bimm brighton’s
phil nelson on the great escape
BIMM PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL, BRIGHTON Each year The Great Escape festival (TGE) welcomes 3,000 music industry delegates to Brighton & Hove to hear 450 new artists play in 30 venues. It’s an exciting hub for professionals with an ear open for new talent to sign, so much so that Steve Lamacq of BBC 6 Music has called it, ‘the Cannes of the music world.’ Phil Nelson is one of the brains behind TGE, which last year celebrated its tenth anniversary. Phil is BIMM’s Head of Music Business, whose own journey in the industry began 30 years ago. We caught up with him on the eve of both The Great Escape 2016 and an exciting new research project, the Brighton Music City Report.
As one of the founders of The Great Escape, what effect has the festival had on you? I’ve been involved in the Brighton music scene since I set up my own label in 1986 and started managing The Levellers in 1988. Sporadically, a bunch of us have been putting together various things to bring the local music industry together, or to shine a spotlight on Brighton, such as the Brighton Music Network in the noughties. It’s thrilling to see Brighton become the focal point for something so ground-breaking.
What does TGE bring to the local music scene? TGE exists to showcase ‘export-ready artists’ wherever they might come from, and sometimes parts of the Brighton music community might feel underrepresented. The city has a number of different thriving music scenes, and we’ll see them all represented over TGE. We think we’ll see more music businesses locating here, especially those being priced out of London.”
BIMM is proud to be lead education partner for the second year running with TGE. This partnership continues to provide an invaluable link between music industry professionals and their talented students. They’ve also teamed up with UK Music to present the BIMM Student Sessions at the Jury’s Inn Waterfront Brighton hotel. The students themselves play key roles in the organisation of TGE. They work in both paid and volunteer positions on exciting front-of-house activities as well as behind the scenes, including the street team, content generation, social media, wristband exchange, event support, delegate registration and communications. BIMM has a fantastic programme for TGE 2016, and it continues to put live music and education at the heart of its festival role. “I’m delighted it has led to such an exciting collaborative research project based on a subject so close to my heart; Brighton as a Music City!” says BIMM Principal, Vaseema Hamilton. “We look forward to partnering for our BIMM Student Sessions at TGE on Fri 20 May and getting to see many of our industry friends at our BIMM Social at the Queens Hotel later the same day.”
THE GREAT ESCAPE BIMM SCHEDULE: Thurs 19 May The Hope & Ruin is home to the BIMM Official Showcase, where five acts from BIMM campuses each performs a live set. Fri 20 May The BIMM Student Sessions at the Brighton Waterfront Hotel, starts at 2pm with keynote speaker Tony Wadsworth, CBE. His 25 years in the industry has seen him help the careers of Blur, Radiohead, Tina Turner, Queen, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. The first session poses the question, ‘What Makes A Music City?’ On hand to answer are host Phil Nelson, with guests Martin Elbourne, Russell Warby and Mark Davyd. The second session is a Q&A for BIMM students and alumni, which features The Maccabees’ Felix White. Hosted by BIMM Brighton tutor, Jake Shillingford the session will give students an opportunity to ask questions and hear from a key member in a well-loved UK band. The day winds up at The Queens Hotel for the BIMM Social. This exclusive after party, for BIMM guests from the music community and wider industry, will include a live set from J-Felix of Tru Thoughts. Sat 21 May More live music as part of BIMM’s Alternative Escape gig, featuring a further BIMM Brighton acts. The Great Escape comes to venues across the city Thurs 19 – Sat 21 May 2016. www.bimm.co.uk www.greatescapefestival.com