the kit, originally uploaded by modelniland
I’m sitting in an office surrounded by a bands-worth of musical instruments, amps, cables, speakers, stands and all the other paraphernalia and it’s all I can do not to get up and start playing with it (I say playing with as I certainly can’t play). These gorgeous bits of kit all arrived yesterday courtesy of the Music Capital Scheme and Music Network/IRMA Trust which we were overjoyed to be approved for. There were a whopping 59 applications for some 12-15 kits so we feel very priviliged to be one of the few.
The scheme was the third stream of the overall Music Capital Scheme and was funded by the IRMA Trust. It’s easy knowing that musicians, or people that really understand musicians, were behind this award; the kit is fantastic and they’ve really thought of everything. We have 2 electric guitars, a bass guitar, a Marshall and fender amp, speakers, stands, a roland keyboard, a portastudio, Pearl drumkit, 5 mics and as many cables and attachments as you can shake a drum stick at. It’s all been supplied through new irish company x-musicand the stuff is only great. The brilliant people at IRMA have even thought to include a small little cash fund that can cover any leads that go walkabout or bits that need repairing in time.
It all arrived into our temporary offices in Sligo in an endless stream of boxes with Brian Mooney yesterday. We gathered up a few of the young musicians we’ve been working with and with some help from Linda and myself, and Jessica from IRMA (and a few other adult helpers) we got to work opening boxes and setting things up. It was like a mammoth christmas day and batteries were definitely included! Michael, Paul, Tom, Daniel and Harry did a brilliant job getting everything set up and sounded pretty great when they tried it all out. There are some great pics on the flickr accountfrom the session and we have some more great video that we’ll add next week once it’s edited. There is a little clip below until then.
At one stage one the guys turned around to me and asked “how long can we stay in this room” which summed up brilliantly the excitement on getting this equipment. The answer yesterday evening was “not long” but once we get re-opened next year we will have a dedicated, sound-proof, rehearsal studio in which all this fine equipment can live and be used by emerging musicians of all ages.
We have to say a HUGE thank you to Jessica at IRMA for her vision on this fund, her colleague Brian Mooney for the excellent equipment choices and usage pep talk in Sligo, Aisling at Music Network and everyone behind this brilliant, brilliant idea. We can’t wait to move back in when we get to re-open them all over again.
Aoife from the Model with Brian Mooney and Jessica Fuller from IRMA trust on unpacking day in Sligo.