Writing RIGHTS: Sam Bradshaw (14) - Expressing Myself Through Music and Being Heard
Sam (14) is a budding songwriter, who loves to play his Squier Stratocaster electric guitar. He finds he can best express himself through the sound of his music, and the tone it sets. While Sam highlights the importance of self expression, he is also very passionate about the right for all young people to be heard, and taken seriously.
Transcript Below
0:00 (Music)
I’m Sam Bradshaw, I’m a 14 year old boy from Dublin. I listen to a lot of music, I watch a lot of tv and I read a lot. I suppose there the mains things I do. I’ve just always been infatuated with music, that’s what led me to songwriting. It’s a recent thing I’ve started, but I’m really enjoying it.
It started off as, when I got a present from my uncle. He’s a Sound Engineer. Basically, what he got me was a little kind of pedal that let me connect my guitar to my computer so I could record things. And then I just started messing round with it and seeing what I could do and it just became songs I guess. I find myself better able to express myself through my guitar than I really am with lyrics. Through the sounds, I think they can better capture the moods I’m trying to get out there.
So I think that’s why I chose songwriting over poetry or something like that. If I couldn’t express myself, I don’t think that’s a life worth living! That’s how I spend most of my time, I can’t even imagine a world like that. Everyone can express themselves, but the right to people to actually pay attention to that I think, is definitely important. The right to be heard, the right for your opinions to be taken seriously is a problem I think that a lot of children face.
I don’t think children’s opinions are taken as much to heart as those of adults. A lot adults aren’t really comfortable having a conversation with teenagers, they feel a bit weird about it. And so that in itself, is part of the bigger problem a lot of teenagers face on a day to day basis. I think it’s very restricting. I don’t think the best way to go forward is to limit your ideas. You should be getting a pool of ideas from people of all ages.
(Music)
Accompanying Music: 'Sam' by Michael Gallen, Mark Gavin and Robert Hope
© West Pole Music and Management Ltd.
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