Chart-topping drummer to share experiences with NESCol students

March 27, 2023

A former NESCol student will return to his roots this week to share his experiences of the music industry.

Nairn Milne will be the featured guest at a special SilverNote event at City Campus on Thursday (30 March) afternoon.

Nairn, who completed an HND in Music at NESCol in 2016, will be interviewed on stage and take part in a Q&A session with the audience.

He returns to Aberdeen on the back of a whirlwind of activity as part of Callum Beattie’s band, which included hitting No.1 in the UK iTunes download chart and a Scottish No.1 following the release of the album Vandals. A series of high profile performances, including at the OVO Hydro and Murrayfield, over the past year provided the platform for the album’s success.

Nairn said: “Working with Callum has been an incredible experience and has opened up so many fantastic opportunities. I’m loving every minute of it and we’re counting down to a 13-date tour taking in venues across Scotland, England and Ireland this spring and summer.

“The grounding I had at NESCol enabled me to go on and study for a BA (Hons) degree in Popular Music at Edinburgh Napier University and I now teach music, alongside my playing commitments. To be coming full circle and being back at NESCol will be great and I’m really looking forward to passing on some of my experience to current students.”

Now based in Edinburgh, Nairn has also performed across the UK and Europe, including playing major festivals such as TRNSMT and Belladrum, with Scottish indie bands swim school and Vistas.

NESCol music lecturer Scott McGill, organiser and host of the event, said: “We’re excited to be welcoming Nairn for what promises to be a fun and lively session.

“Previous SilverNote events have been really varied, from session musicians working with Lewis Capaldi and George Ezra to Prince’s sound engineer Susan Rogers. This will be a first for us in terms of inviting one of our own former students to take centre stage. Nairn has a fantastic story to tell.”

The event will run from 1.30pm at the Basement Theatre in City Campus. Tickets cost £3 and are available to book online.