The lead singer of 90s rock band EMF has said he “really enjoyed” a chance to go back to school and inspire the next generation of musicians.

James Atkin challenged students at Shrewsbury College to remix his number one single Unbelievable and said he was “blown away” by their response when he visited on Wednesday.

He admitted “a few years ago this would have been my worst nightmare”, but said his outlook on life had since changed.

He added he now enjoyed nurturing new talent “and hopefully giving them some inspiration”.

Atkin, who is due to start a tour with EMF of the UK and Australia in the spring, said it was a “great privilege” to be invited to speak to the Shrewsbury students and he was impressed by their work.

“Over the years we’ve had lots of remixes attempted of Unbelievable and people have really struggled,” he said.

He said he believed improvements in technology had made a huge difference since they released the single in 1990.

“Things like changing the tempo and stuff like that, which would have been quite a nightmare in our day when we were working on tape and sitting in old studios,” he added.

“I think the beautiful thing is, they can think of an idea and then they can put it into practice.”

Student Cody said the celebrity visitor was “a really friendly guy” who shared a few “little fun stories”.

Another, Lottie, described him as “very down to earth” and said she got a lot out of their conversations.

“Hopefully the feedback I gave was positive and constructive,” Atkin said.

Johnty O’Donnell
BBC Radio Shropshire