Rock N' Rollers Guide To University

Your mum’s told you to pack some extra towels. Your Dad’s stuck a wedge of cash in your back pocket so you don’t turn into an anorexic in your first month and your siblings have told you to wear an extra layer of protection (whatever that means). Welcome to University.

Over the next few years you’re going to learn to become ‘worldly.’ Yes, that funny parental/tutor term which is essentially code for finding your own way home at 3am in the morning when your brain cells are buzzing like a bee and your legs feel more liberal than a left wing student body.

While a career at University usually gives birth to a new batch of doctors, lawyers and consultants, thanks to the close quarters and everyday dilemma of how to fill in-between lecture hours, it also conceives some great bands – and that’s what we care about. Therefore, to celebrate the launch of our student guide, we’ve been out and asked three of our favourite new bands – Blood Red Shoes, Palladium and SixNationState – for their guide to university.

BLOOD RED SHOES

What’s your most memorable story from your time at university?

Stephen: “Going for a night out with my personal tutor who helped me through my dissertation, and watching him eat a take-away curry with no cutlery and no hands. And when I told him my band would be heading to America he said, ‘You know various middle eastern countries call America the great satan don’t you?’”

Laura: “When a girl in my tutor group brought in a real snake. It was for a project where we had to sell some books we had designed and we had to try and find things to attract people to our stalls that we were selling them from. So she decided that a snake would defiantly attract. Problem was I have a massive phobia of them. I thought it was a plastic one! When I realised it was real I had to leave the building and go home.”

What were the best and worst points about the city you went to Uni in?

Stephen: “Well I love Brighton and my uni didn’t really have a campus, I was just right in the centre of town about 2 mins from the seafront. That was pretty cool. There’s also a lot of political activism in Brighton which is something I enjoy being involved in – our lecturers were very politicised and even went on a sympathy strike on behalf of students protesting about fees.

“Sadly it also meant there was no subsidised union bar so it’s Brighton prices for drinks the whole time! And I was working so I could afford to be there, but Brighton wages are awful, it actually has the highest gap between the average wage and the average cost of living in the whole UK.”

Laura: “Good points- Well I already lived in London so it was easy for me to get to uni, which was handy. All the amazing art galleries and exhibitions, and of course the nightlife and music.”
 
”Bad Points- The lack of money, working a job at every possible hour to fund it all, not having a campus.”

How many lectures were you meant to attend and how many of those did you actually attend?

Stephen: “Only about 2 a week as it was philosophy and most of the work was just reading and arguing about what you’d read. I actually turned up to most of them, 2 hours a week wasn’t much to ask eh.”

Laura: “Well I was studying graphic design so there were not many lectures more practical work which meant it was more of a structured day. I had to be there at 10am and finished at 5pm 5 days a week. It was a bit like school which I didn’t like so much. But it made sure you were being creative with everyone else on your couse, it would be easy to fall off track if you were at home. I didn’t turn up in the last year much at all, my band always were my heart was at.”

What would be the one essential item that any student must have good supply of?

Stephen: “Red wine. One bottle helps you think better. Two helps you sleep better.”

Laura: “If you study in London an oyster card, they save you a load. Generally I would say a weekend job to earn some extra bucks and lots of coffee for those late nights and early mornings.”

What would be your best piece of advice for a fresher starting university in September?

Stephen: “I’m gonna go for a “boring” answer here – just do some fucking work. You’re getting in a massive debt to be there so make sure it’s worth it. If you don’t bother turning up or just fuck about whilst you are there, you’re probably gonna affect people around you (in my course, if people turned up to a seminar and hadn’t read the right materials it just ruined the seminar for everyone involved). It’s a privilege to have access to this level of education despite it having an ever-increasing amount of faults (for one thing, it should be fucking free) so if you just use it as an excuse not to get a job for three years then you’re a fucking dick.”

Laura: “To go to all your lessons and try and get the best out of your course and facilities at your uni. It’s easy to fall behind and you may regret it if you slack. Also my advice would be to not go if you are going for the wrong reasons. I  went but wasn’t sure If it was what I really wanted to do, and it really sucked because it was apparent I didn’t have the same passion compared to my class mates. So yeah BE SURE it’s what you 100 percent want to do. University isn’t for everyone.”

To see what Palladium and SixNationState think of university click next...