Learning how to mix it

According to Johnny Lappin, noted music publisher and co-director of the MIX course at the Dun Laoghaire College Of Further Education, “Contrary to common belief, most well-known Irish artists, from the Hothouse Flowers, Luka Bloom and Pierce Turner to Sinéad O’Connor (pictured) and Don Baker, do not have major record deals. Instead, they release or record their albums on their own labels or on small indigenous record labels. Unfortunately, this increasingly significant contribution to the Irish economy and Irish culture was practically ignored by the recent report by the Music Board Of Ireland.

“Performers like Liam Reilly, Eleanor McEvoy, Kieran Goss, Leslie Dowdall and countless others make a contribution that far exceeds that of those high-profile Irish acts who use overseas service providers. Their commitment is invaluable in that it keeps the music industry economy going via the purchase of musical instruments, the hire of rehearsal facilities, the use of Irish publishing companies, and recording studios, Irish-based CD manufacturers, sleeve designers, printers and many other services. Indeed without that activity there would be virtually no business at all here.

“So the MIX course is designed to give emerging Irish artists, songwriters and anyone seeking a career in the music industry a greater sense of independence and a very practical understanding of how the music industry works. MIX offers no get-rich-quick fantasy approach to the business, but instead helps students to apply their skills and energies along a more practical path. The fact that several past graduates have already found employment in the business is proof that we are on the right track.”

Nigel Flegg, Director of Newpark Music Centre, believes that musicians today need to be more flexible than in days of yore.

“There was a time when a musician could be more of a specialist,” he argues, “but today he or she might be booked for an advertising jingle, followed by a gig with their full-time rock band, then to a session with some jazz heads and at the same time work on their own programming at home, all in one week or even over a few days. So there’s less room for the snobbish attitude of the past, that allowed musicians from one genre to look down on those of another.”

Flegg believes that computer skills are essential these days, and that musicians also need to have better business savvy. If there’s a downside he reckons it’s the paucity of gigs compared to say ten years ago, but overall he feels that the scope for musicians who set off on their own independent path is highly positive and more and more are going on to carve out successful careers for themselves doing just that.