WaterBear’s Sheffield campus will play host to famous indie band The Hoosiers on 5th February for a songwriting masterclass. The Hoosiers @thehoosiersuk, made up of Irwin Sparkes and Al Sharland, will be deconstructing their hugely famous single ‘Goodbye Mr. A’ for our students, taking them through what went into writing the single, which went platinum and reached No.4 on the UK charts.

The Hoosiers

The Hoosiers are an indie rock band from the UK, formed in 2003. They came to prominence during the noughties with their debut album, ‘The Trick To Life’, which featured some real hit singles, such as the aforementioned ‘Goodbye Mr. A’, as well as ‘Worried About Ray’ and ‘Cops or Robbers’. Whilst the band have gone through various line-ups over the years, Irwin and Al have remained the sole constant, guiding the band through their debut release, leaving both RCA Records and Sony Music, and their first independent release. Having been involved with the music industry for over 20 years, both Irwin and Al have valuable insight into the complex nature of the modern world of music, and both would have been witnessed to the changing developments on the industry. Their valuable insight into not just songwriting, but music generally, will be an incredible boon to any aspiring musician.

Songwriting Masterclass

The masterclass, taking place on the 5th February 2024, will see Irwin and Al deconstruct their iconic hit ‘Goodbye Mr. A’ to a room of WaterBear students. Taking them through the original files of the track, the pair will discuss what exactly went into making such a hugely successful song, with WaterBear students being privy to the choices and decisions that delivered the final product. Many of the students will be studying one of WaterBear’s several songwriting courses, so the chance to learn about the process of making a hit single, from those who made it, will be a hugely engaging opportunity for those students. Following on from this talk, there will be a Q&A session, where the students will have a chance to get ask Irwin & Al questions about the industry. The day will culminate in a small acoustic session by the band, performing ‘Goodbye Mr. A’. WaterBears can sign up on Beebop.

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WaterBear is a College of Falmouth University, a pioneer in creative industries education, entrepreneurship and innovation. Run by musicians, for musicians we are about smaller class sizes, flexible course delivery, bespoke one-to-one mentoring and exclusive work experience and career development opportunities.