When I saw Speech Debelle perform in front of me for the very first time I knew this girl was something special, not only did she find inspiration when she was living it rough with other homeless people and worked hard to gain that record deal, but her lyrics made two members of the audience cry that night. It was her deep and personal music that touches the heart of the audience. Couple of days after that gig I was released from my office work, they said they couldn’t afford to pay me; I was panicking on what to do next.
I contacted Speech’s manager straight away, I told her I wanted to get involved, she was impressed how quickly I tried picking myself back up – instead of sitting around being depressed about losing my job I wanted to do things that I couldn’t have done if I was stuck in an office, so volunteering have given me access to some of the most important people in music, this was my chance show them my photography ability.
One of the photos made it in the Review section of a national newspaper, that was a major thrill, however my biggest achievement was documenting one of Speech Debelle’s music video shoot in London – not only did I feature in the clip itself (my 3 seconds of fame) but a shot I took was picked to be the art cover of the single!
Tuesday 8th September 2009, my eyes were glued to the television when they were about to announce the winner of Barclaycard’s Mercury Music Award Album of The Year 2009, and a massive girly scream (yes it was the excitement) came out of me when Jools Holland mentioned the name “Speech Debelle” – it was a sigh of relief as 6 months of hard work have paid off.
Now I can reflect and say “Hey I know that girl, I’ve photographed her gigs, featured in one of her music videos, and I shot the photo for the cover of one of her singles!” – This all happened in a space of 6 months just because I was willing to volunteer.
If you're 16-25 and would like to volunteer, find opportunities on vinspired.com
Words and photography by vinspired Lake of Stars volunteer mentor DwikoArie (http://www.dwikoarie.blogspot.com)
[Dwiko got in touch with vinspired Lake of Stars to see if he could get involved, we liked his work and his approach and he has been working with the team to bring his skills to bear on our project - he is one to watch for the future]
