Students at a Girls Rock! camp in Adelaide hone their skills on the drums. Wollongong will host a You Rock! camp for girls, trans, and non-binary teens this year. Photo: Jayne Hoschke.
A holiday camp designed to equip teens with the skills they need to pursue a career in music will come to Wollongong for the first time in July.
You Rock! is a music program for girls and gender-diverse kids between the ages of 12 and 17.
Over four days the kids will get to learn an instrument, form a band and attend workshops about everything from stage presence to designing band merch.
The mini “camp” is based on the Girls Rock! movement, which began in the US and had its first Australian iteration in Canberra in 2016.
Wollongong’s Jayne Hoschke has been involved with Girls Rock! since 2018 and is program co-coordinator for its Wollongong debut.
“It was ready to go in Wollongong in 2020, but then the pandemic happened,” they said.
“Now the music community feels like it’s getting back to where it was in 2019 and I’m so excited we can bring this to young people here.”
The program will run from Tuesday 8 to Friday 11 July at Wollongong Town Hall and is open to girls (cis and trans), trans boys, non-binary, and intersex young people (12 to 17).
Jayne said it had become clear to organisers that girls weren’t the only people affected by the predominantly male music industry scene.
You Rock! offers kids a supportive environment to try something new, mess it up, and try again.
It’s an essential part of the creative process, but for people who are already marginalised it can be tough to find a place where they’re allowed to make mistakes.
“Our values at the camp are mistakes are good, questions are good and there’s no one right way to write a song,” Jayne said.
“It is so important to have spaces for young trans and queer people to be together, get to know each other and learn from each other.
“Often girls, trans and gender diverse people aren’t given the chance to fail – when we do things we have to do them infinitely better than the boys to get any recognition.
“Here they have a really safe space to come into their own.”
Musicians from the Illawarra region will perform each lunchtime, followed by a Q&A session to give the campers the opportunity to learn from established local bands.
The program will culminate with a showcase on the Friday night where the newly-minted bands will perform their original tunes for an audience of family and friends.
Although many of the kids are likely to go their separate ways, some might choose to stick together and others could find they enjoy different parts of the industry, like lighting or design.
Sign-ups for You Rock! Wollongong are due by Sunday, 29 June. Sessions will run from Tuesday 8 July to Friday 11 July, 9 am – 3 pm. To sign up follow this link or contact the program coordinators Jayne and Jacqui at [email protected].
