Nick Allbrook, the frontman of WA psychedelic rock band Pond and former touring member of Tame Impala, is in tune with students wanting to learn creative processes and how to succeed in the music business.

The singer, songwriter and musician, who plays guitar, flute, drums, bass and keyboard, has joined The University of Western Australia as the new Chair of Contemporary Music.

“I was teaching younger children guitar and piano before this and passing on what I have learnt is  genuinely enlivening,” Mr Allbrook said.

“I remember trying to learn music when I was really young and finding it unbearably dry and everything I played sounded terrible. Someone helped make it fun for me, which created an immediate spark of joy.”

Mr Allbrook’s career spans international touring, major festival appearances, recording and producing, and sustained success in an ever-changing industry.

His lived experience will help students gain experience and skills in contemporary performance and composition, songwriting and digital creativity, as well as developing entrepreneurial and networking skills.

“Up until now, I probably didn’t realise how much I’d learnt so it's really nice to almost codify what I’ve figured out over the years,” he said.

He plans to introduce students to some interesting guests and help them learn the “pointy” end of the industry: booking and promoting gigs. He’s also happy to use his connections to give students real-world experience.

“My friend's putting on a show at the (Fremantle) Buffalo Club and asked if any of my students’ bands were good and ready to play,” he said. “I’m like, ‘yeah, of course, some of them are great!’ Some of the second- and third-year bands are really starting to sound pretty hot.”

Continuing to evolve and create, Mr Allbrook will bring his new project Walrus to RTRFM’s annual fundraiser In the Pines on Sunday 19 April at UWA Somerville – more details here.

“It’s a couple of friends and musicians who share interest in the art rock side of music, the conceptual side, but we’ve never all been in a band together,” Mr Allbrook said.

“The rules were no reverb, no delay and no rehearsal. I made a loop with a bunch of cassette tapes that I got from the bargain bin at Mills – the BFG, one called Business Essentials and a bunch of Radio National stories about world news taken from the late 90s – and began improvising.

“We had so much fun, and it went so well we thought we’d keep it going but the rules are being twisted because I’ve started writing a few songs for it too.”