ON TRACK

Photo: Music artists Francoistunes and Ed Moon with the ON TRACK students. (Supplied)

A group of students rocked out during a school holiday program in Werribee between January 17 and 20.

The ON TRACK initiative gives young people the opportunity to learn about writing and recording music.

Developed by the Mushroom Group and supported by the state government, ON TRACK is free-of-charge for students aged 12 to 18 years old.

Program mentors, music artists Françoistunes and Ed Moon, assisted the youths as they recorded their original songs in a mobile recording set-up at Chirnside Park.

The students worked with 76m Film to create their own music videos.

ON TRACK lead music educator and artist mentor, MC Mantra, said he was he was “so impressed by the students’ willingness to create, express themselves and support each other.”

Moon said the Werribee group of students represented “a great cultural mix”.

“This program is able to make a lot of change and I’m extremely excited about the students that we are going to be able to inspire through ON TRACK program in 2022,” he said.

Françoistunes said that the fifteenth series of ON TRACK, as held in the 2021-22 school holidays, has been “amazing”.

“Sharing invaluable hands-on experience with the students in the process of expression and creativity jam-packed in a week of activities full of writing, DJ-ing and video shoots is a blast,” he said.

“On Track is such an important program for the youth, the impact was well reflected in their excitement & participation through the week.”

In past years, ON TRACK has hosted 14 programs across Dandenong, Hoppers Crossing, Melton, St Albans, Braybrook and Tarneit, engaging with more than 250 students.