Callum Rowe is a 20 year old multi-instrumentalist and producer from Castletown and winner of the Isle of Man Arts Council Student Award in 2019. We caught up with Callum now in his third year of studying about what it's been like trying to complete a course amidst a global pandemic.

Music has been a part of my life since I was 4, when I started taking piano lessons. I got my first guitar on my 9th birthday and since then have been mainly playing guitar and singing, but also dabble in keys and bass in my spare time! On the Isle of Man you may have seen me play stages during TT, or events like weddings and parties. In September 2018, I flew the nest to study Popular Music at the RNCM in Manchester, and this has just opened up a whole new world of possibilities and areas of music I didn’t know existed at the time. I’m currently in my 3rd year (of their 4 year course) and focusing heavily on writing, recording and performing original music. I’m loving every second of it, even if it is online right now!

What have you been working on in your studies?

Since you last heard from me, I’ve been focusing on writing a back-catalog of my own music, which is like a blend of Jazz, Soul, Disco, Latin and Psychedelic genres! I’ve been really enjoying the process of creating songs from scratch; it blows my mind that you can sit down with an instrument, mess around with a chord progression and then pull a new idea out of thin air!

On my course we’re all online right now, so I’m back home and have been since March 2020. I’ve gotten the opportunity to choose my own modules this year, so I have a lot of time to myself that I’m using productively. This year, I’m focusing on songwriting, arranging and collaborative composition. I’m also doing a research module (in the form of a dissertation) about Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, which is teaching me a lot about how this absolute master of music uses his creativity.

Once the UK all goes back to normal I want to hit the ground running straight away, as I think the music scene over there will just explode and everyone will be watching gigs (based on what happened on the IOM after the first lockdown!). I’ve been practicing a lot of guitar (influenced by the likes of George Benson, and a lot of Brazilian Jazz at the moment) and honing in my skills on producing music with Logic Pro X. I’ve been really into old school Hip Hop when it comes to production, with J Dilla’s beats and style becoming a huge influence on the sound world I’m aiming to create in my own music.

What kinds of challenges have you faced since studying as a student living through a pandemic and how have you overcome them?

The last year has been really hard, but also beautiful in its own morbid way. When I first came back last March, it all felt a bit deflating and like my uni experience had been ruined by the UK’s early lack of action regarding Covid-19. I felt like I’d been torn away from my bandmates and my future, really, and kept asking myself “why me?!”. Since then, the future of creative careers has been up in the air, but the only way I know how to live is through music. I had a couple of breakdowns during the first lockdown but then used the time I had as inspiration: we don’t get big chunks of time to ourselves much, so I really used that time to improve and focus on uni and myself.

I find that music has a strange, undefined healing power and a therapeutic release, so the best way for me to keep productive and happy was through doing the work I’d been set! Win win situation! This has kept constant through the last year, so I’m really happy that these times have given me the key to loving music exponentially.

I ended up getting all firsts and 2:1s in my second year exams as a result of the hard work I put in over lockdown, and I’m really proud of that. Once the IOM got out of the first lockdown, I was out gigging pretty much every weekend until the second lockdown! This was amazing, and was just the best feeling ever after being cooped up inside for too long. I really love playing live and sharing the joy of music with others, whether that be bandmates or the crowd!

What is next for you?

I’ve been planning my future a bit over the last year, as I really want to be able to share my music and good vibes with people. This has lead to me planning some future original gigs on the island and working hard to get a set together for that. I can’t yet announce where and when I’m playing as it’d mess up marketing and promotion of the businesses/events I’m working with currently, but as soon as I can announce these gigs I’ll be spamming everyone with shameless plugs to come and join the party!

Once possible, I want to take my music across to the UK and give it a good, honest shot over there. I’d love to do some gigs in Manchester and maybe even further afield; London seems to really fit the mashup of genres I’m going for, but that’s a big aspiration for now. I don’t expect or want fame from my music, now or ever - instead I just want to share this gift with others and include them in my journey, wherever that may take me! Music came about in the first place as a shared, special, beautiful thing, so I want to keep that idea alive and kicking however I can.

Where can we stay up to date?

If you want to stay up to date on my journey, the best way is probably my instagram account (@realcallumrowe). Recently I’ve been a bit inactive on social media due to the time it’s taken to write some songs, but pretty soon I’ll be sharing some exciting news about gigs and I aim to start releasing music in time for summer ’21! Thanks for reading, I hope this can inspire you to pick up that old dusty guitar in the corner of your room, or sing louder in the shower than you usually do!