Youth Music took over Cardiff's Club Ifor Bach on Tuesday 25 April 2023 for our first ever in-person NextGen Community Event.

Photography: Mitchell Williams

A free event, the evening was a chance for local young creatives to connect with other like-minded people starting out in music, network, and find new collaborators.

After some mingling, the event opened with a panel discussion. Hosted by Sam MacGregor (BBC Radio 1 & BBC Cymru), he was joined by SZWE (Artist), Pea (Anthem Youth Forum), and Owain Williams (Klust Music).

The panel discussed opportunities and pathways into music for young creatives, especially those in and around Cardiff. Experiences and tips on how to find opportunities and funding in the music industries were shared, with a wide range of angles given due to the panel's varied creative backgrounds.

After the panel, four brilliant and varied performances took place from local artists, Luke RV, Niques, SZWE and MACY.

Luke RV, a Welsh rapper, performed a high-energy rendition of his track, 'LONG TERM PARKING', one of the songs from his NextGen Funded album, 'WHAT’S THAT, over there'. The single since went on to be featured by BBC 1Xtra as their Track of the Day.

Recent Youth Music NextGen Fund recpient, Niques, also took to the stage, performing a few of her garage and R&B/soul songs with the crowd.

Niques even debuted an unreleased single, set to be released through support from the NextGen Fund.

South Wales-based artist SZWE wowed the audience with both lightning speed bars and velvety smooth vocals as he performed a few songs from his 'Holy Glory' album, as well as an exclusive, unreleased track which was very well received. 

SZWE shouted out Youth Music and the NextGen Fund for helping him to partially fund 'Holy Glory', and released a deluxe version of the record.

Bringing the night to a close, rising Welsh pop star, MACY, delighted with several of her original songs.

Accompanied by a keyboardist, her acoustic set ended with 'Swear Down', her latest release. The single was supported by the Youth Music NextGen Fund, and was also played by Sam MacGregor on his BBC Radio 1 show recently.

Next stop - Manchester! Youth Music will be bringing a NextGen Community Event to the Northwest of England for local creatives to meet, network and collaborate. Keep an eye on our website and socials for more information.