Our Artist Development (AD4) course is truly unique. If you’re an aspiring artist but struggling to get noticed, this is for you. We’ll teach you insider knowledge and give you our connections to develop your personal brand and ultimately, get you ready to take on the world.
We caught up with Juliet, a recent AD4 graduate and national award winner for Best Solo Artist. Every year we host the Access Creative College Showcase Awards to celebrate and praise the incredible work our students produce. Across all of our campuses we award titles from best song to best design, best game art to best software and more! For our 2023 ceremony, Juliet took home the award for Best Solo Artist, nationally.
Here’s what she has to say about her experience studying Artist Development with Access Creative College.
Hi Juliet, thanks for taking the time to speak with us! Tell us, why did you choose to study AD4?
I chose to study AD4 because I knew exactly where I wanted to be in my career, and it made total sense having just finished two years on Level 3 Vocal Artist. This course gave me the facilities and environment to thrive. AD4 was my year to shine and develop my artistry!
So good to hear! Did you enjoy your time studying Artist Development with us? What were your highlights?
I honestly loved studying at Access Creative College. I couldn’t have asked to spend my college years anywhere else. I’ve made lifelong friends and memories that will last forever!
During the course, I started to release music. I still remember pressing send on my debut single Manifester in class, something that will stick with me for the rest of my career. Some highlights of my time on AD4 include playing Latitude Festival three years in a row, opening Mostly Jazz Festival in Birmingham and working with Word Play Magazine, as well as the unbelievable support from BBC Introducing who made two of my singles Track of the Week.
I even started my career as an artist liaison and became self employed!
@accesscreativecollege Juliet’s year as an Artist Development student at Access Creative College 🙌 Juliet has had an incredibly successful year from recording and releasing debut tracks to performing at festivals and winning awards 🎉 This could be you! Find out more about our artist development course from our link in bio 🔗 #musician #singersongwriter #musiccollege #StudentLife #CollegeLife @Julietpricethomas
What an amazing year you’ve had! What opportunities has the course given you?
It’s hard to say what opportunities AD4 has given me exactly, because I’ve been lucky enough to achieve so much in the last year, but a lot of that is down to Access giving me the environment to want to accept these opportunities and the tools to do something with them.
If you have a goal and a vision, Access will do everything they can to give you opportunities and a platform to thrive in; there isn’t really a limit on what you can do.
How has the course helped you get to where you are now?
When I first joined ACC in 2020, I knew where I wanted to be, but I had no stage presence. I had no industry knowledge, no original songs but a drive for what I knew I could be.
Level 3 Vocal Artist taught me everything I needed to know and gave me the space to grow and to discover the type of artist I wanted to be. AD4 allowed me to take everything I had learned and work hard on developing that into a career. This was when I made myself known to the world as JULIET.
What would you say is unique to the course that you can’t get anywhere else?
I just think it’s amazing that I could go to college, study something that I loved every day and enjoy it. The course is industry-focused and based on real life experiences, rather than note taking and theory, and that’s what I love.
This college made me feel safe, heard and understood. The tutors always went above and beyond for my wellbeing and would help in anyway they can with my career.
Congratulations on winning the ACC Award for Best Solo Artist!! How did it feel to win?
Winning Best Solo Artist nationally was such an insane moment. It was an honour to win an award from the Norwich campus, let alone the whole of the UK, but it also felt right. It was the end of my three years studying there and it felt like I really had achieved something – like all the hard work paid off.
During my first two years at Access, I never released any music, just gigged around Norwich. But I knew that 2023 was my year to let the world know who JULIET is, so from February to September I released 3 singles and a 5 track EP.
I felt so grateful to win and have some recognition on my name. It just felt like the perfect way to end my time here. The award is definitely getting framed and going on my wall. Hopefully it’s the start of many more!
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are continuing the hustle of being an independent artist, writing an album and, of course, loads more singles. I’ve also got my first support slot at the Norwich Arts Centre this month supporting Jackson Mathod.
I am also now a self-employed, freelance artist liaison. I work for IEMusic going into high schools across the UK as an artist, teaching music/songwriting workshops. I’m also doing some work with Freshly Greated, organising events and putting on workshops and gigs for them.
Keep your eyes out, as I’ve also got a big boy professional website coming later this month!
If you’re interested in studying Artist Development with us, find out more here. Trust us, it’s the best thing you’ll ever do for your career!