Northern Sound System (NSS) is a dedicated youth centre focused on music, broadcasting, and other creative industries, located in
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, a northern suburb of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
Background
The Northern Sound System was established in 2007 by the
City of Playford
The City of Playford is a local government area of South Australia in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was named in recognition of Sir Thomas Playford, who played a part in the development of the area, and was South Australia's premier from 1938 ...
,
[ assisted by funding from the ]Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
,[ and is located in a converted ]basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
stadium at 71 Elizabeth Way, Elizabeth. Created partly to help high youth unemployment in the area, it gives young people the opportunities to learn skills they might not acquire elsewhere.[
]
Programs and facilities
NSS has offered programs, courses or workshops in various skills, including DJ, hip hop music, youth choir, gaming
Gaming may refer to:
Games and sports
The act of playing games, as in:
* Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming"
* Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles
* Playin ...
and animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
; songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
and music production
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
.[ Some of the programs are run as after-school programs. One of the lead music educators at the centre is member of synth-pop band Heaps Good Friends, Nick O'Connor.]
It includes recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s, a live music
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...
venue accommodating around 400 people, spaces for rehearsal, and provides opportunities for young people to develop their musical talents and connect with people in the music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
and audiences. It also has facilities for live broadcasts, and caters for the creation of content for podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
s, YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, radio program
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
s, and Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
streaming.
Events and collaborations
In 2016, a video projection of young musicians from NSS was shown at the Zimbardo Centre in Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
, Poland, as part of the as part of the zDOLNE PODZIEMIE festival. The collaboration came about through Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and Katowice both being UNESCO Cities of Music.
In December 2020, a project called Pixelated North was launched, which involved the creation of NSS within the videogame Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
by young people at NSS.
WOMADelaide collaboration
In January 2021, NSS partnered with WOMADelaide
WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of Music, Arts and Dance, which was first held in 1992 in Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia. One of many WOMAD festivals held around the world, it is a four-day event that presents a diverse select ...
in a collaboration known as WOMADelaide x NSS Academy, to provide training and development program for emerging Aboriginal South Australians
The Aboriginal South Australians are the Indigenous Australians, Indigenous people who lived in South Australia prior to the British colonisation of South Australia, and their descendants and their ancestors. There are difficulties in identifying ...
and multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
artists.[ The year-long programme was developed in partnership with Aboriginal-owned production company Balya Productions, includes workshops, masterclasses and live gigs, and aims to provide connections to professional mentors for 10 local musicians or groups, to help them develop performing skills.]
The program identified 10 artists in its first year or operation, with MRLN x RKM
Marlon Motlop is an Indigenous Australian former Australian rules footballer who played with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL. His final season was with Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL ...
(Marlon Motlop
Marlon Motlop is an Indigenous Australian former Australian rules footballer who played with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL. His final season was with Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) i ...
and Rulla Kelly-Mansell) supporting Vika & Linda
Vika and Linda, also known as Vika and Linda Bull, are an Australian vocal duo consisting of Vika Susan Bull (born 1966) and her younger sister, Linda Rose Bull . They came to prominence after singing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The ...
and Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...
at WOMADelaide, held at King Rodney Park that year. Other artists involved in the 2021 programme included:
*Jimmy Jamal Okello, aka Sokel
* Barnaba$
*Elsy Wameyo
Elsy Wameyo, also known as ELSY, is a Kenyan-born Australian singer-songwriter, mostly singing in the hip hop genre. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Wameyo was awarded Young Kenyan of the Year in 2018, and won People's Choice Best Hip Hop Aw ...
* Estee Evangeline
* Katie Aspel
*Tilly Tjala Thomas Tilly may refer to:
Places France
* Tilly, Eure, in the Eure ''département''
* Tilly, Indre, in the Indre ''département''
* Tilly, Yvelines, in the Yvelines ''département''
Elsewhere
* Tilly, Belgium, a village in the municipality of Villers ...
* Dem Mob
* Sonz of Serpent
Sokel, Elsy Wameyo and Sonz of Serpent performed on the Zoo Stage and Frome Park Pavilion at Botanic Park at WOMAD in 2022.
In the second round of WOMADelaide x NSS Academy, seven artists were selected in mid-2022, including Dem Mob, singer-songwriter Elizabeth Ruyi, Sierra Leone-born singer-songwriter WaiKid, and Maori hip hop artist Taiaha.
Recognition
In 2018, educator Nick O'Connor was awarded the Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award at the Ruby Awards
The South Australian Ruby Awards, also known as the Ruby Awards, are annual awards which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia’s arts and culture sector. They were named in honour of arts champion Dame Ruby Litchfield (1912–2001 ...
, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to community cultural development".
In November 2021, WOMADelaide x NSS Academy won the Best Innovation award at the South Australian Music Awards
The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary mu ...
.
Alumni
Alumni of the centre not mentioned above include:
* Tkay Maidza
Takudzwa Victoria Rosa "Tkay" Maidza ( ; born 17 December 1995) is a Zimbabwean-born Australian singer-songwriter and rapper.
Biography
Maidza was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. Her parents are metallurgists. In 2001, her family moved to Australia ...
[
* Pinkish Blu][
* ]George Alice
Georgia Mannion (born 25 March 2003), known professionally as George Alice, is an Australian music artist, singer-songwriter.
In 2019, Mannion released her debut single "Circles", for which she won Triple J's Unearthed High competition.
Early ...
[
* ]Teenage Joans
Teenage Joans are an Australian indie rock duo from Adelaide, South Australia, who formed in 2018. The duo consists of vocalist and drummer Tahlia Borg and vocalist and guitarist Cahli Blakers.
The duo rose to prominence with their debut singl ...
[
* ]DyspOra
Gabriel Erjok Majer Akon (born 1994), known professionally as DyspOra (pronounced "die-spora"), is a South Sudanese-born Australian hip hop artist, poet and activist. He is the founder of the music collective and independent record label Pl ...
[
* ]TOWNS
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
[
]
References
External links
*
NSS on YouTube
{{coord missing, Australia
Music education organizations
2007 establishments in Australia
Music venues in Australia