Risca pair recycled instruments help bring music to the masses (From Campaign Series)
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Risca pair recycled instruments help bring music to the masses
12:21pm Monday 4th March 2013 in News
THE BEAT GOES ON: Daniel Fitzgerald, left, and Jack Cooper have set up their own musical instrument recycling firm
WHEN people think about recycling, things like cans, newspapers and bottles spring to mind.
But, it is musical instruments that two men from Risca are hoping to salvage from people’s bins, using them to help in their search for the next big stars.
From their base in Caerphilly, Daniel Fitzgerald and Jack Cooper, both 25, have already collected 20 electric, acoustic and bass guitars, two drum kits, a saxophone and two keyboards.
They will now use the instruments to teach music at schools and community groups in disadvantaged areas around South Wales through their initiative called Recrock Wales.
The project was born last October, when Mr Cooper was disillusioned in his call centre job and Mr Fitzgerald, a member of soul band Maddie and the Pandas, was struggling to make a decent living from his passion.
With cuts to funding services such as the Gwent Music Support Service highly publicised at the time, the two felt they could make their own statement, do something to help, and launch a viable business.
Mr Cooper said: “We were worried that the price of tuition and instruments would mean people in disadvantaged areas would not be able to get involved. We want to reach out to those people in an area with a rich musical heritage, to give them an opportunity to start their own bands.”
Recrock Wales has received a £5,000 grant from the Welsh Government and been given free use of a premises at Caerphilly Business Park for a year through the Innovation Centre for Enterprise Wales.
They have started working with Learnabout – a young adult training scheme in Pontypool and Risca – and hope to link up with schools and the Caerphilly Youth Forum. To donate an instrument you don’t want, email recrockwales@gmail.com
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2:47pm Mon 4 Mar 13
However, by setting up this venture and training up young musicians in the way they should go, the two founders should be succesfull!
The question remains: will those they teach and encourage, be able to make a living?
Over to you Mr Cooper!