Sounds Like Hammersmith and Fulham, creating the next generation of musical talent

In 2020, Hammersmith and Fulham council were awarded a Cultural Impact Award from the London Borough of Culture programme, for the Sounds Like Hammersmith and Fulham (SLHF) programme. From January 2022 - August 2023, the programme provided pioneering opportunities for over 600 children and young people in the borough aged 13-25, nurturing and championing new emerging talent, creating innovative music-making and event production opportunities and raising the profile of music across the entire borough.

SLHF took place across two phases, each delivered as a partnership between Hammersmith and Fulham Council and local organisations already supporting children and young people.

Phase 1 of the programme was developed and delivered by the Tri-borough Music Hub (TBMH) an organisation whose aim is to provide musical pathways and opportunities for children and young people from diverse backgrounds across the borough.

Taking place between January - December 2022, the focus of this phase was to reach children and young people aged 13-18, in formal and informal settings. TBMH worked with 17 schools to deliver free workshops in music production and technology, hip-hop and rap and songwriting, as well as working in non-educational settings.

Phase 1 culminated in two events: the youth-programmed Big Gig Take 1, showcasing 26 local young artists at Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherd's Bush and Big Gig Take 2, a documentary screening about the impact of Phase 1, held at Lyric Hammersmith.

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Phase 2 of the programme was developed and delivered by HQI International. The programme took 12 young artists on a collaborative learning and development journey over the course of 10 months.

Encompassing workshops delivered by leading music industry professionals, one-on-one mentoring from HQI's resident experts, access to HQI's music and editing studios, and a grant of £1000 to support their final projects, the programme aimed to create an early career launchpad for brilliant local talent.

Phase 2 culminated in a creative showcase from the programme cohort, presented to an invited audience from media and music industries.

Sharifa Olateju, one of the talented young musicians who took part in Phase 2 of SLHF, tells us more about his experience of the programme.

How did you come to get involved in the Sounds like Hammersmith and Fulham programme at HQI?

It's a bit of an authentic story, to be honest. I was going through a phase of trying to find grants to fund my music career, to help elevate my music. SLHF offered a £1,000 grant and pretty much that was enough for me to apply. So originally, it was about monetary gains unfortunately, but at the end of it, the money ended up being the least important part of it. The workshops and the things that we were doing ended up being way more valuable to my career then the grant was, and that's never ever happened before. These guys actually gave us education. I became a better musician. I had a place to practice my craft and get better and meet new people, and that's essentially what I would class as the launch of my career, rather than the money. So when I was supposed to get the last part of my grant, I almost told Muz [Director, HQI] not to give it to me because I was like, it doesn't matter. So really, there was a flip of the script from how I applied versus how it turned out.

What were you hoping to get out of the programme when you joined?

I think I was in a stage where I didn't really know I was doing. To a certain extent I was convinced that I was doing the right thing, but I ultimately knew that there was a bit of confusion as to where I sat creatively, where I wanted my music to sit and where I wanted to go with it. And I guess I was trying to find my voice, even though I didn't know that at the time, I kind of only know that now, in retrospect. And yeah, I think I went there [to HQI] trying to figure out where I sat, where I wanted to go, what I wanted for myself and that kind of thing. And I got that, to be honest. That is what I got from the programme, and that's why I can now look back and say that's what I was looking for.

What was it like working with the cohort of creatives on the SLHF programme?

It was honestly amazing. I think it was probably one of the best selected groups I've ever participated in, in the way that everybody got along and how unforced it felt. For example, with some other professional groups that I've been part of, or programmes that I've done, it just feels like they've just put people in a room together, and I've never really built a relationship with any of those people in those settings. It really feels like we don't really know each other. Sometimes, they have been great opportunities but I've never developed connections with many of the people there, like I did with HQI. We need more programmes like SLHF. I've been looking for something like it since!

It really did feel like a family. Like at the end of the showcase, we all came together and did this massive group hug, and we all started jumping about and dancing, we felt like family like that. We'd always end up chilling for hours after the workshops, just chatting and getting along with each other and people would invite each other to sessions and to their events. And people do that in other groups that I've been part of, but no one goes because we don't really know each other. At HQI, we actually went out and did things together.

SLHF at HQI was really well curated, in the sense that Muz knew that everybody had to have the same kind of level of work ethic, drive and passion to do better. And I feel like when you meet people that have that same level of drive, you automatically get along with them because you don't find a lot of people that have that. We just got along with each other straight away, we literally almost have everything in common. It was probably the best selected and curated programme I've been part of.

What were the highlights of the programme for you?

I've got 2 answers. I've got the wholesome moment at the end of the showcase that I mentioned. That was beautiful. I actually loved that, it was just so honest, so real. All of our relationships together were just so real. And I really, really like that.

And then my second answer is the way that it's set us up, ready for the world and the industry. Like I still go to HQI now, even since I've ended my residency I've still been going. I was building myself there and then now I'm working with my manager and a lawyer and working with all these cool people and like, I'm still going to HQI - the full circle feeling is a nice highlight.

It's nice to still have a have a chat with Muz, a year after I was telling him all the things that I wanted to do, and now I'm doing them - it's just a really good highlight, for sure.

What's been the impact for the programme on you as an early career musician in London?

So there's a few things. First thing is that it helped me to move from aspiring and emerging to early [career musician], like I actually managed to get something started now. It's given me facilities to do what I need to do, which I think is overlooked, like being able to access the studio every day of the week. To be able to do that is amazing.

Muz has connections to lots of people but also helped me to navigate professional relationships with people in the industry, he helped me make sure that I was working with the right people and in the right way. During the programme, I was going through some housing challenges which were difficult, but throughout all of that, HQI was always there. It was always a secure place for me to go to. Everybody there was nice. It was a sense of belonging there and it was consistently there throughout all of the other stuff that was going on in my life at the time. That was really valuable as to why I stayed in London and why I kept doing what I'm doing.

Was there anything unexpected that you took from being part of the programme?

Before I did the [SLHF] programme, my music wasn't really at the stage I wanted to be and I wasn't very happy with it. Then at HQI, we did this vocal workshop with a guy called Chris Johnson and within that session, I don't know how he did it, but he unlocked something - he gave me this vocal trick that at the time I felt a bit silly doing, in front of everyone there. But I did it, then I went home and I did it for a week, and then for two weeks, and then I pulled up my laptop and I started making a song. And I was like, 'Where's this voice come from?' I thought that because my voice had dropped that I'd lost all the things that I had before, but he helped me to unlock that again. And that is a lot of the reason why like I'm making a lot of the music that I'm making now, because he unlocked that. Then after that session, I was given access to the spaces at HQI to experiment with that new thing that I'd just found. And then from there, I developed and grew and started making better music. I think all the workshops were great, I learned something from all of them. But I think sometimes you just get that light bulb moment. Like I have no other way of saying it other than that was honestly life changing. I genuinely think that was the start of the domino effect to where I am.

Sharifa is just one voice of the many young people and children who were positively impacted by the SLHF programme.

Across its two phases, SLHF has created wide-ranging impact and legacy. From educational resources, skills and talent development, to new partnerships between the council, local arts organisations and creative practitioners, as well as the development of a new ten-year cultural strategy for Hammersmith and Fulham Council, the impact of SLHF will resound for years to come in the borough and beyond.

Read the SLHF evaluation report on the Hammersmith and Fulham Council website.