About The Music Rooms
A creative space where all people can make music, build confidence, and connect exactly as they are.
The Music Rooms is a neurodivergent-led music mentoring service for autistic, neurodivergent, and
disabled adults and young people (12+). We run in-person across Greater Melbourne and regional Victoria, with online
sessions available Australia-wide. Our facilitators include ARIA Award-winning and nominated artists, producers,
performers, touring DJs, and session musicians.
A creative space where all people can make music, build confidence, and connect exactly as they are.
The Music Rooms is a neurodivergent-led music mentoring service for autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled adults and young people (12+).
We run in-person across Greater Melbourne and regional Victoria, with online sessions available Australia-wide.
Our facilitators include ARIA Award-winning and nominated artists, producers, performers, touring DJs, and session musicians.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
By Us, For Us
The Music Rooms is neurodivergent-led, with programs designed from lived experience and deep community connection.
Access First Design
We adapt the environment, not the person. Sensory-friendly, flexible, and inclusive. What this looks like:
Communication in ways that work for you — verbal, non-verbal, written, visual, AAC
Sensory needs designed into sessions — lighting, volume, breaks built in
Stimming, special interests, and different participation styles are part of the space
Musicians creating together — collaborative and participant-led
Peer to Peer Learning
Sessions build community and connection through shared musical interests and collaborative creation.
Real Skills, Real Access
Our facilitators are working music professionals with extensive experience across production, performance, recording, and DJing.
Participants can access professional tools and practical workflows used across today’s music industry. Got a laptop and headphones?
We’ll work with that too.
Neurodiversity-Affirming, Trauma-Informed Practice
Neurodiversity-affirming practice is central to everything we do. Our team brings deep experience supporting young people across
schools, youth justice, community settings, and creative programs.
Collaboration Welcome
With participant consent, we collaborate with allied health and support teams to align sessions with participant goals.
Our team and community include CALD, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ musicians.
HOW OUR FACILITATORS WORK
Neurodiversity-Affirming, Trauma-Informed Practice
Our facilitators work within neurodiversity-affirming practice. Here’s what that looks like:
Presumption of competence
We trust your judgement about what you want to create. No talking down,
no assumptions about what you can or can’t do.
Participant led direction
You decide what to work on,
what success looks like, and
what pace feels right.
Multiple paths to learning
Some people learn by doing, others by watching, others by talking through concepts first. Your facilitator adapts.
Communication flexibility
Verbal, AAC, written instructions, demonstration – your facilitator
meets you in your preferred style.
Sensory responsiveness
If something’s too loud, too bright, or overwhelming, we adjust in real time without you having to ask repeatedly.
Creative process is valid
Experimenting, going off on tangents, working in silence, and needing breaks are all part of the process.
Working musicians
20+ years professional experience across production, performance, recording, and DJing. Our mentors have worked with national and international artists.
Real gear, flexible approach
Community and partner studios with the same equipment used by touring artists and producers. Got a laptop and headphones? We’ll work with that too.
Person centred, community driven
You lead. We facilitate. Sessions adapt to your goals, communication style, sensory needs, and pace. We’re building a community of musicians who create without judgment.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
All facilitators hold current Working With Children Checks and NDIS Worker Screening clearances. Service Agreements are issued prior to commencement. Session notes are provided after every session. Quarterly progress summaries are available for NDIS participants.
MEET OUR TEAM
DJ Bonnita
DJ Specialist
Introduced to rave culture as a teenager, Bonnita was dusting the dance floor with talcum powder at warehouse parties during the 90s golden era of electronic music. Twenty-five years on, she’s one of Naarm’s most in-demand and cherished party selectors — a highly versatile DJ weaving dance floor magic from hip hop, jazz, disco, deep house, jungle, drum & bass, dub, techno and everything in between.
At Music Rooms, Bonnita mentors neurodivergent, autistic and disabled women, non-binary, gender non-conforming and trans people into the booth — sharing the craft she’s built over 25 years and making space for the next wave of selectors to find their sound, their style, and their place behind the decks.
Aaron “One Sixth” Stephanus
Songwriting & Performance Specialist
Aaron is an Australian-born, Namibian-raised rapper and producer and the first recipient of the Hilltop Hoods Initiative Grant when it went national in 2010. With 15+ years touring nationally and internationally, he’s released multiple albums and worked with artists including The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. Beyond performance, he facilitates music composition programs with Multicultural Arts Victoria, Fitzroy Learning Network, and Yarra Youth Services.
Joel Malin (Jolz)
Founder & Creative Director
Joel is a producer, curator, and creative entrepreneur with over two decades across Australia’s music, media, and arts sectors. In 2024 he founded The Music Rooms — a neurodivergent-led music mentoring service for autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled people of all ages.
Yung Phily
Production & Audio Engineering Specialist
Yung Phily is an MC and a specialist in songwriting and rap. He began his professional career in 2004 when he volunteered to rap during a call-out from the then-known Anti-Racism Action Band (now known as Outer Urban Projects), who were performing at his school, Moreland City College. This impromptu rap performance led him to become part of the performing arts organisation, gigging in the community circuit, building networks, and securing more performance opportunities. Over the span of 20 years, Phily has worked extensively in rap, rap workshops, and hosting, while also competing in Battle Rap competitions and participating in Open Mic events within Melbourne’s rap scene.
Adele “Muma Doesa” Pick
Vocal Performance, Songwriting and Hip Hop Specialist
Muma is a versatile MC, vocalist, and DJ of South African heritage with 10+ years performing across Melbourne and New York. She has facilitated songwriting, recording, and DJ workshops at Victorian College of the Arts, Arts Centre Melbourne, and Footscray Community Arts Centre. Currently completing a Bachelor of Social Work, Muma integrates trauma-informed, strengths-based principles with creative facilitation to create culturally responsive spaces for participants.
Jason Catherine (Jase)
Program Lead & Education Specialist
Jase is a founding member of NuBreed, earning ARIA Award nominations with tracks featured internationally. With 15+ years supporting neurodivergent and at-risk youth through music and art, his background as Executive Producer/A&R for Obese Records and dedicated youth educator creates a unique bridge between professional music and accessible, trauma-informed learning.
Daniel “Danielsan Itchiban” Elleson
Production, Recording & DJ Specialist
Daniel is one half of ARIA Award-winning hip-hop duo Koolism, which won Best Urban Release in 2004. With 20+ years of international touring and deep expertise in turntablism, production, and live performance, he has collaborated with artists including Rodney P and released music on labels including Invada Records — establishing himself as a pioneer of Australian hip-hop.
Danny Bonnici
Production & Audio Engineering Specialist
Danny is a producer, DJ, and audio engineer with 20+ years shaping electronic music internationally. As a founding member of NuBreed, he earned ARIA Award nominations with tracks on Renaissance, Global Underground, and Vicious Vinyl, and has performed at iconic venues including Fabric in London. One of Australia’s first Ableton Certified Trainers, Danny has 100,000+ YouTube tutorial views and has worked as a mixing and mastering engineer with ARIA-winning artists including Kimbra and Bertie Blackman.
Yannick Rosette
Song Writing & Production Specialist
Yannick Rosette, is a Mauritian-blooded soul man, a lyrical thinker, a feet firmly planted in the sky musician. From the south east suburbs to the inner north, strangers stop him in the street and friends ask him to sing for them. When he does it’s about connection and finding our place, it’s love and longing, it’s who we are and want to be.
At Music Rooms, Yannick is mentoring lead for songwriting and Ableton recording and production — helping participants find their voice.
Where We Are
Greater Melbourne and regional Victoria (in-person). Ask us about The Music Rooms facilitating in regional and
remote locations. Online sessions available Australia-wide.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners
and Custodians of the lands on which The Music Rooms operates.
We pay our respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging.
Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Music in a space that gets it? Whether you’re curious about
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