Martin Rossiter is BIMM Brighton’s New Head of Songwriting

There are so many reasons why we’re thrilled to have Martin Rossiter joining BIMM Brighton as our new Head of Songwriting. We can’t wait for our students to learn from his consummate songwriting abilities and benefit from his vast experience over a long and celebrated career.

Martin is a man who writes songs that touch rare emotional depths and garner enthusiastic critical acclaim. He’s sold a million records and played huge gigs at Reading, Glastonbury and the Royal Albert Hall on the way.

Martin spent his early years in South Wales and grew up singing the hymns of Charles Wesley and dancing to Shirley Bassey. As the confident, charismatic frontman of Gene, Martin won over crowds across Europe, America and Japan. He’s now a highly-regarded solo performer based in Brighton and has thirteen years experience in music education.

In 1995, when laddish Britpop ruled the charts, Martin’s band, Gene, stood out: a successful, well-regarded group whose songs were flamboyant, complicated and more emotional than their counterparts’.

While Gene were often compared favourably to the Smiths, the songwriting on their hit albums Olympian and Drawn to the Deep End was all their own, exhibiting rare depth, nuance and a political bent.

Gene’s songs struck a chord with the music-loving public, performing a series of sessions for John Peel, and appearing on the biggest music TV shows of the time, Top of the Pops and TFI Friday.

After Gene split, Martin released his debut solo LP, The Defenestration of St Martin to huge critical acclaim. It was called, “a solo debut of quite astonishing beauty,” by The Independent on Sunday and “a rare and affecting record,” by Drowned In Sound.

It’s clear that someone with a track record like this is going to be an enormous asset to BIMM. We can’t wait to see how Martin can help develop the songs, lives and thoughts of our ambitious young songwriters – welcome to BIMM Brighton, Martin!