by Author efwigley

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From Participant to Facilitator and Artist. How Laynah's career took off thanks to Contact and funding from Youth Music

Laynah Nathan, aka Lay full stop, has taken a journey through Contact's music participatory project that has led her to success and to pave the way in Hop Hop music for young women. This case study investigates how her journey began and how her successes came about. 

Laynah first came to Contact when she popped in for what she thought would be a quick visit on her way to the gym with a friend. Three years later Laynah is facilitating a participatory project, working on our Box Office, has released music as a soloist and as part of a group called Cul de Sac, and has a bright future ahead in the music industry.

 

Whilst her tenacity and determination would have meant she would have succeeded with whatever she set her mind to, Contact, with the help of funding from Youth Music, has certainly helped speed up the process.

 

After half an hour in Media Drop, our entry-level drop in participatory programme, Laynah was asked to join Level Up due to her enormous talent and potential. Level Up provides participants with the opportunity to develop their music production skills through working with industry professionals to arrange, mix, produce and record music alongside learning about working professionally in the industry.

 

Since Laynah joined Level Up she has encouraged more females to participate in our music programmes. Traditionally Contact’s music programmes have struggled to attract young women, but with Laynah’s presence and experience she has helped young women become part of the group, creating an atmosphere that is not awkward or uncomfortable but simply enjoyable.

 

Laynah’s journey through Level Up has given her skills such as budget management, communications skills and self confidence in performing within a small group of peers. These are skills she has gone on to share as part of her mentoring with other young people at The Factory Youth Zone in Harpurhey.

 

While part of Level Up, Laynah and her fellow participants had created the group Cul de Sac. Having enjoyed numerous successful performances and released music on Spotify and Sound Cloud, Cul de Sac wanted to end their time together on a high note and moved on to focus on their solo careers.

 

Laynah made the move from participant to facilitator when her time at Level Up came to a natural end. In the year that Laynah has been a facilitator she has rapidly progressed from a trainee facilitator, to workshop assistant to fully fledged facilitator.

 

‘Contact is my musical home! It is more than just a place to take part in a music workshop, it is so supportive and proactive and I will always perform here. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to learn skills in communication and negotiation and the amazing world of networks that have opened up to me for the development of my music career’

Laynah

 

We are all extremely proud of Laynah and can’t wait to see how her career progresses. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0WaZbGUQUE&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ufFShLOKg