The door that opened for Geoff Barrow just opened for three of our members
Kaycie, Tia and Hannad went into Invada Studios with some of Bristol’s best-known musicians. They came out with a song.
This story doesn’t start in a recording studio. It starts in a youth club.
As a teenager, Geoff Barrow DJ’d at his local club in Portishead and rehearsed there with his band. He’d had a difficult time at school, and his dyslexia wasn’t diagnosed until after he’d left. The youth club was somewhere he felt safe.
When he left school with no qualifications, it was the woman who ran the youth club who got him onto a youth training scheme in a music studio.
“Without the youth club, and her belief in me, I would never have had the career I’ve had.”
Geoff Barrow, Portishead, Film and Music Producer, 224 Ambassador.
That career saw the creation of Portishead, a Mercury Prize, music production, film production and the conception of Invada Studios in Bristol. The same place where three young people from 224 Youth Zone would later find themselves standing behind a microphone.
Two days, three young people, one song
Kaycie is 16. Tia is 15. Hannad is 20. All three are members of 224 Youth Zone.
For two days, they stepped into a world they had never experienced before, working alongside Geoff Barrow, Billy Nomates, IDLES bassist Adam Devonshire, jungle producer DJ Dazee and Jason from The Cause Bristol.
The first session was about meeting the musicians, getting comfortable in the studio and laying the foundations of a track.
The second was about turning those ideas into a song. Piecing it together. Writing the words. Finding the melodies. And, finally, getting behind the microphone and recording it.
Tor Maries from Billy Nomates worked with Tia and Kaycie on the lyrics, helping them turn their ideas into something they could hear coming back through the studio speakers.
“We worked to bring their ideas to life, add some melody to the track and play with harmonies. Getting them behind the mic and bringing their imagined versions of the song into the room was fun.”
Tor Maries, Billy Nomates
For Tor, the experience also brought back memories of being behind a microphone for the first time.
“I remember how exciting it was for me to be behind the mic in a studio for the first time and hearing myself back. Music can feel like this far-away thing that only a select few individuals get to access, but music’s for absolutely everybody.”
Tor Maries, Billy Nomates
The result is “Same Old Story”, a track created by Kaycie, Tia and Hannad alongside some of Bristol’s best-known musicians.Including Dj Dazzee who produced the track through her record label, Ruffneck Ting.
Listen to “Same Old Story” on SoundCloud
What’s striking, listening back to what the musicians said afterwards, is how many of them were describing something that had happened to them too.
For Adam Devonshire, a youth club opened the door to music when he was growing up.
“I was fortunate enough to go to a youth club when I was a kid, and it taught me about music. I didn’t have access to things like that in my life, and it opened up this whole new world.”
Adam Devonshire, IDLES
He believes giving young people access to those opportunities matters.
“It’s very important for us as human beings to give that opportunity to as many young people as possible.”
Adam Devonshire, IDLES
For Geoff, the value of youth work goes beyond activities. It is about having somewhere young people can go, and people they can trust.
“Sometimes young people need someone to talk to who isn’t part of their family or the school system, someone they can trust, who’s trained to spot problems.”
And, he says, those relationships matter more than ever.
“With all the issues young people face now, youth workers are needed more than ever.”
Geoff Barrow, Portishead; ambassador for 224 Youth Zone
What this looks like on a normal Monday
You don’t need a famous producer in the building for this to happen.
The music room at 224 is busy throughout the week, with dedicated creative sessions hosted by The Cause Bristol on Monday evenings. Young people are showing up every week, not just to have fun and see their friends, but to learn, experiment and build new skills.
Behind a track like Same Old Story is a whole world of work that many young people never get the chance to see up close: songwriting, production, sound engineering, events, marketing and content creation. At 224, our members can get hands-on experience with all of it.
And music is just one part of what happens here.
Across seven days a week, young people can choose from more than 20 activities, including podcasting, basketball, art and design, 3D printing and coding.
For 50p a visit, a young person from South Bristol can walk through our doors and find something they didn’t know existed, a new interest, a new skill, or simply a place where they feel they belong.
That’s what a youth zone can do.
For many young people in south Bristol, there can be too few places to go, too little to do and few obvious routes into the creative, sporting and technical industries that make this city what it is.
224 is here to change that by making those opportunities accessible, local and affordable.
And we can only keep opening those doors because people across south Bristol back what we do, as donors, volunteers and local businesses giving their time, expertise, equipment and opportunities to young people on their doorstep.
Kaycie, Tia and Hannad got their door opened.
Help us open the next one. Get in touch to see how you can help us shape the future generation of Bristol.