But he loves working with Club Weld: “The artists are coming at songwriting from a refreshing perspective and with lyrics that I would never think of but that are super cool … there are so many good artists.” Aria-nominated producer Chris Hamer-Smith painstakingly mixed down hundreds of tracks from the 43 choristers – “an incredible and sometimes horrifying experience” given he’d never recorded a choir before. Until then there’s the uplifting, symphonic What the World Needs, on which the Club Weld musicians are joined by the River City Choir. Nina has a way of sort of stripping everything away to its very barest kind of essence. “ are so clear and pure and crystalline, in terms of what they’re trying to say. Toby Martin, lead singer of indie rock band Youth Group, also worked on Frozen River, which he describes as “really beautiful”. “It usually doesn’t take long, since the chords and words suggest the melodies.” “Nina shows me the lyrics, strums the chords and I’ll sing until she likes how it sounds,” he explains. Her first EP Music Colours was released by Club Weld last year, and one of its songs, Frozen River – written for her mother – has been given the choral treatment by River City Voices for the What the World Needs EP. When the group fell apart she was devastated and turned to writing her own songs on ukulele.Īt Club Weld, Gotsis was able to collaborate musically again with industry professionals who could help with all aspects of music making, from writing and recording to booking shows. Gotsis played with them for around 12 years, initially on drums and later switching to guitar after teaching herself by watching DVDs. A quick study, she caught the eye of Lindy Morrison of the Go-Betweens fame, who invited her to join the long-running Junction House Band, a melodic pop group featuring musicians with intellectual disabilities, with Morrison as musical director. Gotsis was inspired to learn drums after seeing Backstreet Boys play live. River City Voices in rehearsal with Club Weld artist Jerrah Patston (centre), who has a track on What the World Needs. Neurodiverse musicians can also face some assumptions that they won’t need to be paid for their work, which is pretty strange.”įor this reason, he says, “a lot of people hadn’t had the opportunities to show their stuff … it’s also been a good place for musicians to socialise, compare notes and collaborate.” “A lot of musicians here have had to deal with ableism some venues act as if they’re doing you a favour by booking you. The sessions are directed by the neurodiverse musicians, who work at their own pace in their own style – but they all share an “unmitigated tenacity”, Worrad says. We just work together to find a way to give them what they need.” “With a lot of musicians, there isn’t any reason to get into the clinical side of things. “The facilitators have some awareness of clinical diagnoses where necessary, but the studio is very much about finding the best ways to work with individuals and make them comfortable – as any good studio would be,” Worrad says. The program was originally developed for people on the autism spectrum, but has broadened its remit to welcome anyone with a neurodiversity who wants to make music, including people with Down’s syndrome and brain injuries. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning “I went in one day in mid-2015 for a jam, loved playing with those guys, and that was that.” “Music therapy is great, but there’s a misconception that when a musician with an intellectual disability is making something that it’s a therapeutic undertaking,” he tells the Guardian. He was drawn to Club Weld as a non-therapy-based studio, which is first and foremost about the music. Musician Sam Worrad writes and performs with Sydney band the Holy Soul and Kim Salmon – and now, through his job as a facilitator at Club Weld, with the Nina Gotsis Band. There’s a misconception that when a musician with an intellectual disability is making something that it’s a therapeutic undertaking Sam Worrad Club Weld’s latest EP, What the World Needs, was released last week: six songs led by six neurodiverse artists, accompanied by western Sydney symphonic choir River City Voices. Gotsis is one of 18 neurodiverse artists who are writing, recording and releasing music through Club Weld, a free program run by Parramatta’s Arts + Cultural Exchange (ACE) which pairs neurodiverse songwriters and musicians with established artists, who collaborate on their music and help develop their skills.
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