DYJA LOCKDOWN PROJECT

In March 2020 life as we knew it stopped. Abruptly and with little time to absorb what was happening, we were told we had to stop all rehearsals, concerts and lessons. We thought it would be for a few weeks, a month or two at most, and we would be back together again in no time. No-one could have imagined what was to come and as the extent of the pandemic became apparent, it was clear it was going to be a while until we could get back to what we loved. We missed our students, our students missed their bands and band mates, we all missed the music! 

Superstylin'

With no end to the pandemic in sight, our bands broken apart and the spirit of DYJA under threat, we knew we couldn't sit back and let it happen. We needed to come together and re-ignite what DYJA is about - global pandemic or not! 

So, with bucket loads of enthusiasm, a huge willingness to get involved and 'give it a go', the DYJA Lockdown Project was born. 

Stuart 'Stugger' Garside voluntarily wrote a special arrangement of Groove Armada's Superstylin' (not only an absolute classic, but also an inspiration to our students as Andy Cato - one half of Groove Armada - is a DYJA Alumnus) and diseminated to our musicians (and a few DYJA friends). Each took their parts, rehearsed them until they were happy and then recorded themselves performing. A new experience for many, it was a huge learning curve, and although not quite the same as performing in front of a live audience, it presented a great outlet for their efforts. 
Once the recordings had been sent in, Paul 'BigLad' Grady assmebled and mixed all the individual audio recordings and Tom 'Tommo' Mysercough cut and edited the visuals. 

We're incredibly proud of what has been acheived and we hope you enjoy the finished product. Check it out here.