A DJ school with some huge names on board is coming to Manchester – and it’s completely free

International female DJ Lisa Lashes is bringing something very special to Manchester.

The Lisa Lashes School of Music is for anybody that’s serious about getting involved in the music industry and offers first class, hands on experience taught by industry professionals.

The 12-week school is taught by accredited tutors and industry professionals. And with Lisa calling in favours from her black book of DJ pals, you can expect a ton of famous faces from the DJ world visiting the school for some masterclasses.

Covering a range of areas to ensure students have all the skills required to break onto the DJ scene, the curriculum covers DJ training, music production, event management, radio presenting, social media management, media training, music journalism, contracts, invoicing and marketing.

“We split the course into four areas,” Lisa told us. “We do music production, DJ sessions, personal profiling and event management. With the personal profiling we help set all of our students up with the platforms and info they need to get into the music industry.

“But we’re not just a music school. We teach our students how to use social media. We bring special guest speakers in for music journalism and radio broadcasting. We take people to local radio stations. We just give our students everything that we possibly can to offer them an oversight and introduction into the music business.

“We teach them how to write emails and newsletters. They’ll all create their own biog. Everything they need to start at ground level. Excel sheets, invoicing and all that boring stuff. In this industry you’ve got to be an entrepreneur really across the board and we cover it all.”

This isn’t just your average music school. Lisa and her team recognise that individual and personalised attention is paramount to the school’s success so each student’s unique abilities and needs are taken into consideration to ensure everyone is taught to the best of their ability.

“We’ve had some students with ADHD and autism and because it’s a creative space and not like a normal school sat at desks all day, they seem to just fit in really well with everyone. We’ll look at every student individually and offer one-on-one sessions in specific areas.”

The course doesn’t cost a penny and is available to anyone aged 16 and over. And some of Lisa’s past students have even been in their 50’s and 60’s.

“We had a couple who were both 53 who were really interested in broadcasting so I took them round to Northampton Live and now they have a monthly radio show there together. They’re on in the evening on a Friday and it’s just amazing.

“Whether you’re employed or out of work and on the dole, we can pretty much fund anybody through the school – which is exactly how I wanted it to be. There’s DJ courses out there that cost upwards of nine grand or so and I don’t think they even cover half the stuff that we do. I don’t want to turn anyone away.”

The school also has plans for some special guests to join them when it starts in Manchester later this month.

“We’re hoping fingers crossed that Carl Cox will come in when he’s back in the UK – also the Solardo boys – and we’ve spoken to some DJ managers who’re happy to get some of their clients along.

“We also have Manchester’s night-time economy advisor Sacha Lord working with us – and all of his connections through the Warehouse Project.

“I’ve got a massive book of people that i’ve met in the industry over the past 25 years and thankfully I’ve been nice to everyone so hopefully I can get some of them to come in.”

Once students complete the course, the school will represent them as a non-exclusive agency.

“After the course we become a non-exclusive agency for our students who want to get on the DJ scene. We put them on the website, create them a press pack and link to all of their socials and we send that out to all the producers and see if anyone is interested in any of them.

“As long as the demand is there we’ll continue to run the courses in Manchester – so although we’re starting up this month anyone who wants to apply should fill in the form and get in touch with us.”

The Lisa Lashes School of Music launches in Manchester on 26th February 2019. Registration is open for anyone wishing to apply for the course.

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