Emerging Artists collaboration with Drake Music
We are delighted that Arts Council England is supporting our pilot Emerging Artists programme in partnership with Drake Music.
Over a two-year period, four brilliant Emerging Artists selected from our Making Tracks and Sounding Out programmes are working with professional musicians from ITT and Drake Music to further develop as artists and music facilitators, receiving individual mentoring support, as well as engaging in opportunities to work collaboratively and share learning.
The Emerging Artists will be supported to record, release and perform their own original material.
SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE: Thursday 20th April, 7pm, at Rich Mix, East London (also be accessible via livestream) – £5 – book now here.
Meet the Emerging Artists
L U C I N E
The music of L U C I N E is a peek into the deepest depths of their mind and soul. An ongoing interrogation of the human experience, one we can all relate to. Travel into the alternate reality created by their medicinal melodies, ethereal vocals and genre-less production
Follow L U C I N E on Instagram
Luke McCarthy
I’m a man and his guitar. My dreams are simple but significant – I did some time inside and found solace in the most often overlooked things. Many artists wish to share their music, but I hope to connect with people through mine. The songs I write are found in the same place as that of a man who’s articulating the words to leave the world with.
Follow Luke on Instagram
Macelino
Macelino is a Lo-fi Jazz/Drill Artist and Producer from North London who is inspired by Knucks, JME and Unknown T. By being a part of the Emerging Artists programme, he is aiming to become a confident producer across a range of genres while being able to refine his sound through incorporating live instruments into UK Drill.
Follow Macelino on Instagram and Spotify
Reese Quinlan
I’m from Plaistow, East London – I’ve been learning from and working with ITT since 2018; every step has been an experience to help me develop at something I hold a passion for deep in my heart and soul. I’m so excited to be making and performing music with ITT and Drake Music as an Emerging Artist.
I’m a lover of so many different types of music; growing up my Nan used to play Louie Armstrong and Ray Charles; with my younger sister I was listening to all sorts, from Michel Jackson and Van Morrison, to Oasis and so much more. Music has always been a big healer throughout my life just; creating music gives me hope that anything is possible.
Follow Reese on TikTok
ITT and Drake Music musicians
Charles Stuart, Irene Taylor Trust
A singer-songwriter and musician, who enjoys working with both analog and newer digital technologies. As a freelance music tutor I have also been involved with Epic Arts and Lewisham College. More recently I have been performing in ‘The Fish Police’ a band made up of both disabled and non-disabled musicians from the Heart n Soul creative arts company, in addition to playing in Grace Jones’ band.
There are so many inspiring people and things that can happen in an ITT project across a very short 4-and-a-half-day week. Some inspirations are huge and some are very small but I am constantly inspired by meeting people who at the beginning of a project week may only have a non-musician’s appreciation of music. These people very openly trust us, the project team, to gently guide them through the madness that is creating pop music whilst learning how to play an instrument in what amounts to only a few hours! We ask a lot of the participants and they pretty much always deliver.
Kris Halpin, Drake Music
Kris Halpin AKA Dyskinetic is a Disabled artist and music-maker, known internationally for using the groundbreaking MiMu Gloves. Kris uses the gloves to overcome physical barriers to music making. The long-running live show, The Gloves Are On, has been seen by thousands of people throughout the UK Europe, The us and Japan. The show was a finalist in The National Lottery Awards 2017 for Best Arts Project. Kris has been touring a new live show Two Metres Close since 2020, beginning with a pay-per-view performance from SAGE Gateshead. Kris has recently been seen supporting Radiohead’s Philip Selway on his UK solo tour.
Miss Jacqui, Drake Music
Miss Jacqui is a Poet and Songwriter who knows a great deal about working with the cards that you are dealt. She is someone who always tries to challenge societal perceptions, like what it actually means to be a black woman with a disability. A wheelchair user herself, Miss Jacqui wants her poetry and music to help her listeners to see the world differently, and to inspire others to feel confident in being themselves.
Miss Jacqui has spent over 15+ years creating, performing, and advocating for change in different industries.
Miss Jacqui has performed at various locations like the 2012 Paralympic Team Welcoming Ceremonies as well as the Opening Ceremony, Southbank Centre, The Barbican, and Roundhouse to name a few. She has also worked with Graeae, Oily Cart, Theatre Royal Stratford East, National Youth Theatre, The Poetry Society, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Battersea Arts Centre, Upswing, and More.
Miss Jacqui believes that creativity can be a universal language and in her spare time, she is devoted to the exploration of poetry, music, songwriting, and of course performing. Her debut EP “Perception” was a bold step in establishing herself and her disabled activism within the walls of the music industry.
Rex Horan, Irene Taylor Trust
I am yet to meet someone for whom music means nothing – who doesn’t have a favourite song, band or style of music. Because of this commonality, it is an ideal starting point and conduit for work which has the potential to be truly transformative.
Over the past eleven years I have conducted more than 150 projects for the Irene Taylor Trust. I have been affected in the most profound ways by every single one of them. They have been at once wondrous, baffling, hilarious and touching. I have been privileged to witness the very best from the people I have toiled, created and performed with; people who are commonly coming to the projects bereft of hope and self-belief. I consider myself extremely lucky to play a part in this process month after month. I’m always learning and growing as a musician and, I hope, as a person through this work.
I have played bass in the Neil Cowley Trio and have recorded with artists such as Laura Marling, The Staves, Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran.
Shammi Pithia, Irene Taylor Trust
I’ve had the joy of working with the Irene Taylor Trust for around 5 years making music with people around the country and for me these projects are some of the most enriching and enjoyable music making experiences in my year.
When not delivering projects here, I work as a professional composer and producer, creating, releasing and performing my own music around the world and for the past few years specialising in creating music for a variety of dance-based commissions.
Tom Wright-Goss, Irene Taylor Trust
I’m a guitarist, writer and producer from East London. After playing in a pub covers band as a teenager I met Ben Drew (Plan B) in 2006 and joined his live band the B-Team, touring extensively over the UK, Europe and America. I was lucky enough to work on the platinum selling album ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’, and even received an Ivor Novello award for the single ‘She Said’. Since then I’ve written music on two further top ten Plan B albums, composed for Burberry runway shows and had production featured in films and computer games.
I began working with the Irene Taylor Trust in 2018, and absolutely loved the process of using collaborative music making to foster personal development in our participants. These projects are unique in their ability to quickly break down barriers between people and encourage them to overcome anxieties and share ideas with each other. I’ve witnessed some amazing outcomes and learnt a great deal along the way. I am grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those we serve, and I look forward to contributing to the Irene Taylor Trust’s mission in the years to come.
The Irene Taylor Trust 