Manchester Midi Schools online learning manager, Tom Lonsborough, moved to Manchester in September 2002
There is no better city to be in than Manchester if you want to live 'the music life'. The city is large enough to accommodate all tastes and musical styles, with the finest club and live gig circuit in the North. But the beauty of the city is that it is also small enough for these scenes to overlap and blend. In Manchester, in a positive way, everybody knows everybody. The House people socialise with the Drum & Bass crowd, Indie and electro fans.
With local record label staff and key industry taste makers out and about in the clubs and bars, promoting yourself and your music on a street level in Manchester is a lot easier than it is in London. With a little research, a bit of networking and some good ideas you really can build a name for yourself here.
When you look at the real success stories from Manchester over the past ten years, Mr Scruff, Elbow, The Electric Chair, Twisted Nerve, Skam Records, Fat City and Grand Central, Badly Drawn Boy and Twisted Nerve, Paper Recordings, Un-Cut, Chase & Status... the list goes on and on, most of these artists and DJ's built their name by running small events and gigs for themselves and their friends in bars and clubs of Manchester's 'Northern Quarter' - known as the cultural quarter of the city centre and definitely the place to hang out - its just up to you which of the eighteen or so record shops you choose to do this in...
Coming from East Yorkshire, on my own, to study, the city in the early 2000's was daunting, but within a few weeks of starting my uni course and frequenting the right bars and clubs (including Sankeys, The Music Box, Band on the Wall, etc) I became friends with a lot of DJ's and music heads that in years to come I'd end up working with.
I originally attended the MIDI school in 2006 where I enrolled on their 12 month diploma. During the course I made contacts, through the network of people that work in proximity of the school - either in the adjoining commercial studios, or who were friends/contacts of the staff there. As I result, I managed to organise gigs for the band that I formed with MIDI school classmates, and had the opportunity to remix some big artists such as Razorlight and Just Jack. I also obtained DJ residencies in Manchester, which gave me change to air the music I had been writing at the school in my own time.
On the home front, there is so much to choose from. South Manchester or the fringes of the city centre are where the majority of Manchester's huge student population tend to reside, where the accommodation is most affordable, safe, and has excellent transport links. Fallowfield and Withington are the main student areas of the city and with a bus from there to town literally every minute and a weekly pass costing as little as about a fiver you quickly become used to 'nipping into town' - even just for a coffee.
While you train you may want to earn some extra cash in your spare time. Many M.M.S students take on part time work such as shifts in one of the hundreds of bars the city centre has to offer or P.R / flyering jobs for clubnights - a great way to get in free on your nights out and meet people in the music scene.
When I look back over the last 9 years I can honestly say that moving to Manchester made me what I am today in the music industry - things would have been very different had I stayed in Yorkshire and now I cant help but feel like an honorary citizen of this fine city. As they say round here... 'you can take the man out of Manchester, but you cant take Manchester out of the man'
For more info on Tom Lonsborough check here - myspace.com/dieterandthegadabouts