ceremony for the handover of studio equipment to the institution. “I thought the students were fantastic and highly talented and they rehearsed well,” said nine-time Grammy Award winner, producer, and songwriter Brian-Michael Cox. “They are so multifaceted, playing different instruments, switching them out, the harmonies were tight. It was extremely professional in sound, they sounded incredible to me,” he expressed.

Cox was part of a team that travelled to Jamaica with internationally acclaimed disc jockey Tayari “DJ Trauma” McIntosh for the handover of items, valued at US$10,000, which included Studio One Pro 7 software, BPM create licences, a pair of professional studio monitors, one Quantum ES 4 USB-C Audio Interface, one large diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone, and two iMac desktop computers.

They were donated by McIntosh as part of his Trauma Unit Retreat initiative, which he founded in 2020. In an interview with JIS News, Cox, who contributed an iMac computer as part of the initiative, expressed his profound admiration for the band. “[With the donations] we hope it will open up a new portal of creativity for them. It’s one thing to be in one space working together and another space where you can really put those ideas down and really develop whatever you do,” Cox said.

“I heard [band leader Hannah Lyons] won a songwriting contest. She is winning already, and just imagine what is going to happen when she gets the studio thing going. I think that that’s the main thing — just opening up a different level of being able to create,” he pointed out. Cox, who has crafted Grammy-winning albums and singles for artistes such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, and Beyoncé, said that he was impressed with the versatility of the students, which, he noted, is indicative of promising careers in production.

“Everybody is so multifaceted; everybody plays an instrument. I saw them swapping out on the sound board. All those things are basic producer things. The fact that each person could do multiple things, I think that they are well advanced and ready to be in that space to get in line and produce records,” Cox explained. (Jamaica Observer)