We're Jamming

SO you want to be a rock 'n' roll star. It used to be so straight forward, find a mate with a transit van, learn a handful of chords and gig as if your life depended on it. But things are a bit more complicated now; more technical and unless you have someone who's been there, seen it and done it, to show you the ropes, life as a musician can turn out to be no more than a pipedream.

Fortunately, there is an educational organisation called Access to Music (ATM) that is staffed by musicians who not only know all the pitfalls, they have all the contacts. As Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora discovered a few years ago.

There are nine centres in England, including one in York where Beth McCarthy learned the ropes before taking the country by storm in The Voice.

You'll find it in the heart of The Groves, hosted by the Jam Factory.

Sophie Humphreys, who runs the studios with her other half, believes in the days of cutbacks, courses like these are vital.

"Music is being sidelined at schools," she says. "Now more than ever young people should be given an opportunity outside."

Sophie Humphreys, who co-runs the Jam Factory studios. Picture: Matt Clark

You don't need any qualifications and the reward is an equivalent of three A levels, which means talented but less academic young musicians can win a passport to higher education.

And, you can see if this might be for you at weekly Tuesday sessions for anyone interested in starting a level 1 course with ATM.

This is a very hands on course. Half the time is spent in the rehearsal rooms and recording studios or performing at gigs. It might seem surprising that teaching people how to play is not on the curriculum, but Sophie says a level of competence is taken as read, leaving staff to teach one of the most important lessons a professional musician must learn; how to play in front of hundreds of people without losing their nerve.

You wouldn't think so, talking to Matt Philpot, but he didn't think he could do that before coming here.

"In the first year I was really shy, he says. "Now five minutes in and I'm fine."

Jam Factory student, Matt Philpot. Picture: Matt Clark

To be precise Matt's been fine since Sophie took him to a local school assembly and told him to sing them a song. She knew he was ready from watching rehearsals and business sessions.

"It was intimidating to say the least," says Matt. "I thought this could kill me right now, but I trusted her not to put me in a horrible situation."

The same story is told by many of the students. Take drummer Joey Leyland, who is 20 and came here from sixth form.

"I'd felt pressured to make a choice and I made the wrong ones," he says. "If I hadn't come to access, I'd have gone to university to study biology and I'd be sat there thinking I want to do music instead. I didn't realise there was a place for me to go and do it professionally."

Like many of the students, Joey recalls career days at school where the head of year asked what he wanted to do, "When I said music, he said no, seriously what are your plans, but here we have living proof that it can work. The tutors do music for a living, you'd be stupid not to listen to them."

With reason. They know that half the learning for the industry is done away from the classroom with gigs and studio time, so the tutors are constantly arranging opportunities for their charges to play live or busk at festivals. Music tech tutor Tim Downie says theory is nothing without the practical experience and students are even taught the importance of turning up on time and of being polite.

How rock 'n roll has changed.

"My teachers didn't take it seriously that you could go somewhere and learn the trades of a performing musician," says Matt. "But here we learn how to promote, manage and publicise our events from people who work in the music industry. It's not like having a teacher read it out of a book, this is real world education."

Someone else who takes the Jam Factory seriously is the Lord Mayor of York who awarded it the Shine award for best service provider last year.

You don't need to be a musician to benefit from these courses, because there are many other jobs in the business. Ailish Byford, 18, is learning how to be a studio engineer under Tim and says her biggest lesson was learning that she can make a living out of what she enjoys doing.

Ailish Byford receives a lesson in sound engineering from music tech tutor Tim Downie. Picture: Matt Clark

"The teachers here are in the industry, they believe in what they are talking about and have the experience to back them up," says Ailish. "Now I do things because I want to, not because I'm told to. We're guided rather than taught and the opportunities beat anything you could wish for musically."

In return Ailish, Joey and Matt volunteer to help children at Saturday Academy because they also understand the importance of encouraging not telling.

"People stop playing music because it becomes a chore, when they are forced to learn as opposed to wanting to," says Joey. "We're there to remind them it's fun."

Access to Music,The Jam Factory, 106 Eldon Street, York t: 01904 655290

e:atm.york@accesstomusic.ac.uk

Every week Saturday Academy is held for musicians aged 10-16 between 11-2pm.

Every Tuesday, there will be music sessions between 1-3pm for anyone interested in starting a level 1 course.

July 23 'SOUND' Music technology workshops and interactive sessions in the recording studio.

August 5 Access to Music open day 6-8pm August 11-13 Rockstar academy for musicians aged 10-16.

August 20 SOUND2 music technology day with DJ sessions, live studio experience, talks and work shops from various big industry names.