As part of the ongoing work of the Torbay Arts in Schools Network, we are featuring a series of ‘Spotlight Interviews’ with key TASN partners.
Next up: James Carr from Drum Devon
Question: Tell me a little bit about your role and what you do.
I set up Drum Devon 4 years ago with the aim of bringing people together through rhythm. Since then I have opened up 6 regular half-termly courses in Paignton, Totnes and Teignmouth.
I run regular taster sessions, children and family sessions, school workshops, parties, pop-up events, drumming for well-being, retreats and festivals.
I do pretty much everything from marketing & communications to course development to instrument sourcing and maintenance.
I research rhythms from all across the world and develop them to be engaging, lively, accessible and fun workshop experiences to be used in a multitude of settings.
As well as the community and school based workshops, I also run workshops for the Devon Recovery Learning Community in order to promote personal and social well being.
Question: What’s something really exciting/successful that’s happened in the last 6 months?
There have been so many exciting things happening over the past 6 months! We had a drum ensemble as part of the parade at the Brixham Pirate Festival which was an amazing buzz. We were even on BBC Breakfast at one point to promote the coronation celebrations in Brixham!
As well as this, I’ve also run pop up workshops across Torbay including at the Earth Hour Event in Torre Abbey and the Playing in the Streets events with Tonic Creatives. I’ve run an amazing school samba workshop in Dawlish, a teachers retreat at Lupton House and lots of drumming courses. So many fantastic events!
One project that stands out was a bespoke school workshop I ran with Doorstep Arts and South Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty for their Life on the Edge project. The students were tasked with creating a rhythmical soundscape to represent the sounds and movements of rare insects and bugs along the AONB coastline.
Using a range of percussion instruments and digitally sampled audio, the students had a wonderful time creating sounds and movement to represent the wildlife they had been researching. The students did such an amazing job and were so creative in their interpretations. It’s one thing learning about insects, it’s a whole other level of understanding when they actively try to be the insects!
Question: Why are schools relationships important to you? How do the schools get involved?
Having been a teacher myself for nearly 20 years, education is very important to me. School experiences set us up for life, developing confidence and self-belief. Education should inspire us to strive for happy, fulfilling, engaging lives to be lived in supportive, nurturing communities.
Creative, participatory arts in school can help us to achieve this. My background is in social sciences and I trained specifically to teach secondary Humanities and Citizenship and PSHE and although drumming is the main focus, these themes run throughout my workshops.
In my mind, the two areas go hand in hand – playing drums allows participants to explore a whole range of human experience. Students are able to appreciate the historical context as well as reflect on the social and personal benefits of playing music together.
I recently ran a day-long Samba workshop at Cockwood Primary School in Dawlish where the students explored the roots of Samba music. We went from playing European military marches, to ceremonial West African djembe and traced the musical roots to Brazil where we combined rhythms and instruments to create the cultural fusion that is Samba Reggae.
The pupils got to learn about the social and historical context of the music and what this music means for communities and individuals. They were able to achieve this whilst having a great time playing some amazing rhythms!
Drum Devon has a wealth of music making possibilities for schools including ready to go or bespoke drumming workshops. The focus can be to complement an existing project or as a standalone experience or just for fun!
To find out more you can go to www.drumdevon.co.uk/schools or get in touch at drumdevon@gmail.com / 07540077297
Question: Can you describe some ways that families with children & young people engage with your work?
I have recently opened some family drumming workshops over at the Pavilions Teignmouth to provide opportunities for the whole family to come together and play. These are standalone sessions where everyone is welcome. Bring your mum, dad, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, friends. Everyone is welcome and you’re sure to have a great time!
Another project that I’m developing is the Devon Youth Drum Ensemble! We are creating Torbay’s first world rhythms drum ensemble which will officially start in September with short courses running during term time at the Mayfield College, Paignton. But if you can’t wait until then or want to find out what it’s about, we have two taster sessions coming up during the summer term. The first is on the 16th June, 16:30 – 17:30 and the second 21st July at the same time. This project is being supported by the Devon & Torbay Music Education Hubs making the sessions super-affordable at just £6 per session!
If you want to get involved, you can book your place directly with James at drumdevon@gmail.com / 07540077297.
Question: Going forward, what are your hopes and dreams in terms of engagement?
It is my intention to continue building Drum Devon with communities of drummers playing world rhythms here, there and everywhere! I will get the Devon Youth Drum ensemble off the ground and open up new possibilities for young people to learn, create and perform. I would like to work with more schools around Devon in order to achieve this. I also want to expand on the work I’m doing with the Devon Recovery Learning Community in order to promote personal and social well-being among the community but also make these experiences accessible to young people as I believe that once people develop confidence and self-assurance, they are far more likely to be able to achieve their goals and live happy, fulfilling lives.
Stay up to date with Drum Devon and their amazing work here:
https://www.instagram.com/drum_devon/
Drum Devon is a key partner of TASN.
Torbay Arts in Schools Network (TASN) is a collaborative and grassroots effort, comprised of 45 organisations, freelancers, and schools in the Torbay area.
The network serves as Torbay’s Cultural Education Partnership, providing shared regional advocacy, arts menus, creative resources, and arts outreach in partnership with area schools. What is a Local Cultural Education Partnership? Find out more here.
The group is action-driven, and meets fortnightly over Zoom to do shared activity planning. The network is currently chaired and coordinated by Erin Walcon, Co-Director, Doorstep Arts.
The network is open-door and new artists, arts orgs or school staff are always welcome to join –just email erin@doorsteparts.co.uk to sign up to the mailing list.