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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		Guthrie Govan Guitar - Masterclass (Nov 11) BIMM Brighton welcomed Guthrie Govan for an excellent guitar masterclass. Guthrie who has played in Asia and more recently, multi-award winning artist Dizzee Rascal, demonstrated his awe-inspiring talent. He shared tips on improvisation, tone and technique. In addition to this he showed some very inventive ideas on slide playing and how to create a variety of sound options available without using external effects. As always, never a dull moment with Guthrie!

		Steve Gadd - Exclusive Drum Masterclass Legendary drummer Steve Gadd held a brilliant exclusive Q&A masterclass at Dingwalls in London. Steve took time out from his tour with Eric Clapton to talk to our students about his career to date and technical styles. Students came from BIMM Brighton, BIMM Bristol and Tech Music Schools (part of the BIMM Group) to listen to Steve and ask him questions about his career. Steve has worked with some of the most talented artists in the music industry including Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Chet Baker and Eric Clapton to name a few! A true legend in the drumming world... it was truly inspirational!

		Roger Daltrey - Masterclass Roger Daltrey of the legendary rock band The Who gained a standing ovation from a packed audience in BIMM Brighton after an awesome hour long Q&A with our musicians. Roger was very happy to discuss pretty much any topic - from his early days in a skiffle band, to The Who’s energetic stage show with its notorious guitar smashing finale, and his experience of singing at huge live events like Woodstock in 1969 and The Superbowl in 2010. He even revealed some genuine BIMM exclusives including the fact that, despite what you see in the film Tommy, Roger can’t actually play pinball! Roger said music colleges, like BIMM, are the art schools of the 1960’s today, and reflected on how he was “really impressed with what you have here guys. You’re very lucky”. The session was an amazing experience for everyone in the room. A real privilege to meet a 100% genuine Rock God who also proved to be very approachable and who was open to answering any question asked of him.

		Jeff Beck - Guitar Legend - 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!

		Paul Weller - Masterclass The Jam, The Style Council and 10 solo albums under his belt the non-stop hit machine, Paul Weller took time out between two sell out shows at the Brighton Centre to talk about his incredible journey at the forefront of the world music scene. Accompanied by bass player Andy Lewis, the Modfather looked back on his early gigging experience with The Jam, aged just 17 performing at New York’s legendary CBGB’s watched by The Ramones and Blondie, through to his more recent concert at The Apollo in Harlem where many of his own heroes graced the stage. Now on the final leg of his UK tour Paul shared his unique insight into songwriting, performing and the unceasing drive and determination required for longevity in the music industry. As one student described his visit... " simply inspirational!"

		Ronan Keating - Masterclass Ronan Keating who has sold over 22 million records to date, has continually leant his support to BIMM since our inception. We were delighted to welcome him back once more to BIMM Brighton whilst he was in town for a gig with Boyzone at the Brighton Centre. Ronan spoke candidly about life in the glare of the media. He fielded questions from a packed live room and talked about his role as a songwriter and picking up an Ivor Novello award. He explained how drive and determination is the key to longevity in the music industry, and how it was vital to understand your core fanbase. Playing tracks from his new album with songwriting legend Burt Bacharach, Ronan relived the nerves he encountered working with a legend. One BIMM musician remarked “hearing how to overcome nerves from such a successful artist was really inspiring for my confidence.”

		Saxon - Doug Scarratt - Masterclass Guitarist Doug Scarratt from legendary band Saxon visited BIMM Brighton to give a masterclass in live performance techniques. The focus of the afternoon included performing with a live guitar rig on an arena and festival stage environment. Doug ran a live rig comprised of two high gain Marshall 100 watt heads through four 4x12 cabinets with the intention of creating a great sound at high volume, monitoring from on stage backline and controlling feedback. Our musicians were then treated to an opportunity to play 3 classic Saxon songs with Doug and were given direction on executing metal riffs and playing along to a tight rhythm section. Afterwards Doug discussed his many years in the band and fun sides of large scale touring in one of the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands. Thank you Doug for an epic and entertaining Hard and Heavy afternoon!

		Kasabian’s Ian Matthews - Drum Masterclass Ian Matthews from multi-award winning British rock band Kasabian played out a drum solo to a packed live room to open his masterclass. He followed his performance by talking about how he started his professional career. Headed by BIMM’s Head of Drums, Pat Garvey, the masterclass also covered networking - with the intention to create a local reputation as an approachable and dependable musician (it was Ian’s local reputation on the Bristol music scene which had led him to meeting Kasabian and securing his role as their drummer). A Q&A from the floor followed with answers on how to practice effectively and what exercises should be used. The afternoon was rounded up with a demonstration on a couple of invaluable exercises to improve skill and focus.

		Carleen Anderson Vocal Masterclass Inspirational singer songwriter Carleen Anderson enthralled a captivated audience with her vocal masterclass. She explained the importance of finding individuality in your voice and how to experiment with it, let go and express yourself in a natural way. The masterclass consisted of practical fundamental vocal breathing exercises which demonstrated how to use your individual vocal sound to the maximum. Our musicians were then invited to perform on stage in the live room to practice and develop the tools they had learnt in the afternoon. It was a comprehensive and inspiring session which was delivered with clarity and warmth.

		N-Dubz’s Band Visit Mike Hamilton, the bass player with N-Dubz came into BIMM with Ginger (drums), Michael (bass), Martin (guitar) and Gavin (keyboard), whilst they were in town for N-Dubz sold out gig at the Brighton Centre. The band popped into a Live Music Performance class and helped our BIMM musicians with their writing compositions. The band gave creative advice by performing the lyrics with their ideas on stage with our musicians, and answered questions from the floor. They passed on insightful information on the demands of an arena tour, plus what it takes to be a session musician.