Latest / The Downing Arts Podcast / ET25.4 A glimpse into the Advanced Popular Performance Scheme

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ET25.4 A glimpse into the Advanced Popular Performance Scheme · The Downing Arts Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
• 0:11
  This week we'll be hearing from two students who've been involved with the university Wide
• 0:15
  Advanced Popular Performance Scheme this year. We are very proud of all that they've
• 0:19
  achieved. We'll meet them in just a second. In the meantime, creative arts
• 0:23
  activities are still in full swing across the college despite impending exams.
• 0:27
  On Tuesday evening we heard a beautiful vocal recital from Ina Kruger
• 0:31
  accompanied by Larry Wang on the piano. And last night Downing BI
• 0:35
  Fellow Andrew Sachin Pol hosted a wonderful evening of readings and discussion with
• 0:39
  contemporary poet Sandra Moussonpes.
• 0:48
  The Centre for Music Performance is a university wide endeavour which aims
• 0:52
  to work with the colleges to facilitate music making in a variety of genres and
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  across all levels of aspiration and experience. I have with me
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  in the studio two of our own students who have benefited from a very prestigious
• 1:04
  opportunity in the realm of popular music. Welcome Denise Rabalo and
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  Imogen Barnes. Hi Louisa. Hi. Could you introduce
• 1:12
  yourselves? Hi. So I'm Denise Raballo and I'm a third
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  year studying Bionatsky at Downing. And I'm
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  Imogen, I'm a fourth year studying French and German.
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  Fantastic. So what is the Advanced Popular Performance
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  Scheme and what have you been up to this year? So it's
• 1:32
  a mentorship scheme that's run by the CMP who are the Centre for Music Performance.
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  I'm pretty sure there's like two kind of strands you
• 1:40
  can go down. The first is like vocal. So I'm sure that there's like a
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  few vocalists in Cambridge that get tuition and things like that.
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  But Denise and I are part of bands in Cambridge
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  so we get mentoring from Yolanda Charles who is a,
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  a renowned and very talented bass player. So you've both been working
• 2:00
  on different projects. Do you want to just tell us a little bit about what
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  you've been doing? Yep. So I'm in a band called Lost Projects
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  and we do hip hop, R and B and
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  then like pop as well. So just all sorts of genres and
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  yeah, so we're made up of like guitarist,
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  bassist, drummer, pianist and then we've got a female
• 2:27
  vocalist and then a male rapper. So a lot of what we've been doing with
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  Yolanda is just trying to,
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  she's like opened our minds up to like this load of rhythm because
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  we found that at times when we were performing maybe we
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  could have integrated the rapping with the instrumentals
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  a bit more rather than just having the rapper rap over an instrumental,
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  do a bit more like call and response and interaction. So she's been helping a
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  lot with that. And she's told us think in sixteenths.
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  So when we're composing and Imi, you're.
• 3:02
  A singer, so has that been a big part of what you've been doing?
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  Yeah, yeah, quite a big part. I'm part of a band called
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  Girl Band, and we're like a pop kind of jazz band.
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  And our experience with Yolanda has been quite similar, but I'd say
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  we focused a bit more on songwriting as opposed to performance.
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  So I haven't worked with Yolanda much yet on my singing,
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  personally, but I've had a lot of advice on how to kind
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  of write music with my fellow bandmates and write the
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  kind of melodies and lyrics and things which I haven't had a lot of experience
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  with before. So that's been really helpful because I was
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  a bit worried before the process that I would be
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  a bit out of my depth because I'm working with amazing instrumentalists. I mean,
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  we've got really talented, like, horn section, rhythm section. All of the
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  girls are incredible. And I've always been on the kind of performance side
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  of singing as opposed to the, I suppose, like, productive or creative
• 4:01
  side of it. So Yolanda's really helped me kind of gain the confidence to
• 4:05
  I think back my own ideas and stuff.
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  So that's been nice. Fantastic. So how did you get into
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  the scheme? I mean, I imagine it's quite competitive. So there's an audition
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  process that happened, I believe, and Michaelmas,
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  I don't remember too clearly, but yeah, so when you're
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  auditioning, you're auditioning for this Battle of the Bands competition called Take
• 4:29
  it to the Bridge or otherwise. If they think it's more appropriate,
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  they can award you the UP scheme. So, yeah,
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  I think only four acts get selected for this app scheme.
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  And I think this year I'm not 100%. Yeah. I think there's four
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  bands that got selected this year. So one was Project Skull Band, and then two
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  other bands. So it was, like, really competitive. And when I found out that we
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  had Yolanda, I was pretty happy because of the stuff that she does.
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  I thought she'd be well suited. She's quite well
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  rounded, but I believe she does a lot of R and B work
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  as well. So, yeah, I was happy that we were selected
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  to work with Yolanda. So is there potential next year for you to do
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  the Take it to the Bridge sort of competition or, like, is this just for
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  one year, presumably? Yeah, this is for one year. I believe there will be potential.
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  Like, lots of projects are kind of new I think we started up
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  just over a year ago and it was just. We kind of started up for
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  the funsies. Like we were just like, I just want to do like literally me
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  and my friend, so I play the guitar. It's probably worth mentioning that earlier,
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  but like, my friend and I were just kind of like,
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  we want to do a bit of music whilst we're at uni because she
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  sings and then I like produce. So that was the idea. And then we did
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  an open mic and that went down really well. And I was like,
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  oh no, this guy that raps, let's do an open mic with him. And we
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  performed with Kwaser and we were like, oh, this is really cool, let's start a
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  band. So then we found people that either we knew or like
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  the drummer. We didn't know him at the time, we had to search out for
• 6:00
  a drummer. But we've all become like really good friends in the process. So.
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  Yeah, it wasn't anticipated but like, it's been
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  really nice to see how like much love and I guess popularity that last
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  projects have gotten because we didn't expect it. I think they'll do really well next
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  year. I graduate this year, so I probably won't be around for whatever next
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  year. And I think, Amy, I believe you're graduating as well.
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  Yeah, I am too. So I don't know what the future of girl band will
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  be either. Yeah, about half of us are leaving, but you never know with
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  Cambridge bands. There's so many talented people coming in that I think they have quite.
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  They can have legs, you know, and live for quite a long time. Time even
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  if people keep coming and going. So, yeah, I'm the only one that's leaving Lost
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  Projects is yet the rest of the. Yeah, so I'm going to get a
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  bit of FOMO when I'm gone. But yeah,
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  hopefully they'll get. Take it to the bridge. Maybe it
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  happens in like junction and it's like four arcs
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  as well. So yeah, we'll see what the future
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  holds at least in terms of when I'm around. There's a lot of like
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  May events that we're doing and I think we have like maybe
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  like some other gigs next term. But it's been like a good year compared to
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  last year. Like we've had a lot going on. So. Yeah, yeah,
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  it's been very busy. I mean, I joined girl band in Michaelmas
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  and it had existed, I think last year as well, but half of them ended
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  up leaving because they graduated. And so I saw while I was on my year
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  abroad, actually an Instagram post that was saying, oh, you know, girl band are looking
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  for a singer or whatever. And it just came up randomly on my feed.
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  And so I was going through their account, like, trying to get, you know,
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  suss out the vibe, and I just saw they were singing like, all of my
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  favorite songs. Like, their set list was like my Spotify
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  playlist. So I just thought, you know, why not kind of go for it?
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  And it's genuinely just been so enriching and just to see this
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  other side of Cambridge music, because I've been involved in, like, choirs, as Louisa
• 7:57
  will know, I'm in Down in College Chapel choir and I've done
• 8:00
  that since my first year and then I did a bit of jazz from my
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  second year. But it's such a thriving scene,
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  kind of the. The band scene here and all of the popular music and stuff,
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  which I think apps kind of shows you. And yeah,
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  I've had probably. I think we did four or five gigs in Michaelmas term and
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  then a lot of things this term as well. I mean, we had the chance
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  to do, like, shoot a music video with some. Some people over
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  at ARU as well. So it was honestly just like beyond anything
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  I could have imagined when I thought I might audition for the band. So,
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  yeah, it's been brilliant. And how do you balance all of this with your studies?
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  Because, I mean, presumably you put the work in there as well. I think if
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  it's something that you enjoy and you care about, it can sort of be beneficial
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  because it means that you have to organize your time a bit better.
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  I also, like emi, did jazz band last year,
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  but since I'm like a finalist now, I had to unfortunately
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  leave because, yeah, lost projects were just taking
• 9:02
  up a lot of time and like Imi said,
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  there's a big community, so it is a really enriching experience.
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  And it's just nice that you get to like, kick back and do some music
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  after you've been doing your degree and other stuff for that week.
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  So, yeah, it's just like good fun. And also
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  in terms of the community, I didn't expect it. And it's
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  something that you kind of don't know about unless you're in it. And we
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  all know each other, like everyone from the. All the Cambridge bands, we all know
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  each other now, made a lot of friends, so that's been really nice as well.
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  I guess that's something you can take with you when you leave, you know,
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  those friendships. And I mean, you're clearly Both very
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  talented and very committed and very good at what you do. So would you like
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  to carry on after you leave university? Like, whatever you end up doing, doing this
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  sort of alongside it. It's a good question. I think
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  I ask myself this a lot, especially kind of coming towards the end of my
• 9:58
  time here. And I think that I'll definitely continue with music in some
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  capacity, but maybe not kind of professional, if that makes sense. I think
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  I'm very aware that Cambridge is quite a uniquely suited
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  place for this kind of. This kind of scene to
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  emerge, you know, this kind of community to emerge where there's just so many creative
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  people with actually, like, the free time to kind of do this and to
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  be really committed to it. And I anticipate that being a bit trickier
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  maybe once I've left university. So I'm just trying to capitalize on it now.
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  But, yeah, I'd love to keep going in a choir, in a band
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  or something. And the good thing is all of us do leave here and we'll
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  end up in similar places, similar cities, and hopefully we'll
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  find new communities that can give us the same kind of experience.
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  In terms of myself, I grew up playing musical
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  instruments like violin, keyboard, guitar.
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  I would just sort of. I was kind of obsessed with trying to learn how
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  to play everyone. So I've got, like. I can play lots of different
• 11:03
  ones, but I kind of became a. Was it Jack of all trades,
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  master of none. So coming here, I've learned,
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  like, being around so many people that. Because I think
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  in terms of what I tend to do is I like to produce and stuff
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  like that. But I've been around, like, other musicians, like jazz musicians,
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  classical musicians, have sort of learned, like, the value of learning,
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  like, your theory and the technical stuff as well. So it's. I think
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  I can take that on because, yeah, I typically just sort of do things by
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  ear, but I think I've, like, learned that lesson
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  that I should, like, lock in pretty much. And it's
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  really been, like, motivational to be around, like, people that are full of knowledge.
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  And I always, like, grew up wanting to do music in some capacity,
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  like when I'm older. So hopefully we'll graduate and get, like,
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  really good jobs. But, like, I would like to be music as a
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  sort of side hustle. So probably, like,
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  yeah, I think Yolanda's definitely helped me with the performance aspects
• 12:07
  and being more confident in that. But I think, like, at heart, I just like
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  making songs and producing, so I want to do that. Maybe, like,
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  learn how to dj. As well. So I think that's what
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  I'd be looking to do and made a lot of connections here and
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  it's really nice as well. There's a lot of people that graduate and they might
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  not even go corporate and they just go into the arts, whether that be theater,
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  whether that be music. So yeah, I don't know if it will be a full
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  time thing, but I definitely want to give it a lot of time. Yeah.
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  And do you think the center for Music Performance has been a
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  good thing in facilitating all these opportunities? I think there's a
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  growing general awareness that outside of instrumentalists or jazz
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  or classical music, that there's other genres as well that people are interested in.
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  And I even spoke to Simon who leads the center of Music Performance and
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  he was saying that, yeah, they're trying to involve more genres and
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  people with more backgrounds and they do DJ workshops and
• 13:05
  music production workshops. I've not really had time to dip into that too
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  much but I do know that they're trying to do that. And then also there's
• 13:12
  like hip Hop society as well. So yeah, I think there's like
• 13:15
  that's what's nice about Cambridge. You do find like your scene and your
• 13:19
  people. So yeah. Well, thank you very much. Perhaps if
• 13:23
  hopefully the podcast is still going in a couple of years, you can come back
• 13:27
  and tell us about all the amazing things you're doing. Thank you.
• 13:31
  Thank you.
• 13:37
  This week in college this evening in the hyung Gallery at 6:15,
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  the Fitzwilliam Museum Society has kindly organised an artist led
• 13:45
  sand painting workshop exclusively for Downing members. On Sunday
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  the commemoration of benefactors service begins in the chapel at 6:15pm
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  with the choir singing works by Parry, Walton and Bird.
• 13:57
  Take a break. Choir happens again on Monday at five in the chapel.
• 14:01
  Another Disney fix is on the cards this week I think. On Thursday 22 May
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  5 till 6pm there is a special film screening happening in
• 14:09
  the gallery entitled A Glimpse of Venice. In Cambridge, spaces are limited
• 14:14
  and need to be reserved. See the show notes for details. This week is your
• 14:18
  last chance to catch the Twining Eggington exhibition in the gallery. Do go and have
• 14:21
  a peek if you haven't already. And finally a shout out to all
• 14:25
  students expecting to graduate this summer. The Judy C. Petty Prize for
• 14:29
  Music and the Arts Closing date is 22 May in if you have
• 14:33
  contributed to the arts in any way at all during your time at Downing,
• 14:37
  do consider giving it a go. Details in the show notes. Next Thursday
• 14:40
  is also the deadline for the John Trehearne Creative Writing Prize
• 14:44
  again. See the show Notes for details. Next week I'll be
• 14:48
  chatting all things Paddington with first year medic Bede Doe. Thanks for listening.