Student Success – June 2013

Every month we bring you the best of our student successes, individuals who have utilised the knowledge they’ve gained during their time at Point Blank to make their own mark on the music industry. Check out this month’s successful student stories…

Paul Whelan – Electronic Music Composition Course

DJ and producer Paul Whelan aka Foolboyz studied the Electronic Music Composition course earlier this year. Paul recently set up a specialist dance music internet radio station called Brick Lane Radio which focuses on showcasing some of East London’s best DJs and producers.

Paul’s DJ/producer act Foolboyz will be taking up a residency with I am Rockstar this month and Brick Lane Radio will be doing live broadcasts from various East London venues from July. Take a listen to one of their mixes below…

James Wright – Music Production & Sound Engineering Diploma

James Wright aka Wryhta is a London based DJ and producer who is currently studying the Music Production and Sound Engineering Diploma. Since joining Point Blank, James has taken advantage of the exclusive opportunities on offer, including working at Brick Lane radio with fellow student Paul Whelan. He says “The course has been amazing for me. When I started I had barely touched a sequencer. Four months down the line, I know Logic almost inside out. I think the key for me has been the interaction between the student and teacher. They are always there to help out share everything they know about music with you, which is an incredible thing. The opportunity for working at Brick Lane radio would not have arisen if it was not for studying at Point Blank”.

With a DJ residency at Manchester’s Joshua Brooks and over 5 years experience DJing in some of the best venues festivals in the city including Sankeys and Parklife, James turned his attention to producing and is keen to add progressive elements to his tracks. He says “Whether it is progressive house or trance, I just really love that feeling of a song building up to a massive climax. The way people react to this type of music fascinates and excites me but I want to push the progressive sounds further and try to create new sounds within this genre that have not been used before”. Check out a preview of his track ‘Ekho’ below…

Brick Lane radio will be hosting shows from Ibiza this summer and have recently been in talks with US radio station Radio Xenu to discuss the possibility of a joint venture. Watch this space!

To catch James’ show ‘Progressions’ on Brick Lane radio head over to their site at http://www.bricklaneradio.com

Cis Cuypers – Sound Engineering Award: Logic Pro / Deep and Soulful House / Mixing Dance Music / Electronic Music Composition

Hailing from Belgium Cis Cuypers studied the Sound Engineering Award, Electronic Music Composition, Mixing Dance Music and Deep and Soulful House courses. He says “The courses were really great and very practical. It was good to get taught by people who are all professionals who know everything about the industry instead of people who read a book on it. For me, this is what separates Point Blank from the rest”. After leaving Point Blank Cis wasted no time in his search for a job in the music industry and immediately began emailing every studio he could find. It didn’t take long for Galaxy studios to offer him a 3 month internship. It was there that he met producer Emilio Fernandez who had previously worked as A&R for Black Hole Records.

Cis then handed him a few demos and was offered a contract a few weeks later. Emilio was so impressed his productions that he invited him to co-produce some of his own tracks for his new album due out next year. Once his internship at Galaxy had ended they offered him a job as a Junior Sound Editor and Cis is now currently involved with helping them develop a new audio format which they created themselves called Auro 3D. Cis says [Auro 3D] is rapidly growing to be the new format for cinema sound. To ensure that there is lots of 3D content coming [Galaxy Studios] are expanding the facilities with fully equipped 3D editing suites so I’m really excited to be part of that”.

Cis’ track ‘Stations to the Avant Garde’ is due out this week on Black Hole Records. Take a listen…