"I have learned to be fully explorative of my work, embracing opportunities that can occur even if they are completely different to what I think they are."
Art Banymandhub - MMus Creative Musician (now MA Music)
Art Banymandhub is a solo electric bassist and double bassist born in Mauritius and studying on the MMus Creative Musician postgraduate degree (now MA Music) at Leeds College of Music (now Leeds Conservatoire).
As well as working as a session musician, he is a composer, arranger, and writer of instrumental music. His music aims to combine image and audio in order to immerse listeners with multi-sensory experiences.
Art graduated in summer 2019.
What was your musical / academic background before undertaking the course and why did you choose to study at Masters level?
Before commencing my studies on the postgraduate programme I had undertaken a BMus music degree and a PGCE in Primary education. Since 2010 I had been working as a performing and session player in Leeds, Bristol, and Bath and had begun making a stable name for myself in these areas as a session player.
In 2015 I began working on my own solo project, Art Banymandhub Music, wanting to express my thoughts through instrumental bass guitar and looped works.
I wanted to push myself into developing my creative thinking and career prospects in my projects in order to define myself as an artist and musician. The programme offered me a structured and supportive environment to explore and challenge different avenues, comparing these to my practice using thought processes I may not have encountered on my own.
What has been the most important thing you've learned at Leeds Conservatoire?
So far on the MMus course, I have learned to be fully explorative of my work, embracing opportunities that can occur even if they are completely different to what I think they are. This has developed not only my appreciation for all styles but my understanding of how to incorporate diversity within my own genre.
What are you plans after you have graduated the course?
After this postgraduate programme, I want to continue to strive to be a self-sufficient composer and performer, utilizing my education background to create school workshops and adult opportunities to explore musical creation.
I will be starting my company with a co-partner that I met whilst on the course and we will be aiming to launch ourselves in the summer of this year.
Finally, I aim to launch myself back into my session work, building upon the information and experiences gained on this course, developing my repertoire more, and using critical reflection to push myself further.
How has the course helped you develop as an artist and what skills have you built on from your undergraduate study / previous experience?
The programme has developed me as an artist in many ways. Firstly, I have come to refine my image and identify myself as a composer of instrumental works, something I was unsure about before. This has enabled me to use this identity to plan my future with a vision in mind.
Refining my session work, I have explored unconventional techniques in order to see what flavours and colours can be added to songs and the recording process, playing for the song at all times.
Finally, I have also developed my musical relationship with technology, using critical reflection and peer support to challenge my understanding of the wider technologies that can be used to explore the bass guitar as a solo instrument. Having started this process, I am happy to continue learning and building upon this use of technology, understanding that this is a constant learning curve in an ever-developing industry.
What is the best piece of advice you've been given at Leeds Conservatoire?
Perhaps the most striking advice I was given came in a guest masterclass where we were told, "it took less than 1 megabyte of technology to send humans to the moon and back. So how much can we achieve with today's technology?" This has stayed with me as I use FX and loops to explore my role as a solo instrumentalist.
What has been the best project / opportunity you've had during your course?
Having to choose just one is tricky but for me, the best opportunity that I have had is to work with an artist and graphic score designer in order to create a politically themed musical installation. This has since progressed and we are now working together to set up a company in order to pursue this further.
What has been the biggest challenge and how has this helped you develop?
My biggest challenge began by identifying myself as a composer. As trivial as this sounds, I believe this was one of the barriers in my career as I was not confident in my abilities to compose and thus did not sell myself as what I was.
By taking the step to identify as a composer I have gained a greater appreciation for what I do, practising, researching, and developing my craft to find my place within the industry. So far on the course this has included creating an installation combing real-world news media, solo bass, and collaborative artwork. Additionally, I am now exploring the role of midi programming within solo bass guitar composition.
What is your favourite Leeds Conservatoire Memory?
My favourite moment so far on the course so far was the ability to collaborate with a craft artist and composer to realise my musical installation tackling real-world events. We worked extremely well together and are now working towards creating a company to continue our work together.
What advice would you give to others thinking of applying to the postgraduate course at Leeds Conservatoire?
When applying for this course I was initially drawn to the combination of styles, genres, and backgrounds that everyone would have within the cohort. My advice would be to embrace these differences on the course as they have led me to work and create with some amazing artists in a way that I feel is quite unique to the Leeds Conservatoire programme.
How would you describe your experience at Leeds Conservatoire in three words?
Insightful, Open, and Progressive
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