Students Set Up Music Society

Students from AMATA have set up a music society called Fern Sessions, showcasing student artists and organising monthly performances in front of a live audience.

Fern Sessions have established links locally and nationally in order to create the best opportunities for their musicians, with live sessions recorded at BBC Introducing, Radio St Austell Bay and Source FM. Their artists have also performed at various local venues and festivals and some have been booked for UK tours.

Matt Woolley, Fern Sessions President and Music BA(Hons) student, said: "We set up Fern Sessions because we wanted somewhere for musicians of all styles and genres to be able to showcase their talent, not only to a live audience but to the wider world via our website, YouTube and social media.

"One of our bands from our May launch session, Horses on The Beach, have performed at several festivals over the summer including Parklife, Wonder Fields and Kindred Spirits. Another band, Bonetired, have also had a very successful summer which included a UK tour and a three-day session at Cube Recording Studios; renowned for working with the likes of the Sugababes and Ronan Keating."

One of the major aims of Fern Sessions is to build strong links with local music promoters, in order to cement the key skill of networking into their artists' repertoire. Matt explained: "Although many musicians have experience in advertising and promoting their music, networking is a very different skill and one that is not easy to master. This is especially true if you are trying to get your music heard by big corporations.

"Our goal with Fern Sessions is to create a friendly and helpful platform for student musicians to get noticed by these corporations and give our fellow composers a helping hand. These sessions would not be possible without the guidance given by the AMATA staff and technicians, the amazing students who have volunteered and the fantastic equipment available to us at Falmouth."

In terms of further endeavours, the society have a lot of exciting ideas and opportunities for their members. This includes collaboration possibilities with other societies, a Fern Sessions digital album by the end of the academic year and future sessions in November, February and March.

Discover more about the artists and the events on the Ferns Sessions website.