Mikey Kirkpatrick – Founder and Director of Alchemy
Mikey is a musician (singer, flautist, composer, producer and performer) and associate lecturer in music and education whose research and practice focuses on how deeper listening and musicality can be beneficial for individuals and communities, building confidence, improving mental health and offering transferable skills. Mikey co-directed a record label for 10 years and has performed on hundreds of stages internationally, and has worked in alternative music education settings for 25 years. He founded Goldsmiths Alchemy in 2017 and the Alchemy Masters programme in 2023 (thanks to the Vernon Ellis Foundation), offering paid training to young artist mentors to help build their skills as facilitators while giving them space and time to build their creative practice.
Lara Paquete Pereira – Lead Mentor/Mentor Supervisor
Lara is a Youth & Community Worker, anti-racism activist and lecturer for the Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies degree, having been involved with GARA (Goldsmiths Anti-Racism Action) which was fundamental in the forming of the Goldsmiths Equity Award. She is part of several working groups, namely the Race Justice board, at the Goldsmiths University of London. She is the lead mentor and a student mentor placement supervisor on the Alchemy project.
Martin Vito – Vocals and Music Production Mentoring
Workshop areas include: Music Production, Song Writing, Rap Coaching, Recording, Vocal Arrangement, Artist Development, Artist Mentoring, Mental Health Management, Musical Direction, Live Performance, Album Curation, Music Release, Fanbase + Community Building.
Yasmin Ali (aka Y.A)
Y.A is an award winning international spoken word Artist, performance poet and Nuyorican NY awarded “International Slam Champion”. Y.A is also a writer, artist, playwright, singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. Workshop areas include poken word, poetry, rap and lyricism, song writing, hosting, performance techniques, creative expression through writing. Confidence building, stage presence, performance poetry and spoken word theatre. Slam poetry. Radio presenting. Podcast hosting. General empowerment and encouragement. Self-development techniques. Public speaking. Mentoring. Advocation and archiving work. Writing for brands, campaigns and activism. Workshop facilitation. Writing sessions and group discussions.
Tomáš Kašpar – musician, composer and producer
Since graduating from Goldsmiths Popular Music in 2015, Tomáš spent several years as a guitarist and musician in bands Junk Son & Laucan, which saw UK & EU support tours with artists including Ghostpoet, Maribou State & Sam Amidon. As an electronic musician and producer, Tomáš works with hardware synths, drum machines, sampling, beat-making and is a believer in how we can express and develop our creative voices and identities with these tools.
Joquan Johnson (JJ)
JJ is a multi-instrumentalist, musicologist and researcher. While studying at Goldsmiths University, JJ has been a part of many research projects, including “The classical and musical works of Samuel Coleridge Taylor” and working with the UKRI to conduct a research report into their accessibility to students from a black and global majority background. He also regularly interviews works and books of authors and musicologists. JJ is a professional classical cellist and double bassist who plays with many orchestras, including the LGSO and the CSO.
JJ offers music theory workshops, 1-1 workshops on basic piano skills and classical composition skills and workshops to highlight historical black musicians outside of the Western canon.
He also works as our Alchemy Administrator.
Clay Milner Russell
Clay is a songwriter and experimental musician, he is a member of Ashley’s Fit Up, a collaborative project that creates site specific musical performances that also incorporate theatrical elements. He is a piano player and is interested in arranging and composing. Exploration and composing are at the core of his practice. He studied at the BRIT school.
Chevelle Frazer-Rose – Music Mentor, Goldsmiths MMus Graduate
Chevelle is a professional artist and musician showcasing her original material in the soul jazz music scene as well as working as a session bassist and vocalist for UK jazz and Black music artists across London. Performing at well renowned venues and events such as The Royal Albert Hall Festival, FivePoints Presents and Sofar Sounds shows, she teaches 1-2-1 bass guitar and acoustic guitar lessons.
As a singer-songwriter and mixing engineer she teaches knowledge of music production using Logic Pro X for students EP projects, encouraging self-produced projects and collaborations.
Chevelle also offers 1-2-1 vocal and performance technique sessions while mentoring students in the studio, guiding them through the process as their first experience with recording engineers and session musicians. Her 1-2-1 small group songwriting sessions include ‘live set workshops’ – workshopping 15-25 mins sets for live performances and group band workshops.
Tess Richards
Tess is a guitarist, sound designer, and music mentor working with young people at Alchemy to record in the studios and innovate in rehearsal rooms. Their passion for live performance and personal artistic development comes from love and respect for a wide range of musical disciplines including jazz, hip-hop, punk/metal and experimental musics.
They have been producing music for themself and other projects for 4 years, as well as engineering for my peers in my home studio. Drawing upon my experiences working with all kinds of musicians, they support the young people at Alchemy to create beyond expectations, express themselves through sound, and cultivate confidence in their live performances.
Katy Neve
Katy is a Jazz vocalist, guitarist, bassist and songwriter. She trained predominantly on vocals at Goldsmiths university and has taken her vocals to jazz venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and recently with EFG London Jazz festival. She is also a training sound engineer in Gallery studios and is very passionate about recorded sound and crafting music with technology. At alchemy she runs band workshops and 121 sessions in songwriting, vocal training, guitar/bass skills and stage performance.
Seyi Keyamo
Seyi is a youth worker on the Alchemy Team.
Kieron Morris
Kieron is a youth worker and music mentor at Alchemy. He is the founding director of REZON8 at The Albany in Deptford. He acknowledges that music is a creative output for many young people. However, the ability to create a professional product can be difficult due to expensive studio prices, lack of accessibility, financial issues and more. Rezon8 offers these for free, and while doing this he aims to show the positive impact that this form of youth work can have on mental health through music in a safe creative environment. Kieron is a producer and engineer, an exceptional mentor and an artist too, dedicated to elevating the careers and improving the mental health of young people.
REZON8 is a youth-led record label created by Kieron Morris to assist young creatives who don’t ordinarily have direct access to support and recourses they would need to be creative and pursue a professional career in the music industry. This support includes providing industry knowledge, access to free studio time beats, workshops with industry professionals, mentoring and so much more. REZON8 supports them to push their music out and help them tell their stories through their music without censorship. Contact: rezon8@thealbany.org.uk
Moziah De Roche (aka sixziah)
Moziah De Roche, (stage name sixziah) started music with Alchemy in 2019. Since the start of the journey, he has performed on more than 20 stages. His music is inspiredby Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B and Rap, with lyrics based on his life experiences and those of others very close to him. He also created, hosted and performed his own show in February 2023 at the Albany theatre called ziahsgamesnight. The premise of the show was to get artists performing their songs on the stage, then later getting the audience involved to create a beat for the artists to freestyle to.
Some of his personal achievements so far are performing at the Albany theatre in Deptford, the opening of the Migration Museum in Lewisham, REZON8 Show and performing at Glastonbury Festival with REZON8 (also hosting the set).
Moziah strives to perfect his craft and passion for music, while also helping others to do the same. His unique gameshow style workshops are inclusive and fun, they improve confidence and wellbeing, while also helping people to make new friends and learn about music in innovative ways.
Moziah is available for live performances, running events and delivering workshops.
Contact m.kirkpatrick@gold.ac.uk for bookings.
Social Media Links:
Instagram / TikTok / X : @sixziah
Omar Elsaaidi (aka Refrain)
Omar Elsaaidi started his journey into music in 2019, although he truly began his creative process 2 years prior through the art of poetry as a means to express his inner voice. Also known as Refrain now 5+ years down the line his experience and his expression have completely transformed. From performing at the lower third in London to co-hosting headteacher conferences, his reach is most definitely impressive. His aim is to impact and support as many young people as possible, letting them know they are not alone in their fight against the world and themselves. This message echoes through his craft from released songs such as “Gods Got Me” to unreleased songs such as “Stuck On The Grind”. He is currently studying for a degree in the Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies Degree.
His craft doesn’t end here though because he has been training under the Alchemy Masters Programme and now conducts workshops such as his own creation R2D ( Rage 2 Discipline) and mentors young people.
You can contact him through email, social media or directly through his management.
E-mail: Officialrefrain09@gmail.com
Officialrefrainmusic – instagram
Unleash your talent tv – YouTube
info@unleashyourtalenttv.com – Management
Rofeda Bougaga
“Writing and performing spoken word has become my trauma response. It enables me to take control over situations when I feel powerless, and I realised you have to talk about something to heal from it.”
Rofeda Amira Bougaga is a writer, spoken word artist, performer, actor, activist and researcher who utilises creativity as a platform to create social change regarding issues such as young people’s mental health, women’s safety and many other neglected issues within society. She has been involved in the performing arts industry for several years, and has written and performed her own one woman show ‘The Body Remembers’ at The Albany and The Camden People’s Theatre which has become a campaign for women’s safety in the borough of Lewisham.
Rofeda contributed to A Big Conversation research project at The Albany in Deptford, which found that:
- 100% of young people surveyed agreed that being creative supports their mental health.
- 90% felt that if there were more opportunities for them to be creative, that mental health in young people would improve.
Rofeda’s workshops support young people in developing their writing and performance skills, either as a writer, poet, spoken word artist, or songwriter, with an emphasis on how words can have the power to change you and the world around you.
Joshua Hunt (aka Pov1sm)
Joshua Hunt is a producer, rapper, spoken word artist and podcaster. He creates original work with the strong belief that that creativity is beneficial for wellbeing and mental health. He has performed across multiple events in London, and produced a range of tracks solo and in collaboration.
His eight-bars-a-day workshop series encourages daily creative check-ins leading to new writing and music, as a way to build confidence, community while reaching creative potential. Joshua is a talented and inclusive workshop facilitator.
Timothy Wairama (aka Tboy)
Tboy is a rapper, singer, pianist and producer. He is a skilled performer guaranteed to get audiences onto the dancefloor. He is also an experienced recording and mix engineer and producer, making artists feel at ease and getting the best performances out of them, such as this track he produced for Reece:
He has a growing following for his music and tiktok livestreams. His most recent release:
