One-Time Nine Inch Nails/Ministry Drummer Opens Multi-Disciplinary Music School
6/24/2009 By Keith Carman

Martin Atkins is bigger now than when he was in some of the world's most popular bands.

Honestly, he was pretty much an unknown when he played drums for the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Ministry a few years ago. He was a musician's musician; the guy dudes in bands knew and appreciated, but who could walk down the street unknown.


Well, he's still not being mobbed in public, but Atkins has made a rather substantial career for himself over the past few years by teaching the ins-and-outs of the music industry. He's now packaged all of that together to create Revolution Number Three, a music business school based in Chicago.

Atkins aspires to have the new institution offer a truer, more real-world perspective to the music education field, which he feels has far outlived its expiration date and assures students will obtain cooperative training and hands-on experience.

"Teaching at Columbia College Chicago since 2003, writing a textbook, developing the new marketing program and the indie label program, celebrating the 20th anniversary of my label, visiting around 80 arts and media management schools around the world… [it] just seemed obvious," Atkins says in a statement about creating the school.

"I'm inviting everyone to have a role in this. Each class itself will be continually re-evaluated as we proceed. It's staggering to me that anyone anywhere is still offering classes in journalism. Where are the jobs? What's the point? At least here, one of the things we will be looking at are the possibilities of multi-disciplinary cross pollination. For instance, my last label manager worked on the Obama campaign and is now involved in the mayoral race in Pittsburgh. We'll be further analysing and incubating those possibilities."

The first set of Revolution Number Three students will have the opportunity to build a studio, create sounds for a new drum library with Drum Core, book shows, edit video, coordinate the publishing of a book, explore the origins of dub and experience other non-traditional areas of music industry education.

Too bad there aren't any journalism jobs out there, though. Now we can't tell you about this school. Speaking of, why the hell does his school issue a press release if there's no “press” to speak of in his opinion?
More News: << Previous Story | Next Story >>
Do you have a news tip for us? Did anything crazy happen at a show? Got any inside info on a band? Click here to let us know!
• Liam Gallagher Ditches Oasis 2.0 Moniker: “That Was a Shit Name Anyway”
• Lil Wayne's Sentencing Postponed Due to, Um, Dental Surgery
• Matthew Herbert's Pig Album Hits Snag When Pig Dies
• Metric Respond to Backlash over Help Haiti T-Shirt
• Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova Split EP to Get Reissued with Extra Tracks
• The Weakerthans Divulge Details of Forthcoming Live Album
• Megadeth Co-Founder Dave Ellefson Returns for Rust in Peace Tour; Dave Mustaine to Release Autobiography
• MGMT Unveil Congratulations Release Details
• White Stripes Slam U.S. Air Force Over Super Bowl Ad, Bring Ballet to Toronto
• Japanther Announce New Album, Canada-Heavy Tour
Mary J. Blige - Stronger with Each Tear
Mary, we love the fact that you're happy ― no more drama ― and that your personal issues seem to be a thing of the past. Trouble is, your pain was what fuelled your passion. It's the reason why What's the 411 was a classic, and why subsequent albums were usually measured by whethe... Full Review
Toronto Punk Finds A Voice
If you've ever wondered why Toronto's first wave punk scene lacks the oral histories, band biographies, and memoirs pouring out of similar scenes, Treat Me Like Dirt is for you — as evidenced by a first printing selling out a week before its release. "I didn't know that any of this had happened the way I knew that New York and London had these great punk movements," says author Liz Worth.... Read More
The Hurt Locker Dir. by Kathryn Bigelow
Taking a break at about the halfway mark of director Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war drama, The Hurt Locker, I realized my jaw was sore. I had been unconsciously clenching it from the first moment of The Hurt Locker, which chronicles a three-man team of explosives ordinance disposal (bomb s... Full Review
Social Networking
• Be our friend on MySpace
• Be our fan on Facebook
• Tweet us on twitter
Viewing the June 2009 Issue: • Contents Page • News • Click Hear • Articles --> On the Cover  •  Front Five  •  Points  •  Questionnaire  •  Release Dates  •  Timeline  •  Videogames  •  Conversations • Music Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Aggressive Tendencies  •  Beats & Rhymes  •  Destination Out  •  Frequencies  •  Groove  •  No Future  •  Pop Rocks  •  Wood, Wires & Whiskey  •  Concert Reviews • Motion Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Dvd Reviews  •  Film Reviews  •  Music DVD Reviews  •  Hot Docs  •  Videogame Reviews • Music School --> Need to Know  •  Where I play • Contests • Contact --> About Us  • Advertising  • Distribution  • Getting Reviewed  • Getting Published  • Letters To The Editor  • Partnerships  • Subscriptions • Exclaim! Radio --> Aggressive Tendencies Radio  • Beats & Rhymes Radio  • Destination Out Radio  • Frequencies Radio  • Groove Radio  • No Future Radio  • Pop Rocks Radio  • Wood, Wires & Whiskey Radio • Exclaim! TV • Home & Latest Issue • Browse Issues