Former West Suffolk College students set to rock Glastonbury
Glastonbury will rock to the sound of former West Suffolk College students taking to the stage on Friday afternoon.
The members of Gaffa Tape Sandy, a Garage Punk band that formed at the college, will be on the BBC Introducing stage, which will also be live streamed on the BBC website, giving them a whole new audience.
The trio, Catherine Lindley- Neilson from Bury, Robin Francis from Stowupland and Kim Jarvis from Botesdale, met up when they all studied Music and Music Tech at the college in Bury St Edmunds.
Robin said: “In the small counties of this country the idea of playing Glastonbury is a bit of a pipe dream, but when the opportunity suddenly falls into your lap, you and your band mates need to pinch themselves to make sure they are awake!”
But Gaffa Tape Sandy are just one of the music successes coming out of West Suffolk College. Eighteen-year-old Billy Apps, from Stowmarket, who is studying Music Tech, just had an amazing opportunity when he got paid work recently supporting the Adele tour. A delighted Billy was acting as a roadie offloading all the equipment from her New Zealand tour and prepping the equipment for her forthcoming O2 shows.
Another group of five current students make up the alternative rock band Blue Mean Eyes and they were chosen by the awarding body UAL as one of the few bands showcasing at St Martin’s in central London. Toby Powell from Lavenham, Harvey Baldwin and Ben Saunders from Bury, Elliott Rodger-Brown from Sudbury and Lauren Bradford from Methwold are all studying Level 3 Music.
Tundra, the band that won the Bury Sound competition, have already taken to the stage at Cambridge’s Strawberry Fayre and will be appearing in the Homegrown Festival. Caitlin Pegley who is studying Music Tech and Elliott Rodger-Brown, who is taking Music, both from Sudbury, plus a friend Elliott Booth are making a name for themselves as a grunge punk band and were interviewed live on radio by BBC Introducing.
Joe Stocking, Course Director of Music, said: “With so many mainstream shows promoting a quick fix career, the music industry can often be mis-understood. We really push our students to develop long-lasting careers in the music industry; particularly making them aware of the importance of hard work and perseverance. We are proud of Gaffa Tape Sandy, Blue Mean Eyes and Tundra who are all showing that they have the necessary skills and drive to become successful, and we anticipate great things from them in the next few years.”
Joe added that in September the college will be running an Electronic Music Production course, the only place in East Anglia delivering this specialist course.