Polly Mackey is an Associate Lecturer on MA Music Management and MA Music Production at London College of Communication.
Polly is a producer, artist, engineer and academic. As Art School Girlfriend she has released music since 2017, and toured extensively across the UK, Europe and USA as well as appearing at festivals such as Field Day, SXSW, Latitude, Green Man and BBC 6Music Festival.
Originally from Wrexham, North Wales, Mackey moved to London in 2011 with her shoegaze band and threw herself into the vibrant East London music eco-system. The daytime saw her working jobs across music labels, press and events; the evening saw her playing gigs, putting on shows and DJing.
In 2016, she began the solo electronica project that would see her sign to Paul Epworth’s label Wolf Tone (Universal). The Church Studios in Crouch End became her musical home and reignited her love for studio engineering. In 2020, after a string of EPs, Mackey released her debut album as Art School Girlfriend on Fiction Records (Universal) and Domino Publishing.
In 2019, Mackey began teaching at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) after a series of guest lectures at ICMP and Goldsmiths. She teaches across BA and MA Creative Music Production and MA Songwriting and Production, with a particular interest in how technical knowledge can help unlock creativity. Her research explores generative ambient music, noise and how a sense of human-ness and intimacy can be created in digitally-made music.
View the MA Music Management course page
View Art School Girlfriend on Instagram