One of the biggest strengths here at Point Blank are our expert instructors. We don’t use the term ‘expert’ lightly, so we ensure that all of our instructors live up to the description. We’re constantly on the lookout for high-quality additions to our team, and we’ve been delighted to welcome a new batch of fantastic singers, writers, composers, producers and engineers this term. As always, all have demonstrable success in their field. We thought it a great time to introduce you to the newest members of the family, so please welcome our new instructors. The links contained herein will direct you to the specific areas they teach, but if you’d like the broadest range of tuition look no further than our degree programmes both in London and Online.
Jan Kybert – Mixing (London)
Jan works with artists on big record labels as well as the independents to deliver inspired and exciting production and mixes, with a discography that includes credits for artists like Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Oasis, KT Tunstall, Erland and the Carnival, Massive Attack and many more.
He has dedicated a lot of his time over the last few years producing and mixing for Paul Weller which resulted in the 2012 number 1 album “Sonik Kicks” and an incredibly successful live production of the whole album that Paul toured round the USA, Canada and Europe.
Writing with and developing new artists has always been important to Stan so signing a publishing deal with Bucks music and working with Flash Taylor has led to many new exciting projects.
James Wilson-Rhead – Music Composition (Online)
James Wilson-Rhead creates music for the concert hall, theatre, and to accompany film, television, and animation. He has collaborated with many brands including: Sony PlayStation, 3M, Chevrolet, Nestlé, Branston, and Caesar. His music has also been used in performances and installations at the National Gallery, Tank Museum, and the London Transport Museum.
He collaborated with director Nicholas Roeg to create music and sound design for Sir Tim Ackroyd’s West End play, “The Fuse”, and has had the pleasure of assisting Hollywood composers Danny Elfman and Patrick Doyle in their work.
Frank McWeeny – Future Trends of Radio (London)
Frank McWeeny has been defining his path as a radio presenter and club DJ ever since he was old enough to get into a studio. Receiving praise from Annie Mac and Gilles Peterson, French Toast Radio is syndicated in more than twenty-five countries across four continents. Frank also presents and produces DJ Mag’s monthly radio show.
Taking his love for all things groovy onto the dancefloor, you can see him sharing his infectious grooves in the UK and around the globe.
Frank also works for BBC Audio Operations; as a sound engineer and studio director for live radio shows on Radio4, 5live, World Service, Radio1 and Asian Network.
Other experiences include assistant producer at Somethin’Else, voice over on Apple Music’s French output and conducting panel interviews or translating at music festivals across Europe.
https://soundcloud.com/frankfrenchtoast
Chris James – Songwriting (London)
Back in the day Chris performed on DJ Shadow’s Outsider LP and was part of his worldwide tour. He was singer-songwriter in UK electro band Stateless, with whom he’s collaborated with the likes of My Brightest Diamond, The Balanescu Quartet & cutting edge visual artists Field. As a solo artist, he’s collaborated with artists such as DM Stith, DJ Cam and Berlin house label SUOL. As a composer he has produced work for international brands including Facebook, Film 4, Channel 4, Virgin Media and MSN as well as Film & TV shows such as CSI, Parenthood, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Continuum, Coast and Dragon’s Den.
Claude Ruelle – Advanced Composition (London and Online)
Claude started his career as a guitarist, performing with French jazz artists such as Pierre-Alain Goualch, Jean-Marie Viguier; and hip-hop artist C10 alongside producer Reggy Kwei (Universal Music). He, later on, created the soundtrack for the game “Penguin Tales” by DabStudio7 and for “My Time at Portia”: Pathea Games’ next release for PC, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Yannis Iliopoulos – Record Deals and Branding (London)
Yannis Iliopoulos is a business-oriented, and global-focused music professional with a strong background in Entertainment Law, Digital Marketing and New Business Models. He has a solid experience of music licensing and has worked extensively on all types of music contracts, including many international synchronisation deals.
Yannis is also the founder and director of The Sound Of Everything Records, which, since 2004, has successfully signed up more than 50 different artists from around the world, building up a catalogue of more than 200 releases.
Yannis also runs Timespace Music Publishing, which is the publishing arm of his record label. Yannis has an academic background, having studied Physics at Imperial College and Mathematics at King’s College and currently teaching Music Business and Marketing courses in the UK.
https://www.thesoundofeverything.uk/music
Roberta Bruno – Singing (London)
Roberta, known as “BB”, recently signed to Ambassador Records / Foottapping (i.e. Imelda May). She has trained herself for more than 15 years in Vocology / Vocal Pedagogy / Phoniatry. Roberta is a highly regarded Vocal coach in the UK and EU. Her own method is a breakthrough in developing pro voices to the top and promoting their health utilising the most advanced techniques.
John Davies – Music Composition (London)
Originally trained in classical composition, John Davies has worked as a producer, mixer, musical director and bassist for numerous artists including Freddie Dickson, Vanessa White, Riot Jazz, Karima Francis, Sylva Kay and film composers Chris Roe and Sarah Warne. John has recorded and performed in countless studios and venues throughout London and Europe, working for Sony, Warner, Universal, BMG, Channel4, BBC, Vevo and Mahogany, with TV syncs on ITV, Sky, C4 and CBS.
https://soundcloud.com/goldaksound
Ellie Lawson – Music Industry (London)
Championed by Ellen Degeneres when she was signed to Atlantic records in the USA, Ellie has managed her own Singer-Songwriter career with her own label, had a 5 year sponsorship with Quiksilver and has achieved many top 10 Beatport releases in the Trance genre.
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** Editors note: Things have moved on significantly since this article was published 🙂 Please head to our blog homepage for the very latest updates from Point Blank.