Alex Menzies to Create Track for Nordoff Robbins Scotland’s 20th Year

As title sponsors of the SSE Scottish Music Awards in aid of Nordoff Robbins Scotland, SSE celebrate the charity’s momentous 20th year by commissioning Scottish musician Alex Menzies (aka. Alex Smoke) to create a one off track, Seven Rare Deems, using sounds recorded live with an SSE funded therapist at a music therapy session at the Alzheimer Scotland’s centre in Aberdeen.

The resulting track is available on iTunes and Apple Music and is an incredibly beautiful, uplifting and atmospheric composition, capturing the energy and freedom that Nordoff Robbins Scotland provides beneficiaries through their music therapy sessions on a daily basis.

To gather the sounds for the track, Menzies spent the day with SSE funded therapist Lizzie Sharpe at her various sessions held at the Alzheimer Scotland’s centre in Aberdeen City Centre.  The sessions ranged from one-to-one therapy with Lizzie accompanying singers on the piano to group percussion sessions, each giving Alex unique sounds to work with and first hand insight into the inspirational therapy provided by Nordoff Robbins Scotland.

The track also takes its name from these recording sessions, with ‘Seven Rare Deems’ translating from Doric as ‘Seven Excellent Woman’, a tribute from Alex to the six inspirational woman and their music therapist, Lizzie Sharpe who he recorded with to capture the sounds that make up the track. SSE are extremely proud to sponsor Lizzie and the incredible work she does in the North East of Scotland, providing a service that was previously unavailable to people living in this region before SSE’s investment.

Seven Rare Deems can be downloaded from iTunes with all profits from the single going to Nordoff Robbins Scotland.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id1177461572?app=itunes
 
Mary Brown, Executive Director, Nordoff Robbins Scotland said “Thanks to the support of SSE we have launched three new services and we were delighted to be able to launch the Aberdeen service in May 2016 following the SSE donation and general appeal.  Our therapist is currently working 2 days in Aberdeenshire and the SSE funding has additionally enabled a one day service in Perth.  I definitely feel that this is just the start of the story for music therapy in the North East and Perth.  We are extremely grateful to SSE for the funding – without it, music therapy could not have started in three new locations to meet a much needed demand!”
 
Alex Menzies, DJ/Producer, said: “I loved working on the Seven Rare Deems project for Nordoff Robbbins and SSE. It was a rare opportunity to create something with some meaning behind it, and to bring attention to the power of music therapy to help people. The sessions in Aberdeen were positive and full of energy and I hope I have managed to retain and communicate that in the music."

Music therapy is grounded in the belief that everyone can respond to music, no matter how ill or disabled and that it can help people express emotions and communicate with others, improving the quality of life and wellbeing for people living with a diverse range of health conditions.

Donald MacLeod, Chairman of Nordoff Robbins Scotland, said: “It’s great to have SSE on board for a second year, their sponsorship is invaluable and has allowed us to take essential music therapy into new territories in 2016, such as Aberdeenshire and Perth.  SSE take their partnership with Nordoff Robbins Scotland very seriously and it is truly inspiring to see them take their sponsorship to the next level through projects such as the Seven Rare Deems track with Alex Menzies.”

Now in its 18th year the SSE Scottish Music Awards is a firm favourite in the Scottish events calendar, with past live performances including Paolo Nutini, Wet Wet Wet, Biffy Clyro, Emeli Sandé and The View to name but a few.  This year’s star studded event will take place on Saturday 26th November at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow.

Stuart Mackenzie, Head of Communications at SSE, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Nordoff Robbins Scotland on the SSE Scottish Music Awards for a second year.  Coming on board as title sponsors in 2015 was a really exciting prospect for SSE and this year we have been able to go that extra mile with the partnership and really help bring the amazing work that Nordoff Robbins Scotland do to a wider audience through projects like Seven Rare Deems with Alex Menzies.