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Drums alumnus Mo Slicks returned to ACM in February for a special Masterclass at Metropolis Studios!
Mo Slicks is a prolific drummer, and has had a successful career playing for a number of different artists since graduating from the Drums Diploma in 2012. Amongst others, he’s played drums for Tom Prior, toured the world with Naughty Boy, and most recently been working with All Saints and Ray Blk.
Asked about how his time at ACM helped him prepare for life in the music business, Mo explained: “ACM prepared me in that I was playing a lot, and I was working with as many as people as possible. I’d moved away from home to Guildford, so I got sucked into the environment. That built up a stamina in me, and a hunger to want to play. The course was very diverse, there was songwriting, theory, live performance workshop elements… all those aspects trained my ear; to know what to play, and when to play it.”
Mo used the masterclass to give the students insight into what it’s like being a working musician. He kicked it off by performing ‘Children’ and ‘Take it All’ by Tom Prior on the drums. Both are tracks that he recorded drums for.
Following the performances, Mo talked about how he got into the industry; particularly his first gigs after leaving ACM. He explained how he aimed to work with everybody and anybody, and that his time spent drumming at ACM got him ‘match fit’ for gigging regularly.
He also discussed the difficulty of deciding between artists, how he ended up working with Naughty Boy, and how his career really took off as a result, which saw him touring all over the world.
After a quick re-tune of his snare, Mo then showed off more of his skills playing along to some Naughty Boy tracks.
When asked about working with Musical Directors, Mo told the students about the approach he takes with Naughty Boy: “The MD wants you to be yourself on a track… Express yourself first, then strips things back where necessary.”
On whether he had an agent or manager for himself, he explained that he’s been lucky enough to know the right people so doesn’t need one.
The masterclass was well-attended with students on our Creative Artist pathway, so Mo tailored a lot of his advice for them:
“As creative artists, you have to go into the band setting knowing exactly what you want. Prepare well for when you get into that environment, so your music is represented well.”
Before wrapping up, he also offered this advice for students currently studying at ACM:
“Dedicate as much time as you can into your craft while you’re here and you’ve got the time to do it. Enjoy your time here. Try and get on with as many people as you can, and try not to take things personally.”
We’re extremely proud of the success Mo has already enjoyed in his career, and we’d like to wish him good luck on his upcoming tours with Tom Prior and All Saints!
If you’d like to study music at ACM and learn first-hand from incredible musicians like Mo Slicks, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days/ to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
