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.
The latest chapter in our story is our new 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. We are taking this show on the road in 2023, coming soon to a theatre near you...
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. He started working with the Hampshire Youth Jazz Orchestra as the principal pianist at 17, touring Europe and recording at BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in the process, but eventually he decided to expand his instrumental prowess and rapidly found himself playing as much bass as he was piano. Pete composes 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 picked up whilst working with some of the many live bands he has been part of over the last twenty years. 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 picked up his first guitar. Three years later as he walked off stage after his first gig, he knew that music was something that would always play a huge part in his life, dictating its very direction in many cases. One such occasion was in influencing his decision to study it for a further three years which subsequently led him to choose it as a full time profession; gigging, teaching and recording. A prolific songwriter and veteran performer, he is able to recreate a huge repertoire of sounds and styles and has worked all over the UK with artists as diverse as The James Taylor Quarter to Skunk Anansie. The last fourteen years have seen him work in many different capacities with function bands, new artists and established musicians alike. Be it as a singer, guitar-playing front man, solo artist, guitarist, session musician or backing vocalist he’s just as comfortable in any role but he’s most at home when he’s on stage.
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.