BIMM GUESTS
Check out the latest special guest musicians and music industry professionals who have visited BIMM to talk to students and sign our Wall of Shame!
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		Mark Cooper - Creative Head of the BBC and Later producer (Feb 10) Creative Head of BBC Music Entertainment, Mark Cooper, visited BIMM to discuss the opportunities within BBC for both developing and signed musicians. Mark is the executive producer for ‘Later with Jools Holland’ and the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury festival and Carling Weekender. He has executive produced numerous documentaries on BBC1 including profiles on Johnny Cash, The Rolling Stones and more. Accompanied by Stephania Minici, Production Executive of BBC Music Entertainment Television, they both spoke about the challenges producing television content on Glastonbury and Reading. They also explained how they go about selecting artists for Later with Jools Holland. Mark gave exclusive news about a series of exciting music documentaries coming up this spring.

		Guthrie Govan Masterclass (Feb 10) Back by popular demand, inspirational guitarist and all round nice bloke, Guthrie Govan dropped in to provide a fascinating insight into not just his playing style, but also his approach to writing and improvisation. Demonstrating an enviable variety of tones and techniques he showed a brilliant range of rhythm guitar techniques from Motown to Funk to Dizee Rascal in addition to some very inventive ideas on slide playing and creating a variety of special effects. Never a dull moment!

		Jamiroquai’s bassist, Paul Turner (Feb 10) Jamiroquai’s bassist, Paul Turner held a packed out masterclass in BIMM Brighton. He gave brilliant insights into his lengthy career which started with Take That. Paul spoke about how Gary Barlow helped him move from Birmingham to London to play for the band which lead to his gig with Annie Lennox, and ultimately his audition for Jamiroquai. He spoke about how Jay Kay writes songs, often singing bass-lines to Paul and how the new Jamiroquai album will have more of a ’live’ feel, similar to the first three albums. He gave an extensive demonstration of how he uses a multitude of effect pedals to create supremely funky sounds. Paul proved not only to be a fantastic musician but also a really down to earth and genuinely nice guy.

		Madness (Dec 09) 10 BIMM musicians went to the Brighton Centre to meet UK ska band Madness. They watched the band sound check for an hour before being taken backstage for a meet and greet. Founding member, keyboardist and songwriter Mike Barson and drummer Daniel Woodgate discussed their thoughts on various subjects such as their influences, songwriting, set lists and label deals. It was very interesting to hear their answers, arguments and their thoughts on such aspects. To round off the session our musicians were invited to watch the sold-out show that night. BIMM musician Ernst Carstens said “the concert was amazing and full of energy. I’m deeply grateful to have met one of my favourite bands.”

		Night Of Vocals with Amy Winehouse’s band (Nov 09) On a cold November night BIMM Brighton warmly welcomed guests and musicians alike into the Komedia for a Night of Vocals. Compered by BIMM Director Kevin Nixon and tutor Jason Knight the evening was host to Amy Winehouse’s band. The UK’s leading session band performed with our BIMM vocalists with a series of soul classics and Amy Winehouse tracks. Lead by a Q&A with the band the guys gave insight into what it is like working with one of the most famous vocalists in the world. Backing vocalists Ade Omotayo and Zalon Thompson blew the audience away with their stage presence and vocal mastery whilst Musical Director/Bassist Dale Davis and the band spoke about their careers and songwriting. This was a truly memorable and stunning evening and many thanks to the band for taking the time out to visit us.

		Beverley Knight performs live at BIMM (Nov 09) British soul and R&B singer Beverley Knight came into BIMM for an exclusive masterclass. This included a special live performance which featured our musicians with Beverley Knight on backing vocals! Beverley has released 5 studio albums to date, received an MBE for her charitable work and the contribution she has made to British music. Widely labelled as one of Britain’s greatest soul singers she has received a host of awards, including three MOBO’s. Beverley made time during her UK tour to speak with our musicians about her career, influences and vocal technique. You can check out the performance now by clicking on the link below.

		The Temper Trap (Oct 09) Induction Day at BIMM Brighton was packed with music industry guests and bands. Korda Marshall, MD of Infectious Records came down with The Temper Trap’s guitarist and songwriter Lorenzo Sillitto and discussed the relationship between artist and label. This was of particular interest to our musicians since the band’s single “Sweet Disposition” was number 6 in the charts that week. Other industry guests included Felix Howard, Head of A&R at EMI Music Publishing who talked about their sponsorship with BIMM’s BA Songwriting course and a speech about the current music industry climate from CEO of UK Music Feargal Sharkey. BIMM bands Sweet Sweet Lies and Son of Robot performed on the day topped with a electric showdown with punk rockers Ghost of a Thousand (Epitaph Records).

		Guitar Legend Jeff Beck - exclusive masterclass Living legend Jeff Beck came into BIMM Brighton for a very special masterclass. Unarguably one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Jeff’s career has spanned decades and shaped the way we think about and play guitar. He has earned international critical praise, received 4 Grammy Awards, played with the greats including Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jeff talked about some of his trademark techniques, picking up an off the shelf signature Strat going straight into a BIMM Marshall DSL 50 watt head and, with no pedals, demonstrated how he achieves one of the most recognisable tones in the world. Jamming with BIMM guitarists: Luke Machin, Sandy Buglass and Ben Poole, Jeff ran through ‘Cause We Ended as Lovers’, ‘Where Were You’ and ‘Blues Deluxe’. Gary Moore also popped into BIMM to say hello, and some lucky BIMM guitarists were invited to Jeff’s gig at the Dome that evening. Sandy even sat next to Jimmy Page!

		Little Boots (Oct 09) At a time when her schedule is frantically hectic with her UK tour, electro pop starlet Little Boots made time to meet up with BIMM musician Sabrina Altan. Relaxing backstage before her sold out gig at the Concorde 2, Little Boots aka Victoria Hesketh, answered questions on her career, influences, collaborations, future plans, songwriting and image. Jet lagged from her Japan tour Victoria described how her gigs have taken her from a sold out tour in the US all the way to Australia. She spoke about her inspirations that included Kate Bush, Brian Wilson and David Bowie and her forthcoming session with Gary Numan. Victoria then spoke in detail about her burning ambition to produce a film soundtrack before rounding up the session on where she gets her stage outfits. Before shooting off to soundcheck Victoria gave some advice to our musicians and said “take opportunities”, “get your demos out”, “be pro-active” and “study – it’s the building block”. Sound advice!

		Acoustic Guitarist, Clive Carroll (Feb 10) Acoustic guitarist, Clive Carroll recently held a masterclass in composition and arrangement techniques. Clive has worked extensively with Tommy Emmanuel and John Renbourn and been described by Acoustic Magazine as “probably the best and most original young acoustic guitar player and composer in Britain”. Clive looked at areas such as theme and development, rhythmic intensity and use of tunings. He discussed his approach to various acoustic guitar techniques and explained how you should employ them only to further develop the music itself. Our musicians were treated to a great level of insight into solo acoustic performance and collective performances.