Musician gives students a moment to Sabre
By Ed Elliot
A MOBO-NOMINATED artist treated music students to an intimate performance after they helped him record part of the video for his new single.
Maverick Sabre, who is up for Best Newcomer at the award’s ceremony in Glasgow, called upon youngsters to help film the video for I Need by visiting five colleges in five different cities, including Norton College, Sheffield.
The Hackney-born vocalist, 21, real name Michael Stafford, also hosted a question and answer session giving students an insight into being successful in the music business during the visit on October 4.
“The music industry‘s changed, it’s a lot quicker,” he said. “It’s easier to get known but harder to have a long career.
“If it wasn’t for YouTube I wouldn’t be where I am.”
The shaven-headed singer-songwriter, who has worked with the likes of Lethal Bizzle and Plan B, chose his name by searching a thesaurus for words which matched his initials; Maverick for “thinking outside the box” and Sabre for “putting on a hard front.”
He told students that he always wanted to better himself but was critical of television talent shows.
“You look at X Factor and you see a singer who is all right, nice voice, nice stage presence and they can’t believe it when the judges say ‘no’,” he said.
“They think they’re the next Aretha Franklin.”
Raised in Ireland, Sabre was unemployed for a year and said his career was saved by airline company Ryanair whose cheap fares allowed him to travel back and forth to London.
Martha Pedler, a music student and violinist since the age of nine, performed with Sabre for the video.
The 20-year-old, for whom this was the first recorded performance, said. “I only found out I was doing it on Friday. I didn’t know how big he was but he was a really down-to-earth guy.”
Tom Galton, student and guitarist, added: “I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and was very impressed by the sound achieved. I enjoyed meeting people from a professional background.”
Sabre also visited colleges in Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester and Norwich as part of the project.
Neil Anderton, course leader at Norton, said: “The event was a huge success and allowed our students an insight into the industry.
“Students were buzzing with excitement but rose to the challenge and worked very professionally.”