Photographs by Beth Chalmers FORMERLY homeless young people who formed a band have released their first album with the help of professional musicians. Ensemble is a group made up of youths, many of whom have experienced homelessness and mental health issues. They released their first album, No Place Like It, on Friday, after teaming up with a host of talented professional players. Andrew Sinclair’s song Battlefield was written when he was experiencing homelessness. The group said it was about “having the courage to do something outside of his comfort zone and then finally finding a place he felt he belonged and could be himself”.
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Yours Forever: Ensemble on No Place Like It
Ahead of the release of No Place Like It, we speak with some of the musicians and young people involved in the award-winning Glasgow-based songwriting project Ensemble Feature by Tony Inglis | 21 Apr 2021
“I’ve always wanted to have something that’s just mine,” says 20-year-old Megan Kay. Since autumn last year, she’s been participating in Ensemble, a Glasgow-based project which engages young people in social care – many of whom have experience of mental health issues and homelessness – with songwriting and music-making workshops alongside professional artists. “When you’ve made a song, it’s yours forever.”