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Thomas Jackson
London
@heartomjackson
Before joining Sound Academy, Thomas Jackson had already built a foundation as a singer-songwriter — but he felt something shifting. He wanted to expand his creative identity, step outside the familiar world of songwriting, and discover what existed on the technical side of music.
“I was looking for a new avenue,” he explained. “Something beyond just my singer-songwriter path. I wanted to venture into audio engineering and production. Learn the craft — the details of sound manipulation — so I could create a polished result.”
One afternoon during his day job, scrolling Instagram while waiting to start a shift, Thomas came across Sound Academy by chance. “I found Sound Academy on Instagram out of the blue,” he said. “It immediately looked different from everything else I’d researched. The hands-on teaching style really stood out.”
Stepping into the studio on day one was an unforgettable moment. “The studio was awesome — it was nuts,” Thomas recalled. “Walking into such a high-end space where everything was custom-made… and then meeting Eoghan and Marco, I felt like I was in good hands.”
Although he had studied music and media at university, he quickly realized how much deeper the learning would go here. “I had very minimal knowledge from uni compared to what they ended up giving me.”
This is a common occurrence amongst our students. Universities tend to neglect most of the course was taught by Eoghan, who made a lasting impact."
“He was such a cool guy and just a fountain of knowledge. I can’t give him enough praise. You ask him a question — he gives you a straight answer with as much detail as possible.”
One of the biggest challenges — and the most rewarding — was getting comfortable with analogue gear. “The hardest thing was getting to grips with analogue technology. Using proper compressors, touching the equipment physically, getting to adjust everything by hand… that was all new to me.” But that challenge made the breakthroughs even more significant.
The course began with an unexpected exercise: listening.
“The first thing we did was sit and listen to music. Eoghan would take us through it and train our ears. Every song got its own lesson. He’d say that every song should sound easy to make — but only once you learn how to hear it properly.”
That ear-training changed Thomas’s approach entirely.
“I listen to everything so much more critically now — not just the songwriting, but the recording, the production, all the macro details. I’m far more confident in what I’m recording.”
During the course, Thomas was mastering a friend’s EP. Instead of working on it alone, he brought it into the studio. “Eoghan sat with me and went through my masters track by track. His input helped me make the final product way better. I’d take it back, remix it, bring it in again… by week three it was on a completely different level.”
One of Thomas’s standout memories wasn’t just the engineering knowledge — it was the people.
“The overall vibe of the course was great. Everyone was lovely to work with. We all ended up learning from each other.”
That sense of collaboration lasted well beyond graduation.
“The group I took the course with — we’re still really good friends. We have a group chat, we’re still in contact. Everyone brought their own thing to the table.”
Since completing the course, Thomas’s confidence and skillset have expanded dramatically.
“I’m still recording things, and now I’m looking to begin teaching music with Rock Study, teaching kids rock ’n’ roll. This program absolutely put me in the right direction for working in the music industry.”
The combination of his university degree and the technical experience he gained at Sound Academy has become a powerful foundation.
“This course helped me feel more confident in my ability. I’d definitely do it again if I had the chance. It was a really cool experience, and I learned so much.”
“Do it. It's great. You're gonna learn a lot, and you're gonna meet some interesting people. If you've got a want for an insanely specific music knowledge that you can't get really anywhere else. You can take as many master classes as you want, but if you're not in a studio and you're not doing sort of hands-on stuff with other people, you know, you're not gonna get as far as someone probably who has this sort of experience.”
Our accelerated and practical training in Audio Engineering and production were able to boost Thomas’s skill in music and allowed him to finish projects as well as network. The skills gained in our course were far more valuable to him than the skills in university. Thomas will now take this knowledge as far as he can as he pursues engineering and teaching.
