Johnny Marr, University Professor
Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is a busy man these days, currently doing work with Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House fame as well as the UK band The Cribs. But Marr’s most interesting job these days is as a visting professor at Salford University in the Manchester area of northwestern England. Today’s edition of The Sunday Times of London features an article about Marr (pictured above at Salford University) and his lectures. Marr’s first lecture at Salford University, which was titled Always from the Outside: Mavericks, Innovators, and Building Your Own Ark and was delivered last November, drew over 1000 people to the Salford University campus.
Marr talked about his mindset behind doing the lectures, telling The Sunday Times of London:
“One interviewer said to me, ‘Isn’t it a contradiction in terms to come to university to learn how to be a rocker?’ That’s such an outdated, old-fashioned paradigm. To them, true ‘rockers’ are supposed to be hanging about on the streets in leather jackets, throwing bricks through windows. It’s a cliché. We’ve grown and moved on a long way.
“I don’t see anything wrong in education in any creative sphere, as long as it’s not to the detriment of the emotion. What I do know is that if, when I was 16, someone had told me there was a building with a ton of amps in it, musicians hanging about and loads of resources, I’d have walked 10 miles every day to get there.”
Other musicians and music-industry people have lectured at universities in recent years, including former Beatles producer George Martin, Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker, Alex James of Blur, and Patti Smith. I’m sure that the students that attend these lectures get much more out of hearing from those luminaries directly as opposed to reading about the music industry in a textbook. And the fact that music is an industry and has been for many years should not be overlooked. Degrees to prepare people to work in the music industry are now looked upon much more seriously than there were in the past.
John Sweeney, business manager at the School of Media, Music, & Performance at Salford University, was also quoted in the article The Sunday Times of London and told the paper:
“Twenty years ago, these kinds of courses were ridiculed as Mickey Mouse degrees by the academic establishment. Now we are ahead of Oxford in the rankings in media, communications, and popular music, because they do not offer purpose-built degrees that the industry values as highly.
“We have evolved good links with employers. At the end of each degree, we take the students in and look at where they want to be and how we can help get them the right job. Our alumni are everywhere, from commercial studios, facilities houses, and large media organizations to, say, music managers on cruise ships. Some have gone into bands that tour or have been signed. The fact is that overall, between 80 percent and 90 percent of our students go straight into real jobs through placements or graduate schemes, or are talent-scouted. That’s not our statistic, by the way, that’s the government stat based on their annual reviews.
“Managers, label bosses, agents, A&R, and the BBC all come to us because they know they will get high-caliber graduates who fit straight in and have more than the basics covered. We can bring talent and the industry together. With Johnny (Marr), for instance, he will keep a close eye on how certain students and bands are developing. He offers a real and direct way into the world of producers, labels, managers, and A&R. Our students spend a lot of time working, recording, and rehearsing at Blueprint Studios, where, for example, you also find Elbow and the Ting Tings working. It is about how well you are connected to the industry as much as theory.”
Interesting stuff, indeed. To read the full article from the Sunday, January 18th edition of The Sunday Times of London, click here.
