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!

In 2018 the street Choirs Festival was hosted by Hullabaloo Community Quire in Brighton. Arranged by Kirsty Martin, this version of "Human" was performed by 900 choir members as part of the Massed Sing on June 30th 2018. Marshall Mandiangu performed with the group and is a participant of Audio Active

This ensemble - created for Refugee Week - included a few of Birmingham's Choir With No Name members as well as refugees based at St Chad's Sanctuary

Choir with No Name runs choirs for homeless and marginalised people. A diverse bunch of people, this branch in Birmingham covered the song "Never Give Up" from Dover Immigration Centre with choir director Pete Churchill

This cover of 'Song of Freedom' was recorded live at the Samphire Ex-Detainee 2018 conference, held at the Amnesty International Offices in London during Refugee Week as part of our Simple Acts call to action 'Sing A Song'.

MID volunteer Sally Jaquet and Xi-mali taught conference delegates the song which was then recorded live at the conference!

Song of Freedom was recorded way back in 2008, during a project involving detainees and staff at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre.

Huge thanks to Samphire for inviting us to take part in their conference and to Sally for leading the performance with such energy and enthusiasm. Thanks also to Emily at Refugee Week and everyone who sung with us at the conference! 

Freedom oh, Freedom, is a wonderful cover of original MID track 'Song of Freedom' Sing for a Change! as part of our Simple Acts call to action for Refugee Week 2018.

Arranged by Sara Hunter @SaraHunter1975

Recorded by Max Bandicoot  @MaxBandicoot

Performed by Sing for a Change! A social justice, community organising, choir based in Hackney using the power of music to transform society one song at a time!

Facebook: singforachangehackney

Twitter: sing_forachange

Sara told us why she chose to arrange this song: 

Refugee resettlement and integration is an issue that we have sung about and campaigned for earlier this year at the Hackney Citizens Mayoral Accountability Assembly and we wanted to get involved in Refugee Week. Singing one of Music In Detention’s songs seemed like a wonderful thing to do although we didn’t have the time to learn the recommended songs this one was ideal as it was simple both musically and lyrically - the need for freedom is something we can all relate to. We filmed ourselves singing it to share on social media for Refugee Week and then performed it at the Love Hoxton Summer Fair on Saturday 23rd June to raise awareness about Refugee Week and the work of Music In Detention. We had a very positive response from both our online and live performance.

Song of Freedom was recorded way back in 2008, during a project involving detainees and staff at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre.

Huge thanks to Sara, Max and everyone involved in Sing for a Change! 

This beautiful version of 'Home' was arranged by Nathan J. Waring and is performed by Byrdsong, a choir of professional, semi-professional and amateur singers specialising in Renaissance music, as part of our Simple Acts call to action for Refugee Week 2018.

Conducted by Katie Hawks, the track was performed live on 17th June 2018 at St Mary's Church, Kemptown, Brighton, by Liz Kelly, Rachel Taylor, Clare Bowskill, Jackie Cassell, Maria Birch, Pascale Calcutt, Dan Johnston, Matt Jelf, Roger Floyd and Reuben James.

When asked why he chose to do an arrangement of Home, Nathan said:

"Home instantly stood out as a an idea piece of raw material to develop further. I kept the original idea of beginning with 3-part harmony in a gospel style and then let the music evolve from a single harmonic idea to a whole phrase that would define the entire piece. The words were ideal to  use in a call and response phrasing, with the repetition of the word 'home', becoming more urgent, meaningful and passionate."

This original version was recorded by detainees held at Yarl's Wood detention centre back in 2009. Bedford-based community group Fusion United and Fusion Youth then recorded their own version as direct response. The song uses a repeated line: ‘Home, home, home,’ which is followed up by ideas about what they might miss if they were away from home; for example “I miss my friends” or “cuddle bear” or “brother”. 

Huge thanks to Nathan, Katie & Byrdsong for this beautiful recording.

This amazing version of 'All I Need' was covered by the wonderful Coventry-based Soulful Choir led by Mamajay as part of our Simple Acts call to action for Refugee Week 2018.

Featuring:

Singers:- Mamajay (lead vocals) with Soulful Choir. Musicians:- James Cannock (keyboard, piano, Bass guitar and Drums), Bobby George (Acoustic Rhythm Guitar) Jake Hackett(Lead Guitar)

The track was played on HillzFm (http://www.hillzfm.co.uk/) during Refugee Week 2018.

Thank you to James Cannock from One Nation Studios who kindly donated studio time to make this recording, as well as playing drums, Bass and keyboard! And thank you for Mamajay, for making this real.

'All I Need' was originally written and recorded back in 2012 during a project involving detainees at Harmondsworth IRC and young people engaged in activities through the Challenge Network in Hillingdon. The lyrics came from questions the young people asked detainees at Harmondsworth IRC and the responses they got back. They decided to write the first verse as the voice of an anonymous detainee, and the second verse as the voice of a teenager realising that young people in the UK often take for granted the freedoms, friends and family in their lives.

This track was written during a community exchange project connecting detainees held at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre with young people from the Early Intervention Service group at the Pembroke Centre, run by CNWL NHS Trust in Ruislip.

This track was written during a community exchange project connecting detainees held at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre with young people from the Early Intervention Service group at the Pembroke Centre, run by CNWL NHS Trust in Ruislip.

The track features embellishments played on glockenspiels.

This track was written during a community exchange project connecting detainees held at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre with young people from the Early Intervention Service group at the Pembroke Centre, run by CNWL NHS Trust in Ruislip.

This song started life as a guitar riff that one of the musicians from the EIS group came up with. A discussion around 'things that make you mad' was then turned into lyrics that could be incoporated into this new song, creating a raw expression of feelings and thoughts around mental health and anger. The song finishes with a 'confused confession' which confronts the issue of how drug treatements are used to manage mental health conditions. 

This track was written during a community exchange project connecting detainees held at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre with young people from the Early Intervention Service group at the Pembroke Centre, run by CNWL NHS Trust in Ruislip.

This song came about after a discussion about the people who help you get through in life. It is a message to grandmothers, mothers, friends, and others who provide support during tough times. 

This instrumental track was recorded as part of a six week songwriting project with Friends of Refugees, Bedford.

This track was recorded as part of a six week songwriting project with Friends of Refugees, Bedford.

This track was recorded as part of a six week songwriting project with Friends of Refugees, Bedford.

Countrywide was originally written as a collaboration between women held at Yarl's Wood detention centre and participants from Bedford MIND. This new version includes a brand new verse written and recorded by participants from Friends of Refugees in Bedford.

This track was recorded as part of a six week songwriting project with Friends of Refugees, Bedford.

It is a cover of the classic Bob Marley song, One Love.

Love From Syria is a sound piece created in collaboration with Syrian refugee families who I met during a residency at the Kings Arms project in Bedford in April 2018 as part of a commission from Bedford Music In Detention. During the residency, the group shared many traditional Syrian songs and stories, which I recorded.

This piece is derived from two individual recordings of a husband, Mahmoud, and his wife, Yaman, singing the traditional Syrian Love song, "Lamma Bada Yatathanna". We explored singing the song through echoes and delay effects. I then time-stretched the audio to make a seven minute track. Each minute represents a year of the Syrian war.

The piece seeks to reflect their feelings about the last seven years, as expressed in their own words; intense fear. Depression. The breaking of personalities as well as our homes and towns.

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

It is a cover of Julia Zahra's track 'Just An Illusion'.

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

We had a number of participants from different Eastern European countries.  The first song in the medley is an original song written by the performer, who described it as a ‘love song’.  The second is a cover performed by a participant from Poland, and the third is an old Romany standard performed live by two participants from Slovakia.

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

This song was written by two participants on the first day, but honed and developed over a few session before being recorded in two takes.  Everyone in the room was press-ganged into joining in for the recordings!

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

This song expresses a sense of dislocation: the loneliness of being in a completely different and unknown place, with an uncertain destination.  It was developed and co-written with the music teacher from Morton Hall’s Education department who played piano.  This is the first song that this man had ever written, and everyone was really struck by how atmospheric it is.

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

The spoken word at the beginning of this song is a quote from a work by Benjamin Zephaniah.  It started as a jam along to the beat (which a couple of people worked up), and the tune and lyrics developed quickly over the 3 day residency, along with ideas for arrangement and instrumentation.

This song was recorded during a 3-day songwriting project at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.

The essential musical performance for this song was recorded in a live take, with the music teacher from Morton Hall’s Education department on keys, a detainee on guitar, and Simon from MID playing bass.

This song was written and recorded during a community exchange project involving detainees held at Campsfield House IRC and young people from My Normal, an intersectional music project working with Disabled and LGBTQ+ young people in Cowley, Oxford. 

The song started life at Campsfield House IRC and was written by a detainee who brought some of the lyrics to one of our workshops hoping to be recorded. The group worked together to come up with a catchy refrain which was then recorded. Other detainees then got involved taking over the mic to perform raps and an islamic call to prayer which feature in the track.

The song was then sent to the My Normal group who came up with their own lyrics to contribute to the song. 

This song was written and recorded during a community exchange project involving detainees held at Campsfield House IRC and young people from My Normal, an intersectional music project working with Disabled and LGBTQ+ young people in Cowley, Oxford. 

This song was created by the My Normal group and then travelled to Campsfield House where it was developed further:

"To start we played one of the songs recorded by the My Normal group, whose refrain goes 'We are all Humans, treat us all the same if we're not treated equal we will go insane'. I distributed some of the lyrics young people worked on in relation to this topic and asked anyone to think about melodies or raps rhythms to associate with these words in order to add them to the song. I was struck by how immediately many participants came up with ideas and many wanted to participate." - Anna De Mutiis

We Are All Human was performed by My Normal musicians in collaboration with MID artists at the Camarados supper club at the Ark-T Centre in Cowley, Oxford on 23rd March 2018.

This song was written and recorded during a community exchange project involving detainees held at Campsfield House IRC and young people from My Normal, an intersectional music project working with Disabled and LGBTQ+ young people in Cowley, Oxford. 

The track was inspired by messages sent to detainees at Campsfield House IRC from the young people at My Normal early on in the project. Detainees came up with themes around searching and did a scratch recording which was presented to the My Normal group who embraced it and used it to fire their own creativity. 

"We played the live room recording and participants at My Normal were very quick at learning chords and we played the song live. It was a great feeling to feel the songbeing played by by young adults. They enjoyed the song and wrote a lot of additional lyrics. I felt this song already brought the groups from different settings together in a collaborative way."

Searching was performed by My Normal musicians in collaboration with MID artists at the Camarados supper club at the Ark-T Centre in Cowley, Oxford on 23rd March 2018.

This song was written and recorded during a community exchange project involving detainees held at Campsfield House IRC and young people from My Normal, an intersectional music project working with Disabled and LGBTQ+ young people in Cowley, Oxford. 

The song came about towards the end of the project:

"At some point we played the instrumental loop we recorded 2 sessions before. A poet rapper and singer who goes by the name of Black Prince arrived in that moment and started rapping and singing, and a new song developed by itself. We developed a sort of chorus out of a recurring verse 'I survive in this life'. We decided altogether how to structure it and recorded it." - Anna De Mutiis

The track also includes a poem written and recited by a poet who was being held in the centre. He encouraged his fellow detainees to share their thoughts and ideas around the theme: is peace only a myth? 

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 song was one of the first to come out of the Musician In Residence workshops, it started out as a reggae beat with some guitar riffs. The group were then challenged to come up with some lyrics to form a song. Some of the group were intimidated by this as many of them had never written lyrics, but with Shammi's encouragement the lyrics started to flow.

One of the members of the group came up with ‘entertain the world’ which provided a starting point to which others were able to add and before long the group had come up with a whole page full of words and phrases which ended up with:

Entertain the worldWe are making beatsWe got food for the soulCreating peace withinPut a smile on your facePut a smile on your faceWe gona put a smile on your faceWhen there’s volume on the bass

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 group decided they wanted to make an afro beat track so this is what they did. Shammi worked closely with one of the detainees to sequence a beat, starting with the kick and snare. 

Along the way they would ask the others what they thought and took the feedback on board. A couple of people had ideas for some melodies, and these were then recorded on trumpet.A chord progression and bass line was then added.Everyone started writing lyrics and one of the detainees came up with a chorus, and after some editing it fitted right in. It was a group effort to edit it, but it sounded great in the end The chorus was recorded and then everyone recorded their verses as demos in Nigerian, Swahili and English. "This was a really nice mix and nice that people felt comfortable enough to speak in their language. Often, people say they can't write lyrics because they ‘don’t know English’, simply telling them that they are free to write in any language they wish really opens the doors." - Shammi Pithia, Musician In Residence

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 session during which this song was created started late so the group didn't have  enough time to build something from scratch. Instead the group searched through the loop library and selected a guitar sample and went for a soft drum n bass feel for the beat. This was enough for a couple of the members of the group to get down to some lyric writing. They decided to go for an optimistic feeling for the song around hope.

While lyrics were being written another member of the group recorded some piano and then some guitar. At the same time, a guy who has been in a few afternoon sessions recorded some piano and synth parts. At this point one of the rappers who had worked on Heart Broken joined so he started work on some words to add to the track. 

"The song is really nice and again we were able to produce and record a full track in one session." - Shammi Pithia, Musician In Residence

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 idea for this song came from a detainee who wanted to make a sad song. When asked why he said that he had broken up with his fiancée. This was sad; but the songwriting process offered him music to express himself and help him through it, and resulted in a beautiful, heartfelt track that many other detainees contributed to.

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 song started life during one of the evening sessions at Harmondsworth when the group decided they wanted to create a brand new track. It started with the beat which one of the detainees came up with. The group then chose some chords based on the vibe everyone agreed on. Very soulful.

There were two rappers and two singers in the group, so the singers went off to write a chorus and some sung verses while the rappers wrote some rap. The vocalists were then recorded one by one with help from one of the detainees who had been developing skills in music production as part of these sessions.

"This tune is wonderful and just shows how great music can be. We had a very different set of people, but they all worked together respectfully and encouragingly with each other to produce this wonderful song. We have singing and rap in English and Albanian. You could tell everyone was proud of the song, it has such a nice message." - Shammi Pithia, Musician In Residence

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 song reveals the ongoing fights and struggles detainees face, fights to leave, fights to stay, but ultimately the fight for freedom. 

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 the vision of one of the members of the group who wanted to make a dancehall kind of song with a strong western influence. "So he started messing around with sounds and started to record a beat. He was very open to suggestions and ask what the rest of the group thought. A couple of the other detainees started to write lyrics and a melody. Everyone was loving the tune as it had a really great vibe to it." - Shammi Pithia, Musician In Residence

This track received a Gold Award in the 2018 Koestler Trust Awards!

2017 Music In Detention update performed by Alex D Great with Hanif Khan on tabla