career advice
BIMM tutors and department leaders offer students career advice and are available to discuss all aspects of your course and career progression including; personal or course issues, touring, A&R, Public Relations, Indie and Major Deals, Management, and advice on different ways of making a living through music.

		jon stewart As the guitarist and songwriter for 90's Brit pop band Sleeper, Jon enjoyed three Top 5 albums and nine top 40 singles. Jon has also toured with REM, Elvis Costello and Blur, and written and recorded guitar for artists such as KD Lang, Mel C and record producers like Stephen Street and Madonna collaborator Damian Le Gassick. Jon teaches the business courses and is BIMM's career advisor. He is available to help you put together a detailed and realistic plan of action to run in parallel with your studies, helping to get you as much of ahead start as possible.

		mark clayden Mark is the man behind a decade of Pitchshifter success, he has recorded 8 albums and toured 23 countries. He has toured with the biggest names in rock and metal including; Black Sabbath, Deftones, Incubus, Tool, Ozzy, Staind, Jello Biafra from Dead Kennedys, Taproot, Hundred Reasons, Funeral for a Friend and the Queens of the Stone Age. Mark also runs his own record label and is an experienced tour manager.

		bruce dickinson With 11 top 40 hits and a number 1 album, Bruce has toured the world with some of the biggest bands in history including; Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, ACDC, Guns and Roses and Aerosmith. Bruce contributes to Guitarist and Total Guitar magazine and is co-author of the book 'Running a Band as a Business'. Bruce is available to discuss original bands and artists, touring, A&R, Public Relations, Indie and Major Deals, Management and all business aspects.

		kevin nixon - President Kevin has spent his entire career in the Music Business spanning some 37 years. As an artist and songwriter he was signed to EMI and RCA, as well as 8 years as a full time Record Producer and A&R consultant. In 1987 Kevin closed his independent label Powerstation to become the manager of Little Angels (featuring 18 year old Bruce Dickinson) and managed major label artists until 2001. Some of these have included Kula Shaker (2 million albums worldwide and Brit Winners) and Kirsty MacColl (Gold album in UK & Europe). Kevin also spent 2 years as A&R Director for Richard Bransons V2 Records before setting up BIMM in 2001. Kevin has had some 32 hit records including 2 number one albums and has worked directly with artists including Robert Plant, Bryan Adams, Pete Townsend, The Stereophonics, as well as producers such as Rick Rubin, Bob Clearmountain and Peter Collins. At BIMM Kevin handles Business Strategy, Property, Legal matters as well as the companies A&R Policies.

		sarah clayman - Managing Director Sarah has spent her whole working career in the music industry working first for BCC Concerts where she worked with acts such as Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond and Prince. After a year working in New York in Artist Management, Sarah joined Sony Music UK, where she worked as International Promotions Director and on a worldwide basis with artists including Leftfield, Roachford, Kula Shaker, and Grooverider. In 1999 Sarah returned to artist management joining Kevin and together they managed Kirsty MacColl, Subcircus, Younger Younger 28's, Straw and The Jeevas. Sarah is Managing Director for the BIMM Group so works closely with the Principal's and College Managers of all the campuses. Sarah's specialist area are PR, Promotion and Marketing, Recruitment and Music Industry relations.

		mel thomas With over 7 years spent in house at major labels, Mel launched the band All Saints and managed their PR for three years before moving to BMG to work with Simon Cowell on Five and other major pop acts. After 2 years at Way To Blue, the UK's leading music, film and game online PR company as Head of Press (Travis, Badly Drawn Boy, Basement Jaxx, The Streets) Mel moved to Brighton and set up Stay Gold PR, spending more time working with rock acts as well as working with local bands including The Love Gods and consulting to BMG on Avril Lavigne and Pink (in 04). Mel teaches Business Studies to Foundation Degree year 1 and 2 in addition to guest lectures. She is also a huge fan of rock music.

		jake shillingford Jake Shillingford, founder of the cult orchestral alternative band My Life Story, released three successful albums and had six top forty singles. Jake started out co-promoting bands in a London club called The Panic Station booking early shows for The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Chili Peppers. His band My Life Story went on to collaborate with with PJ Proby, Marc Almond, Morrissey, The Wonderstuff and even headlined over Oasis. He now runs his own label and new musical project ExileInside, financed online by investors. ‘One of our most colourful lyricists’ Steve Lamacq