Queen, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Blur, and the Chemical Brothers. Some of the biggest and most influential bands in the UK – and they all formed while at university.More recently, the trend has changed. With the exception of Alt-J and London Grammar, there’s been a noticable lack of bands taking their sound from student halls to concert halls. University should be the perfect time for hobby players to practice, network, and take their bands to the next level – so whatever happened to great student bands? Young people certainly haven’t lost interest in picking up an instrument and trying out a few chords: research by Trinity College London found that 76% of children say they know how to play an instrument; with the take-up of electric guitar and drums overtaking traditional orchestral instruments. However today’s students face a problem that the likes of Queen never had: fees. Freddie Mercury may have been able to study art and graphic design for a pittance, but in 2015, students endure annual tuition fees of £9,000 and much higher living costs.
“It’s not a lack of desire,” says Matt Kilsby, a civil engineering student at Bath University and a drummer. “But attitudes have changed and people want a safety net. It’s all about getting a first in your degree. None of us are willing to allow our marks to take a hit as a result of the band.”
Murray Calders, master’s student and bassist of rock band Giovanni L’Immigrato, says: “Because you’re paying so much money, it feels sort of stupid to spend your time doing anything else.
“If I were working instead of studying, I’d have a more regular schedule and more time to dedicate.”
It’s not difficult to see how an increase in tuition fees can lead to greater pressure to perform well academically. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the last huge band to form at university, Coldplay, was formed shortly before student fees became the norm. Missing lectures for practice isn’t quite as easy when the haunting figure of £9,000 looms over you and time “wasted” can be given a price tag.
Talented students find they simply can’t cope with the publicity and practice work needed. Individual musicians may find time to practice often, but assembling band members with different schedules is tougher.
“You have to be super-dedicated,” says singer and drummer Nick Rupp, a mechanical engineering student. “I put myself out there, talked to some people, but nothing came of it. I didn’t keep chasing it up because there’s so much else I have to do.”
Even when bands do manage to get up and running, it’s become hard to get student audiences to go to their gigs. The increase in online music consumption has been damaging, and it hits especially hard when bands have a constrained timescale and budget.
Cash-strapped students are reluctant to support live music, especially when the bill comprises new and untried acts .
“The biggest problem is getting the audiences in to watch,” claims Henry Voge, the outgoing president of Exeter’s music society. “People prefer to go to club nights. Students aren’t confident that they’ll have a better night with us, so they would rather drink at home than pay to drink at a bar where bands are playing.”
Of course if moderate success does come for a student band, then graduation may bring it to an abrupt end. “When students graduate, that’s pretty much all ties and commitments cut; including bands,” says Bristol’s LiveSoc’s treasurer Joe Sawkins. “It’s very hard to get around that.”
Frequently graduates go off to other parts of the world in search of work. Although the north-west keeps hold of 70% of its graduates, averages across the UK suggest that roughly half of students leave the region in which they originally studied, with many forced to move back home.
Maybe one of this generation’s student bands will battle through and make the big time. But if they don’t, it won’t be too hard to see why.
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