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At ACM, our students are taught by the very best music industry professionals out there, so it comes as no surprise that long-time Bass tutor Paul Geary was featured on the front cover of Bass Guitar Magazine in March!
Paul Geary has been a professional musician for over 25 years, winning many accolades along the way, including being voted “Best New Musician” by the British Music Association in 1993. (His list of career credits are so long we haven’t put them in this article, but you can find them on his tutor profile here)
Having been a tutor at ACM for many years, we’ve known that Paul is an incredible musician for a long time, and we’re very pleased to see him getting this level of recognition.
We caught up with Paul on what this means to him, and also asked him for his thoughts on ACM, and what he’s got coming up for the rest of 2017!
What does getting on the front cover of Bass Guitar Magazine mean to you?
To have a front cover interview in Bass Guitar magazine is a great honour. I clearly remember walking down Hollywood Boulevard on my way to the Musicians Institute as a student (cue the music) and buying a copy of the very first magazine dedicated to bass guitar, “Bass Player Magazine”, and thinking to myself “one day” I’ll be on this 🙂 I still have that magazine!
What are the benefits of being a session musician?
From the session musician point of view, the beauty of it is the fact that you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket trying to get signed. I’ve never actually been in a band! I’ve always worked as a freelance player for different artists… But that way when the artist is on either a break or writing a new album, you move on to the next thing, so it works out quite well.
How does ACM help to prepare students for touring and a career in the music industry?
ACM is doing that in the fact that all the tutors are working professional musicians; they have industry experience that a lot of other institutions don’t have… It’s not all about that, but I suppose the tutors can bring what they’ve been doing right into the class. I’ve been out for a couple of months on tour, but right now I’m back in lectures, and I feel energised and excited about passing on what I’ve learned on the road, on this particular tour, and I’m able to communicate that to the students, and they can learn from that. I think that’s got to be one of the biggest and best things for me, that all the tutors have a real working knowledge of what the music industry is.
What do you enjoy most about teaching at ACM?
I would say the single most important thing I like about teaching at ACM, is seeing students improving and reaching their full potential as musicians.
What have you got coming up in 2017?
This year I am busy working and touring with many artists including Nik Kershaw, Paul Young and The Dire Straits Experience. So far I have been to Russia, India and Malaysia. The shows in New Delhi and Bangalore were epic. They were organised by Virgin and Richard Branson in conjunction with the World Health Organisation. Proceeds from the shows are going to provide fresh water to some of the more remote parts of India and Malaysia. I also got to meet Usain Bolt. There’s no running away from that guy 🙂
Read Paul’s interview in Bass Guitar Magazine here!
Connect with Paul on Facebook.
If you’d like to study at ACM and learn first-hand from world-class musicians like Paul Geary, 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.
