Being asked to meet and film the boys who wrote Hurstmere School's new charity video this Summer was an absolute privilege! Two years ago, during 'lockdown 1' at the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a group of Year 7 boys came together online to write a song about a boy not responding to his texts or calls. They named the song 'Chasing Rainbows' and the lyrics developed to describe a young boy in his bedroom struggling with his mental health - something a lot of people in general can relate to, especially during the time we found ourselves in back then - our first lockdown when schools closed for the first time since the war - but here was a story about boys and young men struggling which was very dear to their heart. Let's hear from the boys themselves:
Andy Gilbert, Hurstmere's musician in residence who runs Studio-Fix - their internal record label, explained:
The song stood out straight away. I knew it was a special one.
Originally recorded with just the five songwriters singing, he went on to workshop it further with Hurstmere's Harmony Army - recording and layering the sound and refreshing the vibe before organising the new 'lyric style' video this Summer.
Studio-Fix connected with the charity Young Minds to raise awareness, as well as valuable funds on the release of the video in July. An outstanding example of student-led creativity that brings the conversation of boys' mental health out into the open. Andy understands well the way that songwriting and performing can positively impact mental health and sees confidence grow as the students get involved in Studio-Fix Projects. We'll be sharing more about that in our next blog, but for now let's celebrate this project by watching the video itself.
Chasing Rainbows by Hurstmere's Harmony Army
Well done to everybody involved! A truly incredible collaboration to work on and a pleasure to meet such eloquent young men, still only 13-14 years old, but who spoke with such insight whilst listening respectfully to their peers.
Putting our message to music makes it a lot more relatable. You are not alone in this.
If you are inspired to donate anything towards this worthy cause, however small, please do get in touch with us: admin@end2endtv.co.uk or donate directly quoting: Studio-Fix Hurstmere School 'Chasing Rainbows' https://www.youngminds.org.uk/