Berklee Online\u2019s greatest asset is its renowned instructors. They come from all areas of the music industry with years of experience. Earlier this year, songwriting instructor Neil Diercks<\/a> was honored with the Outstanding Educator Award at the 100th Annual UPCEA Conference. To find out what makes Neil such an exceptional teacher, I interviewed him about his teaching methods and dedication to his students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> It\u2019s a big expo that happens every year; I think this is our tenth year. It brings together all types of industry folks, from music icons, to A&R people, to managers, to songwriters \u2013 you know, all parts of the industry, doing different kinds of works. There are panels on the digital age of music and business, how to promote creativity, and interviews. It\u2019s a pretty big event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Yeah, absolutely. That\u2019s why I encourage my students to attend these things. They have an opportunity to meet with folks and then, depending on when you sign up for the program, you can also play your songs for industry professionals and get feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks: <\/strong>Yeah, I feel it\u2019s good for them to get that insight. When you\u2019re playing for people, maybe you\u2019re pitching to somebody who looks for music for TV or film, or maybe you\u2019re pitching to somebody who\u2019s looking for artists on their record label, it\u2019s just important to get that kind of \u201creal world\u201d feedback. In the classroom, I try to bring as much of that in from my own background from working at Warner Brothers, but we\u2019re looking a lot at the technical side of music, the compositional side. At these conferences, they get a perspective of what industry people are looking for as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it\u2019s helpful because it\u2019s the real world, what they\u2019re entering when they pitch their material. So I feel like you have to put yourself in front of that. Sometimes it can feel harsher, but I think everybody\u2019s got to get into that place, getting used to this business. You\u2019re going to have to get 99 rejections before you get that 100th one where someone\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I love this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> No, I just went and basically organized these folks to get together and attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Yeah, exactly. I just kind of encouraged them. Earlier in the year, I\u2019d gone to Durango and brought Berklee folks, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s called the Durango Song Expo, which is in Santa Ynez, which is sort of outside of Santa Barbara. We had a crew of people there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Here\u2019s the rundown from Durango: Longview, TX, Norwich, CT, Phoenix, AZ, Santa Barbara, CA, Brazil, and Norway. It\u2019s people from all over. It\u2019s a pretty cool group. At the ASCAP Expo, we had three students from New York and some international people, including the same woman who came to Durango from Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Basically I just say, \u201cI\u2019m going to be going to this and I really encourage you to do it.\u201d With certain students I just say \u201cHey, it\u2019s time for you to take the next step and really start putting yourself out there, interacting and networking.\u201d The connections you make at these events can be life changing. The connections between the students themselves are very important too, because now a lot of them are collaborating together who didn\u2019t know each other before. A lot of what really happens, in my opinion, is you start building your own network of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s really about building a group together. You know, some former online students and I put together a production company and we\u2019re all collaborating and writing for other artists. We met in the classroom and clicked, then decided to continue to do things. This isn\u2019t an exact quote, but somebody told me years ago, back when I lived in Nashville, \u201cEverybody\u2019s trying to get to the next rung on the ladder. The thing is, we all kind of rise together. If you\u2019re really connected to people, every time one of your friends has success, you move up a rung, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> It\u2019s so true! Just the other day, another former student of mine called me up and said he was working with Pitbull and Flo Rida. He asked, \u201cDo you want to work on this with me? Come in and help with this project?\u201d So I brought in a couple of other trusted online students. In the end, it\u2019s the same thing. You see these connections that happened maybe a couple of years back, but now they\u2019re really flourishing which is really great to see. It\u2019s not like the students just leave the classroom and then go back into their bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Yeah, we were between lectures and panels and had some downtime. One of the students said, while we were just standing around, \u201cLet\u2019s write a song!\u201d We all agreed, so we just sat down there and then other people joined us, you know, just jumped in. I thought it was great. Afterwards, a buddy of mine said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to all these lectures and it just makes me want to write!\u201d But I think it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve seen it at the conference where anybody just spontaneously started creating music. The whole point of the ASCAP Expo is about creating music. It seems pretty appropriate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> I think there was only one guitar and everybody else was just singing and clapping. We were just playing up a melody. We just started improvising and that\u2019s how a little chorus came together. It was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> There are. I\u2019m going with a few of the Berklee folks to one in October. Durango has two events a year \u2014 the one in California that we went to, and then they have another one outside of Boulder, CO<\/a>. There are yearly events, for example the ASCAP \u201cI Create Music\u201d Expo<\/a> is once a year. The other one that I find is good if you write music for TV and film is Billboard TV and Film. It\u2019s a smaller group, which is nice, and it\u2019s the same thing. You get to hear from great panels on all different topics. I went once with two online students and it really helped them understand what people from TV and film are looking for in a song, which sometimes is very different than what a record label would be looking for for an artist. It really helps them define these categories and understand where to pitch their music. They also have opportunities to play their music to people who are looking for material, so it\u2019s a great thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> Yeah, absolutely, and hearing from somebody who is actually looking for this material \u2013 what their feedback is, why they feel it works or why they feel it doesn\u2019t, and what you can do to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil Diercks:<\/strong> That was a huge honor. I was just amazed, because it\u2019s education and not just a music thing. Maybe it\u2019s just the way I grew up, but with music I always feel like, \u201cWell, I\u2019m doing something and it\u2019s fun, so it must not be as legit.\u201d Mark Twain said, \u201cMake your vocation your vacation.\u201d In my acceptance speech I said, \u201cMy job\u2019s pretty cool. I get hang out in LA and write songs and then I teach songwriting online.\u201d I guess that\u2019s why it\u2019s sort of easy to be thought of as being \u201cgood at it\u201d or something, because it doesn\u2019t really feel like a job. I mean, it is \u2014 it\u2019s work. But when you love it, it\u2019s easy to put time and passion into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was great to be around all those folks at UPCEA. Debbie [Cavalier, Berklee\u2019s Vice President of Online Learning and Continuing Education] and Carin [Nuernberg, Berklee\u2019s Dean of Continuing Education] received the award for Berklee Online and it was a great reminder to see just how advanced and ahead of its time Berklee Online has been compared to what other people are doing. I was sitting there watching Debbie give a demonstration of Berklee Online and I could just see how the audience went, \u201cNo way! Wow!\u201d I mean, they were just blown away. It just goes to show how cutting edge Berklee Online is.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKayley Kravitz: I know you recently attended the ASCAP Expo. Can you tell me a bit more about that?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s awesome, and it definitely sounds like something that\u2019s good for our students for not only furthering their education outside of the classroom, but also networking, because there are so many various professionals there.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s wonderful! <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That sounds like such a great opportunity. So, were you also presenting at any panels there at the ASCAP Expo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Very cool! And it was all Berklee Online students?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell me a little bit about Durango?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are most of the students going to this also based in California or are you seeing ones come from all corners of the globe?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s amazing! It just goes to show that a lot of these students, and obviously they have to have the financial means to do so, are really dedicated to learning all that they can and networking. When you organize these events, are you just kind of arranging meet-ups for them or how does that work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That person was totally right!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s always good to hear about students that, like you said, don\u2019t just return to their own little world after they finish a course; they\u2019re taking their skills into the real world and seeing actual success with top-name artists and whatnot. So, back to the ASCAP Expo. You mentioned that you led an impromptu songwriting session there. Could you tell me a little bit more about that?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Did you guys have instruments or was it all kind of on the fly?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are there any other conferences or expos coming up that you would recommend to people?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
These sound like very helpful events, especially for the songwriting students, to connect, because, like you said before, that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about \u2013 the connections and networking.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I also wanted to congratulate you on your UPCEA Outstanding Educator Award. That is a big feather in your cap! Can you tell me a little bit more about when you attended the conference and were presented with your award?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Again, congratulations on the award. It\u2019s very much deserved because you\u2019re really helping the students get their feet wet in the whole networking world. Obviously what you\u2019re doing in the classroom is important, but being there to help them get acclimated to the industry is incredibly helpful and shows just how dedicated you are.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n