Music students at Wiltshire College & University Centre were given a warts and all picture of life on tour and the music business by Biffy Clyro guitarist Mike Vennart.
The musician, who plays on tour with the NME Best Live Band Award-winning group, as well as with cult favourites Cardiacs, spent more than an hour with first and second year Level 3 students at the college’s Salisbury campus talking about his life and work.
He also brought his Gibson guitar and pedal board along to demonstrate his technique. Lecturer Simon Birch said the visit came about because fellow lecturer Chloe Herington also plays with Cardiacs.
“She asked him if he could come in and have a chat with the students and he agreed, which we were delighted about because we want to expose them to as many influences as we can and it was an opportunity for them to hear about some of the realities of the business,” he said.
The guitarist and singer, himself a former music student in Salford, Manchester, spoke about how he broke into music, some of the pitfalls he and others had overcome and meeting stars like Slash from Guns n’ Roses and Dave Grohl from The Foo Fighters.
“The students are studying professional practice in the music industry at the moment, so we asked him to talk about these things,” said Simon. “We wanted them to get a better idea about what it’s really like.
“He told them about what a difficult time you can have, and how troublesome it can be touring and recording. He painted a very realistic picture, which was great, it’s better than letting them think everything’s going to be wonderful.”
He told them about how he and his former band, Oceansize, once turned down a £1 million recording contract. “All the jaws dropped when he said that,” said Simon. “But he went to say the offer was from a major label and he’d also been offered a contract with Beggar’s Banquet, a smaller label, who he felt understood the aesthetic of the band better.”
He said he’d met the Foo Fighters frontman and “he’d been just as you’d expect”. Biffy Clyro had supported Guns n’ Roses in Paris and Mike had asked to meet Slash backstage to get his guitar signed. “The band’s management had to call someone in LA to ask if it was okay for him to go and meet him on the other side of a wall in Paris, it was bonkers,” said Simon.
He also spoke to the students about coping with autism and ADHD, which has made him wary of giving interviews. “That was really interesting because we have students who are on the spectrum,” said Simon.
He finished by taking questions from students about tips for coping with tours, how labels work, working with managers and the changes he’s seen in the music industry. “A lot of them were asking questions that were linked to their projects so we had some really intelligent questions from them,” said Simon.
“He told them the best way to survive on tour is don’t get involved in rows because you’re trapped in a van with these people for a couple of months, and it can go really wrong if you all start arguing.”
He shared his advice on how to get started in the music business. “He said just get out there,” said Simon, “meet people, rub shoulders, go to gigs, talk to people.
“He told them to make themselves seen, hang out with people until they realise that they’re coming all the time, and that they’re a person who is interested, and eventually you’ll get a foot in the door, because it’s always about who you know in the music industry.”
The college regularly invites professionals, like Ed Sheeran and Charlie XCX mixing engineer Geoff Swan and producer Lou Sawdy in to talk to students. “It’s great for them to hear peoples’ stories because it shows them what the industry can be like and it gives them a bit of hope as well,” said Simon.
“We want to give them every chance of succeeding so the more information they can soak up, the better.”
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