AMS Swindon End of Term Gigs
Both year groups performed exceptionally well!
On the 7th & 8th March, AMS Swindon hosted two end of term gigs for their BTEC Level 3 Music students at local venue, The Victoria. At the first year gig on Monday and second year gig on Tuesday, the students performed a repertoire of material that they have been working hard on this term.
The students performed to a fantastic audience of friends, family and fans at a highly respected local venue.
If you missed the night, fret not! There will be another gig soon, keep up to date with all of the centre activity on their Twitter page.
Nick Harper & AMS Exeter Singer-Songwriters at Exeter Old Timers
The Academy of Music and Sound are proud to present Nick Harper at Old Timers in Exeter. Nick will be performing live, supported by Alex Johnstone, Rev Hammer and a selection of students from our Singer Song Writer course in our Exeter centre.
Tickets are £10 and available on 01392 427 874 or in our Exeter centre:
The Academy of Music & Sound, 8 Coombe Street, Exeter, EX1 1DB.
AMS Exeter End of Term Gig!
The very talented BTEC students in our Exeter centre promoted and performed at an absolutely brilliant End of Term Gig at the Centre Point in Exeter on Tuesday 15th March. The students organised a fantastic evening of music and performed to a busy, and enthusiastic crowd of friends, family and fans. Demonstrating skills, songs and techniques they’d been learning this term, the students were rewarded with whoops, hollers and dancing from their audience.
If you missed the night, make sure you get along to the next gig! Keep up to date with what’s going on in the centre on their Twitter page! For those of you who did miss the night, here’s a hint at what you missed in some pictures taken on the night.
Congratulations to Bruce Findlay
We are so pleased to congratulate our good friend and mentor, Bruce Findlay on his induction into the Glasgow Barrowlands Hall of Fame. Bruce has been a long time supporter of the Academy of Music and Sound and is a legend in the music industry, and so this award is so thoroughly well deserved and we are very proud to call Bruce our friend!
A masterclass with bassist Chris Hargreaves
Bassist of the live electronica outfit Submotion Orchestra..
Our Swindon Centre will be hosting a masterclass with bassist Chris Hargreaves on the 15th March!
Chris ‘Fatty’ Hargreaves was born up north and has had a varied musical upbringing. From a young age he was listening to everything from Prog-Rock and Metal to Jazz, Soul, Funk and everything in-between.
Whilst studying Jazz at Leeds College of Music, he also expanded on his knowledge of effects and production. As a result of this, he became immersed in the local Hip-Hop, Grime and Dubstep scene.
His expanding knowledge of sounds and synthesis combined with his extensive knowledge of styles means he is constantly pushing boundaries – incorporating a multitude of sounds and techniques within his playing. This attitude towards making music has led to his signature experimental approach to his various electronic music projects.
In his career, Chris has toured all over the world with his own band Submotion Orchestra, pop artist Alex Clare, grime legends Newham Generals and P-money, as well as Andreya Triana, Mark Stewart, Adrian Sherwood, Alex Hepburn and many more…
He will be at the Academy of Music and Sound Swindon discussing his unique use of effects and techniques as well as talking about how he got started in the industry. For more info check out his website.
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!