Kamil Sharpe
Kamil is a drummer, currently studying Jazz at Leeds Conservatoire, with previous experience as a drum teacher at two schools in Norfolk as well as gigging across the UK. Born in Venezuela but raised in England, Kamil has a rich musical heritage to tap into between the rhythmic complexity of Latin American music, and the youthful energy of the British indie music scene, both being traits that have nurtured his musical outlook and voice. Kamil has been committed to the study of the drum kit for over a decade and is currently expanding his passion and knowledge for the instrument under some of the best players in the UK
Drumming
From first sitting at a kit at the age of eight, Kamil has explored a variety of musical genres through his drumming, ranging from his roots in Post Punk, Funk and Rock to his recent endeavours in Jazz and Latin American music. This has passion has led him to play with artists across the UK at events such as Birmingham Jazz festival and Leeds Jazz festival, as well as other venues.
Teaching
Kamil started playing gigs in high school at the age of fifteen, recognising the importance of practical learning and understanding the role that community takes in the development in musicians. The bridge between playing in a band at school or in your garage, and taking your music outside of that is one that many struggle to make, especially in rural areas of the country. Kamil uses his own experience growing up to help and encourage his students to make this step.
Having taught at two schools with students of different ages, neurodivergence and backgrounds, Kamil takes an individually catered approach to his teaching, identifying areas to focus for each student informed by their interests but also recognising the importance to focus on weaknesses and expand musical outlook. Diagnosed with ADHD himself, Kamil also distinguishes that one teaching approach does not fit all, having found much success in adapting teaching styles to communicate and relate to students.
Contact
@galinagomusic
kamilsharpe@gmail.com
07835741082
Essay
The biggest challenge I faced as a first year jazz student was developing successful methods of practice and learning how to keep my body healthy during the long hours of repetitive motion, which are not areas that fit into the marketing/promotion world. For this reason, I found creating an EPK for this period of my life very difficult as I did not feel I was in the place I wanted to be (yet) as a drummer, and therefore initially did not have any material I wished to promote/put in public view. However, speaking to other pupils in my class, as well as doing the research for this assigment helped me develop an understanding of my skills, possible routes for work and therefore an understanding of what my target audience would be. My EPK centers around “telling your artist’s story” Maria.V (2021), as Vanessa Maria writes in an article for Pirate Studios, and in doing so, identifies the two areas which I wish to market: drumming (for gigs, session work etc.) and teaching. Therefore, my target market group is a mixture of musicians who are looking for a drummer, and anyone in need of teaching services, specifically schools. To begin with, I was skeptical about having a less specific target audience. However, after researching and comparing the EPKs of other drumming professionals, I realized that having different sections to an EPK was fairly common and could be seen as an advantage due to having a larger target audience.
Therefore, one of the challenges faced was creating an EPK that would appeal to a diverse group of people, which directly informed the brand decisions I made and how I structured it; I needed to balance simple, professional, ‘clean’ elements that would attract an academic audience (schools and tutors), with something more contemporary that younger people could relate to. For this reason, the photo I chose to open with communicates simplicity through soft background colors, simple yet intricate shirt and the focus of the photo blurs the kit (and communicates my craft) whilst keeping me central to the image. The image is large, and the text is basic, with the intended effect being an introduction, leading onto the more specific areas of my drumming which took the form of a smaller photo, followed by relevant text of the subheading. The images at the sides of text and content were also picked to enhance my artistic narrative through a visual context.
For example, in my introduction, I chose a picture of how I look to this date, creating a frame of reference to the audience for where I am in my narrative and what I look like. I wanted this to be simple, almost like a passport photo, to achieve a feeling of transparency and being grounded. In the drumming section, I chose a vintage/informal style photo of me in primary school uniform at my teacher’s kit (with my brother crawling around in the background), alluding to how long I have been playing for, and also creating a relatable, organic and relaxed tone to convey my characteristic as being approachable and down to earth. This section also includes some linked videos to evidence my claims at being diverse and genre flexible, through the reference of a jazz performance as well as a DIY video of a composition I made at home, targeting an audience of jazz musicians, as well as indie and pop artists. My teaching section includes a photo of one of my first gigs as a teenager with my high school band, which contemplates the text content of the section, where I speak about the importance for young people to have access to gigs, as well as being relevant to my target audience of young people and schools. Other reasons I chose this photo over others form that same shoot include the framing and focus, which make me central whilst keeping in action, as well as the wrist band on my hand which signified I was a performing artist on the day, which is something I remember being proud of at the time, adding a human/relatable touch to the image. In all, this structure somewhat emulates website the style of one of my drum teachers (Dave Walsh); splitting the bio and information into relevant subsections with the context of photographs.
There are many elements to my EPK that do feel incomplete, and I believe need to be developed for future. Taking the comparison of Dave Walsh’s website for example, each section includes a link to “listen to a podcast” or “find out more”, which creates makes the website organic and rich as well allowing the viewer to become more immersed in who you are and what you have to offer. One of reasons for this is that at this moment in time, I don’t have the repertoire or experience to add more context in some places. For example, having not yet played gigs consistently in Leeds, I don’t have many contemporary performance recordings or live sessions which I would like to have in future. One link that I would like to have, that when I was navigating other’s websites provided me with important context, was a section on pricing for lessons or recording sessions. When I worked at two schools in Norfolk, the rate for my services was provided initially by the school and therefore became what I charged. Besides, Norwich has a deficit of experienced young musicians which put me in high demand. However, now that I no longer have a direct work association with those schools, and with the difference in competition between Norwich and Leeds, I no longer believe the rates I used to charge are relevant to my surroundings. For this reason, I am yet to have a decided rate, which may create uncertainty for people viewing my EPK, an aspect that can sometimes be all it takes to not be chosen for my services.
One aspect of my research and build up that helped me contextualize my EPK was working in a group with like minded musicians in class. To begin with, it was difficult getting people to talk, and at times, I felt as though my questions were a bit forced due to the difference in pathways (jazz, pop, film music), but with the help of our tutor and some prompts, we were able to exchange useful and relevant information that helped me make my EPK. For example, due to being new to the Leeds music scene, I still don’t have many press shots, or live videos of my performances, which was a big hurdle for making my EPK relevant and eye catching. One of my classmates recommended that I could use old photos and videos to showcase my history, development and story as an artist, and that this could be used to make a more organic and engaging narrative to my EPK, which later informed how I used older shots and photos in the structure of my press kit. One aspect that we discussed in my group was the relevance of the EPK as a marketing tool, however. The discussion revolved around how in the modern day, social media tends to be a very effective promotional tool for artists to the extent that some people don’t even use an EPK, or rather, heavily prioritize social media over an EPK, and how this would inform how we link or reference social media in our press kits. The conclusion we came to suggested that those people that have a strong online presence through their artistry will more heavily reference their social media in an EPK as it better represents them as an artist, whilst those that don’t will prioritize the information and artistic narrative inside of their EPK. The latter was the case for me, and whilst some of the videos I linked in my EPK are in taken from my YouTube channel my social media profiles are not up to date with my current musical pathway and where therefore used a point of reference in my press kit rather than the main content.
In conclusion, the use of groupwork, research and the process through which I synthesized myself as an artist in my EPK helped me become more in touch with my modern day ambitions as a drummer. This came abouts by evaluating my current and previous skills/achievements and finding an applicable context for them in the music industry. However, for the future, I aim to have more contemporary examples of my work as an artist, as well as more diverse references to repertoire and experience which will help my EPK have more conviction and a stronger sense of identity. This will also give me a context for more decisive decision about finance and what I feel comfortable charging for my services.
Bibliography
Jim Corry (no date) Leeds Conservatoire. https://www.leedsconservatoire.ac.uk/about-us/tutors/jim-corry/.
HOME | Roni Kaspi – Drummer & Singer Songwriter (no date) Roni Kaspi. https://www.ronikaspi.com/.
Home New – Tommy Igoe (2021) Tommy Igoe. https://www.tommyigoe.com/.
Maria.V (2021) How to write a music artist bio.Pirate Studios. https://pirate.com/en/blog/industry-tips/how-to-write-an-artist-bio/.
My WordPress (2025b) Home – my WordPress. My WordPress. https://davewalshdrums.com/.
