WATCH: Schoolboy pens song urging unity during Covid-19 crisis
A talented young Birmingham schoolboy has penned a poignant song about the coronavirus crisis urging people to stand together to get through it.
Singer-songwriter Luca Simian wrote and recorded “Why Why Oh Why” and produced a video, which has now been released on YouTube, to accompany the song.
The 14-year-old, who attends Park Hall Academy in Castle Bromwich, wants to pursue a career in music and has been busy playing his guitar and piano and writing tunes on a range of subjects for the past year.
But the current Covid-19 pandemic struck a chord with him and inspired his latest work.
Luca said: “Obviously, coronavirus is really affecting a lot of people and a big concern for everyone.
“I just wanted to get the message out there about people standing together and about helping people during this crisis. Hopefully it will also help put some smiles on faces.”
He added: “I’m looking to do this as a career and so wanted to get some music out there for people to listen to so I thought this was a good way of getting started.
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“I’ve got some other songs written and recorded but I’ll let this one settle for now and see how it is received.”
He cites American artists Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams and Damien Rice as big influences but he was also inspired by someone closer to home.
His father Pete Smallwood has been performing his own material in bands for 30 years and is also a DJ working across Birmingham and beyond.
Pete said: “He’s been obsessed with music for the last year in particular.
“I’ve always been in bands, I used to try and push it on him when he was a bit younger but he didn’t bite.
“But he has now naturally wanted to pick the guitar up and the piano and is learning a new instrument a month.
Proud
“It’s got him off the PS4 which is a nice thing but he lives and breathes it. He has his guitar with him every minute of the day.
“I’m very proud of him. During this current school closure, every morning he’s been getting up early to do his school work and then he turns his system on and the guitars come out.
"He put 'Why Why Oh Why' down in a day. Like many, he’s quite stressed about coronavirus and thinking about people such as his grandparents. So he expresses himself in his songs and he is a storyteller.
“He wanted to do a video for this song and he has got a great reaction after he put it on YouTube.
"He wants to be a musician and that’s all he’s interested in. When he completes one song, he wants to write another. I think he’s got something and is creating some interesting music.”
