Inside the WaterBear College of Music

I'm visiting a music college that describes itself as ‘alternative’ and, according to a glossy guide to the WaterBear brand, a ‘disruptive start-up’. Already there's the name, WaterBear – so-called after ‘the Tardigrade, one of the most resilient beings known, able to survive and flourish in the most extreme conditions’.

There are three college buildings in the centre of Brighton. We're in ‘WaterBear HQ’, part of an unimposing office block just four minutes from the station. Inside, it has a dedicated teaching space, two rooms with rows of monitors and computers – running Logic, Ableton, Pro Tools and other software – and a modest-sized studio and control room. For the 30 or so students arriving, the space soon fills up. There's a second building close by, which houses additional teaching spaces, Mac suites and DJ practice facilities, and a third building that I'll come to later.

Beginnings

Before the Open Day starts, I grab five minutes with WaterBear's founders, Adam Bushell and Bruce John Dickinson. Professional musicians and committed educators, they've worked in HE since the mid-1990s and met while working at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. In the 2000s they worked at BIMM, of which Bruce was a founder, but he left in 2012 to join the reunion of Little Angels, with whom he had a No. 1 album.

Frustrated by BIMM and others ‘not having kept change with the music industry’, and ‘wanting to do something different from the established order’, Dickinson said, the pair made plans for a new college. They used their own money and raised £1 million in capital to create a college with smaller class sizes and more one-to-one mentoring, flexible learning and hands-on experience. ‘Owned and run by professional musicians’, the college would reflect ‘the huge changes in the music industry and the rise of the independent DIY artist’.

In 2018 the first college opened its doors, and by 2023 WaterBear had opened a second campus, in Sheffield. Today there are around 800 students across the Brighton and Sheffield campuses, with a typical yearly cohort of 250. There are plans for two more centres in the UK over the next few years.

Ethos

WaterBear is ‘a cross between an arts college and a music conservatoire’, Bushell explained. Throughout the day, it did feel less formal than other HE providers I'd visited; there were no lecture halls, and staff and students occupied the same space, communicating in a shared vocabulary. Later, between talks, I heard Dickinson discuss fretboards and Fender models with a student in the reception area, in a way only fellow rock guitarists can.

I asked the founders for their thoughts on whether there's a disconnect between the music industry and music education, as reported in last month's MT (by Wizdom Layne of Sound Connections). They thought there probably was, suggesting there's a group who'll never consider studying music at a traditional conservatoire. Dickinson himself chose a different path after discovering that, while auditioning for Leeds College of Music, his interview panel hadn't heard of Van Halen.

These days, too, many musicians are striking out at an earlier stage, following their own paths. Dickinson gave the example of BRIT school and its ‘formidable success’ (not least with Amy Winehouse) in nurturing young talent and supporting the individual. ‘The music industry has fundamentally changed’, he said, ‘and music education must do the same.’

Presentation to students

‘There now exists a new global community of independent DIY musicians, artists and industry professionals, able to connect with an audience and remain in full control of their career, all the way to stadium level and beyond. There has never been a better time for young musicians to take control of their careers and build an audience.’

This set the tone for Bushell's opening presentation. It was supported by a graph (courtesy of UK Music) showing the exponential growth of income from live performance, streaming and synchronisation rights compared to 20 years ago, when big record labels controlled the airwaves. The ‘balance has shifted’, Bushel added, and if you had the drive and mindset, as well as talent, a ‘sustainable portfolio career’ was within your grasp.

He also explained how roles had changed. ‘20 to 30 years ago I'd say: “‘I'm a drummer, I play drums”. Now, it's “I'm a drummer but also content creator, and I put on others' shows.” I may also be a top manager.’

This versatility could also apply to the music. Why not, he suggested, take vocal lessons with a view to singing harmony in a group if you're a drummer who's already mastered the sticks? ‘We can't turn you into an overnight star’, he said, ‘but we can equip you for a sustainable portfolio career in the industry’, drawing on a range of skills.

Entrepreneurialism was also encouraged. Dickinson provided a case-study, of ex-student George, who's a songwriter but also runs a home studio. ‘He started doing production work, including demos for bands and mixing work, and developed his own mixing style that works well for radio. Before long, he was in demand with other bands, all from being inventive and thinking outside the box.’

Instrumental teaching could also be part of the portfolio, and for this reason WaterBear also offers qualifications in teaching.

The programme

WaterBear has a BA (Hons) Professional Music in the areas of Performance, Songwriting, Production, Electronic Music (which includes production skills, DJ techniques and composition) and Business. Students on the Performance pathway must be vocalists, drummers, singers, guitarists, bassists or multi-instrumentalists, and can expect class sizes of up to 15 for guitar, say, or 12 for voice. They collaborate with peers through platforms such as ‘Jam Cloud’.

WaterBear's online undergraduate courses (using a Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas) include Songwriting & Music Performance, and its master's courses include Music Business. There are a number of scholarships, offered by businesses and artists, and bursaries. If new applicants don't have the required 104–120 UCAS points, there's an integrated foundation degree, incorporating an extra year.

WaterBear / Kitty Wheeler Shaw

All course content is available 24/7 to students, and Canvas keeps students up to date with coursework and the community. In a talk given by the programme manager, students were introduced to the advantages of ‘flip learning’, where materials are shared ahead of class.

The tutors are professional musicians from across the industry, as are the visiting speakers. The latter, recalled Bushell, have included Los Angeles-based writer-producer Jamie Hartman (a two-time Grammy nominee and BRIT Award winner), who spoke of the differences between indies and major labels, based on first-hand experience. ‘Students are equipped to navigate the business rather than follow it like a pipe dream’, he added.

Industry network

There's no doubt that WaterBear facilitates industry contacts. During the presentation, there's a fair amount of name-dropping (including of artists, I suspect, the audience didn't know), but that's part of the course. ‘It's a people industry, and the more connections you can make from the off, the better’, Bushell explained earlier.

‘Just this term’, he added, ‘we started changing the delivery to keep the students engaged. For the first time ever, we've switched on a bigger class to mix a few of the different degrees, and a lot of this was based on student feedback: they wanted more networking opportunities.’

Being embedded within the local music scene – ‘learning from the inside’, in Bushell's words – is central to the WaterBear brand. Which brings us to the third college building: WaterBear Venue. This is in fact a seafront music and club venue, which has events most nights and can be hired out by students for their own projects. The club is a local landmark, and here students learn as much about event management and production as about performing their music. Students have classes in other venues and studios across the city, including at the famed Brighton Electric, with its 17 practice studios and high-end recording studios.

This immersion is what drew students such as Mabel to the Open Day. A student from Poole, studying for a BTEC, Mabel is a songwriter with her first music video, ‘EARTH’, on YouTube and TikTok. She's also a verified artist on Spotify. She has that ‘digital presence’ that WaterBear tutors look for in new applicants.

While Mabel admits part of the attraction of Brighton WaterBear is its proximity to Poole (for support while studying), she's also familiar with Brighton, its festivals, its reputation for being a cool place to study – and the importance of industry connections ‘from the off’.

waterbear.org.uk