Mark Baynes: Let's Go Music Co-Director on the new accredited music school

A gap in the tertiary system is being filled once more. 

In 2023, Te Pukenga shut down MAINZ Music School, leaving a void for those wishing to study music. 

Alumni of the former school include award-winning musicians, artists, and producers like Joel Little, Gin Wigmore, and Tory Kingi. 

But as one door closes, another opens, and former staff are getting a new school up and running under the name ‘Let’s Go Music’. 

Co-Director Mark Baynes told Mike Hosking the programme is designed for career musicians – the certification being a first step into the industry. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seven away from a couple of years ago the new
centralized politics shut down the mains music school. That left
a gap apparently in the tertiary system if you wanted
to study music. So former staff for studying something called
Let's Go Music. The co director is Mark Baines's well,
there's Mike. Very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning. How's it going?

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Very well? Indeed? So what are you? You are UNI?
You TICK or just a private operator?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
We're a PTE, so that's a private Tershee education provider
and and we've just studied. Yeah, we started our first
course the Certificate of Music in July.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And you're certified by the appropriate authorities. And I walk
away with a piece of paper that's worth something somewhere.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Exactly sore where it's actually very difficult to get accredited
by QA. And you need a lot of ground support
because we've got industry support and we've got lots of
excellent and I who are willing to testify. There as
a need, there's it's that's part of the process to
get the credited.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Right And did was the the t poo king and
this shambles of a centralized system? Was it the problem
within that system? They weren't able to operate something. What
was the argument for killing the mains side of the equation?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Well, it was a numbers thing, but I think it
was a it was that was a convenient numbers thing
not to do along the past. It had just gone
through COVID obviously, and numbers were down at that point.
But irackly, you know, at that year twenty twenty three,
we had we had a huge intake planned and yeah,
so it wasn't yeah, I don't want to say too much,

(01:35):
but it was probably it was probably easiest, easier to
let us go the country got flooded, gotcha.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, So having said that, what the qualification you'd delivered?
What who is it that studies this stuff? Is this
hobby stuff? Oh I want to be a DJ, I
want to be famous all that. Or is it like
this is a career, this is my life and this
is where I'm eating.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, it is. It is for career musicians, and we
do need that, and it's difficult obviously being a musician
and to make a career out of it. But I
guess the certificate is a first step towards that a
very long road and it's really just for those who
you can't think, like myself, can't think of any other
career that would make sense, you know, for them because

(02:15):
they love music that much. So that's it's the first
step towards a career. And obviously, well not necessarily obviously,
but we're developing a diploma that we're hopefully going to
run next year and then a course of degree. We've
got a degree planned as well, but at the same
time we've got a couple of other courses. We've got
a mastercast series, and we're hoping to get sort of

(02:35):
like big industry players to sort of do some online learning,
probably pre recorded that sort of thing with some with
some you know, face to face on a weekly basis
that can be specific to people who need, you know,
a particular service like industry support to try and write
their music or whatever. And and we do a weekend

(02:58):
Warrior's program as well SPET to start that up, which
is far more hobbyists to obviously working in the field
and they just want to connect with other musicians and
play music and have that curated in a sense by
musicians a professional.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
There you go, as one door closed, as another door opens, go, well,
well that let's go. Music is what they're calling themselves.
Mike Baines, is you mainly five Minutes Away from eight?
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