The charity has expanded its Sussex base to create a one-stop music destination in Worthing with a wide range of choices for underrepresented and new musical talent.
There were private parties for guests on Thursday and Friday, where CEO Adam Joolia explained the background to the launch and the vision for the future, and an open house on Saturday where young people were able to take part in free music.
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Adam said, “While many young people we work with go on to carve out careers as musical artists or even achieve world stardom, that is not our main focus.
“We just want to empower young people and budding artists to use music to reach their potential, whether as empowered, contributing members of society or as the exciting artists and disruptors of tomorrow.”
In a video played in front of guests, Rory Graham, the singer-songwriter known as Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, spoke about his support for the charity and its artists, saying he ” gave to the next”. Having had a lot of support to get to number one, he said he wanted this for someone else.
Adam explained that the charity’s expansion into Worthing began four years ago, when Colonnade House manager Clare Halstead asked if AudioActive would be interested in working with the creative hub and Worthing Borough Council .
He said: “Although we weren’t doing any projects in Worthing at the time, we were working with young people from Worthing, who came to Brighton to participate in what we were doing, to get involved in performances, so that made sense.”
He pointed to Worthing’s rich musical history, the quality of Northbrook College’s music department and the fact that the Slip Jam hip hop night in Brighton attracted many young people from Worthing.
They started with the #Scratchpad project at Colonnade House with Adam Seaman in 2018.
Adam said: “People just got involved and they were hungry for it. It was immediately apparent how much there was a need for something more like this.
An event in St Paul’s followed and as a result the Arts Council provided more funding to help launch AudioActive in Worthing.
Adam said, “It feels like we’re really at the start of something.”
AudioActive, in Montague Street, will be open seven days a week, with a cafe on the ground floor.
