Written by Banji, Wired4Music Assistant Producer.

On Thursday 26th April 2024, Wired4Music hosted a brand new monthly live music night for young creatives and music makers (ages 16 – 30) called “WIRED UP”. If you are not familiar with Wired4Music, we are a vibrant network of young Londoners aged 16-25, with a passion for music, hosted by Sound Connections, providing paid opportunities for young people, and encouraging them to progress in the music industry and try things they have never done before. For the launch of WIRED UP, we partnered with three organisations that have a similar mission to Wired4Music, in that their focus is on empowering young people and providing a platform for them to showcase their talents.

PROCESS

WIRED UP’s launch event was curated by three young event producers (Banji, Cairo, and Jordan) who are part of the Wired4Music community, and Tee who is the Programme Producer for Wired4Music. Throughout April, we would meet on Tuesdays, either at Rich Mix or online via Microsoft Teams to plan for the event. During these meetings, Tee would apply his own musical knowledge and experiences of running a live musical event which really helped us build confidence in our ability to make WIRED UP a highly anticipated night. In the first few meetings, the focus was on getting people to attend the event, which was done by reaching out to young people through Instagram, social media posts and word of mouth. We also contacted our partner organisations and the artists they had each put forward to perform on the 26th April at WIRED UP.

The organisations we worked with in April were:

• YEAH Youth
• Rich Mix New Creatives
• Young Urban Arts Foundation

We are currently in the process of shortlisting the artists that will be performing with us in our next WIRED-UP event this May and will be revealing the performers over the coming weeks.

On the 16th of April, while Jordan and Cairo continued to work planning the event, I attended a songwriting and house band session at the Qube in Canary Wharf with Tee and Jasmine. In the songwriting session, songwriters from the Wired4Music community were given a brief to write a song from, while the house band were improvising off each other and vibing out during a rehearsal session for WIRED UP. As extra preparation for the house band, we then paired them up with the songwriters to make magic with what they had written.

WIRED UP: EVENT DAY

When the big day arrived, the event producers were all assigned specific roles, which we had discussed on the Tuesday prior. Jordan and Tee hosted the event, whilst me and Cairo were responsible for Ushering and Hospitality. Jordan was also doing social media management with Jasmine, capturing footage of the event as well as taking over Wired4Music social media on the night.

The opening act saw two dancers raise the energy levels up with their amazing moves, agility and coordination. Ilani (most famously known for her role in Top Boy) and Jason are incredible dancers who both have a huge following all over social media, especially Tik Tok. After the Dancers, we had eight amazing performances from talented artists:

• CHARYZE
• KY
• SHAYZ
• ELENA
• SIR JORDAN V
• TYLER HUMBLE
• HANADI
• IMIAH

A huge shout out to them for showcasing their talents and inspiring others.

After the performances, we had a 10-minute break which was followed up by a live jam / open mic. The open mic was an opportunity for young creatives who felt inspired to showcase their abilities and perform with a live band. Many different creatives took part in the open mic, including poets, singers, rappers and more. To set the tone, Tee, Cairo and I jumped on stage with the live band and improvised, which encouraged the audience to come on stage and experiment themselves. I would like to take this opportunity to give a huge shoutout to Jordan as she hosted the whole event along with Tee. At 17 years old, she brought so much energy and enthusiasm to the crowd, that it felt like she’s been doing this for so many years. We also hired a videographer who captured footage of the performers whilst our Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Jasmine, was doing the photography.

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in our first WIRED UP live music event in every shape and form, from the performers to the people working behind the scenes, to the audience who attended the event, resulting in a big turn with 100+ tickets sold.

WHEN IS THE NEXT EVENT?

Our next WIRED UP event is on Thursday 30 May 2024 at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, East London.

Find out more and book your free ticket HERE >

How can I get involved with Wired4Music?

Wired4Music is a creative community supporting young emerging artists aged 16-25 in London. We provide paid opportunities for young people to gain experience in different areas of their own interest. Whether it is social media, events, performing or networking, Wired4Music is a space for just that. We hold regular drop-in sessions for our community, and our 1:1 Careers Advice Sessions, where Tee Peters or another member of the team, will help support you in your creative endeavours.

Even if you are unsure of the creative path you want to take, we encourage you to try new things that you may have never tried before.

Sign up to become a member of Wired4Music for FREE here >