While other students spent the recent lockdown taking their lessons from home, 15-year-old singer-songwriter Nikisha Priest’s online learning included finessing her first single ‘Where We Were’.

The Year 10 Morisset High School student has worked with some leading music industry producers and session musicians to record her first single, which she hopes will resonate with anyone who has been effected by lockdown and COVID-19.

“I think this song is really relatable – we can all connect with it in some way. When I was writing this song, I was thinking about how we are missing the things that we know, the places and the people that we love,” Nikisha said.

“Everyone wants to go back to the way we were before COVID, and we are feeling a little lost and uncertain about the future.

“Music is a great way to work through feelings, and I hope that my single helps people feel a sense of connection that even though we can’t all be together, we are all really looking forward to being together again soon.”

As part of the Big Picture program, students choose what they will learn about based on their own passions and interests while meeting the mandatory curriculum requirements.

They enhance their learning with hands-on experience under the mentorship of professionals in their field.

Nikisha wrote and co-produced her single, learning about recording and production with some well-known names in Australian music.

She recorded ‘Where We Were’ under the mentorship of country music producer, Simon Johnson, and with the support of session musicians, former Dragon drummer Pete Drummond, and country artist Liam Kennedy-Clark on keyboards.

“Even the recording was impacted by COVID, with Pete recording the drums over Zoom and the other musicians not being able to come to the studio because of lockdowns in the different states, so we had to find other ways to work together,” Nikisha said.

“It was not the usual experience, but it was a really great example of the wonderful things that can be done even when we can’t be together. I have made some incredible connections, am so excited to be I’m working on some new material, and hope to get back into the studio to record again soon.”