BIOGRAPHY - STARTING OFF
NICK'S WORK PROCESS
In the two fields in which I work, pop and film, my work process can vary from one extreme to another. As with all things, information is power, or in my case, information is the key to a successful project. When I am hired, whether as an arranger, an orchestrator or conductor, the amount of information I can get from the client will make my job harder or easier......
Starting off | Freelance (1970's/80's) | 1990's | 2000's
Nick Ingman was born in London. He attended schools in the city, including Westminster School, where he met and worked with aspiring songwriter Andrew Lloyd Webber. During this time, he studied trumpet with Principal Trumpet of The BBC Symphony Orchestra, and jazz composition with composer Graham Collier. It was whilst still at school that Nick wrote his first pop song, which was a top ten hit in 1965 – “So Long Little Girl”
After school, despite being offered a place at Oxford, Nick’s interest in pop and jazz lead him to attend the only college in the world at the time which dealt with non classical music, The Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. Nick studied Arranging and Composition there for three years, whilst also attending a sandwich course at near-by New England Conservatory of Music. Some of the guest lecturers at Berklee included Quincy Jones and Gary Burton, as well as the future film composer (“The Simpson’s”) Alfred Clausen.
Returning to the UK in 1969, Nick was lucky enough to land a job as assistant to record producer Norrie Paramor. Norrie had been one of the most successful producers with EMI Records in the 50’s and 60’s producing a string of number one records with the likes of Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Norrie, along with his EMI colleagues George Martin and Norman Newell, had just left EMI to set up as an independent, and had established a small record production company. At Norrie’s, Nick met and worked with a number of the stars of the day including Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Sacha Distel, Frank Ifield, John Rowles, The Scaffold and Judy Garland. Nick also worked as musical associate on Cliff Richards’ many TV shows.
At Norrie’s, he also shared his record production duties with another aspiring songwriter, Tim Rice, with whom he wrote several songs. Nick’s last job for Norrie was arranging and conducting Britain’s Eurovision entry in 1974, featuring Olivia Newton John.
Next: Freelance (1970's/80's)