Up in Flames is the title track for an album the young musicians are making to express their concerns over what they say is the “number one issue of our time”. The anthemic title track is a collaboration between the six-bands who make up the LS18 Rocks project in Leeds and aims to bring issues about the environment to the masses in a positive way.

And just like the smash-hit West End musical the young musicians, aged between 10 and 15, aim to get the whole world singing with their catchy guitar-driven rock epic.

Inspiration for the song came from a quote by climate activist Greta Thunberg when she addressed the World Economic Forum warning: “Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”

The bands have so far come up with eight songs with the aim of having 12 ready for release as an album later in the year with a launch concert in their home city.

All profits from the music will be donated to a charity dedicated to fighting climate change issues.

LS18 Rocks musical director Jonnie Khan said: “It’s great playing all the classic tracks but we wanted to challenge everyone to see if they could write their own music. We asked the young people for their thoughts and unsurprisingly climate change came back as something they were incredibly passionate about.

“We were not quite sure what to expect, to be honest, but we have been stunned by the quality of songs they have produced. It is so exciting to see and hear everything coming together.

“Greta Thunberg is a huge inspiration to the vast majority of  young people and so it is perhaps apt that our title track is based around her most famous rallying call. There are lots of ways to protest but we believe the best way is as our song says, to keep on singing.”

Having released the title track on all major streaming sites, a video is now set to be filmed in coming weeks – and the enthusiastic youngsters are desperately hoping to receive airplay for their single from the major stations.

Dr Rob Wilsmore, the Head of School of Performance and  Media Production at York St John University, oversaw the single’s production.

He said: “It was heart-warming to see how the children and adults of LS18 Rocks took to writing songs about climate change when we first proposed this project. They are part of a growing movement that is both passionate and informed about climate change, and although writing songs may seem like it won’t change anything, that’s not true, the music of a movement like this changes attitudes and that changes how people choose to act. 

“We used Greta’s call to act as if ‘Our house is on fire’ as the ‘crowd chorus’ part of the song and we have a great tune for it that we would love to hear chanted at climate change events. 

“We finished writing ‘Up in Flames’ towards the end of last year, just before the reports of fires in Australia when it literally went ‘up in flames’. 

“It was then that we realised that this isn’t just a protest, it’s a need to act. It’s easy to think that LS18 Rocks are just kids, that they’ll look back nostalgically at their climate change protest songs and wonder why they made such a fuss. But while we can’t predict the future there is obviously a huge concern that there might not be one to be nostalgic about.”

The music school was launched in Leeds two years ago when professional Jonnie, 49, decided his pupils needed a performance output for their learning.

From hiring a room in a scout hut for two hours and starting with just one band there are now five children’s bands and one adult band rehearsing every weekend. 

They now operate in their own studio based in the heart of the Leeds suburb Horsforth – which has the LS18 postcode that gives rise to their name.

Jonnie added: “It has really taken off and has proved that despite current trends there is still a huge appetite for people playing instruments in a band.”

Vocalist Theo Cordingley, 13, said: “I have loved being part of the Up In Flames single because it felt awesome to be part of the team and work together on something so fantastic.

“It was very exciting and there was a massive rush when my mum told me that the new single was out and that it was a song that I helped record. It is awesome that I am on Spotify at the age of 13.

“The recording process was very easy because you just went in and they told you what to sing and how to sing it. I personally don’t think that it could have gone smoother and when I listened to it, I was agog with how good it was. I think that it is brilliant that such a climate change awareness song is on such well-recognised platforms like Spotify, Amazon and Apple. I think that it is amazing because climate change is so important.

“I hope that it raises awareness to more than just the people we know, maybe even raising awareness to the whole world.”

Abby Warner, 14, who sings and plays the drums, said: “Making this track was a great opportunity for me as it meant we were not only able to spread the message about climate change, but also to get experience with recording.

“LS18 Rocks has given me so many opportunities and this has been one of the best experiences as it has enabled me to learn more about the recording process. It was so much fun to be a part of the song and being able to now listen to it on Spotify is amazing!  I have written my own climate change songs – Dear Sun and Dear Amazon – at first as a bit of a joke however with members of different LS18 Rock’s bands we have been able to develop these tracks and are now aiming to record them to add to the Up In Flames album.”

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