ian hooper
Director at Upbeat Rock Academy + The Hooper Band + solo projects
“I play piano, guitar, and have been lead singer in my band for, well, far TOO long (about 30 years), during which time I’ve done some amazing gigs around the world, had a ten year theatre tour, worked on several albums as a session player, and had an incredibly fun time.
I launched Upbeat 6 years ago, with the aim of providing students of all ages (we teach both young and old) with the skills to play and perform music. There are a host of benefits that come along with learning at Upbeat - we find a lot of students’ self-confidence gets a boost which helps in other aspects of their social lives too, from school to workplace. The Upbeat ethos is to be all-inclusive and we encourage all our students to live their lives in this way.
I think the first lockdown was tough as we went from a full academy to suddenly adjusting and running zoom classes - a really difficult few weeks learning how to teach music online with all the latency issues - but we managed in the end! We still teach online to all those who are self-isolating.
Most importantly, during the pandemic and moving into 2021, Upbeat can help the mental well-being of students, giving them the chance to collaborate musically and express themselves artistically. We provide students with fantastic opportunities to learn the dynamics of playing in a band. Teamwork, performance skills, and individual musical technique is provided by expert tutors.
We’ve been working hard during lockdown to make Upbeat bigger and better, and we’re very proud to announce that we are rebranding and launching 4 brand new studios at our Upbeat 2.0! We were given the opportunity to expand back in June, and grabbed the bull by the horns straight away. The new studios are being built in what was a warehouse directly behind our plot. It was a blank canvas, so we designed our own layout. I’ve worked all through as ‘apprentice joiner’ and really enjoyed the experience. To see the design come to life has been immensely rewarding. It’s been a long journey though with plenty of setbacks (being laid low with covid being one if them) and the biggest project I’ve worked on. We’re still building, although we’re almost there with the construction! The students have been really supportive. They’ll have a brand new recording studio to work in, including a live room and control room, so I’d be excited too if I were them! The last job to do will be to knock through into the existing studios. That will be a great day!
As well as all our current music sessions, we’ll be offering tuition in sound recording & engineering, song writing & arrangement. DJ mixing tuition is also available. One-to-one tuition and rock school RSL grading is also offered at our studios, and we are the Fylde Coast’s only official grading examination centre.
If anyone’s interested in joining upbeat please get in touch. We’re based in Poulton-Le-Fylde and service the Fylde Coast and beyond.”
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