With support from ChangeX and the AWS inCommunities Drogheda Fund, this Drogheda youth club is helping local young people explore their creativity through music.

Basement Sounds, a music and arts initiative at Boomerang Youth Cafe in Drogheda, was awarded €10,000 funding from the AWS inCommunities Drogheda Fund.

“Our programme is aimed at young people aged 12 to 18 in Drogheda and surrounding areas. Our main ethos is to provide a safe and creative space in which young people can explore their creativity and evolve their own learning and music curiosity,” explains Seán Mc Cluskey, the lead youth worker for the Basement Sounds programme.

Bringing the project to life

Basement Sounds started life in 2021 as a way to engage local young people, offering a range of music workshops and a rehearsal space. To enhance the offering, Seán was keen to install a soundproofed recording booth, but didn’t think it would be possible financially.

“We didn’t think we’d be able to do it, but with this funding from the AWS inCommunities Drogheda Fund, it has become a reality. It’s really a dream project and we’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to do it. It has really changed our programme and allowed us to reach more people.”

With the funding, Seán and his team were able to purchase two iMacs, sound design software and the materials for the soundproofed booth. They also plan to use some of the money for field trips, including a trip to the National Concert Hall.

With help from Seán’s father-in-law, the studio was created “from scratch” and purpose built for the Basement Sounds space (see before and after pictures below!).

Before: working on the soundproofed booth

After: the soundproofed booth

A sense of ownership

For Seán, it was really important that the young people who use the service were involved in all aspects of the project and had pride in what they had created. “I showed them how to do the sound proofing and they did it all themselves,” he says.

For some of the younger members of the group, great fun was had testing out the soundproofing. “They wanted to see if it worked, so they took turns screaming in the booth,” he says.

Members of the youth club pay €2 for workshops, but the space is free for rehearsals. Seán explains that the €2 per participant helps to create a kitty for ongoing costs, and enables Basement Sounds to provide most services for free. “Recording studios are prohibitively expensive for most people and we aim to provide this service free of charge for our members,” Seán says.

Building a creative community hub

Since the facility opened up, Sean says that about 150 local young people have used it, including a range of school groups, local bands, and members of the Boomerang Café youth club. As Covid restrictions ease, Seán is planning to use the space for a series of gigs and events too. Plus some local young people are keen to use the space to record their own podcast.

And since receiving funding from the AWS inCommunities Drogheda Fund for the project, Basement Sounds has secured additional funding from other sources. With this additional money, Seán plans to produce an album called ‘It’s a Drawda Thing’ at the newly created recording booth.

A performance at Basement Sounds

The Basement Sounds space

On stage!

He explains that this will be a “peer-led initiative”, featuring a range of young local performers from different musical genres. The album will be recorded at Basement Sounds, with young people leading the project. “I’ll be there and I’ll show them how to do it all, but they’ll be producing it themselves. They’ll learn those skills and will take ownership of this project,” he says.

Seán says that the new facility has brought new members to the youth club.

“Some young people joined our group and I asked them what they’d normally do. They said that they would have sat on the steps in town with their friends. But now they are learning and participating.”

“This project has already had an immense impact on our young people at Boomerang Café,” he says. “It will have a hugely beneficial effect on the mental health of our members, giving them a creative outlet to process the last two years of the pandemic, and all the anxieties that come with it.”

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