OverDub Club Project Impact
- By Tom Culling
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
Over the course of the seven months that I spent working on Quench’s Overdub Club project, I was regularly astounded by the abundant creativity of the participants.
Although I enjoy all of my community music work, I am particularly fond of working with young people and neurodivergent/disabled people due to the seemingly limitless and totally unapologetic willingness to experiment that is so common within these demographics.
Throughout this project, I worked alongside music leader James Stanley. It is clear that, for James, cultivating an environment which champions creative freedom and musical expression comes naturally.
I learnt a huge amount from James’ approach to leadership. Amongst other things, I found his methods for guiding workshops in practical directions, whilst maintaining a collaborative approach to decision-making with the participants, particularly brilliant. He is often silently adaptable - following the participants’ leads but stepping in to help with difficult tasks that would distract from the flow of the session, or to offer suggestions for how to structure and direct the sessions when appropriate. James’ subtle leadership ensures that the participants are driven by the goal of quality music-making, rather than by a perceived authority figure or an external goal of academic success. James and I largely functioned as creative tools to aid the learners’ creative processes.
It is clear from the joy displayed by the learners that they genuinely felt ownership of, and pride in, the creative products of the sessions. Although the social benefits of group musicking are often cited in these settings, it is rare to work on a project where the aims of developing social connection, self-confidence, and emotional awareness are so central to the sessions. One-to-one sessions certainly allowed for a well-considered, person-centred approach in this regard.
I could write about all of the composition and music technology skills that we explored in the sessions (for which there were many), but my intuition tells me that the aspects of the project which will result in the greatest long-term benefits to the participants are broader than individual techniques. I believe that, by exploring positive musical collaboration with the participants, they will be better equipped for future collaborative projects, both socially and musically.
I am immensely proud and grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this project, and I am invariably inspired when I am lucky enough to work with young, disabled/ND creatives. Their unbridled creativity and enthusiasm remind me to enjoy music, and that creativity is inherently joyous. This is undeniably reflected in my own compositional output, as well as my broader outlook on life.
