It may look like Abimbola (Bim) Bademosiand Deirdre Otway teach music to students at the Sandys Community Centre out of the goodness of their hearts, but secretly they have an ulterior motive.

They don?t do it for money, or fame, or even thanks (although that is always nice) ? what they want is to see their students grow up to form a vibrant and knowledgeable entertainment industry on the Island.

Mr. Bademosi and Mrs. Otway run the Music Unifies Strength In Children (MUSIC) programme at the Sandys Community Centre on Boaz Island.

?For many years I have heard people talking about how there is no entertainment industry in Bermuda, or the entertainment industry in Bermuda is dying,? said Mr. Bademosi. ?Nobody seems to make any inroads to stop that. Bermuda has a rich history of entertainers, but the young entertainers aren?t coming up. So, in order to search for entertainers you have to start with the youth.?

MUSIC is an after school programme for students ages ten to 17. Students sing, play instruments, write songs, learn music theory and record music on real audio engineering equipment. Adults are also encouraged to come in the evening, but there is no smoking or drinking allowed and adults interested in recording music must abide by the rules of the programme. met with Mr. Bademosi and Mrs. Otway on a Monday evening. As we spoke, eager children repeatedly stuck their heads in, asking, ?Is it time yet??, ?Has it started yet??

?This is the first programme of its kind on the Island,? said Mr. Bademosi. ?Four or five years ago I sent a proposal to the Ministry of Youth, Sport & Recreation and asked them to build a facility like this. It is mainly for the youth.

?The catch word is exposure. If someone hasn?t been exposed to the realms of recording or studio production or song writing, how can they get into the industry? The idea is to expose them to as much as possible to allow their creative juices to flow.?

Different days during the week are set aside for different areas of music. One day is instrument day, and another is for singing. A key part of it, to Mr. Bademosi, is the sound engineering aspect.

?We want everyone to learn how to play instruments so at the end of the day we can record and record, and start to develop a music industry in Bermuda,? said Mr. Bademosi. ?One thing that people talk about is a lack of quality of music in Bermuda. That is the reason one radio station gave for why they don?t play Bermudian music.?

Mr. Bademosi aims to fix that, by showing the kids that music is about more than just singing or playing an instrument. He figures the younger Bermudian student is when they learn to mix and record music, the better they will be at it when they are older.

To the uninitiated, the sound engineering equipment looks daunting, with rows of buttons and levers. To the kids it?s just another type of instrument.

?When the children are first faced with it they are intrigued and surprised,? said Mr. Bademosi. ?After a while it becomes second nature, which is what we want it to be.?

MUSIC only costs $30 per school term, a real bargain considering that the average music lesson anywhere else can cost parents hundreds of dollars a year.

The programme really is designed for students who show some talent in music, but there is no entrance examination and the only real prerequisites are a love of music, and a good attitude.

An example of a good attitude would be ten-year-old Sierra Symonds, a Somerset Primary School student. She is a little shy, but her face lights up when she talks about music.

?Three years ago I was in a different school, and Shine Hayward taught me singing,? she said.

?He asked me if I had ever thought of being in a music programme like this one. I said, ?no, but I love singing, and I want to learn?. I love to do music. I am always singing. I don?t have a favourite place to sing; I sing wherever I am.?

Sierra?s favourite thing at MUSIC is learning to play the piano. When asked how often she comes, she laughed and said, ? of times a week?.

It is a similar story for Warwick Academy student Che-Lei Trott, 12.

?I know I am really talented at music, and I wanted to get a chance to show my talent,? she said confidently. ?My main instrument is the viola. I like working with the drum kit, and doing chords on the keyboard. Hopefully I will be a musician when I grow up.?

Another Warwick Academy student, Damani Smith, 12, is newer to the group, but also rapidly becoming a regular. He is a budding pianist. When his music teacher had a baby, he decided to join MUSIC.

?You have to come here and love music and work at it and concentrate,? said Mrs. Otway. ?We don?t want someone who is here today and not here next week. You have to have the love and interest of music first. We could probably get many children, but we want children who know of some instrument or the voice.?

Mrs. Otway said many of the MUSIC kids look forward all week to going to Boaz Island.

?If I have a phone call or other work, they say ?come on Mrs. Otway?,? she said. ?They are anxious to come in here. They all sit in their own place, put their headphones on and practice until we are ready.?

She said it is also good for the students to be around other students who love music.

?It is definitely important for kids to be around like minded people ? they learn more,? she said.

When Mr. Bademosi is not working in the afternoons and evenings at MUSIC, he is a musician and a teacher at West End Primary and Southampton Glebe. He said he often has to work to convince parents that an instrument like a recorder for their child is a necessary purchase. But he said studying music often helps children in other aspects of their life.

?Music is a discipline, and you have to be disciplined to do music,? he said. ?If you are disciplined enough to do music, of course that is going to translate into every other aspect of your life.

?Playing recorder can develop your motor skills. It can prepare you to play the flute. It helps you with your ear training. It helps with your problem solving and the ability to read music. It is all part of your cognitive development.?

Mrs. Otway said many parents only look at music as an extracurricular activity, because they think the chance of their child becoming a superstar is remote.

However, there are many different potential careers in the music and entertainment industry including DJing, song writing, sound engineering and recording. There is also a need for business professionals in the industry to work as agents, accountants and public relations people.

Unfortunately, the MUSIC programme is located in Sandys, which is inconvenient for many parents who live in the East End. That is why a new branch of MUSIC will soon be opening up in St. George?s. Mr. Bademosi and Mrs. Otway hope that if it is successful, they will one day have a third group in Hamilton City.

?Now, it is mainly kids from Somerset who come,? said Mrs. Otway. ?We do get a few dedicated students from other parts of the Island.?

For more information about MUSIC or other Sandys Community Centre programmes, telephone Mrs. Otway at 234-1275 or 234-3956.