I’m incredibly proud of my second original song “A Show No One's Ever Seen”, written specifically for my musical. It’s been a joy to see this piece evolve, brought to life through the composition of Dan Astles and the stunning vocals of Hayley Sheen and Emma Grace Arends.

I wanted to create a feel-good duet with a powerful, underlying message. It’s a pivotal moment in my musical; where the protagonist’s friends encourage her to follow her dreams and ultimately change the theatre scene by writing her own script, to address the lack of disabled representation in the industry.

Having enjoyed working with Dan before, I wanted to collaborate with him again on this particular song. Our second collaboration benefited immensely from the rapport we had already built. Knowing exactly where our skill sets overlapped and where they diverged made for a much more efficient workflow. His familiarity turned the work into a fluid conversation; we spent hours in a shared 'flow state', bouncing concepts back and forth without the fear of judgment. That extra time for exploration proved invaluable, resulting in a powerful and catchy song.

Once again, I provided Dan with a clear vision for the music style (outlining the various instruments I wanted) and he developed a melody. The real challenge, however, lay in fine-tuning the lyrics to align with that melody; I had to ensure the phrasing was seamless while still protecting the song’s core message and the characters' authentic feelings.

Knowing it was going to be a female duet, it was an obvious choice to ask Hayley to be one of the singers again but I wasn’t sure about who would be the second vocalist. Hayley suggested bringing Emma on board – and to my amazement she jumped at the chance; I’m so glad she did.

I was a bit hesitant going in to rehearsals – after the success of “Everybody’s BITCHIN’ about AL”, this song had a lot to live up to and I wanted it to sound different from the first song.

I shouldn’t have been worried; as soon as I heard Hayley and Emma harmonise together and belt out the lyrics, I knew it would be fantastic!

The whole thing seemed effortless to them, even though I pushed/encouraged them to reach some really high notes! By letting them experiment (with adlibs) and harmonise where and how they wanted; they gave the song a feel-good vibe and enhanced it 10-fold.

The recording of the song was so much fun – it was my first time being in a professional recording studio and I could barely contain my excitement. I booked ‘Make My Track’ at Arrow Studios based on a recommendation from a friend; it was a pleasure to work alongside Martin Fletcher on this track.

Martin made us feel very welcome and at ease from the minute we walked in. He grasped the concept of the song immediately, knowing exactly what I wanted it to sound like and the best way to achieve this. We bounced ideas off each other and he (along with Dan) suggested several things that improved the song, which were invaluable in creating the final version and I couldn’t imagine the song now without their input. It was a joy to watch him work his magic.

I hope you like the song as much as I do! I would like to thank everyone involved for taking the time and putting in the effort to create something special… I even took a turn on the mic! Don't worry though, I won't be giving up song-writing anytime soon!