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Sam Bennett , Course Leader and Senior Lecturer in the Nottingham School of Art & Design

Sam Bennett

Senior Lecturer (Teaching)

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Role

I am the course leader and senior lecturer for NTU’s postgraduate courses in Music Production and Sound Engineering and Audio Production. As well as overseeing these courses, I lead the research module that runs on both courses, as well as the Music Production Practice module which runs on the Music Production pathway.

As course leader, I have a role in supporting student development, working on providing opportunities for students to gain experience in a variety of scenarios.

Career overview

For many years, I operated out of private studios in the heart of Nottingham, producing and writing for and with a wide variety of artists for commercial release. As an original artist I have performed at major festivals, whilst working in the function band space simultaneously.

Research areas

My research is predominantly focused on internet-based music communities, including how they grow and communicate. My current research is focused specifically on synthwave, a genre of electronic music predicated on recreating some of the sounds of the 1980s and placing them within a modern context.

As a part of this, my current research involves the exploration of nostalgia within music communities, and the deployment of synthwave within other media, mainly its use within horror film, and the ways in which the genre has drawn influence from 70s and 80s horror soundtracks.

My research approach is ethnomusicological in nature, deeply interdisciplinary, and places a heavy emphasis on modelling methodologies for future use.

External activity

I retain a presence in the music industry, continuing to write, produce and perform in a variety of scenarios. This is crucial to my work as an educator, supporting me in retaining currency of knowledge of both practice and context within our field.

Publications

Conference Papers:

2024, ‘Synthwave, MySpace and Digital Ephemera: Mapping the History of a Music World’, KISMIF Conference, Porto.

2023, ‘Synthwave Soundtracks and the Nostalgia Film: Analysis and Theory’, Royal Musical Association Annual Conference, Nottingham.

2023, ‘Forever Young: Nostalgia and Temporal Journeys within the Synthwave Soundtracks of Turbo Kid and Summer of ’84’, British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Edinburgh.

2022, ‘The Myspace ‘Ige Age’: Tracking Synthwave through Digital Archives’, Musical Retrofuturism Online Symposium, Online.

Press expertise

My areas of expertise include:

  • Retro Culture
  • Nostalgia
  • Synthwave and its Sub-Genres
  • Music Genre and Genre Approaches
  • Music in Horror Film, Music in Nostalgia Film
  • Popular Music Production
  • Songwriting
  • Music on the MySpace Social Media Platform and its Archives
  • Internet Music Communities and their Engagement

Course(s) I teach on