By Year 9 students OSCAR HENDRY (Red Bend Catholic College) and HARRISON ROWBOTHAM (Parkes Christian School)

At the end of March, we had the incredible opportunity to take part in END FM’s BEATS music development course in Deniliquin.

We heard about the opportunity through Music NSW and applied for it, which included sending in our musical experience.

Participants came from all over NSW.

As Year 9 students from Parkes, we wanted to share our experience and highlight what the week meant to us.

BEATS (Band Enabling and Training Sound-Lab) is END FM’s music development program for young musicians and music-industry enthusiasts (aged 15-27 years), designed to help emerging artists build skills and connections.

The program consisted of several months of online mentoring and workshops, culminating in a six-day Sound-Lab intensive workshop at the Deniliquin Ute Muster festival site.

It concluded with a micro festival ‘Vibe Check’, where the BEATS musicians performed to showcase their songs, skills developed and musical collaborations honed throughout the week.

We camped at the Deni Ute Muster site which was interesting in itself, given we had some really wet, windy and stormy days.

Our swag/tent got really soggy, but we didn’t let that dampen our enthusiasm.

The duo camped at the Deni Ute Muster site during the course, which culminated in a Vibe Check micro festival.

The BEATS course was all about helping young musicians like us to learn, grow, and connect.

We spent the week in workshops and mentoring sessions, where we learned new skills in songwriting, performance, and music production.

Working with other participants from regional areas was inspiring – we felt part of an amazing creative community.

One of the best parts of the course was working with mentors who really understood where we’re from.

We worked closely with Rosie Burgess of the Tuck Shop Ladies and Kris Schubert, who also grew up in Parkes but now runs The Boat Shed recording studio in O’Connell.

Rosie, Kris and the other mentors taught us so much and encouraged us to push ourselves.

We felt supported and motivated every day to try new things and improve our music.

A highlight for us was writing and recording our own original songs at The Shack recording studio in Deniliquin.

It was amazing to see our ideas turn into a finished track, and we learned a lot about the recording process.

Getting hands-on experience in the studio made us more confident and excited about making music in the future.

Harrison Rowbotham (front left) and Oscar Hendry (front right) took part in a six-day Sound-Lab intensive workshop where they were mentored and got to record their own music.

At the end of the week, we performed our songs live at the Vibe Check micro festival, held at the Deni Ute Muster site.

Standing on stage and sharing our music with the audience was unforgettable.

The crowd was supportive, and we felt proud to represent Parkes and show what young musicians from our area can achieve.

The course was made possible by support from Music NSW, which means so much for regional students like us.

We’re grateful for the opportunity and for the mentors who helped us along the way.

We hope this inspires other Parkes students to get involved in music and look forward to seeing more local talent shine.

We want to thank END FM, Sound NSW, our mentors, and everyone who supported us and cheered us on, plus our parents for taking us all the way to Deniliquin.

The BEATS music development course showed us how far we can go when given the chance, and we’re excited to keep making music and sharing it with our community.