The Rockstar Experience…Why “experience” though?
Well, I’m about to embark on a brief look into the story behind The Rockstar Experience and explain our ethos while hopefully not disappearing down some of the many tangential pathways of my rambling consciousness.
So, I fell into education via the backdoor over twenty years ago after spending what seemed like an eternity in the music industry. I’d been in bands for around 20 years, written songs galore, released singles and albums, gigged non-stop, signed more autographs than I care to talk about, shot videos, appeared in magazines, was broadcast on radio, appeared on TV and slowly ran myself into the ground through it all. My last major band was dropped by its label in 2004 and that seemed like a good time to catch my breath and consider a different path.
Back in the heady days of the mid 2000s, at a time when schools were properly funded and could afford to bring in outside groups to deliver extra-curricular activities, I found myself volunteering at a high school as a music assistant. There I met a fab bunch of guys who were carrying out a band workshop and at the end of their session they asked me if I played guitar and if I’d like to join them for a workshop later that week. The stars aligned and I ended up working with them for years. We worked on so many community projects, collaborations and inter-school activities and were something of a force majeure in the grimy old West Midlands. We worked in areas where deprivation was rife, helping school children who were at risk of falling through the gaps in the system to find their confidence and their voices, as well as young offenders and other marginalised groups. And I loved it. What I took most from it was the importance of learning by experience, by actually doing the thing you were focusing on rather than just theorising. It’s something I began to develop while working as head of SEN at a high school in Wolverhampton and further developed over almost a decade of teaching English to teenagers and adults in Spain. Experience works and it is highly rewarding. Life experience also plays a massive role in our ethos. Everything we’ve learned is of value to people and those often painful lessons that we’ve all endured are an invaluable guide to people embarking on their life journeys. Experience is key to our progress.
There are plenty of studies that back these claims up but truly, learning by experience has proven to be the most successful way of doing things for me and it seems to be going well for our young rockstars too. As an example, I learned Spanish simply by immersing myself in the community and listening to people speak. Obviously I asked questions sometimes but the language quickly made sense to me and in no time I found myself comfortable enough to talk about pretty much anything in Spanish with my Spanish friends. By using the language as often as possible and listening to others speak, I learned how to use it to a good level and that’s what we see happening with the young musicians at RSE. It still amazes me how quickly they progress.
When I returned to England a short while after the last Covid lockdown, I had a fully formulated plan in my head and I was keen to bring it to life. I knew that I wanted to share my musical knowledge and ability with people (because music is in my blood and I can’t deny it), my experiences and insights and that I wanted to use them to help other people to find themselves and develop their confidence.
For those who attend Rockstar Experience events regularly you’ll know how appropriate the name is. We don’t theorise, we just DO and the results are quite spectacular. Collectively, we feel like we’ve found a rhythm now and we’re ready to expand on the type of experience we can offer. With that in mind we’re delighted that Rob Birch, frontman and producer with Stereo MCs (of “Connected” fame) will be joining us to take part in a Q&A on Friday August 2nd, 11am.
Check out their legendary 90s hit "CONNECTED" here.
Rob brings a wealth of experience from his decades spent working in the music industry and after talking to him for just a short while you realise how humble, charismatic and knowledgable he is. We’re thrilled that he’s going to be part of The Rockstar Experience: 90s and it’ll be a fantastic experience for our young rockstars to draw inspiration and insight from Rob’s enduring adventures in music.
We want this to be an interactive experience as well, so if you have any questions that you’d like Rob to answer, please click HERE and use the form to submit your questions. During the Q&A you’ll be able to ask him your personal questions directly. I hope this has been an insightful look into the origins of The Rockstar Experience and its values, ethos and implementation, and that it’s whetting your appetite for our summer of activities. See you next week. In the meantime, be good, be happy. x
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