been supporting LGBTQ+ young people since 1995, and most recently found itself in the centre of controversy after the Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into the organisation. The charity also hit headlines after it appealed a decision by the Charity Commission to register LGB Alliance (LGBA) as a charity.

Mermaids is looking to mov
Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews •

Next Wave #1154: Overpass | Next Wave

overpass are well and truly putting the West Midlands back on the music map – and they had to overcome a pandemic in the process. “We got to be a band for two months and then we were sent into lockdown. We didn’t even play our first gig for nearly a year and a half.”

After the pandemic made the band’s beginnings unconventional to say the least, vocalist Max Newey shares, from his childhood bedroom, the journey the band has been on to get to the point where they’re set to embark on a headline to
Load More