Scholars Music

Scholars Film

Our Scholars

Scholars are at the heart of Abubilla Music.


Six FAQs:

What the Heck is an Abubilla Scholar?
An Abubilla Scholar is a musician who joins our 6 month Scholar programme or a film-maker who partners up with us to make a video. To date, all our musical Scholars have stayed on and joined the Saturday Morning Canasta Club, the house band that backs up future Scholars and makes music on its own. But that is not a requirement – we just seem to be like the Hotel California, 'you can check in any time you like but you can never leave.'

What’s in it for the Scholars?
Yikes, pretty aggressive question, but understandable. As a musical Scholar you can enjoy four benefits: a) a very cool hoodie that says you’re a Scholar, b) full access to our studio and house band in London to record your songs and contribute to ours (each Scholar typically contributes two songs on an album), c) an invitation to join a Spanish Jam at our villa in Spain and d) a chance to be part of Abubilla Music, to learn about running a studio and website, and producing songs and CDs. See what Lou and Ed wrote?

As a video Scholar you also enjoy four benefits: a) the chance to gain film-making experience, b) someone to cover the cost of production, c) an opportunity to expand your portfolio and d) another outstanding hoodie. See what Natasha Wrote.

What’s in it for Abubilla?
We benefit in two ways. First, as a band, we love the inspiration that comes from our diverse Scholar community. Each Scholar has contributed massively to our CDs/videos and fundamentally shaped who we are. We welcome the next set of Scholars to challenge us and take the Saturday Morning Canasta Club to a different place. Second, we love the warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we actually help a Scholar develop artistically. More times than not our Scholars are far more talented than us, but still something seems to rub off and they report that they’ve learnt a lot.

So what do I do?
Apply – for goodness sake, it took this long for you to get the hint?! Send us some music or a film and a quirky, fun explanation of why we should welcome you to our smelly, pet filled studio. We should be clear though – we’re pretty confident as to what we need and are very picky. So you might not make it but don't let that daunt you. Often, we’ll also try you out as an Assistant and force you to pay your dues. We want folks that really want this.

What is Abubilla looking for?
A bit of talent, a bit of passion and 'fit'. We’re a family affair and you’d be part of our tribe for a while. None of us got to choose our parents or siblings, but guess we have the luxury of choosing our Scholars. And so far, we’ve chosen wisely. Try to be laid back, fun, preferably not a jerk, and bring lots of energy.

What about mothers with talented children?
Actually, it is pretty hard to be a Scholar. We have lots of folks that want to be and are pretty selective. We also have a lot of mums approaching all of us all the time to praise their talented children. We love talented children, but we really can’t accommodate them in the studio – you need to be at least 17 and you can’t be recommended by your mum. Sorry.

So, press the ‘get involved’ button and get involved.