Tim Pike

Course Leader and Senior Lecturer

Tim studied music at Breton Hall College starting on oboe but switching to bass guitar midway through. He is a multi-instrumentalist playing bass guitar, guitar, keys, saxes and double bass.

After graduating he embarked on a career as a session musician and teacher. As both a music-reader and improviser, Tim has performed in theatres in the UK, recording sessions in London, playing for theatre shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and many jazz gigs. He was invited to teach at two of the institutions that he had previously studied at, and teaching became the dominant passion. After completing his MA in 1994, Tim began full-time teaching at LIPA in 1995. Since then, as well as teaching, Tim has mainly focused on jazz gigs on bass guitar for pleasure. He also turned his hand to other varied projects including the pre-production and recording of music played at The Beatles Story exhibition, to performing with China Crisis, and editing the music manuscript for Bill Bailey’s songbook. He can currently be found playing bass in two big bands (one with a weekly residency), and also holding the bass chair at the Liverpool Jazz Club’s monthly sessions.

Steve Parker

Senior Lecturer

Steve’s professional career includes production, songwriting, remixing, session playing, engineering, mixing, arranging and composition. As a writer and producer Steve worked in partnership with Pete Waterman for over a decade, developing projects and achieving releases on all major record labels (BMG, Sony, Warner, EMI, Universal, Jive/Zomba) and working on music projects for national TV and live events. Steve has achieved numerous top 40 singles and albums, attaining 11 platinum album sales. As a remixer, credits include well-known names such as Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue along with many more underground artists, achieving numerous number 1 dance chart positions. Steve believes that listening to and analysis of a wide range of material, coupled with a solid theoretical understanding is key to broadening your understanding of songwriting and of production and arrangement. His extensive experience helps students develop the practical skills and the work ethic and judgment required for a professional career.

Steve leads sessions in songwriting and in music production, delivering lectures, practical workshops, seminars and one-to-one sessions. He takes a practical task-based approach to teaching and developing skills and holds dear the belief that being able to realise your songs and musical ideas as effective demos is vital for any musician working in the music industry today.

Steve’s professional industry experience informs all aspects of his teaching, experiences such as working to deadlines, making decisions, understanding commercial briefs, analysing and understanding unfamiliar styles of music, and being able to realise commercially viable products are central to the experiences he tries to create for students. Steve is acutely aware that while you’re not always fortunate enough to work on what you want, what you create still has to be musically effective.

Clare Canty

Teaching Fellow

Clare has been teaching for more than 20 years and singing for even longer. She has worked as a studio session singer, live backing vocalist and radio DJ, as well as writing and recording her own songs. In the 1990s, she fronted dance act Lucid, achieving top 40 singles and performing on Top of the Pops. Having experienced the ‘pop star lifestyle’, Clare understands the fun-side and challenges involved in such things as media attention and giving interviews, live TV, club PAs, photo shoots, making videos and touring. In her teaching she uses a holistic approach, combining physical exercises and confidence building techniques to help each singer find and express their own unique voice.

Peter Fairclough

Teaching Fellow

As a freelance drummer for 40 years, among the many artists Peter has worked with are Ute Lemper, John Harle and Keith Tippett. He has experience in theatre, film, TV, big band and recording and has released five albums of his own music. Peter has played across Europe, Canada, Hong Kong and India and attended the Drum Fantasy Camp in Chicago where he studied with Mark Guiliana, Antonio Sanchez, Virgil Donati and Dave Weckl. Peter continues to record with the Discus Music label.

Peter teaches weekly one-to-one drum lessons. He delivers a syllabus he has created especially for LIPA that is designed to produce creative, professional drummers who can prove themselves worthy of a degree. The lessons are based on a playlist of classic recordings.

In preparing students for their professional careers, Peter teaches classic grooves, interpreting the snare drum rudiments for the kit, co-ordination and reading – all of which he has called upon in his career.

Martin Smith

Teaching Fellow

With over 25 years of professional experience, Martin’s recording credits include The Coral, Super Furry Animals and The Lightning Seeds, among many others. Martin is a lifetime member of cult jazz-punk beat combo The Wizards of Twiddly, and has toured extensively in Europe with The Muffin Men (Frank Zappa tribute band) and The BrassHoppers, a New Orleans-style street band. Outside teaching, Martin’s main focus is The Weave, an internationally-acclaimed jazz sextet. His experience of playing with groups of all genres means he has a good understanding of what’s required to become a high-functioning and valuable member of any ensemble.

Mike Smith

Teaching Fellow

A saxophone and keyboard player with over 20 years of experience, among the artists Mike has worked with are Elkie Brooks, Tony Hadley, Kid Creole, Heather Small, ABC and Sandi Thom. He is sax and keys player for international brand Cream, performing as part of its Cream Classics shows with K-Klass and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Mike teaches one-to-one saxophone lessons. 

Paul Walker

Teaching Fellow

Paul has been a professional musician and music lecturer for over 30 years. He has worked as an official demonstrator and product specialist for Korg (UK) Inc and as musical director for Wigan Youth Swing Band. Paul is currently a resident pianist at various venues across the north west and is co-director of Grande Touch, a company which provides digital grand pianos for functions. As Paul is actively gigging, he constantly learns new and current material to meet demand and his many years of experience allow him to advise and support students entering the world of professional music.

Dan Sanders

Subject Leader Music Production

MA PGDip FHEA Subject Leader, Music Production, School of Music 

As a self-employed music professional, Dan delivered projects with major and indie labels for 15 years before joining LIPA full-time. Day-to-day negotiation with A&R, artist management and label executives plus a practice-based understanding of music rights shaped Dan's experience, allowing him to pick up multiple platinum sales awards for his production work along the way. Dan now looks at how the new generation of music entrepreneurs can meet the challenges of a changing music industry.