Career Clarity for Youth Through Creative Mentoring

Acclaimed NZ music producer Dave Rhodes mentors Mercury Bay Area School students for Creative in Schools programme

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a question that is constantly asked of us when we’re young, especially during those high school years. At that age I had these idealistic dreams of being a doctor, a mural artist, or a UN ambassador. There was a career counsellor at my high school, but I remember that feeling very prescriptive and uninspiring. I had no idea about the realities of any of those professions, and spent quite a few years, post high school, trying different jobs out to see what I liked, meandering along with no clear career direction.

So this year when my partner Dave Rhodes spent two terms being a Creative Mentor at Mercury Bay Area School (his ex high school), I was intrigued! After most sessions he’d come home and tell me how fulfilling it was for him to be able to share his industry knowledge, and how receptive the students were to his mentoring. It made me think about the importance of mentoring for high school students, and what a profound impact being mentored by an industry professional can have on how you realise your ambitions. I chatted to Dave and some of the MBAS students involved to find out how it went.

A few weeks ago a group of MBAS students gathered at the Monkey House Theatre & Cabaret Lounge to celebrate the release of an EP of original music they had recorded professionally, under the mentorship of Dave. The EP entitled ‘MBAS South Highway’ is an eclectic mix of original compositions showcasing extraordinary talent and all made possible by the Creatives in Schools well-being programme.

Delivered by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Creative New Zealand, Creatives in Schools aims to inspire rangatahi by increasing their awareness of careers in the arts and creative sector, enhancing their well-being and supporting them to build skills in communication, collaboration and creative thinking. MBAS worked with Dave to put together a creative project, and applied for a place in the programme.

“The project was focused on songwriting and recording the students’ original compositions. We spent quite a bit of time doing pre-production, working on song arrangements and instrumentation. Then we moved onto recording the songs focusing on the individual performances of each musician, and showing them how to record these performances to a professional standard.”

Dave Rhodes

MBAS music students from Years 11, 12 & 13 collaborated to produce 6 original songs, with singers, songwriters, musicians and producers working together to perform the compositions. “When it comes to producing music, both the songwriting and recording, it’s really important to collaborate, so you can bounce ideas off each other, continually improve what you’re doing and come up with fresh ideas. I love that creative process and it’s probably why I prefer to work with bands more than solo artists, because of that creative group magic!” says Dave.

^{Layla Vickers recording drums, Petra Campbell recording vocals and  Awa Illingworth and Francie Lidgard rehearsing Francie’s song}

Most of the recording took place at the MBAS recording studio, with a few students visiting Dave’s recording studio to record vocals, some instruments and observe the mixing process.

Guitarist and singer Alex Litherland (Year 13), who also designed the cover art for the EP, drew plenty of inspiration from the project:

“Hearing a song that I co-wrote on Spotify and seeing the whole recording process from start to finish definitely made me want to record more songs in the future – firstly ‘cause it sounds pretty cool but also because anyone can listen to it now which I think is awesome.”

Alex Litherland

Dave has been mentoring youth in music production throughout his career, through the Ignite Youth Music Mentoring programme, recording and songwriting courses at Depot Sound Recording Studio and Play it Strange. “I love seeing young people connect with something I’ve shown them, and see their excitement to try it for themselves, especially practical knowledge they can use.”

^{Petra Campbell, Alex Litherland, Brielle Cottier-Hall and Brooke Louden recording vocals, Petra Campbell recording vocals and Che Simmonds recording drums}

Most of Dave’s clients are also young and emerging artists. “Even though it’s not officially mentoring, it ends up being like that during the recording process, because you’re always trying to get the best performance out of someone, and when you have those conversations inevitably you’re passing on knowledge. Sometimes you can mentor people without even realising it.”

There are plenty of technical aspects to music production which can be overwhelming for the uninitiated, but Dave’s ability to explain things in plain language supported the students to broaden their knowledge.

Bass and ukulele player Charli McDougall (Y13), with her keen interest in recording and mixing, found a renewed sense of confidence in her abilities.

“I’m the only one in my year group that was interested in recording and mixing, not just performing. Being the only student who could operate the school’s audio equipment also meant that I was a little under-appreciated throughout my time at MBAS. Dave’s mentoring gave me back my confidence in this field.”

Charli McDougall

The project also gave Charli added certainty about what to pursue after high school. “I knew I wanted to study sound engineering but because of this opportunity I was able to find out what kind of producer I wanted to be. This changed how I approached my studies and now, while my course generally has a focus on studio-based recording, I’m able to work more with live sound because this mentorship gave me the courage to ask. Dave showed me the other side to the industry that I had been dying to see and I am so grateful.” Charli will be starting Wintec’s Bachelor of Music and Performing Arts in February 2023.

The clarity that mentorship can provide a young person can be life changing, which keyboard player and violinist Taiju Watanabe is grateful for.

“From being mentored by Dave, I felt the possibilities with my ability to compose and record. It really pushed me towards the composition pathway. I had always wanted to compose and record original songs since when I was little, so it was a great experience learning from Dave.”

Taiju Watanabe

Taiju will be starting a Bachelor in Music with Composition at the University of Auckland in 2023

MBAS Head of Arts Faculty Dave Mulholland was also happy with the outcome, with this being the first time MBAS has applied for funding for a programme like this. “It’s really opened doors to career pathways for students both as recording/performing musicians as well as recording and sound technicians. The majority of the Year 11s and 12s are continuing with music at school next year and we’ve applied to Creatives in Schools so we can run the project with Dave again in 2023.”

^{Violet Robinson, Georgia Litherland, Dave Rhodes, Che Simmonds, Emma Jones rehearsing their song ‘Mirror’ and Dave Rhodes working on students’ tracks.}

For all those aspiring young musicians and music producers out there, not quite sure where to start or whether music production is the right path, Dave has some simple advice.

“Get stuck in. Write and record lots of songs and learn as much as you can by doing. Don’t get hung up on making it perfect. Don’t be afraid to fail. Just do it and enjoy the process.”

– Words by Anusha Bhana, Storyteller/Advocate