South London duo, Fika, came to college to do a special workshop with Music Performance and Production students giving them a fantastic insight into how they build their tracks in the studio.
Fika, consisting of Sam and Al, have been described as a combination of Frank Ocean, John Mayer and Tom Misch and are rapidly carving their own path within the UK R&B scene. Over the last year their releases have been featured on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, BBC London Introducing, New Music Friday UK, Spotify's Chill Vibes & R&B UK, and their song, Make You Feel, has had over 4million plays on Spotify.
The duo formed three years ago and have quickly developed their songwriting and studio skills, making them the perfect example for students to show how they can put their studies and skills into action.
The workshop took place in the new Music Mac Suite, which features 20 new Apple Macs, all installed with the latest editing software.
Taking a guitar solo by 2nd year student Axel French, other students were given the chance to add extra vocal, guitar and keyboard layers, which Al and Sam then mixed to produce a completed track using the Logic Pro software the students have been using in their lessons.
Workshops with professional musicians and technicians give students a greater understanding of the music industry, providing them with practical knowledge and skills to use in their future careers.
David Nicholas, Teacher of Music, said:
'The boys from Fika delivered a brilliant workshop that gave our first and second year music students the opportunity to see first-hand how accessible it is for them to create and produce their own music. Al and Sam were able to utilise the talents of several of our students to compose and record their own original parts, culminating in an impressive result as well as many ideas for them all to use in future. They have also really inspired many of our students to start releasing their own music, looking towards a potential career in the music industry.'
Year 1 Music student, Joe Ryder, said: “I found the session really helpful, relevant, and inspiring to be a part of. The session was really relaxed which allowed us all to get stuck in and be as creative as possible. One aspect of the lesson that I found particularly useful was editing and arranging all the different tracks in Logic. I had a bit of knowledge of this already, but the advice that Fika gave opened my eyes to new possibilities, making the processes that I had learnt before far simpler. I also found the collaborative feel of the session really exciting, as many of us input into the creation of a new track, making it more inclusive. I would definitely like to take part in a similar workshop in the future, as I feel it has really helped my learning and improved my understanding of the course."
