Professionals who are out in the real-world industry at the highest levels.
Learn from the masters. In our unique educational environment, students are taught by the very best music industry professionals who are out there, doing it for real, pushing creative boundaries.
ACM’s tutors are leaders in their chosen field, whether that be performance, songwriting, production or music business. They possess formidable resumés, as we hope you enjoy reading about, below.Whether you are hoping to one day make the hits or manage people who do, ACM’s world-class teaching faculty will be on hand to help.
After all, your music industry dreams are their career.
Abel Quintana
Abel Quintana started working in music 10 years ago in Cadiz, Spain. After finishing his diploma in Live Sound and Radio he started working as a live sound engineer and recording live bands when he decided to come to the UK and continue his studies at ACM in 2013. In 2016 Abel started working with Mike and the Mechanics at the legendary studio of the band Genesis, The Farm, where he assisted in the production of the Album ‘Let Me Fly’. He also recorded at Metropolis (The Llamas), Air Studios (Kyko) and Abbey Road Institute (Lost in Venice) and other studios such as Big Smoke Studios and Burghfield Studios. Abel also collaborated with Eagle 3 Radio in Surrey, recording live performances of artists such as: Mystery Jets, The Drifters, Lauren Aquilina, BB Diamond, Secret Company among others. During these years Abel developed professional skills in studio, recording, mixing, mastering and producing for other bands and artists. After graduating from ACM (BA Hons Contemporary Music Production) he studied a Masters (MMus Creative Practice and Composition) at the University of Surrey where he studied orchestration and alternative ways of performing and teaching music. Since then he composed several pieces for production companies in Mexico and Spain and collaborated with other musicians and companies. Simultaneously with his Masters he started experimenting with video game engines such as Unreal Engine creating virtual spaces where the listener could experience music in 3D while walking inside the instrument. Currently he is developing his own production brand, Tsobu, which englobes electronic pop and indie music with touches of experimental and cinematic music and collaborates with other music projects.
Career credits
Mike & The Mechanics, Abbey Road Institute, Air Studios, Metropolis Studios, Big Smoke
AC
AC is an MC from the UK living in London. He won Best Breakthrough MC at the 2018 Drum & Bass Awards.
He sold over 50,000 copies of his cds on the streets of the UK as part of the burgeoning DIY movement of the 2000s. He had top 10 videos on MTV Base, Channel U/Aka, B4U, Zee Music and Britasia. He has had his songs played on 1Xtra, BBC Radio 1, Kiss FM, Choice FM and has had top 10s on BBC Asian Network chart. He has done a BBC Maida Vale live session and has toured Belgium, France, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain, Andora, Holland and as far as India.
In the Drum n Bass scene he has hosted for the likes of: Brockie, Andy C, Logan D, Ego Trippin, SS, Mickey Finn, Grooverider, Fabio, Mampi Swift, Nicky Blackmarket, Kenny Ken, Twisted Individual, Friction, J Majik, Peshay, Shy Fx, Jayline, Hedex, DJ Dominator (RIP), Jaydan, Heist, Pleasure, Dillinja, Jumping Jack Frost, Profile and many more.You can catch him regularly at big Drum n Bass brands such as Innovation, Breakin Science, Random Concept, Raveology, Next Hype, Pure Science etc. He has hosted radio shows on the BBC, Rough Tempo, Origin UK, Kool London and has his new digital radio show on THC Radio London on alternate Tuesdays (9.30pm till 10.30pm). He has performed at numerous festivals including Glastonbury, One Dance, Respect, Dour, Notting Hill Carnival.
Outside the Drum n Bass scene he has performed on the same bill as artists like Wutang Clan, Capone and Noreaga, Common, Sway, Jay Sean, Juggy D, Chip, Kano, N-Dubz, Klashnekoff, Panjabi MC, Neyo, Marques Houston and more.
In 2012 he performed in the modern opera Pop’pea in the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris, with Carl Barat of the Libertines and Marc Almond of Soft Cell.
AC has also worked in the visual arts, on animated series for Cartoon Network and Channel 4, and has directed and edited music videos for himself and numerous artists.
AC has his own clothing brand, Ace’s High, promoting self-reliance and positive mental attitude.
Adam Pain
Adam is a senior lecturer at ACM. He is a graduate of the first LIPA cohort and has built an extensive body of live and studio experience.
Adam’s career credits include Musicians Channel TV Presenter (Sky), Production and Mix Engineering for Eva Katzler, Toby Jepson, The Nat Martin Band, Guitar Techniques, Total Guitar and Computer Music (magazines), Media Composer with TV, radio and web credits, and music video production work for a variety of artists, including Myke Gray, Toseland and Skunk Anansie.
Adam writes and produces music, creates video content and enjoys photography, art and design.
Alex Phillips
Alex’s professional experience includes a touring schedule across Europe and as far afield as China, performing alongside artists including Bernie Marsden of ‘White Snake’.
Alex has played on several chart-topping albums and related television appearances including The Graham Norton Show on BBC, STV and UTV.
Working in both live and recording capacity, Alex has extensive industry experience and enjoys supporting students in the early stages of their musical career.
Aly Duff
Aly is a performance specialist and one of our many experienced, longstanding tutors at ACM. Her professional and teaching experience spans 30 years and covers a vast range of performances, which include dance/choreography, actress and singer.
She has performed worldwide at venues and shows, working with various production companies within artist development. This diverse range of work gives Aly an insight and understanding of the skills and techniques required to train and succeed as a performer in today’s highly competitive performance-based industry.
She has been instrumental in developing new projects for ACM including Pop Academy. As well as performing with her own original band and ‘Madonna’ tribute work, Aly has also supported the likes of ‘Teenage Dirtbags’ – Wheatus and has had the joy of performing alongside RHCP Drummer Chad Smith.
Amie Chatterley
Amie is the Interim Foundation Pathway Lead, but also teaches across all creative pathways at ACM.
With over 15 years experience in the music industry as an independent artist, professional musician and entrepreneur she has worked within a variety of sectors.
She is the bassist and backing vocalist for progressive metal band Dakesis and Womenowar and has undertaken dep and session musician work for a range of artists, both live and in the studio.
Alongside her independent artist role, she is the Director of CapsaArx Studios, where she provides recording, rehearsal, artist coaching, PR and management services to independent artists who want to progress in their career.
Amie is also the founder of Birmingham based Power Metal Quest Festival and has played a major role within the Metal Music scene and within the events industry both at major and independent metal festivals, but also as a booking agent and promoter for a wide range of artists both in the UK and across Europe.
Amie is also a qualified mental health nurse and uses these skills to support and empower artists and creatives both in her work at CapsaArx studios and at ACM.
Career credits
Director of CapsaArx Recording, Rehearsal and Artist Services Studio, Birmingham’s Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Promotor, Event Director of Power Metal Quest Festival, Dakesis & WomenOwar Bassist
Amy Walton
Amy Walton is a singer/songwriter and pianist hailing from Cape Town, South Africa. After graduating with a Bmus in Jazz Performance at the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music, she moved to the UK to pursue a more international career.
She has performed as a backing vocalist for top South African bands, been a featured soloist with Big Bands and Orchestras across South Africa and the UK and has more recently started releasing her own original music.
Amy has worked in a variety of educational and community settings from private vocal lessons to leading choirs in retirement homes. Amy is currently a senior lecturer at the Academy of Contemporary Music and is passionate about the development of the next generation of singers. She aims to empower every vocalist to see themselves as a musician capable of doing what any instrumentalist can do.
Arran McSporran
Arran has been a professional electric bass player and teacher since finishing his studies at ACM in 2007. He has toured nationally and internationally, playing in over 30 countries across 3 continents including many large international festivals. Known for his innovative plucking and legato technique on fretless 6-string bass, Arran has contributed educational articles to popular bass website bassplayersunited.com, has been interviewed for the UK’s Bass Guitar Magazine and bassmusicianmagazine.com and has taken lessons with Jeff Berlin.
A very versatile player, Arran has played in every genre from acoustic songwriters to jazz to metal and also in orchestras for musical theatre. Primarily touring in the metal scene, Arran has supported many of the biggest names in death and black metal with the bands Virvum and De Profundis and has also toured supporting Steve Vai with the Nicolas Meier World group.
Arran has played on over 30 releases, with artists that he has worked with live and on record including Virvum, Vipassi, Utopia, De Profundis, Seven7 (with Nicolas Meier), Demonstealer, Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy), Justin Stanton (Snarky Puppy), Scarab and many more. He has recorded on tracks with members of Obscura, Fear factory, Ne Obliviscaris, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Leprous, Cynic, Six Feet Under, Shining (Nor), Nile, Necrophagist, Nevermore, Allegaeon, Inferi…
Arran is endorsed by Rotosound Strings and Carillion Basses and is one of the few bass players using a fretless bass in metal. He has won several ‘bassist of the year’ awards including being voted one of the top bassists of 2014 in a Zero Tolerance Magazine poll.
Ashwin Seegobin
Ashwin Seegobin A.K.A “Smash” is a record producer/songwriter and audio engineer from London of Trinidadian heritage. Having spent many years perfecting his craft on the twin island of Trinidad & Tobago, Smash takes Caribbean rhythms from Dancehall and Soca and fuses with mainstream music from RnB, Hip Hop and EDM.
He has worked with the likes of Busy Signal, Konshens, Charly Black, Beenie Man, Popcaan, T.O.K, Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano, Trinidad James and Krishane son of the Reggae legend Barrington Levy to name a few.
In addition to his skills within production and audio engineering, Smash also holds a Bachelors Degree in animation which allows him to do variety of visual art, from motion graphics, album art, lyric and animated music videos for many of the projects he is involved in.
He regularly travels back and forth to the Caribbean to keep his sound fresh and up to the time.
Smash’s area of focus is predominantly production, audio engineering, illustration, motion graphics and animation.
Becky Morton
Becky is a highly versatile and dedicated singer, vocal coach and musical director She has been a professional in the industry for over fifteen years.
Artists she has worked with include Alexander O’Neil, Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden), James Toseland (Toseland), Crispian Mills (Kula Shaker, The Jeevas), Imogen Heap, Shae Seger, Cosmic Rough Riders, Mattafix and top selling Japanese artist Hitomi Yaida (Yaiko). She is a regular session singer and top line melody writer for various dance labels including EMI and Ministry of Sound.
Becky has been teaching at ACM since 2002 and also works closely with STAC Theatre Company musically directing shows such as Sweeny Todd, Rent, Evita, Spring Awakening and the southern premier of Wild Party.
Ben Scott
Ben Scott has worked at the international level of music performance for over a decade, recording or performing on drums with some of the UK and USA’s most prominent pop artists – notably Ed Sheeran, Tom Walker, Declan J. Donovan, Alex Winston, and Bülow. Ben is currently the musical director and drummer for pop artist St. Lundi, as well as fronting his own boundary-pushing solo show ‘The Ultimatum Experience’ where he performs at corporate events across the globe. Ben also enjoys writing and producing from his studio in South London as part of his own artist project and with an array of up-and-coming artists.
Bob Earland
Bob Earland is a musician, producer and engineer with over 20 years of experience in the music industry and recording credits including albums by Roots Manuva, Wiley, and Speech Debelle. He has also toured extensively as a session musician with bands such as Clor, and Jacknife Lee, as well as live performances of his own solo projects.
In 2013 he began working with the Radiophonic Workshop providing technical support and playing modular synthesisers and percussion for their live shows. This has included a collaborative project with Dick Mills and Stealing Sheep, to compose an alternative soundtrack for the film ‘La Planète Sauvage’, performed as part of the 2014 Brancharge film festival. A live recording of this was later released on Fire Records in 2021 and promoted with additional live performances at the Science Museum IMAX theatre and Bluedot festival the following year.
2023 sees the release of Dark Horses’ pandemic-delayed third album ‘While We Were Sleeping’, which Bob co-produced, and mixed, also contributing additional modular synth parts. It is due for release on March 17, 2023, with two limited edition coloured vinyl pressings on Little Cloud Records. Following the release, Bob has been joining the band onstage, recreating some of the studio effects and modular synth parts, at promotional shows in Brighton and London.
Career credits
Radiophonic Workshop, Roots Manuva, Wiley
Brian Henry
Brian is an experienced musician session keyboard player, musical director, songwriter, arranger and producer.
He has toured extensively over the last 15 years across the UK, Europe, Japan, South East Asia and the USA. His career credits include international artists such as Soul II Soul, José Feliciano, Omar, Mark Morrison, Kool and the Gang, Gabrielle, Des’ree, Mica Paris, Natalie Cole, Jimmy Somerville, Lalah Hathaway and Belinda Carlisle, and The SOS Band.
For the last seven years, Brian has been the Musical Director/ keyboard player for the ‘Let’s Rock’ music festivals in Europe. He has produced and remixed music for many artists, including remixes by D’Angelo and Method Man, Chanté Moore and Big Punisher.
As a connoisseur of quality music, Brian is constantly pushing the boundaries to raise the level of his overall musicianship.
Career credits
Eternal, Gabrielle, Mica Paris, Shola Ama, Mark Morrison, Carron Wheeler (Soul II Soul), Chaka Khan, Incognito and the Brand New Heavies.
Bwinji Makatalilo
My name is Bwinji Shamutete.
I was born and raised in Zambia where I completed my GCSEs. I decided I wanted to complete my tertiary education in the Uk. This is due to having a passion for Video games growing up and I was intrigued by what went into their development, especially in the artist side of it.
Sadly there are no games companies in Zambia, so I came to the Uk where I studies Games Art and Design and completed with a BA Honors.
My skill sets include 3D modelling and sculpting, animation, 2D traditional as well as 2D digital art and I specialise in 3D character art.
Career credits
Produced 3D assets for the Game title ‘Tracks The Train Set Game’
Play tested ‘Crayta’ for Unit 2 Games and Strange Brigade for Rebellion
Carla Willis-Brown
Miss C Brown is a creative international DJ/VJ.
An insider of the music industry for over 15 years, she has curated international showcases at some of the world’s biggest festivals, had sponsorships from organisations such as PRS Foundation, British Underground and Arts Council, and provided countless opportunities for artists, producers and DJ’s involved in the UK Hip Hop and Grime scene.
An entrepreneur, she is the founder of Tapes, a music tech company that provides a platform for artists and industry professionals to discover new music, distribute and network. She has successfully raised Tapes’ first round of investment as well as the production of an exclusive Tapes album featuring collaborators from the UK and the US.
Catia Carvalho
Catia supports young talent holistically by equipping emerging graduates with the tools to navigate the complexities of personal, professional and civic identities for the future of work. With a multidisciplinary background in the creative industries for a decade, Catia advocates for the (re)design of siloed, incremental and reductionist views of talent; exploring themes around design thinking, holistic learning, interdisciplinarity and metaphysics.
Catia has a deeper understanding of the creative industries through her experience with different perspectives and languages, having worked with international clients in both multinationals and startups, branding and advertising agencies, and design and innovation firms across the B2B2C spectrum. Wishing exploring was still a lucrative path, her specialisms lie within creative strategy, brand development, design thinking, art direction and graphic recording.
Christopher Carvalho
Christopher Carvalho is the founder and creator of Unlock Your Sound — The artist self-development platform. At ACM he helps musicians forge their own path with an array of digital marketing and business skills – leveraging the latest in technology and the web. Christopher is a problem solver, with a particular focus on how technology can be harnessed by musicians and creators to build their own brands and identities online.
Career credits
Labi Ramaj, Elisabeth Elektra, VARGENTA, Nocturnal Bloodlust, Tunecore, Distrokid, Pirate Studios, Music Ally, LANDR, The London Sinfonietta, Cheri Lyn, Ophelia’s Eye, Simone Silvestroni, Christian Prior
Connor Haynes
Connor Haynes is an engineer, sound artist and experimental musician, originally from Manchester and currently based in London. His career spans nearly ten years, and he’s worked live sound for +50,000 capacity festivals around the UK, along with having worked in multiple studios in Manchester. Connor also has professional experience as a sound installation A/V programmer using software such as Ma MSP, and his work on building an installation themed around the pandemic has been featured by The Sunday Times Culture Show.
Connor has been currently working as a freelance recording, mixing and mastering engineer since moving to London, along with performing as part of an experimental A/V collective, The Self.
Career credits
Some notable acts Connor has worked with whilst live engineering for major festivals are The Happy Mondays, Jon Hopkins, 2manyDJs, Chase and Status, Public Enemy, Stormzy, DJ Premier, Tune Yards, Toy, DJ Premier
Damien Nolan
Damien brings to ACM his wealth of experience as a sessional guitarist.
Damien has performed at venues and events including Wembley Stadium, Royal Albert Hall, Radio 1 Live Lounge, The X Factor finals UK, The Houses of Parliament and Glastonbury Festival. Damien now composes and produces for various media platforms, runs an online guitar session business and a events company.
Career credits
Pete Townshend, Sting, Katie Melua, VV Brown, Skunk Anansie, Jacob Banks, Lianne La Havas, Matrix and Futurebound and Sandy Rivera.
Danny Mullowney
Danny Mullowney has visited over 120 countries, recording, touring and performing with artists such as The Definitive Rat Pack, Michael Fienstien, and Wayne Newton. He has an award-winning style book published by Alfred Music.
He has written various articles for ‘Modern Drummer Magazine’, ‘Rhythm Magazine’, and has made appearances in ‘Drum! Magazine’, and on ‘The Drum Channel’.
Danny comes from Newfoundland, Canada, and graduated from Concordia University, specialising in jazz studies.
Career credits
Universal Records, Michael Fienstien, Wayne Newton, Marvin Hamlisch, Judy Carmichael, Chita Rivera, Jack Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Channing, Clint Holmes, The Osmonds and Tommy Tune
Danny Thompson
Funkadelic/Miles Davis/Hans Zimmer – Bassist, Guitar, Keys, Composer, Vocalist, Director,
Author. An artist since day one. Played every gig from local pub to stadium. Music Teacher
for twenty plus years.
Award winning filmmaker – Writer/Director/Composer with Channel 4/BFI/BBCTV.
Black History Teacher – Book Author/Director of Educational Dvds/Online Black History
Presentations. Currently studying Masters Degree in ‘African History & History of the African
Diaspora’
Dave Tyler
Experienced multi-genre Freelance Bass Player with a demonstrated history of working in the music industry. Skilled in Songwriting, Music Education, Podcasting, Jazz, and Music Theory. Bass player for the band Bare Jams, as well as a director. Strong arts and design professional with a Bachelor of Arts – BA focused in Music Performance from The Academy of Contemporary Music. Recently gained a SQA Level 7 Professional Development Award in Practised-based learning for the creative and cultural industries with CLOCK Your Skills. Currently working as a Lecturer at the ACM, teaching undergraduate and post graduate modules.
Career credits
Freelance bass player and songwriter. Bassist for Bare Jams. CLOCK Sector Expert and Peer Reviewer. Event co-ordinator.
David McGreene
David McGreene began his career in the game industry after graduating from the University of the Arts London in 2011 by working for one of the largest independent social games developer and publisher in the UK at the time named Hooplo Media, which had a network of 5 million monthly active users.
During this period, David worked as a game developer on a large assortment of social network games in various sizes of scope, some of which was in partnership with brands, franchises and world-famous athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Usain Bolt.
Later on in his career, David worked on casual mobile games. One of his last projects reaching over 1 million user downloads before he eventually transitioned into higher education and now working for ACM as the course leader and subject specialist on the games development futures programme.
Career credits
Usain Bolt Athletics- Hooplo Media, Base Jumper- Hooplo Media, Cristiano Ronaldo Footy Facebook – Hooplo Media, Cristiano Ronaldo Footy Android & iOS – Sacred Duck Games
Pool – Hooplo Media
Dr. Tom Williams
Dr. Tom Williams is a jazz guitarist, lecturer and musicologist specialising in performance, improvisation, cognition, jazz and pedagogy.
Tom has taught at a number of leading institutions in The UK and given lectures around the world, on various topics related to his research areas. Tom’s research areas are wide however some aspects include guitar, improvisation, women in music, musical analysis, jazz histories and practice, film music, and nostalgia in music.
His doctoral research provided a detailed cognitive and contextual model of how expert level improvisers develop and use their craft. Tom has performed across the UK and internationally as performer and specialises in jazz music specifically, although has a wealth of performative experience in all kinds of settings and genres. Tom is a senior lecturer and subject specialist at the Academy of Contemporary Music.
Elise Plans
Elise is an accomplished musician and scholar specializing in adaptive music. With a Master’s degree in Electroacoustic Composition and a PhD in Music, Elise has made significant contributions to the field of music technology. Before rejoining academia, she enjoyed a successful career in broadcasting as a technician/engineer, providing valuable experience and perspective to their current work.
Elise has taught in higher education since 2012 and holds an Associate Fellowship with Advance HE. Her research focuses on adaptive music and how it can be used in apps, installations, and video games to create immersive and engaging experiences. Her work has garnered attention from the sonic arts community, including commissions and funding from Sound and Music through the Sonic Arts Network and the Francis Chagrin Award.
Gary Bromham
Gary began his production/writing career in Iceland of all places! During his time spent working in Iceland he co-produced the Eurovision entry (nil points I hear you say!), made an album with jazz-funk band Mezzoforte and worked with the now in-famous artist, Bjork.
Whilst working with Andrew Ridgeley on his solo album Gary was also fortunate enough to work with George Michael on some of the album, which was understandably very inspirational. Though not hugely successful in commercial terms, the recording of this album did teach him a great deal in respect of the calibre of session musicians he was working with and the type of studio he was able to record in.
As a result of Gary writing with Andrew Ridgeley he was offered his first publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music in 1990. This proved to be a great success. Gary wrote with many varied and successful artists and songwriters including Sheryl Crow, Bow Wow Wow, The Tubes’ Fee Waybill, Robbie Neville, Eddie Money and The Fixx to name but a few, spending a large period of his time in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles.
In 1995, after a great deal of hard work, and with the help of a manager Gary signed a major record deal with EMI with his band “The Big Blue”. They released two singles and achieved moderate success with the band.
Following the demise of the band Gary returned to songwriting and production, signing a new publishing deal with Reverb Music. He has had hits with Lonyo’s “Summer of Love” and with Dannii Minogue on the song “Who do you love now” He also returned to working with Sheryl Crowe, mixing the single “Soak up the Sun”.
More recently he has collaborated with top songwriter Pam Sheyne on different writing/production projects including Sony sensation Delta Goodrem, Lulu and Tina Arena.
Most recently Gary has finished producing the debut album for Icelandic pop band, Nylon; written and produced songs on an album for new artist, Scarlette and produced 3 songs for a successful EMI covers compilation album, Roadtrip. Along with recent engineering sessions with Graham Coxon from Blur, Editors and The Maccabees Gary also continues to pursue his own band project, Atom. The debut album,Safe Orbit, available on iTunes.
Gary is well versed in most popular DAW’s including Avid Protools, Propellerheads Reason and Apple Logic Pro. As well as being part of the development team he has also made tutorial videos and written articles for Propellerhead Software. He is also a frequent guest lecturer and external advisor at several universities in the UK and Norway; speaking on songwriting, production and mixing and bringing some of his extensive knowledge and experience to both Undergraduate and Masters degree students.
Gary is also a PhD student at Queen Mary University London.
Career credits
Nine Below Zero, Maccabees, SVK, Gravity Pulls, Scarlette, U2, Editors, Nylon, Jennifer Rush, Jack Penate, Delta Goodrem, Lulu, Sheryl Crow, Stella Soleil, Tina Arena, Lonyo, Nightcrawlers, The Big Blue, Rupert Everett, Bow Wow Wow, Eddie Money, Robbie Neville, The Tubes, George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, Mezzoforte, Bjork, Tears For Fears, Go West.
Gemma Lawler
Gemma is a multi-specialism tutor working across business, songwriting and performance pathways at ACM.
With a substantial body of work as a professional vocalist and touring musician, and over fifteen years as a specialist voice teacher, she is a singer first and foremost. A frequent face on the Uk and European metal festival and touring circuit with progressive metal band Dakesis, she also fronts the heavy metal tribute band WomenOwaR, who have performed sold out shows and headline festival sets across the country.
Alongside her career as a performer and voice teacher, Gemma is the co-owner and creative director of Birmingham Rockschool, and co-owner of CapsaArx Music, an umbrella company for independent artist services including a professional recording and production suite, rehearsal spaces, artist development and management, live events promotion, music PR and music live-streaming service.
She is the co-founder of Power Metal Quest Fest, and has plenty of experience both out front and backstage at some of the UK’s biggest music festivals where she has covered an array roles from artist liaison, compère, press and conducting live interviews to selling t-shirts!
She is a proud advocate of independent musicianship and entrepreneurship, and teaches an array of subjects at ACM across both the performance, songwriting and business pathways.
Giorgio Serci
Giorgio is an award winning guitarist, composer and arranger.
His ability to perform in different styles, from Jazz, Pop to Classical music, makes him one of most in demand guitarist in the international, performing with the likes of David Garrett, Basia, Martin Taylor, Sylvain Luc, Julian Lloyd Webber, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, Shirley Bassey, Jools Holland and Dr John, to name but a few.
Co-founder of Bansangu Orchestra with saxophonist Paul Booth, with a highly acclaimed CD and headlining major international festivals. His music has been performed and recorded by Basia (‘Matteo’ was n.4 on Billboard), Kenny Wheeler, Antonio Forcione, Paolo Fresu, Keld String Ensemble, CBSO and has 6 CDs to his credit.
Columnist for Guitar Interactive Magazine and an endorser for Yamaha and Fibonacci Archtops with an imminent release of his signature model, Acus and DV Mark amplifiers.
Career credits
David Garrett, Basia, TM Stevens, Harvie S, Andy Sheppard, Martin Taylor, Julian Lloyd Webber, Nawal Zoughby, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, Shirley Bassey, Jools Holland and Dr John.
Graham Dowdall
Graham started his musical life as a boy soprano then when his voice broke, a drummer, primarily self taught. After working as a community lawyer for several years in 1980 he started to play professionally in Manchester with cult band Ludus, following which he played and composed with Velvet Underground legend Nico for 7 years. WIth Nico and other collaborations he has toured the world many times and performed in every possible context. He has worked in theatre, dance and performed on a huge number of commercial releases, in latter times using electronics as his man instrument. In the early 90s following Nico’s death, as well as continuing his performing career, he decided he wanted to give something back to his community through music so went to Goldsmiths to study Music Workshop Skills. Since then he has had a 25 year practice as a Community Musician working with a huge range of groups from children with disabilities, through offenders and elders. He has become one of the countries leading CM trainers and specialists advising and working with many Music Hubs and other organisations. Driven by the power of Music to effect change in people and communities, he now leads all CM programmes at Goldsmiths, Uni. of London and joined ACM in 2019 to deliver Music in Community module. Still performing his solo electronica as Gagarin, he is also a member of avant rock legends Pere Ubu. His latest Gagarin album The Great North Wood has been featured on BBC6 Music, Bandcamp Daily and many other media outlets.
Career credits
BA Hons Law, Cert. in Music Workshop Skills, Numerous album credits
Gwen Howard
Gwen’s (she/they) music practice spans disciplines including songwriting, composing, production, scoring, and sound design for film and TV. Her work has been licensed to Saint Rogue (Sony/ATV), placed in major international television spots such as “Married at First Sight” and “The Ultimatum,” and featured by organisations such as the Illuminated River Foundation and IKLECTIK .
She holds a B.M. in Popular Music Performance from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music and an MComp in Electronic Music from the Guildhall School of Music.
Gwen takes a special interest in the intersection of electronic music, gender equity, and disability studies and sees her artistic practice as an extension of her activism.
Career credits
Saint Rogue Records (Sony/Extreme), IKLECTIK [off-site], Cannes Film Festival, ARPA International Film Festival, Association for Popular Music Education
Harry Younger
Harry has been a professional freelance drummer and multi- instrumentalist since completing his studies at the ACM in 2017, returning a year later to be a part of the Drum Tutor team. He has toured nationally and performed across Europe working with various bands and artists, has experience in studio settings and is a strong sight reader in the pit. Harry has performed many West End style shows across the south coast, credits including ‘Chess’, ‘School of Rock’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Grease’ and many more. Outside of performance, you can find Harry in his home studio building various AV and backing track rigs, with experience through Logic, Ableton, Mainstage, and QLab, utilising electronics in performance wherever needed.
Career credits
Newman, Hats Off to Led Zeppelin, Drum Tech Support, Drum Electric
Huda Mahdi
Huda is an entrepreneur and a games and software engineer. In 2010, she completed a BSc in Games Development from Stockholm University (Sweden), and in 2012 a MSc in games programming from City University, London.
Through her freelancing company, she worked with businesses like Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), developing and supporting PlayStation applications that have been used by millions of people, and by companies such as Adidas, Media Molecule and SIE Japan Studio, but also worked with small startups, as an IT consultant.
In 2021 she also completed a BA in Islamic Studies, while also teaching games, programming and business at ACM. She then founded and led the FE Games Development Diploma, and is today teaching on both levels.
Her vision is to bring games and education closer through effective and immersive learning experiences.
Ineza Kerschkamp
Ineza is an experienced Jazz vocalist and songwriter hailing from Rwanda and Belgium. Since graduating from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Ineza has become an in demand vocalist regularly performing in London’s iconic Jazz venues such as Ronnie’s Scott’s Jazz Club, Boulevard Soho, Piano Bar etc. A versatile singer, Ineza is a member of the critically acclaimed Jazz choir ‘The London Vocal Project’, she toured with award winning singer songwriter Tom Odell, and starred as ‘Valaida’ (alternate) in the London immersive experience ‘The Greatest Night of The Jazz Age’.
An accomplished songwriter Ineza has released 2 EP’s, (‘Where are you from’ and ‘Who Am I’) her original music has received praise from Bandcamp, BBC Introducing, Women In Jazz Media, Fresh On The Ned and Jazz in Europe. in 2023 Ineza’s commissioned choral composition ‘Home’ was performed by 1800 children at The Royal Albert Hall.
Career credits
– 2022 ‘Best day of my life’ tour with Tom Odell + appearing alongside him at the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio
– 2023 Valaida (Alternate) in London immersive experience ‘The Greatest Night of The Jazz Age’
– 2023 original choral composition ‘Home’ was performed by 1800 children at The Royal Albert Hall.
Iwan VanHetten
As a widely respected multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and musical director, Iwan has worked with big names like Sister Sledge, when he was their musical director for 15 years.
He also worked with The Pointer Sisters, recorded and toured with Candy Dulfer and a host of other renowned artists.
Currently, Iwan is a member of the Brooklyn Funk Essentials and has been for the last 20 years, playing keyboards and trumpet as well as being the band’s Musical Director. He also appeared on a number of the New York outfit’s albums. Iwan owns a world-class SSL recording facility located in the Jewellery Quarter where he produces and mixes albums for artists around the world.
Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson is a broadcast professional and event DJ who specialises in delivering interactive workshops using creative and interactive ideas, which are also designed to help boost students` confidence. After graduating from Cambridge University in 2014, he worked for commercial station Eagle Radio for 4 years as a producer, presenter and tutor, before going freelance and creating the ‘Media Academy’ educational courses, which over 200 young people have attended. He also regularly performs DJ sets at venues around London and South UK. Having previously taught the Broadcast Media elective to ACM HE students while he was at Eagle Radio, he was also producer and presenter of the Local Showcase radio show on Eagle. Jack joined ACM as a tutor in 2020 and now produces and presents the Local Showcase podcast, highlighting new music by artists from the ACM community.
Jamie Sellers
Jamie Sellers is a songwriter and producer, originally from Glasgow but now based in Essex. In a career spanning ten years Jamie has built a name for himself in the industry as a go-to writer/producer for many up and coming and established acts across the pop music spectrum. In this time Jamie has accumulated a UK Number 1 Single and a UK Number 1 Album, 3 other UK Top 40 Singles, Two Number 1 Albums in Japan, A Top 5 Album in Spain, A Top 20 US Billboard Dance Chart Single and Top 20 Singles in Belgium, Sweden and France.
Jamie is the owner of Run Wild Music, a boutique recording studio and artist development company, where Jamie and his team of emerging writers and producers work with some of the UK’s most exciting new talent. Some notable acts that Jamie has worked with are Little Simz, Ronan Keating, Alesha Dixon, Shaznay Lewis, Chelcee Grimes, Liv Dawson, Max George, 5ive, B*Witched, Grace Davies, GIRLI among a great many others.
Career credits
Little Simz, Ronan Keating, Alesha Dixon, Shaznay Lewis, Chelcee Grimes, Liv Dawson, Max George, 5ive, B*Witched, Grace Davies, GIRLI among a great many others.
Jamie West-Oram
Leeds College of Music 1973 – 1976. Moved to London in 1976. Between then and now many sessions and tours plus some freelance teaching. Formed The Fixx in 1980. The Fixx have recorded 14 studio albums including gold and platinum albums and singles. Alongside worked with many top producers and artists (see above).
Career credits
The Fixx’ original guitarist from 1980 – still going. Sessions and/or tours and/or writing for/with Tina Turner, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Brian Eno, Depeche Mode, Rupert Hine, Kirsty MacColl, Laurie Anderson, Cyndi Lauper and many more.
Joe Yoshida
As a freelance drummer, Joe has a wealth of experience working for TV and Radio, to live tours and studio sessions. Over the years, he has worked with various artists for most major and independent record labels, including, Katie Melua; Mike Batt; Mika; Jessie J; Robin Thicke; DJ Cassidy; Joel Compass; Bob Blakeley (BBC’s ‘The Voice’); Akala and various others.
Joe has made various TV appearances; for commercials such as the LEXUS CT 200h Commercial, the HEINEKEN “The Date” Commercial; and several TV and Radio sessions on BBC, ITV, Channel 5, Radio 2, MTV, VEVO and others. He performed with Katie Melua for the HRH Coronation Gala 2013 at Buckingham Palace, and in 2014 with Molly Smitten-Downes for the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the studio, Joe has been credited on multiple UK Top 10 and Top 40 singles and albums for artists such as Katie Melua and The Overtones (Warner).
Joe joined UK rock outfit Toseland and as well as scoring their first UK Top 40 album with the group, they have toured internationally with acts such as Deep Purple, Black Stone Cherry, and various others. Joe currently tours internationally with Katie Melua.
Career credits
Katie Melua, Mika, Toseland, Mike Batt, Joel Compass, Akala
Joel Harris
Under his ‘Books’ alias Joel has been releasing music since 2015 on digital and vinyl via various experimental electronic labels including Ortem, Groundwork Recordings and Detuned Transmissions. His debut album ‘Station’ was released in 2018 and was well received by the UK dance music press including Mixmag and DJ Mag. His music combines modern production techniques with field recording and sound design to create intricate, atmospheric soundscapes for the club sound system. As a DJ, Joel has performed across the UK and parts of Europe and has held a residency at London’s genre-defining One.Seventy club night.
Joel has worked extensively with UK Hip-Hop producer ‘Aver’, engineering, mixing and co-producing tracks on his two most recent studio albums on Village Live records. These have received airplay on BBC 6Music as well as DJ Mag’s Hip Hop single of the month award. Another collaboration is currently in production alongside a number of exciting projects.
For the last two years Joel has been studying a Master’s in Music Technology at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with distinction in July 2020.
Jon Duff
Jon is a vastly experienced player and contributes to Rhythm magazine. He specialises in developing time keeping, groove playing and his proven techniques generate quick progress. As a drum tutor Jon is involved in taking drum students through the full time drum course repertoire, developing skills such as playing to a click and tone production.
Jono McNeil
Jono provides innovative vocal coaching for a large range of professional singers, television contestants, contemporary recording artists and musical theatre performers.
His varied portfolio has seen him coaching for The Voice UK and The Voice Kids, among other talent shows, along with his role as a senior lecturer at the ACM. An artist and singer in his own right, Jono has performed with Paloma Faith, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Nelly, Jamie Cullum, Lemar, George Ezra, Jocelyn Brown and Reel People to name a few. He has also released three studio albums and performs regularly.
Passionate about creative expression, new sounds and innovation in singers, he presents workshops and masterclasses for many occasions, including the British Voice Association, the Voice Council and has had a cover feature in the iSing online magazine.
Jose Manuel Cubides-Gutierrez
London based music producer, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer from Bogotá, Colombia
I’ve worked on sound design for short films, theatre, and TV adverts including Musto, XColor, and Reebok.
Currently about to receive a doctorate in which I explore the re-contextualisation of sound in electroacoustic and popular music.
Career credits
Noé Solange, piyama girl records, Molteno, Lyra, Sylvie, Anastasia Vol, Ydea, Mags on Earth
Joshua Max wunderlich
Josh Wunderlich is a Birmingham born and based songwriter, producer and performer, with a varied career spanning genres, professions and the continents.
Currently working professionally as a commercial songwriter/producer for DWB Ltd, focussing on songs for the J-Pop, K-Pop, C-Pop and Eurovision markets, Josh also creates music as a solo artist (with projects such as “Heartsong” and “WUNDER RiKU”), as a frontman for 2 touring rock-fusion bands (“Big Band of Boom” and “Punch The Sky”) and managing artists such as The Voice Kids finalist, Tawana McGrath. Music that Josh has created has been streamed millions of times and performed to tens of thousands all around the world.
A proficient singer and guitarist (with specialisms in pop, rock, folk and various world musics) having taught in primary, secondary, further, higher and adult education, Josh aims to bring his wide range of experience directly into the classroom to connect students with what is happening right now in the wider, global music industry.
During his studies at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (BMus Hons Music Technology) and Bath Spa University (Ma Songwriting), Josh also toured in the 60+ piece megaband, Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, performing to audiences of tens of thousands and composed soundtracks for indie games and a mini-musical that was premiered at the London Short Film Festival.
In past lives, Josh has also worked professionally as a live sound engineer both locally, touring and at festivals for artists like Mahalia, Tom Walker and the CBSO, lead music therapy workshops with Musical Connections and worked as a session, pit and function player.
Career credits
Signed with publisher DWB Ltd in 2022, focussing on writing for East Asian and Eurovision markets.
Written/produced for Hololive English artists such as Gawr Gura, Amelia Watson and Tsukumo Sana, with songs performed live in concert in across the world.
Fronts 2 touring bands, Big Band of Boom and Punch The Sky.
Artist manager for talent such as Tawana McGrath, finalist of The Voice Kids UK.
Justin Lyndley
Justin started working in recording studios in the early 90’s, and has worked on a huge number of recordings as Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Re-mixer, Mastering Engineer, and Musician.
He has released records as an Artist on Wall of Sound Records, toured extensively, DJ’d, worked as a Sound Supervisor at SKY and RT, trained as a therapist at Humaniversity in Holland and has a degree in Fine Art (Sculpture).
With extensive experience in Higher Education, Justin has taught and developed curriculum for Music Production degree programmes, has a postgraduate qualification in HE Teaching and Learning (PG cert HE) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Career credits
Elvis Costello, Klaxons, Bloc Party, King Krule, Shame, Mystery Jets, Jack Penate, INXS, James, Lily Allen, Jocelyn Brown, Tricky, Silvah Bullet, Amon Tobin, and many more, along with a variety Jazz and Classical Artists and Composers.
Kevin Glasgow
Kevin Glasgow was born in Inverness in 1983 to musical parents Dick and Sabine. When he was 9 years old the family moved to Northern Ireland, where he started learning guitar and playing traditional Irish music sessions with his parents. At the age of 16 Kevin began playing bass guitar and later moved back to Scotland to study Popular Music at Napier University in Edinburgh. Whilst there he played regularly on the Edinburgh jazz circuit. Since graduating, he has played internationally at venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, the 606, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Lincoln Center, NYC) and festivals such as Glastonbury, Hong Kong International Jazz Festival and the London Jazz Festival. He has performed and recorded with many different artists including Tommy Smith, Tim Garland, Marcos Valle, Asaf Sirkis, Alex Hutchings, Alicia Olatuja, Ant Law, and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (featuring soloists such as John Scofield, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, and Peter Erskine). Kevin has also performed on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 3. In 2008 Kevin moved to London where he now resides. He currently plays in a number of projects, including Jamie Murray’s Beat Replacement the Asaf Sirkis Trio, the Sirkis/Bialas IQ, the Nicolas Meier World Group, the Dave O’Brien Electric Trio and Preston-Glasgow-Lowe.
Career credits
– Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – Tommy Smith – Tim Garland – Marcos Valle – Alex Hutchings
Leddra Chapman
Leddra Chapman is an independent singer/songwriter releasing heartfelt folk/pop music from her own label, accumulating over 30 million streams worldwide.
Debut album ‘Telling Tales’ received critical acclaim, noted as ‘pitch-perfect acoustic pop’ by The Independent. Leddra was personally championed by the Sir Terry Wogan and has been playlisted many times by BBC Radio 2, including a “Record of The Week” for lead single “All About You” from her second full length studio album.
Leddra has also also toured extensively throughout Europe, both as a headline act and supporting the likes of Ed, Tom Jones, Ben Howard, Gabrielle, Katie Melua & more.
Lee Gold
Lee Gold is one of the most successful and exciting singer’s to come out of South Africa in a long time. As well as being an exceptionally talented singer and performer, Lee is also an accomplished piano player, arranger, and musical director and relocated to London, UK in 2013 to expand her fan base.
Lee graduated from the University of Cape Town with both a Bmus Degree, as well as Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction. While at University Lee was tutored by renowned international vocal stars, like Deborah Tanguy (FR) and Natasha Roth (DE).
Lee Gold has achieved many musical awards and achievements. As a successful studio musician, Lee’s vocals can be heard on both movie soundtracks, and commercial/advertising campaigns, for brands such as “Lux Soap”, and “Nokia Smartphones”.
Lee has participated in The New York Voices Jazz Vocal Camp in OHIO, USA. And was also chosen personally by The New York Voices to perform an opening set for them, on the finale evening concert.
Lee was also selected as the house keyboard player, backing vocalist, and backing vocal arranger, for 2 consecutive years of the prestigious “SYMPHONIC ROCKS” symphony orchestra extravaganza, performing with many top South African and International acts, to record crowds, where Lee toured nationaly as keyboard player and backing vocalist for Grammy award winning, American rock legends COLLECTIVE SOUL.
Since relocating to London UK, Lee has earned a stellar reputation for versatility across the jazz, soul and pop genre’s. Lee performs regularly at the prestigious Boisdale Restaurants of London, of which Jools Holland is the Patron of Music. Other residencies have included, The Dorchester, The Savoy and the Londoner Hotel.
Lee is regularly invited to perform at many jazz clubs and venues, in and around the UK, and by popular demand, has been invited back regularly to perform at London’s iconic “Ronnie Scott’s Bar” where she is featured as a special guest, and is always extremely well received.
Lee has toured all over the world, including Dubai, France, Mauritius and in 2018 she was invited to play at the prestigious Casino De Monte Carlo in Monaco several times.
Career credits
Collective Soul, Robin Banergee (Amy Winehouse’s guitarist), Freshlyground, Judith Sephuma, Micky Blue.
Leo Appleyard
Leo is an experienced guitarist and producer and has studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire.
He has performed all over the UK at venues/festivals including London Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scotts, The Barbican, and internationally in India, Australia and Europe. As a producer, his music and recordings have been heard on ITV, MTV France, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, released on labels including; Universal, Decca, Bonfire Records. Leo releases electronic music under the moniker ‘Urchin’, and has collaborated with many artists, gaining a growing reputation in the down-tempo electronic scene.
“So, so good…” Jamie Lidell.
“One of the new crop of musicians, making a mark on the scene…” Julian Joseph, BBC Radio 3
Career credits
Universal Records, Decca Records, Bonfire Records, Gold of My Own, Jo Harman, Beating Heart Label, Cat Delphi (MOBO), Duncan Eagles.
Madeline Castrey
Madeline Castrey is a musician, singer and researcher who enjoys a successful career in performance and academia. With a background in West End theatre and television, Madeline was the first ever 16 year old admitted onto a degree course at The London College of Music and now works as a PhD researcher. She is a professional opera and jazz singer, performing at many high profile venues including Opera Holland Park, Twickenham Stadium and The Shard in London, releases her own music with London labels and has had leading roles in several London shows including Les Miserables, Evita and The Lion King.
Madeline founded the charity Resonate, using music and singing to positively impact lives. Her work applying classical vocal technique to those living with serious neurological disability has been featured on several national outlets including BBC News, Sky News, BBC Radio, GB News and Channel 5 News. She has received several awards for her work and in 2022, she was honoured to judge the Princess Diana Awards as a past recipient herself, for young people making exceptional contributions to global communities. Alongside her performance and lecturing career, Madeline is also a musicologist and enjoys guest lecturing and voice/vocal coaching. She is passionate about the health/wellness benefits of using the voice and wrote her published book on this subject in 2023.
Career credits
West End/Television/Opera performer, founder of national music charity ‘Resonate’
Maria Radoje
Maria studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music and The National Centre for Orchestral Studies and has worked as a freelance cellist, teacher and composer and performed with a wide variety of professional ensembles.
Maria went on to study Music Therapy at the University of Surrey, Roehampton and The University of the West of England, graduating with distinction. She has since worked in adult and older adult mental health services, with people living with dementia, and with children and adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and has led teams of therapists in this context
Maria is also qualified in Guided Imagery and Music, a therapy that uses the imagination and music to work with unconscious processes, and is on the BAPAM register of approved therapists, using these skills to support performing artists struggling with anxiety and depression.
Career credits
Published author on music therapy with Approaches Interdisciplinary Journal, British, Journal of Music Therapy and Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Has presented at the BAMT and Association of Music and Imagery conference, Anglia Ruskin, and BAMT supervision symposium. Lecturer on the Music Therapy MA at the University of South Wales.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor is a keyboard player and music director. He started his career playing with The Lords of the New Church and The Alarm touring extensively around the world.
He worked as music director for Sinead O’Connor on her ‘Nothing compares to you’ tour and then joined Simple Minds taking keyboard duties spanning nearly three decades. He was asked to play on an album ‘The One’ for Elton John and he joined him on a two-year tour as second keys.
He has played with artists like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cult, Jimmy Cliff as well as a long association with Belinda Carlisle. His session and writing work includes Chris Difford, Marti Pellow, Mark Knopfler and Robbie Williams to name a few. He recently worked with Mick Jones and Rotten Hill Gang.
Marwan Elbergamy
King Tut is a Multi Platinum selling producer from London. You’ll find him
between Hip Hop, Indie, Rock and Pop sessions.
His discography includes artists such as Jessie J, Ella Henderson, Professor Green, Maino,
Joel Ortiz, Chip, Nekfeu, Wretch 32 and Dappy to name a few.
He has received many awards for his work including Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond
plaques from the UK, Europe and the US
Career credits
Multi Platinum Producer / Songwriter
Matt Aston
With over a decade of professional experience, Aguilar endorsee Matt Aston has toured the UK and Ireland year on year with various artists performing headline shows at venues such as Shepherds Bush, KOKO, the O2 academies, The Roundhouse, The Ritz in Manchester, Glasgow ABC and many more, as well as having played festivals such as Glastonbury, TiTP, V festival, Belladrum, Wakestock, Victorious festival, Isle of Wight.
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TV/radio credits including: BBC1, BBC2, BBC radio 2, BBC radio London, ITV1, ITV2, Channel 5, MTV, Ont sofa, Sofar sounds and 4Music.
In addition, Matt has a vast recording/song-writing experience, having recorded on Lucy Spraggan’s (Xfactor, Sony/Columbia Records) Silver album ‘Join the Club’ which peaked at number 7 in the official UK chart, as well as many other recordings, writing sessions and videos since in studios such as Wendyhouse, Metropolis, Park Studios, Oktopus Studios, BBC broadcasting house, Sofarsounds, remote sessions.
Career credits
FIKA, Kara Marni, Lucy Spraggan, Si Connelly, Kat Eaton, and many more.
Matt Jones
Matt is a guitarist and music production engineer based in Birmingham and plays for progressive power metal band Dakesis.
Matt graduated from ACM Birmingham in 2018 and works as a dep/ session guitarist as well as running his own recording studio in Birmingham. He has worked as a guitar and music production tutor since 2010 and teaching for ACM since 2018.
Highlights of his career include several appearances at Bloodstock open air festival, multiple UK tours and European shows sharing the stage with former members of Iron Maiden and Iced Earth.
Matt Peters
Matt Peters has been leaving his mark, both as a performer and manager, in some of the most prestigious concert halls and performing arts centres across North America, Europe, and Asia for over 3 decades. Most recently, his music was featured at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
While still completing his degree in Cello Performance from Northwestern University (USA), he started his career by becoming the youngest producer of the Chicago Symphony radio broadcasts in their history. Other notable positions in classical music include Midwest & West Coast booking agent for Columbia Artists Management, General Manager of the English Symphony Orchestra, Head of Strings at the Elgar School of Music, and managing several artists through his own company, ABMC Productions.
Using the name Mad EP, Matt is a composer, producer, remixer, and DJ who blurs the lines between hip-hop, classical, and electronic music. His debut single (“When I’m 6”) was chosen for the legendary John Peel’s (BBC Radio 1) final broadcast, he has released several highly-acclaimed albums and EPs, and composed for experimental theatre productions and dance ensembles in the USA, Panama, and the UK. He has performed at festivals and venues such as Transmediale (DE), TodaysArt (NL), DEAF (IE), Bangface (UK), and the Knitting Factory (US); and his genre-bending show “Tasty Cyanide Radio” ran on Sub.FM for 6 years.
Matt Russell
Matthew Russell’s career in the music industry began with his study of Acoustics at Salford, which led him to become a studio engineer in Birmingham. His passion and expertise quickly took him to London, where he worked at the world-famous Depot Studios. Matthew’s extensive experience in the industry grew as he served as the technical supervisor at Sensible Studios.
As General Manager at Cato Music, Matthew designed several rehearsal rooms that have been utilized by legendary bands and artists such as Metallica, Queen, and Kate Bush. He headed up the busy touring department working with hundreds of acts like Muse, Bastille and Haim, which then led him to establish the Universal Music Touring department.
At John Henry’s Matt worked as a consultant for major touring artists and at special events. Matt had the honour of being the production manager for George Martin’s funeral at St. Martin in the Fields, where he worked closely with the surviving members of The Beatles.
Matt established the world’s first roadie school with ACM, which has evolved into the Live Production and Technical Arts pathway.
Mattia Mazzoli
Mattia is a driven independent video game developer who has been dedicatedly working on his current project, Russell’s Range, independently. In his professional experience, he has previously collaborated with Whizz productions as a productions assistant, primarily mentoring and supporting aspiring students in filming their portfolio work. Additionally, he has also worked at the Joldwynds acting course hosted by Clare Davidson and Will Thomas Freeman, in the beautiful Surrey Hills.
Mattia’s passion for digital art and programming has fuelled his creative endeavours and enabled him to execute his game development projects single-handedly. With an unwavering commitment to his craft, Mattia is pushing the boundaries of solo indie development and is keen on leveraging his expertise to aid and inspire other young creative minds to pursue their aspirations with unbridled passion.
Career credits
Whizz productions LTD, Russell’s Range, Clare Davidson, Will Thomas Freeman
Mike Goodman
Mike has been recording and gigging internationally as both a guitarist and MD for over 20 years for many artists. For 10 years, he had his own monthly column in Guitarist Magazine studying theory, lead and rhythm playing and has for this past year been writing copy for Total Guitar magazine in collaboration with RSL. He is one of the team of guitar tutors for Guitar Breaks, a company that offers residential retreats in locations around the world for aspiring players and has worked alongside Matt Schofield, Ariel Posen and Josh Smith.
He has contributed arrangements, content and recordings for the Rockschool Electric Guitar syllabus and currently works as a consultant and video contributor for the new ABRSM Electric Guitar Journeys Tuition. He has endorsed and demonstrated for Palm Bay Guitars, Randall Amplifiers and Fylde Guitars at Trade shows around the country.
Along with playing, he wrote, recorded and produced music for several TV series and programmes including Wildlife Photographer, Lifeboat rescue and Wildlife SOS. He has taught in Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, 6th Form Colleges and has worked at ACM since 1997 as a Guitar Tutor teaching from Level 2 up to Level 6. In his time here he has also held various positions such as Senior Lecturer, Module Leader and Performance School Assistant Manager. Currently teaching predominantly guitar classes and performance classes, he has also taught ear training, sight-reading, stylistic awareness, session styles, improvisation and has led the design of modules and assessments and contributed to the composition of course notes.
Career credits
Wiley, Living in a Box, Jake Gosling, Kenny Thomas, Liv Dawson, Nate James, Bucks Fizz (now The Fizz), Cass Fox (Faithless), Thomas Jules (Rudimental) and leading function band Madhen.
Mike Nichols
Like many bass players Mike took up the bass because someone had to play it and no one else wanted to. Fortunately he loved it. He studied jazz and studio music at Leeds College of Music, followed by the postgraduate course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After several years of learning his craft in covers bands and on cruise ships Mike established himself as a freelance player in London, working with various artists and shows. Mike has been involved in education throughout his career and has taught and written content for many of the major colleges and exam boards.
Career credits
Bassist and musical director. Mike has worked with many artists and played on many west end shows. Credits include The Royal Philharmonic orchestra, The Novello orchestra, The Supremes, The Drifters, Joe Brown, Mark Knopfler, Sam Brown, Jools Holland, Dennis Loccoriere (Dr Hook), Toyah, Willcox, Robert Fripp. West End shows including Grease, Avenue Q, Sister Act, Shrek, Dirty Dancing, Jersey Boys, Fame, Addams Family. Mike was the MD for the 2022 international tour of Footloose and is currently MD for Toyah and Robert Fripp’s Sunday Lunch tour.
Millie Johnson
With over 15 years radio broadcasting and music experience, Millie brings that knowledge and expertise to ACM.
Having started her radio career at Epsom Hospital radio, she was soon taking her first step through the Kiss 100 FM studio doors. This was a career that was to span over 12 years.
Starting as Assistant to the Head of Music and when the digital boom happened, Millie seized the opportunity to work alongside legendary DJ’s such as David Rodigan, Trevor Nelson, DJ Hype and Patrick Forge as a Specialist Radio Producer. This transitioned to an air-on role as Co-presenter and Producer of the Drivetime show, an integral show on the award winning station.
Millie continues to make radio guest appearances, record voice-overs and DJ’s occasionally.
Nat Martin
Nat Martin has been playing guitar for 17 years and his primary influences are blues, jazz and funk music. He has gigged extensively with a number of bands as well as playing in the pit for a number of musical theatre productions.
As a guitar Tutor Nat mainly teaches in music theory at ACM. He is also a guitar Tutor available for tutorials, as well as teaching on the part time guitar courses.
Fusion outfit Monster Soup which includes Nat can be heard gigging frequently at The Boileroom in Guildford with drummer Stu Roberts and monster mates Andy Staples and Rob Webb!
Neil Bullock
Neil studied privately with the world renowned drummer Mal Garrett from the Birmingham Conservatoire and turned professional at age 17. He won awards, including two Musicians’ Union ‘Most Promising Young Musician’, three ‘TV Times Outstanding Drummer Awards’, The BBC Big Band ‘Best Drummer Prize’ and the Musicians’ Union ‘Outstanding Musician Award’.
Neil was a member of the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He studied in New Jersey with Dave Brubeck’s world renowned drummer, Joe Morello, along with the greatest exponent of the Moeller technique, Jim Chapin. Neil joined The Red Lemon Electric Blues Band, touring with Chuck Berry, played support shows to Robert Plant and made appearances at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
Neil has worked on numerous occasions with the BBC Big Band both live and on radio broadcasts.
Ngaire Osborne
Ngaire Osborne started writing for the underground cultural press in the late 80’s for Buzz magazine, a rag which spawned a Nirvana press officer, an editor of an awarding winning dance magazine, and a generous pinch of photographers and writers who gravitated towards the National music press of the 90’s, New Musical Express and Melody Maker.
As a weekly writer for the Melody Maker (1989- 2000) both as Ngaire, and Ngaire Ruth, she brought P J Harvey, Blur and Seal to the table – among many others; saw Nirvana third of the bill in a tiny pub venue in Shepherd’s Bush embraced the Riot Grrrl phenomena. She moved into online journalism as a section editor in 2011- 2015 for the girls are, a magazine with feminism at its root, and helped build a successful site that took music journalism forward. She moved into academia five years ago, combining her teaching skills (PGCE) with her professional specialism’s music, media, and feminist theory, in respect of the music industry. Since, she has devised and run modules related to cultural studies and perspectives; music journalism; writing for digital; music academic theory; media and production theory; applying performance theory to reviews; how people read online; top tips for digital writing including a biography; how to write a press release; history and legacy of the alternative music press; what’s your narrative (as a creative professional); the changing role of women artists in music; moral panic and music as a device; writing, ritual, revolution – Riot Grrrl, Queer Theory, the history of DIY in music. She is an author for the F Word, writing with a feminist perspective and currently writing a book.
Nic Britton
Nic Britton started his career in Music Production back in the early 90’s. Working as an Engineer for Network Records in his home town of Stoke-On-Trent. During this time, Nic worked with the founders of Detroit Techno and Chicago House, luminaries such as Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Underground Resistance, DJ Pierre and the French Techno DJ Laurent Garnier.
During the late 90’s and 00’s, Nic was a core member of the production team TILT. Working on remixes for artists such as- Mel C, Dido, Malcolm McClaren, Boy George and Jeff Waynes “War of the Worlds” as well as numerous DJ’s and Producers including Paul van Dyke and Paul Oakenfold.
Working with TILT on remixes and original tracks including five UK Top 20 singles and a UK Number One remix, Nic to this present day, more recently remixed a Billboard Top 20 hit by U2 as well as writing and producing for other artists.
Across his career, Nic has worked with most of the major record labels like Sony/BMG and Universal but is more commonly known for releases on Perfecto and Black Hole Recordings as well as underground labels like Pro-B Tech and Stripped Recordings.
Nic also reviews equipment and hardware and has had numerous reviews and masterclasses published.
Regarding teaching, Nic has taught across Music Technology since 2006 on a variety of levels from 2 through to 6, working for colleges and universities before joining ACM in 2017.
Currently Nic is working on a variety of projects with TILT including collaborating with members of a famous band from Manchester and writing the theme music for an upcoming documentary for a large streaming platform.
Nikki Sadler
Nikki, originally from Birmingham is a highly accomplished vocalist and vocal coach. Nikki graduated from Tech Music School (The London College of Music) in 2013 with first class BA Honours in Music Performance – Vocals. She went on to perform in hotels and on cruise ships all over the world, whilst also working as a session singer, backing vocalist and vocal tutor around London and the UK. Nikki has extensive experience in live performance, specialising in Contemporary Pop, Rock, R&B, Soul and Jazz. Alongside teaching at ACM, Nikki is still teaching, gigging and performing regularly all over the UK.
Career credits
Nikki has performed at various venues around London and the UK including O2 Forum Kentish Town, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Koko Camden, The NEC Birmingham and Birmingham Symphony Hall. Nikki has also performed at various smaller UK festivals including Wilderness Festival and Ealing Jazz Festival.
Pat Hughes
Pat is a versatile player with loads of live experience under his belt. Having studied at Basstech in London for 3 years, where he was awarded ‘Best Overall Student’, he went on to play with the critically acclaimed bands The Disorientee, Headnoise and Wanton & Blithe. He has since played all over the world, including tours of the UK, Europe, Japan & South East Asia, Australia & New Zealand. Over the years Pat has worked with with various function bands including regular sessions for Guitar Techniques magazine & Drum & Bass producer Ray Keith.
Pat is currently playing with acclaimed singer/songwriter Hugh Cornwell, formerly frontman of The Stranglers and has also toured with Punk-Poet legend John Cooper-Clarke as well as 80’s legend Toyah Willcox. He also regularly performs in function bands and is very active on the pub circuit live music scene.
Pat has been teaching at ACM in Guildford since 2001, where he is equally at home teaching beginner classes or at degree level. He has taught at various Sixth Form Colleges and given private tuition, where his strength is his ability to adapt to diverse musical styles. Pat has given guest lectures at the UK Bass Day, Seoul Jazz Academy in South Korea, and at three of Japan’s foremost contemporary music colleges in Tokyo and Nigata.
Pat’s specialist areas include bass performance and styles, techniques, transcribing, music theory and ear training.
Career credits
Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers), John Cooper-Clarke, Toyah, Ray Keith, The DIsorientee
Paul Geary
Paul Geary is responsible for laying down the low frequencies of Nik Kershaw’s band. In 1993, he was voted Best “New Musician” by the British Music Association and has since established himself as one of the UK’s foremost studio bassists and active session musician.
Paul started his playing career comparatively late, having had no formal music training. He started playing bass in a gospel church at the age of 18 and shortly after this he went on to study music in the US and is now an Honors Graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston USA, and B.I.T, Musicians Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, California. He received his first break in 1991, working with soul diva Lisa Stansfield and Gabrielle. Shortly after this, he went on to work with Chris Rea and played alongside Jools Holland as part of the Princes Trust Rock School. Later in the autumn of 1993, he started playing bass for Chris Norman, the former lead singer of Smokie. 1994 brought relocation to London to head up to the Academy of Contemporary Music’s bass school. Paul still found time in his busy schedule of full time courses at the Academy to lecture live performance workshops and he is also a contributor for Guitar Techniques & Bass Guitar Magazine.
Three years later, in 1997, Paul recorded a new studio album and went on tour with Nik Kershaw. Two year later, a second album with Kershaw followed. Since then, the years have been busy touring and working as a music director and session musician with huge artists such as George Michael, Lisa Stansfield, Gabrielle, Simply Red, Chris Rea, Nik Kershaw, Donny and Marie Osmond, The Lighthouse Family, Liberty X, A1, Chris Norman, Geri Halliwell, Dane Bowers, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Clarksville, Enrique, Phix, Dside, Blazing Squad, Midge Ure, Odyssey, Jason Donovan, Toyah, Altered Images, T’Pau, 5Star. Rachel Stevens, Mary J. Blige, Westlife, Paul Young, The DireStraits Experience, Rose Royce, George McCrae, BoneyM, Eban Brown – Stylistics, Tavares and Sister Sledge.
Career credits
George Michael, Lisa Stansfield, Gabrielle, Simply Red, Chris Rea, Nik Kershaw, Donny and Marie Osmond, The Lighthouse Family, Liberty X, A1, Chris Norman, Geri Halliwell, Dane Bowers, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Clarksville, Enrique, Phix, Dside, Blazing Squad, Midge Ure, Odyssey, Jason Donovan, Toyah, Altered Images, T’Pau, 5Star. Rachel Stevens, Mary J. Blige, Westlife, Paul Young, The DireStraits Experience, Rose Royce, George McCrae, BoneyM, Eban Brown – Stylistics, Tavares and Sister Sledge.
Paul Ressel
Paul Ressel is a multi-award winning producer and composer based in London. He has produced for artists including Lana Del Rey, Bryn Christopher, Scratch (The Roots) and Grammy nominee Cofield Mundi.
Paul has composed music for film and media projects for the BBC, MTV, Discovery Channel and Amnesty International among others. His composition and production work for his own artist projects, including Humaniser, Vuvuvultures and SAMA Award winners Lark, has seen Paul signed to Universal Music Publishing, Z Artist Management and Cadiz Music, and he is currently releasing a number of albums for sync through music publishers Audio Network.
This industry experience feeds into Paul’s work as a music educator. With comprehensive experience in Higher Education, Paul has taught and developed curriculum for music technology and production programmes in the UK and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Career credits
Lana Del Rey – Big Bad Wolf (co-writer/producer), Cofield Mundi – Ceremony (co-producer) (SAMA, GRAMMY nominee), Lark – Razbluito (writer/producer) (SAMA winner – Best Alternative Album), Bryn Christopher – Fearless (producer/remix), National Geographic – Live Curious (composer)
Paul Richard Clarke
Paul is an experienced 2D and 3D artist using both digital and traditional media. On computer his favourite applications are Photoshop, Procreate, ArtRage, 3DS Max, Snapseed, Sculpt GL and Paint 3D (yes, really). Using traditional media Paul is well practised in ink, watercolour, pencil and acrylics.
Paul’s has worked on a wide range of games and application demos using everything from Interactive Whiteboard note apps to VR art tools. He’s had artwork exhibited across the world and been used as an exemplar artist for a range of applications including Fresh Paint, ArtRage, Eazel, Photoshop, OneNote and more.
As well as teaching at the ACM Paul runs the cosplay life drawing evenings and FE Game Jam sessions. He’s also written and drawn eight published works and is currently working on the ninth.
As a fan of a wide range of visual and printed media Paul is well placed to offer advice and guidance on theme, form, flow, inspiration and excitement in a wide range of game and entertainment industry standards.
Career credits
Games companies: Bullfrog, Di, Pepper’s Ghost. Artist for Microsoft, Google, Smart.
Pete Friesen
Pete started playing guitar for Alice Cooper in 1989 on the “Trash” album world tour, travelling to North America, UK, Europe, Japan and Australia. A live DVD, “Trashes The World”, was recorded at the Birmingham NEC and released in 1990.
He went on to do the European tour of Alice’s next album “Hey Stoopid”, also appearing alongside Alice in the movie “Wayne’s World”.
Pete relocated to the UK in 1992 and joined Scottish rock band The Almighty who he played with for the next 4 years. Releasing 3 albums in that time: “Powertrippin”, (no. 5 in the UK album charts), “Crank” and “Just Add Life”; the band toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe, North and South America, Australia and Japan. Highlights were the 1992 Donington Monsters of Rock Festival and supporting Metallica at Milton Keynes Bowl.
The Almighty disbanded in 1996 and in 1997 Pete returned to Alice Cooper’s band do several more tours up until 2002. A live DVD from the “Brutal Planet” tour was recorded at Hammersmith Apollo and released in 2000.
In the summer of 2000 Pete played a string of summer festival dates in Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson’s solo band.
Since 2000 Pete has been a tutor at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and has recorded production music for London based company Brilliant Music.
His tracks have been used in television and film all over the world.
In 2014 Pete played guitar in the Ray Davies/ Kinks musical “Sunny Afternoon”. It ran for two years in London’s West End and had performances at the Royal Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall. An original cast recording of the show, which was produced by Ray Davies, was released on Sony music.
Career credits
Guitarist for Alice Cooper, The Almighty and Bruce Dickinson. Guitarist at Sunny Afternnoon; the Ray Davies Kinks West End Musical.
Phil Banks
I’m an Executive Creative Director, which means I’m someone who practices various forms of design, guides others, and makes creative and operational decisions to improve brands, products, organisations, creative teams, and hopefully, the lives of customers.
Outside of work, I’ve got a passion for various sports, music, psychology, animals, photography and video, and I guest lecture at HE institutions on things relating to brand and UX design…and still enjoy getting my geek on and doing some hands-on design work.
A more corporate version:
I’m an Executive Creative Director with extensive experience of brand development, internal comms, product development, IA, UX, UI, project management and business process management relating to SME’s, national and multi-national businesses/organisations.
I’ve sat on the Operating Executive of a global company; created identities for some of the biggest brands; helped create market leading products; and worked with artists such as Emeli Sandé and Soul II Soul for creative projects.
Career credits
Audi. Coca Cola. Emeli Sandé. Freddie Mac. Hubspot. Mars. Microsoft. Mind Gym. Pfizer. Salesforce. SEL. Soul II Soul. TIAA. The Specials. Thomson Reuters. Unilever. Versace. Zurich.
Rachel H
Rachel’s career spans over 25 years in the music industry and she has been part of many music projects from their inception through to winning major awards for her work.
She started in the music industry, managing recording studios and record producers. Rachel is skilled in public relations and marketing. She established ‘Main Source Promotions’ a company specialising in radio plugging and promoting Drum & Bass and Hip Hop labels.
She has worked with various artists including, Roni Size, Andy C and RAM Records, Hospital Records, General Levy, Skitz among others. Rachel produced UK Garage Dreem Teem and Fabio & Grooverider’s ‘One In The Jungle’ for Radio One, and then helped set up BBC Radio 1Xtra. Rachel has a PGCE and has worked in education for over 10 years. She has produced many community and college radio projects around the country.
Rob Harral
Rob is an extremely versatile player, with tone and groove as his expertise.
Rob studied at ACM and while developing his career, he made appearances on BBC and ITV television programmes, as well as on national radio.
Rob regularly performs in well-established high-end function bands for various events and he also works in the pit in theatre musical productions. His love of learning and teaching brought him back to ACM, and his students enjoy his coaching and mentoring techniques.
Sarah Geary
Sarah has been a professional musician for the last 20 years. She has extensive experience in touring at stadium level and many festivals including The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Her musical credits include working alongside Paul Young, Edwin Starr, Hot Chocolate, Bonnie Tyler, Crowded House and James Blunt.
She has worked with Ex-’Smokie’ Chris Norman on backing vocals for six years and is currently working for Shakin’ Stevens and sings in the Sidewinder Big Band based in Cranleigh.
Sarah has been involved with the ACM since 2000 and is a vocal tutor on the full- time program. She also fronts an eight- piece Motown/Soul band The Tamla Tigers.
Career credits
Paul Young, Edwin Starr, Hot Chocolate, Bonnie Tyler, Crowded House and James Blunt
Scott McGill
Scott McGill has a B.M. from Temple University, Philadelphia, U.S. in Jazz Performance and Composition, and an M.A. from Middlesex University in Professional Practice/Guitar Pedagogy. He studied for ten years with Jazz Theorist/Composer/Teacher Dennis Sandole, the teacher of iconic Jazz Musicians such as John Coltrane, James Moody, McCoy Tyner, Jim Hall, Pat Martino, and many other important Jazz Artists. His career started at eighteen when he was Lead Guitarist for RCA Recording Artist Robert Hazard who wrote “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” for Cyndi Lauper and with Hazard he performed alongside artists such as The Beach Boys, Joan Jett, and Jimmy Page culminating with a performance in front of festival crowds of a half a million in attendance.
Scott is an International Recording Artist with twenty recordings released worldwide. Some of the people that have worked with him on his solo and band recordings are Grammy Winning Producer Neil Kernon (Hall and Oates, Queensryche), David Torn (Jeff Beck), Noted Bassists Michael Manring (Michael Hedges) and Percy Jones (Brand X/Phil Collins, Brian Eno), and Dream Theater Keyboardist Jordan Rudess. He has been the subject for interview in magazines such as Guitar Player and Guitar Techniques Magazines and was also a monthly columnist for both.
He is the author of four texts on Guitar Technique and Theory including Dodecaphonic Studies for the instrument and his academic research includes papers on Dennis Sandole, Conlon Nancarrow, Arnold Schoenberg’s set structures, and the influence of Arnold Schoenberg’s music, teaching, and theories and Jazz Pedagogy and Practice. McGill was asked to lecture twice at The Arnold Schoenberg Study Centre in Vienna and is a specialist in Improvisation, Music Theory, Guitar Technique, Music Education and Pedagogy, Music Research, Music History, and Band/Solo Performance Techniques.
Career credits
Student of ten years of historically important Jazz Theorist/Composer/Teacher Dennis Sandole, the teacher of iconic Jazz Musician John Coltrane
At eighteen was Lead Guitarist for RCA Recording Artist Robert Hazard who wrote “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” for Cyndi Lauper performing alongside artists such as The Beach Boys, Joan Jett, and Jimmy Page culminating with a performance in front of festival crowds of a half a million in attendance.
Those who have worked on his recordings include Grammy Winning Producer Neil Kernon (Hall and Oates, Queensryche), David Torn (Jeff Beck), Bassists Michael Manring (Michael Hedges) and Percy Jones (Brand X/Phil Collins, Brian Eno), and Dream Theater Keyboardist Jordan Rudess.
Recruited from the U.S. to lead Popular Music Programme B.A courses in Performance and Songwriting.
He and his music have been the subject for interviews and podcasts over twenty years, and his academic work has been cited by other academics for PhD thesis and journal papers.
Shao Dow
Shao Dow is an independent rapper, manga author and occasional ninja.
After studying Shaolin Kung Fu with the monks whilst living in China, Shao Dow utilised the tenacity and determination he learnt from his martial arts training to independently forge his music career. It’s little wonder Shao scooped the AIM Award for Hardest Working Artist.
Known to rap in both English and Japanese, Shao is hard to define as just a regular artist. He constantly blurs the lines between anime (Japanese-style animation), martial arts and his own music and has worked with icons such as Sean Schemmel (the voice actor for Goku – Dragon Ball Z) and featured on the first single from Tech N9ne’s latest album.
When it comes to performing live, Shao delivers an unforgettable stage show. Mixing skilful lyricism, infectious beats and Kung Fu, he creates an unparalleled live experience. He was nominated for ‘Best Live Performer’ at The AIM Independent Music Award 2022.
He has opened for Tech N9ne, R.A The Rugged Man, KRS-One, Stormzy, 6LACK, Skepta and more, has performed at Reading and Leeds festivals and has toured across the UK, Europe, The USA and Asia.
Alongside his regular releases, Shao Dow is also working on the soundtrack for an animated series with Mashed and Channel 4 – the first episode achieved more than 1 million views on YouTube within two weeks. His music was also used as part of the soundtrack in the ‘All or Nothing: Arsenal’ documentary about Arsenal FC by Amazon Prime Video.
Shao Dow mentors artists, focusing on topics such as merchandising, planning a tour, time management, protecting mental health, getting radio play, networking and business opportunities.
Shea Stedford
Shea has been a producer, DJ and engineer with over 15 years of industry experience. He has held multiple DJ residencies across Europe and has worked for production houses like Xenomania whilst engineering in studios such as Streaky Mastering.
He has engineered for artists including Little Mix, Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, MNEK and Donae’o, produced production music for Warner Chappell, Boost and Counter Music with ongoing syncs for networks including BBC, BT Sport, Discovery Channel, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Shea has also released Electronic Dance music on Labels such as Soulvent Records, BETA recordings, SoulDeep and House Essentials.”
Shea says: “As an ex ACM student myself I can honestly say that the ACM experience played an essential part in my success in the music industry.
I came to ACM with tunnel vision, wanting to make Drum and Bass and with no interest in anything else.
After being shown all the various key areas of the industry within my Modules I gained huge respect and love for business, recording, engineering and sound design. I got the chance to collaborate with both my peers and tutors which ended up leading on to industry opportunities, long-lasting work and relationships that continue to this day.
If I could give one piece of advice to prospective students it would be: Be opened minded and trust that everything you will learn is essential in building a foundation for every possible avenue In the music industry.
Career credits
2x Library Music Award Nominee, Recording Engineer – Little Mix – DNA Album, Released music on well-respected Drum and Bass Labels, 2x Resident DJ – ZigZag – Malia, Owner of Pro EMP – Electronic Music Consultancy
Steff Fish
Steff is a vocalist, performer, songwriter and vocal coach.
With Heavy Progressive Rock band Giant Walker, she’s been featured both as a singer and songwriter by Daily Express, BBC Radio 1, Rolling Stone, Planet Rock, Metal Hammer, and as “one of the UK’s most exciting new bands” by Sunday Sport. She’s toured the UK extensively, both as a performer and a tour manager, as well as putting on numerous events across the country.
As a vocal coach, Steff is passionate about empowering singers, songwriters and performers to find their unique voice. She is an Authorised Instructor in the international network of voice professionals, Vocology In Practice, as well as a Vocal Health First Aider.
Career credits
Giant Walker, Vocology In Practice
Steve Sheldon
Steve likes to think of himself as a ‘real working musician’, keeping all his guitar work varied to make sure he has a full gigging diary alongside his role as a lecturer.
He has played in theatre productions such as Romeo and Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in orchestrations for the BBC. He has also played for the Drifters and performed at various functions around the world.
Steve has a real passion for music theory, especially jazz harmony. He loves how everything musical has a rule and how these rules can be broken with the know how. Steve urges students to study theory so they can play alongside the greats.
Tanya Lacey
Tanya’s career of songwriting and performing spans over ten years. Tanya first signed to Sony RCA in 2009 as an artist, later creating her own independent record label.
She has written for, toured and collaborated with artists worldwide including Bruno Mars, Will.i.am, Tori Kelly and Basement Jaxx. In 2017, she was featured in The Voice. Tanya is passionate about diversifying and encouraging women to pursue creative careers in music as well as developing underrepresented musicians and artists.
She is actively involved in mentoring, tutoring and teaching songwriting workshops, as well as participating on speaking panels and hosting music events across the UK. Tanya currently has an active working relationship with ‘Girls I Rate’ as a writing tutor, ‘Bristol Play’s Music’ mentoring artists as part of an ongoing annual project (Homegrown Heat), and has been newly appointed as a director on the board of trustees for ‘The Colston Hall’.
Tim Hawes
Tim Hawes is a senior lecturer and subject specialist on the Creative Artist pathway at ACM.
His industry career has been and still is as a songwriter, writing songs for other artists. As such he has written and produced songs for many top artists including The Spice Girls, Five, Hearsay and Sugababes amongst others and has achieved 5 No 1 singles, and in excess of 10 million album sales.
He is also a proud recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello award for songwriting for the song “Pure and Simple” for Hearsay. Tim also runs a small music publishing company with a focus on the Asian music market within which he has secured major releases with many of the top J and K pop artists.
He has taught on degree programmes for the past 7 years and as well as working as a music industry educator, Tim plays an active role in mentoring new writers through writing camps and workshops.
Tim Walters
Tim Walters began playing the guitar in 1989 and teaching in 2000, performing all over the World and teaching all levels from complete beginners up to multi-platinum selling artists. He has distinction passes at grade 8 with Trinity College London and Rockschool exam boards and holds both a Licentiate teaching diploma and Fellowship performance diploma with the London College of Music.
Tim is comfortable in most styles of music, on both electric and acoustic guitar and is well versed in sight reading and improvising. He has a wide experience of live performance and has shared a stage with some of the UK’s finest Rock, Pop and Jazz musicians. Tim has also organised and been musical director of many music courses, clinics and workshops. The diverse range of musicians he has worked with over the years include, Chris White, Richard Cottle, Gaz Coombes, Chris Whitten, Irwin Sparks, Adrian Smith, Lawrence Cottle, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Jupp, Ralph Salmins, Alec Dankworth, Steve White and many more. Tim is an endorsing artist for Vigier guitars, Victory amplifiers and Dunlop strings. He is currently touring with The Dire Straits Experience.
Tobias Alexander
Tobias has worked professionally as a drummer since 2006 working both nationally and internationally in live performance and studio settings.
He has experience across live radio and television, recording, and touring. After living and working in Paris during 2010 and 2011, Tobias returned to Britain to work managing an A and R team for an independent record label based in Birmingham.
Career credits
Featured in Rhythm Magazine’s “Ones to watch”, toured alongside Calvin Harris, and The Noisettes, performed with multiple award winner Soweto Kinch. Studio sessions have been featured on Sky Movies. Worked with 10 Downing street whilst performed with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire graduate orchestra.
Toby Drummond
Toby is a professional drummer who has performed with artists such as The Seahorses, Shaun Ryder, Russell Watson, Ray Davies, Celia Imrie, and Cliff Richard.
He comes from Vancouver, Canada, developing his music career, studying with Bob Armstrong at Masterclass Studios and with Dom Famularo and Jim Chaplin in Long Island, New York.
Toby brings to ACM his wealth of experience, helping to mentor our students. Toby regularly performs on many West End Shows such as ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Wicked’, and ‘Billy Elliot’ among many others. He is also a regular contributor to ‘Rhythm Magazine’.
Tony Briscoe
Tony Briscoe is a highly accomplished professional in the music industry with a proven track record of success. He is an expert music producer and composer, having worked on chart-topping songs with several renowned artists. Tony’s portfolio boasts a range of UK chart successes with artists such as Craig David, Beverley Knight, and the Artful Dodgers. He has also worked on several critically acclaimed projects, including composing music for David Attenborough’s wildlife TV series “Life in Cold Blood (Under The Skin).”
In addition to his music industry accomplishments, Tony is also an accomplished tech entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of One In A Billion Applications, that specialises in creating unique and innovative solutions for music professionals.
Tony’s expertise in the field of music technology has been honed over several years of teaching music and game technology-related courses in various institutions across the UK. He holds a Ph.D. in Sound & Vibrations, and his research has contributed significantly to the field.
Tony’s passion for music and technology has also led him to teach a range of Music and Game technology-related courses throughout the UK, where he shares his knowledge and expertise with aspiring producers and developers. He is the Module leader for Game Audio ACM and a Wwise Certified Instructor, providing students with the skills they need to succeed in the industry.
Tony Wathen
Radiokillaz is a pioneering Jungle and Breakbeat music producer, DJ, and educator, with a career that spans over three decades. With roots in pirate radio since 1993, Radiokillaz has made his mark on the music scene, playing on influential stations like Chillin FM, Flex FM, and Flight FM. As a producer, Radiokillaz has remixed top 30 records, including a no. 1 hit by Paul Hardcastle, and gained support from BBC Radio 1 legend Annie Nightingale, who featured his guest Quest DJ mix on her show. His releases on esteemed record labels like Universal Music, Passenger, and Warehouse Wax have further solidified his reputation as a leading force in the genre.
In addition to his music career, Radiokillaz is also a dedicated educator, teaching music production to 16-18-year-old diploma students at ACM in Guildford. He also hosts a bi-weekly radio show on www.infrared.fm, where he continues to showcase the best of Jungle music, keeping the genre alive and kicking. Radiokillaz’s unwavering passion for music and his active involvement in producing DJing, and educating make him a respected figure in the industry. Catch his fresh-sounding Jungle beats and infectious energy at his releases and performances, as he continues to push the boundaries of sound and inspire the next generation of music creators.
Career credits
I have Remixed seminal Paul Hardcastle no1 track 19, Remixed Top 30 track Big Bass Featuring Michelle Narine – Tell Me What You Do, Remixed Top 20 Track Freeform Five, No More Conversation. Radio 1 Guest Mix for Annie Nightingale, Glastonbury, DJ gigs around UK and Europe, I have worked for Europa Music Management with Matt Jagger (One of the UKs most succesful A&R/Managers) I helped look after Purple Disco Machine (just won a grammy), Tube & Burger, and Duskus. I was signed to Apollo Records (Universal Music) Released on Passenger Records, Warehouse Wax, Jungle Revolution, Sub Slayers, Music Mondays and various other underground labels and artists. I was managment of south London pirate, Flight 101.5 FM, have had shows on Chillin FM, Flex FM, Upfront FM, Freeze FM, Pointblank FM, Delight FM and many other with a background spaning over 30 years in pirate radio and electronic music, I have run my own digital label, RadioKillaZ Recordings, my music has received favorable reviews from industry press such as DJ Mag and Mixmag. Still actively releasing Jungle.
Vince Hearn
Vincent is a music education professional with extensive experience covering multiple disciplines within music performance and technology.
With a BA Hons in Contemporary Popular Music, Vincent has experience working across a diverse range of music sectors. With a background in performing and recording primarily as
a Guitarist, Vincent has collaborated and worked with a range of musicians and started his career as a successful freelance musician. Establishing business start ups including a recording studio and contemporary guitar school.
Whilst currently collaborating with other musicians on a future release, Vincent enjoys participating within the music education sector as it allows him to explore and indulge in all of his musical interests simultaneously.
Windsor McGilvray
Windsor graduated as ACM’s ‘Outstanding Student of the Year’. He worked with bands and artists, appearing live at the BBC, and other prestigious venues including the Cavern Club, the Royal Albert Hall and the Dubai Opera.
Windsor has created music with Hugh Cornwell (solo, The Stranglers) – some highlights of that being playing for the Sultan of Brunei and touring supporting Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Blondie – Fish (solo, ex-Marillion), Dr. John Cooper Clarke, Paul Martinez (Robert Plant, Phil Collins, George Harrison), Paul Turner (Jamiroquai, Annie Lennox), Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), Brian Tench (Kate Bush, Tina Turner), Neil Taylor (Robbie Williams, Tears For Fears) and Terry Barham (Bob Marley) among others.
