Sounds and visions

Let’s meet the band.

On vocals we have programme leader Dr Michael Austin (MA), with Dr George Meikle (GM) and Dr James Millea (JM) on percussion and trumpet. They are the power trio at the heart of Edge Hill’s music production degree, and they’re here to talk about their lives in music.

So, how did you find your way into music?

MA: I grew up in rural West Texas. I heard a cassette tape my grandmother had of legendary American pianist Van Cliburn. I went on to learn how to play the piano and later the pipe organ in high school, and I continued to study and perform piano, organ, and voice through university. I’ve always wanted to play the guitar, though, because it’s a lot easier to carry around.

GM: I did play the cornet as a small child, but don’t recall a particularly strong desire to do so. That came at age 11 when I began learning the drums in secondary school.

JM: My mother loved singer-songwriters, and my father was into Irish rock bands, so it was always playing in our house. I was interested in taking up the guitar, but found my way into playing the trumpet in primary school, after my name was picked out of a hat.

Can you remember the first piece of music you could play?
MA: At my first piano recital as a six-year-old, I played an old Hank Williams song from 1949, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.
GM: On the cornet, probably something like Yankee Doodle; on the drums, I think Blur’s Song 2.
JM: Some sort of brass band piece. There was a community of concert, marching, and jazz bands in my hometown.

First live experiences?
MA: The first time I experienced a live concert was when I was 12 or 13; it wasn’t until I was at university that I attended a concert of professional classical musicians.
GM: Local small-town gigs aside, Blink-182 at the Manchester Arena in 2004, the Untitled album tour.
JM: Listening to soul, jazz, funk, and R&B groups in Ireland. Hearing these genres live early in life is probably why they’re still so important to me.

Did you form a band or join the school orchestra?
MA: I was in my school’s marching band, concert band, and choirs. I played keyboard instruments with my university’s orchestra. As a choral singer and soloist, I’ve performed throughout the US, Mexico, Canada and Brazil. And as an active composer/arranger, I’ve written for chamber ensembles, choirs, soloists, film, and new media.
GM: As a teenager I played drums in punk bands as well as the school swing band. As my interests moved towards electronic music, I performed as a DJ and solo live electronic musician, and founded the University of Salford’s Adelphi Laptop Ensemble.
JM: Growing up, I was in a brass band, marching and concert band, and an orchestra. Later, we started our own 10-piece ensemble. I still perform with groups in both Ireland and the UK.

Music can take you from the sublime to the ridiculous in a couple of bars…
GM: Brett Domino/Rob J Madin’s music is as hilarious as it is good.
JM: Neil Young’s After the Goldrush (1970) never fails to strike a chord. And new, brilliant music that can just knock you down comes out every week. Kendrick Lamar’s music is breathtaking, as is work from the likes of IDLES, Dave, and Joy Crookes.

Who – or what – changed your life musically?
MA: My choir and a chamber orchestra performed Yves Klein’s Symphonie Monoton-Silence. We all sang or played and held our assigned note within a C Major chord for 2 minutes; after 2 minutes of silence, we performed and sustained the same note for 20 minutes, and then sat in silence starring back at the audience for 20 minutes. It’s still my favourite gig.
GM: My interest in composing, producing, and performing electronic music came at the height of dubstep in the late 2000s. My first track as a solo artist can still be found in the depths of the internet.
JM: My grandfather always talked about the brilliance of music although he wasn’t a performer. Listening to him I realised why music should be in our lives.

What have been the game-changers for you?
MA: Music streaming has really democratised the music industry and opened it up to everyone.
GM: The laptop and digital audio workstation (DAW) software: the bedroom producer is born.
JM: The internet. Our ability to create music and share it with the world has changed how we think about music.

Why do you love working in the studio with students?
MA: I love exposing them to new ideas, research, music, and networks. Our course offers students a real, hands-on experience.
GM: Music-making appeals to me as a form of creative and technical experimentation. I enjoy seeing students develop their skills and creative outputs, learning new things from them along the way.
JM: From the moment they step on campus they’re growing as performers or producers or engineers. It’s a pleasure because I get a glimpse of where music will head next, just before we get there.

Musical talent or a passion for music?
JM: A passion for what you do always leads to new abilities. There’s little that time and focus won’t overcome in music at university level.

Finally, music – why?
MA: Music taps into a wide range of emotions. Estonian Arvo Pärt is my favourite composer because all of his music is very moving, and deeply meaningful to me.
GM: To try to summarise its role in a few sentences would be reductive. Perhaps this problem in itself is as good an example as any of the power of music.
JM: It’s really for whatever the person who creates it or the person who listens to it says that it’s for.

March 12, 2025