A Me Na Paciaw is the name of a Roma song performed by Joseph, a musician who was detained at Morton Hall IRC in February 2020. 

It received a BRONZE AWARD from the prestigious Koestler Awards 2020.

Duj Duj is a combination of several traditional songs by Joseph, a Roma musician who was detained at Morton Hall IRC in Febraury 2020. One of the songs included in this mix is called Duj Duj.

This track was co-created with musicians detained at Morton Hall IRC in February 2020. Sophia Ripley and Anna de Mutiis were the leading the sessions and recorded and mastered the track.

'I Don't Know' is a track which was created by musicians detained at Morton Hall IRC in February 2020. The artists leading on the project were Anna de Mutiis and Sophia Ripley. 

The track combines stories through rap, trap inspired rhythms and a melody sung by Joseph in Roma language. A translation of the lyrics are:

When I went to the world 

I saw your eyes

I see I die oh God

What Can I do

Oh my mother where are you 

All alone, Oh Mum I can see your Heart

I'm asking you God what can I do.

This track was create in Morton Hall IRC with musician detained there in October 2019. The artists leading on the workshops were Emmanuel and Shammi featuring Sally Jaquet on vocals. Post-production by Shammi.

It was HIGHLY COMMENDED by the prestigious Koestler Awards 2020.

This track was created in Morton Hall IRC in October 2019 with Emmanuel and Shammi. 

It received a GOLD AWARD from the prestigious Koestler Awards 2020.

This instrumental will make you want to dance! The percussion of the djembe pushes the beat forward which creates an exciting rhythm whilst the piano riff gives you a melody to latch on to

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

This jam was facilitated by our amazing artists who have such a skill in involving everyone in the room to create music together on an equal level - utilising everyones skills and expression. You can here the drums, percussion, an acoustic and electric guitar - you can also hear how relaxed people are in this moment.

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

An upbeat song singing to a woman, this includes fantastic percussion and makes you want to dance!

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

This reflective spoken word piece is performed like a letter to loved one or to oneself, it talks of lonliness, the hurt of being apart, and the deep sorrow that comes from being inside a detention centre

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

Ths Rap explores the difficulties about being in Detention including social politics within the centre, but also the wider system of oppression - from detention at school leading to IRCs

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

This Rock Pop song with a a chilled guitar accompianiment and anthemic chorus talks about peace and love, and how by fighting with other people - we only fight ourselves

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

A beautiful flute solo introduces this song. Initially sung in Hindi, then English, this folk pop tune is a beautiful ballad.

This was written on a 3-day residential programme at Brook House with our artists Shammi Pithia and Emmanuel Okine as stimulus for our Dance in Detention project.

This song was created with our musicians, Simon and Anna who were joined by our volunteer Sarah!

The song starts with a dutch rap, followed by English and a sung refrain (by Sarah) saying "stay strong, stand tall, it's gonna get better, lets keep it together"

Within the percussion breakdown, you hear a second rap - "I'd rather catch a bullet than to be a servant"

This song combines a few different genres including rap, hip hop, reggae style guitar, trap beats, and latin percussion

This song was written in Brook house in a workshop with Alex and Sophia

"I write to survive" is an original rap by Mark, on a 4 chord sequence which the musicians set up for him to write to.

You can hear a the refrain "I write to escape the madness, I write to be free" alongside Mark's rap talking about how he's growing and changing. He's "living in hell" and although he finds it so hard, he continues to look forward

This song starts as a lament about the status quo, talking about what has happened to humanity. However it ends up as a call to action. 

You can hear a guitar solo as well as the cajon and brilliant voices singing "dua të ik shpeit", Albanian for 'I want to Run away'.

There was a young man who only spoke Albanian in the detention centre so we managed to translate the main chorus hook/title.

This song was recorded as part of a one day workshop delivered by Music for Change artists Anna de Mutiis and Alexander D Great on 8th  February 2019.

This track was Commended in the 2019 Koestler Trust Awards!

My life is like a movie talks about life and being unsupported, about family, about working hard 

Get up, stand up is a cover recorded in Brook House

Reasons talks about oppression and how we overcome it, it draws on personal experience and historical stories

This is another cover - the House of the rising Sun, although this time it involves beatbox and a violin playing the melody, accompianied by a lamenting voice over the top.

This is another cover - the House of the rising Sun, although this time it involves beatbox and a violin playing the melody, accompianied by a lamenting voice over the top.

Keep Cool Babylon is a song with a clear message, multiple voices and simple hypnotic beat

Percussion Jam using the Darbuka!

This is a traditional song, sang with drums and backing

Messages

Make Some Music

Mind Body and Soul

Rainbows

Pressure

Knives

Let it go 

Silence is a track about speaking up for what is right, it was as part of the Brook House/ Langley Green community exchange project

This song was created as part of a wellbeing event at Morton Hall

This song was recorded in Morton hall as part of a wellbeing event

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

Two of the detainees wanted to record a rap. They guided the musicians creating the backing track and then took turns to record their vocal parts.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

One detainee wrote this song while in prison. He recorded the verses pretty much in one take and everyone was really surprised and impressed! He had three verses, and the group arranged the song to make it longer and more varied. Shammi worked with the group to double-track some vocals, making them into a chorus, copying some bits and adding effects like distortion.

This song really motivated some of the detainees to write more.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

The track is a cover version of Bob Marley's classic tune. This was recorded by one detainee working alone with Shammi at the end of a session.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

Some of the guys wanted to make a Reggae track. The group agreed on a chord progression and then split up to create a backing track while starting on writing the song. The group put the song in a key that would be comfortable for the saxophonist to play on and he started finding the notes that would work with it.

The group had to work fast to record electric guitar parts, a beat, piano, organ, bass, saxophone, guitar solos and vocals. The guy playing sax was not confident at first and said he was no good at making melodies, but he was encouraged and when he got up and recorded it sounded great.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

“I started by showing them how to make a drum beat on the computer and then one guy had ideas for the melody line. We soon had a basic backing track up and running that everyone really seemed to love.

Next, people wanted to record things on top. Someone recorded some Djembe and then two guys took turns in freestyling some vocals. The vibe here was hot! So much energy from all of these guys. When we listened back people would be dancing and cheering along - really good fun” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

“They wanted to do a rap/trap song so that's what we did. One of the guys asked if he could use swear words and personally I think as long as it's not going to offend anyone or is intentionally targeted at anyone its fine. Rap music is full of bravado and swearing is part of the music, so it didn't feel right to restrict anything. I was happy to let them use whatever words they liked under the condition they would not be upsetting or threatening anyone. They were fine with this, it was more about appearance than anything else” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

With around 20 minutes left at the end of a session, two guys wanted to play and record something from Africa. They played djembe and conga and sang traditional songs from their culture.

“Soon after they started everyone else got involved and sang along and cheered. Plenty of dancing too… everyone in the room was involved in some way or another. It was a real high moment” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

“We cranked the music up loud and everyone was singing along as a huge group to the chorus and dancing together. It was quite a scene, everyone was super happy and really enjoying the music. Huge smiles around the whole room and a real sense of joy. This was a truly amazing experience and a really proud moment for me. I do a lot of music workshops and see a lot of positive results, but this was something else. I think I’ve only hit this level of positive effect a few times before” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

“Once the beat was finally ready we started recording parts, starting with the chorus and then verses and finally some guitar improv.

After someone had recorded there was a massive cheer from everyone and a lot of respect given to all. Lots of passer-by’s dropped in and loved what they heard. People just sat around and vibed with us. It really did feel like we were some place else, not a detention centre, the vibe was too jolly and upbeat. When we had finished recording everyone was very pleased and proud. There were smiles all around and people really appreciated what we had created” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

“This session had quite a few people come in from time to time... Some joined the vocal group and others sat and got involved with the production side. It was nice to have a 'working studio session' in action” – Shammi Pithia

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

This track was written and recorded by detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre as part of the Musician In Residence programme which provides weekly music-making workshops at the centre.

This is a pre-existing song adapted to fit a track recorded in the IRC made with programmed drum beats, piano and electric guitar. The singer wasn’t sure the vocal line would fit with the backing track but he tried it and was really happy with the way it turned out!