What goes around, comes around

By Mike Chunn

The sidelines of sports fields on Saturday mornings are a wonderful portrayal of human nature in action. Apart from the odd parent trying to whack a passing referee or screaming “You’re wearing the wrong colour jersey, ref!!” the air is close to genteel.

It’s in the heart primarily that they all stay gripped to the edge of the field or court. The competitive spirit alive and well and wearing coats of many colours: vicarious, old boy/girl, competitive spirit-alive-and-well, communal celebration and so on.

In New Zealand the tens of thousands of ‘grown-ups’ lining sports grounds are there because, in the main, they played the game. They know the experience of that contest. They know how a committed sporting activity in schools leads to a heady combination of competitive ambition, teamsmanship (unless it’s shooting!), that school pride again and the spin-offs of a healthy body and the intelligent application of quick-thinking.

It’s a world for all. But where it is particularly successful is in the mentoring, coaching and management that these ‘grown-ups’ bring to this social, sporting infrastructure. All done on a voluntary basis.

It’s starting to happen in music in a big way.

As a lad, my parents’ friends thought my pursuit of a life as a pop star was frivolous. (Luckily my parents didn’t!). There was a sense that everyone aged over 40 thought the ambitious pursuit of rock ‘n’ roll was like trying to be an expert in tiddlywinks. Well that was that and it didn’t stop some of us…. But certainly in terms of musical development, five years at secondary school was five years wasted.

It’s not like that today.

In 2011, the support structure (let’s call it) for those at school is growing in leaps and bounds. Why? Well – they’ve been there too. And so we are finally getting to have people coming around after going around (I had to throw that in). There are people on the sidelines lending a guiding hand. And the change that makes is very clear in my world, right here at Play It Strange as we run school song-writing competitions along with live concerts and recording sessions and we get to see who’s chipping in to help.

There are three groups of people who are moving this along.

Parents. At long last (in smallish numbers admittedly) there are parents who will knock on their offspring’s bedroom door and make the suggestion that “perhaps the physics assignment can wait as the cut-off date for the song-writing competition is soon and that new song needs a bit more work.”

The stimulation, feedback loops, willingness to listen and sheer hard work support (carrying harps!) is now palpable – at least from where I stand. And you can see the difference it makes. When a singer/songwriter turns up at one of the Play It Strange concerts with a mother carrying a guitar case and a father with a bag of leads, tuners and pedals you know this student is going to be poised for good things.

Teachers. While the music curriculum rolls on with a heavy tip o’ the hat to the past, there is a wildly pro-active line of music teachers who have a love of contemporary rock ‘n’ roll and are forging inventive and assertive programmes in their schools. Assertive? Students are encouraged to be themselves and to bring into the light their own take on a musical adventure. It’s addictive and they fly around like birds of paradise set free from their cages. I know this. I see it.

It can be decile ten as in Waikato Diocesan where wonderful things are happening under the encouragement of their HOD Bridget Greenslade. Waikato Diocesan has just won the Rockshop Album of the Year Award for their 2 The Nation album of original songs written and performed by their students. An amazing album. Or it can be decile two like Manurewa High in Auckland which was one of the three NZ secondary schools to have the most number of songs placed on the Play It Strange Lion Foundation CD this year. A testament to the huge stimulation and encouragement their students have from music teacher Tim Randle. And there are many more like Bridget and Tim. The numbers are growing.

And then we have the musicians and songwriters who have walked onto stages, written hits and recorded albums. From the likes of Jordan Luck, Jon Toogood (Shihad), Dave Gibson (Elemenop), Barnaby Weir (Black Seeds), Debbie Harwood and more. The experienced breed are turning around to young people and offering advice on all things in all areas. And it is offered with grace and commitment and generosity. More on that at a later date.