Music Is Serious Business Opening Event
Paving a serious career in the music industry..
Academy of Music and Sound Gateshead held a 2 day business mentoring event where students could meet and gain knowledge from industry heavy weights. MUSIC IS SERIOUS BUSINESS comprised of interviews, Q&A sessions and live performances from guests and students alike.
To open proceedings BRUCE FINDLAY the man who masterminded the meteoric rise of SIMPLE MINDS talked about his days running a record shop and the various labels and record deals he has overseen. Following that PAUL SMITH dropped in to chat to students about what it is like to be in one of the North East’s most successful bands MAXIMO PARK.
Finally KEITH ARMSTRONG who has been instrumental in bringing us JAKE BUGG, PREFAB SPROUT and THE LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY really listened to the students questions about how to make it in today’s industry. All our students have taken on board their sagely advice and with a follow up masterclass by the Performing Rights Society some are hopefully on their way to paving a serious career in the music industry.
New Artists Added to Sound City Lineup!
The Liverpool Festival gets some great new names added.
Sound City Festival Liverpool are proud to announce Catfish And The Bottlemen as festival headliner AND an innovative partnership with electronic music promoters, Freeze, bringing an incredible line up of electronic artists from across the world to the Baltic Warehouse at Sound City 2016!
Also playing Sound City 2016 will be Gerd Janson, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Greg Wilson, Floating Points, Hot Chip and Novelist. See the latest lineup additions below.
Off the back of winning Best Metropolitan Festival at the UK Festival Awards, we are delighted to present our most diverse festival line up yet with plenty more still to be announced.
Catfish & The Bottlemen // Leftfield // Hot Chip (DJ) // Floating Points (Live) // Motor City Drum Ensemble // Palma Violets // Greg Wilson // John Talabot // Gerd Janson // Shura // Âme // Henrik Schwarz (Live) // DJ Koze // Neon Waltz // Georgia // Dilly Dally // The Big Moon // Roman Flügel // Mano Le Tough // Novelist // Kagoule // Holy Esque // INheaven // Viola Beach // Mez // Derek Kaye // Jemmy // Makes No Sense
Sound City returns on Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th May 2016 at the iconic Liverpool Waters Bramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool, L3 0AP.
Weekend festival tickets are limited, so be sure to grab yours from the festivals website.
A masterclass with Mark Heaney
“One of the most Jaw Dropping players in the UK” – (Rhythm Magazine)
Mark Heaney will be running a Masterclass at our Swindon centre on Friday 29th January (12pm-2pm).
Meet Mark Heaney. Mark was born in London in 1970. He started taking an interest in drumming when he was 5 years old. After showing a natural ability his father bought him his first kit when he was 9 years old. By the age of 10 he was working semi professionally in his Fathers show band playing clubs and dance halls around the country. He has been drumming ever since.
Mark has recorded and toured with many artists, producers and bands such as Tomoyasu Hotei, Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2) , Youth (Killing Joke, The Verve) Garrett Lee Aka Jacknife Lee (U2, Bloc Party), David Botrill (Placebo, Dream Theater), Andy Gill (Futureheads, Young Knives), Gang of Four (Band Member 2006-2014), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Gwen Stefani), John squire (The Stone Roses), The Seahorses (Band Member 1998-1999), The Freelance Hellraiser, The Shining, Simon Tong (The Verve), Simon Jones (The Verve), Nick McCabe (The Verve), Simon Dawson (The Stone Roses, New Model Army), Badly Drawn Boy, Klaxons, S Hit Disco, Howie Day, Threshold and many more.
Heaney was a member of Post Punk Legends Gang of Four from 2006 until 2013. He has recorded on albums Return The Gift, Content, Ep’s Second Life, Glass and Broken Talk. Heaney has toured extensively with Gang of Four worldwide covering North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. He has also performed with the band on Later with Jools Holland, The Late show with David Letterman, The Old Grey Whistle test, Massive Attacks meltdown, ZDF Germany, Huey Morgan show, XFM, KCRW, KEXP, Radio 2 and many, many other broadcasts.
Heaney is an accomplished composer creating Epic soundscapes and Dark grooves for Film and TV worldwide. He has also written Bespoke bodies of work for many of the worlds best music houses including De wolfe music, EMI, Sony, Extreme music, Wrong Planet and others.
In 2015 Heaney formed experimental jazz Quartet Extemporize. The band features Pete Billington Keys, Stuart Henderson Trumpet and Jerry Soffe Bass.
What press have said….
“A muscular yet madly skilled player. Mindblowing” (Modern Drummer)
“Mark Heaney is a machine”. (Time Out)
“One of the most Jaw Dropping players in the UK”. (Rhythm Magazine)
“Might just be one of the most important drummers in the country”. (Rhythm Magazine)
“Heaney is a serious player, throwing down Vinnie inspired “what the heck was that”? moments”. (Mike Dawson – Modern Drummer)
“A reflection of our times, both musically and technologically”. (Percussive Arts Society)
Percussive Arts Society)
“And then he started playing and jaws were literally seen to drop, Who’s Mark Heaney then…You’ll See”. (Rhythm Magazine)
“The Bonham-esque type capabilities of Mark Heaney”. (NME)
“Sitting behind all this is dextrous drum basher Mark Heaney who is reminiscent of John Bonham in his hey-day”. (NME)
“A drummer of surgical precision”. (Andy Gill – Gang of Four)
Mark will be running a Masterclass at our Swindon centre on Friday 29th January (12pm-2pm)
A masterclass with Anton Browne
The Sing Thing..
On Friday 5th February, AMS hosted a masterclass with vocal coach Anton Browne.
Anton is a well-respected vocalist and educator in the UK. In his career, he has performed with The Len Phillips Big Band, was a resident member of the house band on TV show The Voice UK, co-wrote the Popular Music Vocals Grades for the London College of Music (as well as developing his own vocal tuition program ‘The Sing Thing’), all the while teaching at The BRIT School for over twenty years. He has also contributed material for our very own BTEC vocal courses.
In the masterclass, Anton talked students through a variety of exercises to help improve breathing, tone and range, as well as working with students to help pick out way in which they can improve their own voices.
Here’s what some of our students had to say about the class….
“Amazing – learned a lot about breathing. Must book again!”
“Very helpful and impressive.”
“I liked how he involved us in the class and asked about/worked on our problems.”
“Very informative and interactive – learned a lot!”
“Very fun – got everyone involved.”
“Even though I am not a singer, I found it really interesting.”
Find out more about Anton Browne on his website.
An Evening With Bruce Findlay
Tees Music Alliance & Academy of Music and Sound present an evening with Bruce Findlay.
AN EVENING WITH BRUCE FINDLAY
THURSDAY, 28th JANUARY, 2016 – 19:30
THE GEORGIAN THEATRE
Former Manager of Simple Minds, Bruce will be discussing the music business, drawing on his experiences as an artist manager.
Not to be missed – Bruce is a well-respected music industry figure, with a great sense of humour and some wonderful stories to tell.
THURS 28th JAN, 7.30PM, FREE ENTRY BUT WITH LIMITED CAPACITY
Southampton Centre End Of Term Gig
It was a sell out show for the End Of Term Gig!
What a great end to the year! Our Southampton Centre BTEC years 1 and 2 performed songs from their course material, these are the same songs that they are taught in their instrument specific lessons and have been rehearsing weekly. They are tutored every week in a Live Performance Workshop at The Joiners (voted the UK’s best small venue) to give them feedback and ways to improve. Each band then selected their favourite 4 songs and performed them at The Joiners in front of an audience of peers, friends, family, and Academy Staff. All of the staff in attendance were stunned by the quality of the performances.
All of the students played exceptionally and should be proud of their performances. Nick Cooper and the other BTEC tutors are reviewing the footage to assess. Nick says – ‘I am very impressed with how professional and well-rehearsed all of our BTEC students were, well done all!’
Academy of Music and Sound Exeter Charity Showcase
Live performances in the city centre..
Exeter Charity Showcase: On Friday night our Exeter Centre students and staff wowed Princesshay’s late night shoppers with some stellar performances and epic live jam’s.
The FdA Yr 1 students raised £145 for Macmillan Cancer Foundation South West as part of this Exeter Charity showcase. Their performance was part of their Foundation Degree in Music Performance. These first year undergraduates undertook organising the performance from its original concept, through liaison with the venue, the charity and performers, to the performance itself. The students had booked musicians from other courses running at the Academy and they also performed themselves along with vocal and songwriting tutor Alex Johnstone (Instant Karma/Pattern Pusher).
Through this assignment, the students will be assessed on their ability to organise an event, deliver it successfully and to evaluate the process. It was a great evening, the atmosphere and music quality was excellent. We’re very proud of our student and we all think they did very well!
AMS Scotland BA hons Performance Industries January Start
The last opportunity for applicants to apply for full financial student support.
AMS Scotland has long been associated with training excellence, with many successful students now working in the music industry. The BA (hons) Top Up in Performance Industries is designed to prepare musicians for professional life and to formalise and add a qualification to professional experience.
Due to changes in SAAS and Student Loan funding, this cohort of students will be the last to be able to apply for £5995 support for course fees.
The BA (Hons) Top-Up is a one-year programme in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton. The BA (Hons) Top-Up programme can be tailored to the interests and career aspirations of each individual student including music performance, music production and music business.
Through a variety of exciting projects, students can develop their practical musicianship, sound recording, composition and songwriting skills. Students will have an enormous amount of creative autonomy and freedom to tailor their degree to suit their needs. Academy of Music & Sound and AMS Scotland Director Kevin Harding says: “The really great thing about our BA (Hons) Top-Up programme is that it gets musicians out in the industry, creating music and earning a living a year earlier than following a traditional two-year Scottish Top-Up programme”
Entry to the BA (Hons) Top-Up can be through successful completion of either an HND/Foundation Degree programme or through Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) for professional musicians and music teachers already working in the industry. Due to major funding changes, this February start for the BA(Hons) top up at AMS Scotland will be the last opportunity in Scotland for musicians to study on this course with significant financial support from SAAS.
If you would like to apply for a place on this course, you must apply to the University of Wolverhampton directly by following this link:
http://courses.wlv.ac.uk/course.asp?code=LI019M01BAD
Select the location and course you would like to apply for. Please note, if you want to apply for a £5995 loan from SAAS/SLC you must select the course starting 26th January 2016.
If you would like any further information, please contact your AMS Scotland centre on the details below:
Glasgow: 0141 221 4458/ [email protected]
Edinburgh: 0131 656 0600/ [email protected]
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A Masterclass with British producer/song-writer Nat Powers!
A fantastic masterclass with legendary producer Nat Powers!
This month AMS Exeter hosted British producer/songwriter Nat Powers for a fantastic masterclass!
He shared with students his own personal journey into the music industry and some of the challenges he has faced over the years, as well as offering advice and encouragement for all budding musicians and producers.
Nat has Produced for the likes of Snoop Dogg’s record label, Dizzee Rascal’s imprint, EMI, Virgin, Professor Green, D Double E, Skepta, The Pharcyde, Wu Tang, Three 6 Mafia, Death Row Records artists, The Stylistics, Maxi Priest, Omar and many more. He also became the first British producer to extensively work with the iconic Run DMC. Nat began his career in the USA, and his since been active across the US, Europe, UK and other locations globally.
Nat is also working on a Magazine and Publishing venture and an independent documentary film with SKY TV in Malawi (Africa) on the side of his music career. He debuted his magazine venture at TEDx with his own talk.
Another great Masterclass from Zuri Aura at our Exeter Centre
Zuri Aura, Professional Musicianship
After a great Masterclass at our Swindon Centre, Zuri Aura were invited back to host another class at our Exeter Centre! The band covered song writing and arrangement to band management and organisation as well as playing tracks from their ep! Valuable advice from these industry professionals.
Exeter Centre Studio Session Giveaway – Music Mill Studios
The Music Mill Studios
Win a gift voucher (current value £60) for a Studio Taster Session at The Music Mill Studios, Newton Abbot
During your session you can lay down a track, have a go at mixing it and bouncing to audio file ready for cutting your own CD copy.
Professional studio engineers will guide you through how to use studio recording equipment and to mix your track.
“How can I win this fabulous prize?”
Go to the link below, and write: STUDIO SESSION in the ‘subject’ section and then write us a message (in the message section) to tell us why you should win this prize.
Link: https://www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/exeter/contact/
The winner will be contacted and then announced on our website on January 8th 2016 by 5pm.
Apply now!
Please be sure to enter all of your contact details in case you win, and let us know if you want to find out more about our courses. Good luck!
Swindon students feedback from Phil Braithwaite's Masterclass!
Phil Braithwaite, Guitar Legend heads to our Swindon centre, and impresses our students!
Phil Braithwaite is a session guitarist, songwriter, producer, musical director, composer, teacher and author based in London. He currently is the touring guitarist for Vanessa Mae and has worked with Westlife, has written songs for Rhianna and Kelly Clarkson, has composed music for the American Horror Story TV series and is the author of two books on guitar techniques – just to name a few!
Students really enjoyed the masterclasses and he passed on a lot of great advice and knowledge about employability in different sectors of the music industry.
Some feedback from our students:
“Very interesting and informative”
More ‘real world’ information and knowledge. Gave a good insight into the music industry.”
“Super cool guy. Really like him!”
“Very useful class, lots of tips and so interesting.”
“Extremely good information and provided drive
and motivation to get up and do something with
music and not sit around. Really enjoyed it.”
““Really informative and really relaxed masterclass.
I have learnt loads and have come away with a
Whole bunch of ideas. I think that I will be able to
take the stuff I have learnt away and apply it to my
music. He has also given us a whole load of
advice.”