The Police Academy were formed in late 2010 by three hugely experienced musicians with a deep admiration and great appreciation for the music of The Police.
Having overcome the first challenge of deciding which songs from the incredible back catalogue to build our set around, we then set about listening to every live and studio version of the songs we could get hold of (not to mention watching every video, behind the scenes interview and reading blogs, forums and fan sites). The resultant wealth of knowledge of material, techniques and equipment has enabled us to construct a live show quite unlike any other. The end result is a fully immersive experience worthy of both the casual listener and aficionados of the band alike.
Having played festivals and venues all over the country, in 2012 we decided to build on our success with Police material, applying our customary attention to detail to the best of Sting’s solo career—and so The Sting Operation was born. Initially taking the form of the occasional solo set between 2013 and 2018, we took The Sting Operation on the road as a band in 2019, both as a combined show with The Police Academy, and as a separate show in its own right, playing the highlights of Sting’s solo career along with some Police favourites.
In Spring 2023 we debuted our theatre show, STINGchronicity: The Story of Sting & The Police, which sees The Police Academy and The Sting Operation combine in the form of a full theatre production telling the story of Sting’s career through his music. Meanwhile, not content to rest on our laurels, in Summer 2023 we also added live saxophones and keyboards to the lineup of The Sting Operation.
Anyone who has ever tried to sing along to a Police record will know just how good a vocalist Sting really is. Phenomenal range, flexibility and tone are stand-out characteristics... and then try playing bass as the same time. Very few vocalists have the capacity to reproduce that, let alone the musical ability to combine the instrumentation simultaneously and even those who do just don’t sound like Sting. Pete does.
Pete grew up learning to play piano and quickly excelled, but it didn’t stop there—picking up the trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, sax, flute, harmonica and clarinet in the years that followed. Nowadays, in addition to leading The Police Academy and The Sting Operation, Pete teaches piano and saxohpone, and composes piano music, as well as production music for film and TV and in doing so utilises this multitude of instrumental virtuosity as well as his considerable experience of production and engineering. A multi-instrumentalist, his voice, bass playing ability and sax work have led to many favourable direct comparisons between him and Sting.
In 1994 Tim found a guitar in a cupboard. Three years later, he walked off stage after his first gig. It was an obvious choice to study music further, obtaining both a degree and HND before subsequently becoming a full-time musician; gigging, teaching and recording all over the world in multiple capacities.
A prolific songwriter and veteran performer, Tim is a highly experienced, multi-disciplined guitarist; highly proficient across a large variety of genres and styles and able to recreate an enormous repertoire of sounds and tones with unerring accuracy and unfaltering attention to detail. The very thing that makes him the perfect guitarist for a tribute band with sounds as complex and distinctive as those of Andy Summers or Dominic Miller.
Tim has played internationally with a diverse range of artists from The James Taylor Quarter to Skunk Anansie to sessions with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and has shared the bill with countless others from Leo Sayer to Incognito.
Elsewhere in tribute land, Tim also regularly works with Jean Genie (the UK’s best David Bowie tribute) and Robbing Williams (not only the best, but also the hardest working Robbie Williams tribute around).
Be it as a guitarist, singer, guitar-playing front man, solo artist, session musician or backing vocalist, Tim’s equally comfortable in any capacity but ultimately, he’s most at home when he’s on stage with a great audience having an amazing time.
Adam started playing drums over three decades ago and hasn’t looked back since. Turning semi-professional in the mid-nineties and going full time in 2003, he has performed to audiences upwards of 30,000 people. Now a seasoned pro, he’s plied his trade all over Europe including multiple festival appearances at Glastonbury as well as other major European events. As for TV work, he was featured on BBC1’s Arena documentary Into the Limelight about tribute bands as well as in several other additional TV shows and events. His musical credits include highly successful tribute acts like Pink Fraud, Robbing Williams, Mocky Horror Tribute Show, The Briefcase Blues Brothers, Logicaltramp and Cloudbusting—The Music of Kate Bush. Outside of the tribute circuit he has worked with countless on both live, studio and session projects not to mention theatrical productions including Tapdogs.
Julia is an international touring keyboard player and vocalist who has worked with artists such as Del Palmer (Kate Bush’s bass player, engineer and vocal producer) and Belinda Carlisle as well as sharing the bill with acts such as The Stranglers, Jethro Tull, Newton Faulkner, The Blockheads, The Sugababes, Will Young and Bananarama among others. Highlights include singing backing vocals with the BBC Concert Orchestra at Maida Vale for Ken Bruce’s Piano Room show on BBC Radio 2.
She performs with top UK Fleetwood Mac tribute Fleetwood Bac as Christine McVie and has performed with a variety of tribute acts such as The Floyd Effect, Simply Dan, The UK Pink Floyd Experience, Cloudbusting—The Music of Kate Bush, Simply Us & Them, Too Petty, The Legends of AOR and The Thin White Duke. Julia is endorsed by SE Electronics.
She also owns and manages Firespark Studios, a professional teaching, recording and rehearsal facility in Farnborough, Hampshire where she writes, records and produces sessions for a variety of clients from radio to commercial releases, as well as teaching piano and vocals.
Nichola Pope is an in demand saxophonist, musical director, arranger, educator, and community-music project leader.
Nichola’s multifaceted career has earned her a reputation as one of the UK’s leading saxophonists, equally comfortable on stage in front of thousands or in an intimate jazz club.
Nichola regularly tours in Europe, and also performs internationally across Asia and the Middle East. Nichola has appeared at major UK festivals including Glastonbury, BST Hyde Park, Isle of Wight Festival, Latitude, Boomtown, and Bestival with Bombay Bicycle Club and London Afrobeat Collective.
Nichola has performed at packed arenas, concert halls and theatres such as The O2, ExCeL London, Royal Festival Hall, Brixton Academy; and in London’s West End with touring shows such as Paul Simon Gracelands LIVE!, The 80s Show, The Smooth Rock Show, A Beautiful Noise Show, Simply Dan, Typically Tina, The Magic of Motown, Simply Us & Them, New York State of Mind the Music of Billy Joel and Divalution featuring Rachael Hawnt.
TV credits include BBC’s Top of the Pops, TFI Friday, MOBO Awards, Brit Awards and The X-Factor with acts like Olly Murs, Lemar and Jamie Cullum.
Nichola has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, EFG London Jazz Festival, Galway Jazz Festival, Dauphine Jazz Festival, Funk Nord, Being a Man Festival, Women in Jazz Media Festival, and renowned jazz venues including Ronnie Scott’s, the 606 Club, the Jazz Cafe, and the Vortex Jazz Club.
A seasoned studio musician, she has recorded film, pop and library sessions at Abbey Road, Air Lyndhurst, Air Edel, RAK and Olympic, and has recorded remote sessions online for artists and producers worldwide in her purpose-built home studio, most recently on the critically acclaimed debut Delirio from Lokeba.
Nichola has performed with internationally acclaimed Marici Saxes and is also a founder member of contemporary chamber group Breathe and a new exciting saxophone quartet Krunch.
Nichola is a passionate educator and in-demand clinician with degrees from City University and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Nichola Pope has an established teaching practice in London and is a pioneer in online education teaching students worldwide.
Nichola is proud to endorse Yanagisawa and is honoured to be the fourth woman Yanagisawa Artist in the UK.