Undergraduate & Postgraduate open days

Staff Profiles 

Joe Wilson
Course Leader

What I teach
I teach how the music industry operates, how copyright works and how people sell their music and their vision.

Outline of experience in field
I am a composer and producer and I started my career with the band Sneaker Pimps, selling over 2 million records worldwide. I then worked as a producer and remixer with artists as diverse as Placebo, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Marylin Manson, Natalie Imbruglia, The Libertines and Ian McCulloch. My music has been used in feature films such as “A-Team” “A Life Less Ordinary”, “The Saint” and “Spawn”, as well as for adverts and various websites.

What music excites me and why
I like any music where it sounds like the artist really means it, whether that’s distorted electronic music, skinny kids with guitars, disposable pop music or hip hop played from moving cars.

Recommend one piece of media to absorb this year and why
I am interested to see what happens with the paywalls that are being built around newspapers like the Times. There may well be lessons to learned for new models of the music industry.

Simon Turner
Senior Lecturer

What I teach
Senior Lecturer in Audio and Music

Outline of experience in field
Professional composer, Musician and Producer working in television, radio and theatre. BAFTA award winner in 2002 for BBC Digital Storytelling (I headed up audio and composition and was part of the core team of 7 that designed and implemented the project). Continue to work as composer and producer for BBC, Channel 4, Oxfam etc

What music excites me and why
It changes all the time, it really does.

Recommend one piece of media to absorb this year.
Architectural mapping projection.

Abigail Gardner
Lecturer

What I teach
What is the 'popular' in Popular Music? How can you tell who is a musical genius? Why are there no women rock gods? Where do old punks go and why is Goth still Goth? These are some of the questions that I deal with in the modules I teach and they offer you the chance to think about and question some your views on music.

Outline of experience in field
I used to play keyboards and was the owner of a rather fine Hammond but now I write and read about music. My research has covered Dolly Parton, Grace Jones, PJ Harvey and Gorillaz and I am co-authoring a book called "Rock On: Women, Ageing and Popular Music" which will be published in 2012.

What music excites me and why
I am excited by three different types of music; music to mope too, music to dance too and music to be besieged by. I am a sucker for melancholic music and have far too many albums by sad singer-songwriters like Elliott Smith. For dancing it has to be Fela Kuti, early disco and P funk and for ear assault anything from Led Zep to Nick Cave or Queens of the Stone Age.

Recommend one piece of media to absorb this year and why
If you get the chance to listen to the whole album by Warpaint this year then do it: it is not mopey, you can't dance to it and it's not loud - but it is good.

Tom Soper
Lecturer

What I teach
Song Writing; Music & The Media; Independents & Alternatives; The Placement; Music Technology - Consumption, Culture & Practice; Music Audiences & Consumers; Music Events - Marketing & Promotion; BPM - The Rise & Fall of Disco.

Outline of experience in field
Record Label Manager - Turbotrax; Piano - live performer and session player; Composer for various media; DJ;

What music excites me and why
Bands like Funkadelic that mix musicianship, oddness, grooviness and charisma; and any great pop.

Recommend one piece of media to absorb this year and why
I would use The Daily Mail to absorb any nasty spillages. 

Andrew Lansley
Technician

What I teach
I’m responsible for looking after the recording studios, classrooms and ensuring all hardware and software is up to date and in line with professional recording practice. I support the academic staff in classes as well as helping deliver studio recording sessions across the course.

Outline of experience in field
I have worked in both music and broadcast for over ten years. I was trained in Pro Tools at Alchemea and my previous jobs have included everything from producing for GCap & the BBC to having my music released on EMI/Mute.

In the last year I have toured Europe and the US with my band who have a publishing deal. I am also writing a book for Routledge on critical practice in recording techniques.

My passions include coiling leads correctly and the three-point stand movement technique.

What music excites me and why
The thing I look for in music is originality - or simply finding something I’ve not heard before. This can take many forms from discovering an artist or album that has been around for years to switching on the radio to hear something completely new. If I like a particular artist I like to try and trace back through their influences as I often find even more music I enjoy that I would not have discovered otherwise.

Recommend one piece of media to absorb this year and why
I would like to be more specific but I can only say you should listen to/see as much music as possible.

University of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 2RH. Telephone +44 (0)844 8010001.