Tim Hawes
Biog
Tim Hawes is a senior lecturer and subject specialist on the Creative Artist pathway at ACM.
His industry career has been and still is as a songwriter, writing songs for other artists. As such he has written and produced songs for many top artists including The Spice Girls, Five, Hearsay and Sugababes amongst others and has achieved 5 No 1 singles, and in excess of 10 million album sales.
He is also a proud recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello award for songwriting for the song “Pure and Simple” for Hearsay. Tim also runs a small music publishing company with a focus on the Asian music market within which he has secured major releases with many of the top J and K pop artists.
He has taught on degree programmes for the past 7 years and as well as working as a music industry educator, Tim plays an active role in mentoring new writers through writing camps and workshops.
Tutor Details
Campus
GuildfordTutor Discipline
Creative Artist TutorsCourse(s)
Commercial SongwritingInterview
Hi, I’m Tim Hawes.
I am a subject specialist for the Creative Artist pathway at the ACM. This role involves me having a complete overview of the pathway and the modules that a student would study over their journey through levels 4,5 & 6 on the degree course and understanding the progression across the levels in terms of skills and knowledge development. This comprehensive overview also means that I am able to best advise prospective students who may be considering studying on the pathway, providing them with an in depth breakdown of the modules, their narratives and assessment strategies, as well as being able to discuss how the pathway links to career opportunities. Once studying at ACM, I am also able to support students with any questions or concerns that they have over the course of their studies.
Furthermore, being a subject specialist means that I have the opportunity to be involved in curriculum development, masterclass offerings and extra curricular activities to ensure that the ACM stays relevant, adaptive to industry trends and opportunities and career focused.
My industry career has been and still is as a songwriter, writing songs for other artists. As such I have written and produced songs for many top artists including The Spice Girls, Five, Hearsay and Sugababes amongst others and have achieved 5 No 1 singles, in excess of 10 million album sales and I am the proud recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello award for songwriting. I also run a small music publishing company with a focus on the Asian music market within which we are achieved considerable success.. I have also hosted songwriting camps domestically and internationally as a mentor.
The Creative Artist pathway at the ACM is designed to provide the skills and knowledge appropriate to the recording / performing artist and songwriters looking to undertake a career pathway within the music industry. As such, the modules provide learning in each of the key ares associated with this area of employment / self employment within the industry, specifically songwriting, music production, musicianship, performance, music business, branding and marketing, equipping students with all the tools needed to successfully navigate such a career pathway.
The audition process for the Creative Artist pathway provides the perfect opportunity for you to make sure that the ACM is the right fit for you as a creative and for the ACM to make sure that you’re the right fit as a student. The audition process itself calls upon you to perform one original composition to demonstrate songwriting skills as well as playback a recorded piece of work to demonstrate production / DAW skills. You will also have to answer a selection of music theory questions in order to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals, such as major/minor scales, basic harmony, key signatures and time signatures. Equally importantly, you will have the chance to tell us about yourself, your aims and ambitions, and your artistry.
In terms of preparing for your audition, simple as it may sound, just be yourself….no two creatives are the same and we have no pre-conceived idea of how you should be as a person, songwriter or artist. Try and relax before your audition as I promise it will was less scary than you might be thinking. Take time to warm up your voice and tune your instrument too so as to minimise stress during the audition!
As a subject specialist I am able to support students both in advance of starting their studies at the ACM and during their studies. I can offer prospective students a comprehensive overview of the creative artist pathway, broken down module by module as well as information on masterclasses, industry events and extra curricular activities. During their studies I can provide students with support in successfully navigating their degree programme and pathway in both an academic and industry facing capacity.
Being a subject specialist is important to me as it gives me the chance to bring my 25 years as an industry professional to the table and have a voice in developing the overall shape of the creative artist pathway, helping to ensure that content is relevant, current and career focused. It also means that students can have a pathway specific point of contact who can support them throughout the course of their journey at the ACM, and hopefully support their transition into industry.
For me the ACM stands out due it’s amazing teaching team made up of industry professionals with a huge individual and collective wealth of skills and knowledge to share with students. Couple this with well established industry network to which the ACM is closely connected and the cutting edge facilities on campus, it’s hard to beat.
For those looking for a career in the creative industries, my top piece of advice is don’t wait for others to initiate and facilitate your professional journey; instead, actively create luck and opportunity by being the best you can be at what you do, have a good work ethic, enthusiasm and great communication skills.
