The Journal launches No Knives No Excuses song contest
May 2 2009 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal
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NO Knives No Excuses. That’s the message young people will be spreading on the streets of the North East.
The Journal has teamed-up with Northumbria Police and Creative Arts North to launch a songwriting competition that will encourage youngsters to spread a positive anti-violence message among their peers.
Today we are asking young people in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland to start penning entries for our No Knives No Excuses Songwriting Competition.
Rappers, singers, songwriters and bands, from schools in the Northumbria Police area are all being invited to submit entries. And the winning youngster will get the chance to record their tune in a professional studio with producer Tony Davis, who has worked with Maximo Park.
The competition is the brainchild of anti-violence campaigner Neil Atkinson who runs the not-for- profit group Creative Arts North.
He was approached by Northumbria Police’s harm reduction unit and asked to think of an idea for a project that would help police engage with young people . “We are asking school kids to write a song based on the themes of friendship and mutual respect and all the things that are the opposite of taking a knife out on a Friday night,” he explained.
From today young people will be able to upload their songs through our website by clicking here and following the instructions.
The entries can be as rough and ready or as polished as you like. And youngsters who have no recording facilities are being encouraged to use their mobile phones to record a sound or video clip to enter.
“It’s the quality of the song which is important not the quality of the recording,” Neil continued. “Whoever is the winner will go into a professional recording studio and will end up having their song recorded to a high standard.
And one band, Drastic Harmonic, made-up of pupils from George Stephenson High School, in Killingworth, North Tyneside, have already submitted their song, The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side, which you can listen to now by clicking play below.
Inspector Denise Woodhave from Northumbria Police said the competition was an excellent chance for police to hear how young people feel about the issues of violence and knife crime.
The closing dates for entries is Sunday July 5 and the songs will then be judged by Neil Atkinson, Tony Davis, Denise Woodhave and Paul Stephenson from Northumbria Police, along with The Journal’s Head of Multimedia, Matt McKenzie. The winner, who will be announced on Monday, July 13, will spend a day with Tony Davis at his recording studios at The Cluny, in Ouseburn, Newcastle.
Click here for full details on the competition, terms and conditions, and to find out whether you're eligible to enter.
