Arts & Culture
Breaking the sound barrier

By Claire Dukes

Applications are open  for the Swindon Academy of Music and Sound (AMS) - a further education college designed to help musicians get into the business.

The newly refurbished AMS Swindon offices are based in Milton Road and the facility has state of the art music mixing equipment as well as studios and kit.

The academy, which is part of a multi-national company, is one of six in the country and they picked Swindon as it is central to everything.

Sean Ivens, student recruitment and admissions officer, said: “Our aim is to build up students’ confidence, not just instrumentally but to also prepare them for the climate of the music industry when applying or going into jobs.

“The academy is quite unique for the immediate area, as there’s nothing else quite like it in and around Wiltshire with the opportunities we provide.”

In terms of names, one of most successful students from the Swindon centre has been singer/songwriter Josh Kumra – soon after he graduated from AMS Swindon he was picked up by Sony Records as a professional songwriter. His track ‘Don’t Go’ was picked up by British rapper Wretch 32 and reached No.1 in the UK charts (featuring Josh) in 2011.

Other AMS centres have bred successful students such as Eddy Thrower of Lower Than Atlantis (ex-AMS Southampton) and Tristan Evans of The Vamps (ex-AMS Exeter).

All of the tutors in Swindon are professional musicians as much as they are music tutors. Current tutors at AMS Swindon include Richard Shaw, guitarist for British Metal band Cradle of Filth, and renowned UK bass player Kevin Glasgow.

The Academy offers a BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma and National Extended Diploma in Music Performance as well as a Foundation Degree in Music Performance and a Foundation Degree in Music Production amongst other courses.

New for 2018 will be a Masters in Music from January in partnership with London College of Music (LCM) and the University of West London (UWL).

The MMus course is a chance to experiment with ideas, hone both creative and critical skills, plus learn how to work effectively on a wide range of music projects. Students will have the chance to graduate with a large portfolio of work and experience to facilitate your onward career progression.

To get the full list of courses available and to apply for a place visit the website at academyofmusic.ac.uk/swindon