STUDENTS turned hitmakers when their Rhos-on-Sea recorded album and single reached the charts.

Coleg Llandrillo music technology students were amazed to discover that their recently released charity album ‘Mind Palace’ had reached number 22 in the iTunes album charts - ahead of the likes of Eva Cassidy, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Ed Sheeran.

To add to this remarkable achievement, one of the singles from the album - ‘Lucky Thing’ - by 17-year-old Katie-Ann Lewis, from Denbigh, made it into the Top 50 singles chart.

The album is a compilation of original music, created and produced by the gifted collective using the college’s state-of-the-art recording and mixing studios at the Rhos-on-Sea campus.

Hundreds attended the charity album release party at the college recently, where the students involved gave a presentation about how they made the album, before performing tracks from it.

One of the musicians and key organiser Daniel Roberts, 21, explained: “As a class, we were given a project which tasked us with making an album to raise money for a charity.

“We decided to go for the charity DEBRA, which is a charity that supports people and their families with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

“This is a skin condition which causes the skin to blister or tear at the slightest touch.

“The charity focuses on fundraising to help find effective treatments, and one day a cure, as well as providing care and support for those in need.”

Daniel added: “This charity is close to the heart of one of our classmates who sadly lost a family member to this condition.

“We think that raising money through music would be a fitting tribute to this individual and to those who still suffer. All profits will be given to this charity.”

Jon Crowther, lecturer and programme leader for level 3 performing arts at Coleg Llandrillo, who spoke soon after the CD’s release, said: “What a fantastic achievement by our students: currently we are out-streaming Tracy Chapman.

“The ‘Mind Palace’ social media page is up by 300 per cent on interactions, and looks brilliant.

“We are planning a series of mini gigs across the college campus, playing a variety of tracks to students in a bid to encourage more people to continue sharing and streaming.”

For information on music courses at Coleg Llandrillo, call the college’s learner services team on 01492 542 338 or e-mail enquiries.llandrillo@gllm.ac.uk, or visit www.gllm.ac.uk