LONDONOAPRIL 2017

THE BRAND NEW MAGAZINE FOR BIMM STUDENTS

THE LOWDOWN All Time Low talk exclusively to BIMM Life about their new record and the perils of being happy. PLUS: NILE RODGERS, IMOGEN HEAP, CREEPER The stage belongs to those who dare.

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CONTENTS VVVVVV All Time Low 4/5 Nile Rodgers 6/7 Imogen Heap 8 Liam Chapman 9 The Woodland Trust 10/11 Creeper 12/13 V The Graduate 14

Hello, and welcome to the latest issue of BIMM You can also read about BIMM’s encounter Life. It’s now April so that means we’ve all made with Imogen Heap, and find out what she insists it through two-thirds of the academic year. Well you should do the second you’re lucky enough done us! to get an advance (page 8). I hope that everyone has been taking The big names keep coming, with All Time advantage of the amazing masterclasses that Low (pages 4/5) and Creeper (pages 12/13) are available to all students. There have been both giving us an insider’s view of the music quite a few in the last month or so and some of industry - and a few tips on how to make it big. them are featured in this issue. Closer to home, we chat to Production I was lucky enough to witness an incredible student Liam Chapman about the wide range of masterclass from Nile Rodgers and his band opportunities BIMM has thrown up (page 9) and (pages 6/7). former student Rachel Mosleh tells you how to As founder, songwriter and guitarist with make the most of BIMM even when you’ve left. Chic, Nile is one of the most admired and Right, I’m off to try and see how many festival influential musicians of all time, but he carries tickets can be bought with just one student absolutely no traces of arrogance or self- loan! importance. I hope you enjoy this issue of BIMM Life, and He was a very humourous and humble have a good month. personality and it was a genuine pleasure listening to him. It was a highly enjoyable morning during which he enthralled 300 BIMM students with his David Wells incredible stories and amazing guitar-playing. BA (Hons) Music Journalism, Year 1

BIMM Life was written by It was designed by 155 Creative (@155creative) David Wells, Domonkos Gargyan, Joe Harries, To advertise in BIMM Life contact [email protected] Noa Lou Enderli and Eline Joling. If you would like to contribute to BIMM Life, please email [email protected] THEIR TIME HAS COME US rock behemoths All Time Low have just finished a UK arena tour. It included a secret show at London’s Bush Hall, before which the band’s singer and guitarist Alex Gaskarth found time for an exclusive interview with BIMM Life’s Zara Rowden.

Formed in High School in 2003, All Time Low have I stress it right up until the very last minute. slogged their way through the ranks to become Afterwards, you have to step back and let it do its one of the biggest and best rock bands in the thing, otherwise you just keep thinking, ‘No this world. needs to be different, I need to change this.’ I’m Their last four albums have all gone top 10 in a perfectionist, but it’s a gift and a curse because the US and their most recent, 2015’s Future Hearts, it drives me to want to make things better, but was a number one on this side of the Atlantic. after a while I need to back away. It’s like painting On June 2nd they will release their seventh LP, Last a picture and eventually you’ve painted over Young Renegade, on their new label, Fueled By something so many times you’ve ruined it. Ramen (also home to Twenty One Pilots, All Time Low and Panic! At The Disco). You’ve been a band since 2003. Would you ever do a throwback tour for one of your previous Is there a particular band that have had an albums? influence on the new record? We’re talking about it. It’s hard because right now It’s hard to say one, but there are a lot of artists. we have a new record coming out, we have a There was a lot of ‘80s stuff put in there. I don’t new song, so it’s difficult to have new music think the record sounds like an ‘80s album, but coming out and then go and play the first album there are flavours of that sprinkled in. I went back we ever put out. This is going to be a busy year and listened to a lot of Prince and a lot of Bowie regardless, so we’ll try our best to fit in some and started re-exploring. I would come in with all surprises. these ideas and it ended up being cool because it was a place I’ve never really gone through How did Dear Maria become the song that you creatively before, so it made for some new, always play last? interesting ideas. We stole the idea from Fall Out Boy. They always close with Saturday and it’s one of their early Making the new album must have been hard songs, so we thought that it was kind of cool that work, how do you switch off from it? they’ve never changed that, even though other BIMMLIFEO05

songs have become more popular. They will do and dreaming of being as successful as you. their big, big song and then Saturday, no matter What was it like when you got your first big what. Even if people are like, ‘I’m leaving, I don’t pay day from it? know this one.’ I just think that’s kind of rad, so we A lot of that stuff didn’t come right away. We borrowed that. didn’t blow up over night and we never signed record deals that were like, ‘Here’s a million When writing songs, do you find there are dollars’. We’ve always taken it modestly, so certain things you tend to write about more the fact that it’s now built into something we than others? can have a career out of, that’s the coolest I’ve always been a sucker for writing about love thing. I’d say being able to buy a house myself and relationships. I’ve always gravitated towards and knowing that I’d done it off of this band, that as a way to get things off my chest. Now something I’d dreamed about doing forever, was that’s taken a big turn because I’m married and really cool. Just knowing that this created some my relationship’s awesome, so it’s difficult to kind of way to provide a home for myself. write about drama when you’re in that place. I think Adele made this joke where she was If you were to go back to when you first going to write songs for the last record and her started as a band, would there be any producers asked, ‘So what’s going on?’, and changes? she was like, ‘Great. I just had a baby, I’m super There’s always things I look back on, but I think happy right now.’ They asked, ‘Shall we write it’s growing pains. You look back and think, ‘Why about that?’, and she says, ‘No. Nobody wants to did I dress like that?’ At the end of the day we’re hear about that. Let’s write about drama.’ super happy with where we are now and changing You have to get creative and I feel like that’s things would be sticking our noses up at how the same for me. We have plenty of other happy far we’ve come. I don’t have any regrets in that songs about different topics, but sometimes sense. If I could tell my younger self something you have to go back and look at the past and it would be to go with my gut more. I tended to things that are happening around you and draw overthink things. We would seek outside advice and inspiration from that. sometimes that advice isn’t what you need to hear and isn’t right, because no one knows your band or Students in bands are going to be reading this yourself better than you. YOU CAN

BANK ON NILEChic founder is a musical pioneer and bona fide legend. The to Nile Rodgers Jerry Barnes and Ralph Rolle recently visited BIMM with bandmatesDavid Wells was in the audience. deliver an inspiring masterclass.

a chat with fellow band members or a quick It’s just past 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning. burst on the guitar. Bush Hall is full of students - 300 BIMM Rodgers explains how Chic were formed in students, to be precise. On stage, Ralph Rolle 1976. They soon became a driving force behind (drums) and Jerry Barnes (bass) talk to various disco, the new musical style emerging from New engineers as a quick soundcheck is performed. York. With tunes like Good Times, Everybody Then, with the level of anticipation rising, the Dance, I Want Your Love and Le Freak, they took show begins. Nile Rodgers could not look more the genre to a new level. Rodgers obviously enjoys cool if he tried. He is wearing ripped jeans and talking about this part of his career and is an a silver scarf that contrasts with the rest of his energetic and enthusiastic story-teller. outfit: polo neck, beret and shades, all black, His rightful pride in the accomplishments which gives the impression we might be about of himself and bassist/writing partner Bernard to hear some smooth slow jazz. Not quite. Edwards is obvious. The early days of Chic are Renowned music journalist and BIMM described in detail by a good-natured Rodgers. lecturer, Paul Lester, is the man posing the Also apparent is the chemistry and friendship questions. Nile Rodgers is a journalist’s dream. between the three members of Chic as Rodgers Each question is given a long, detailed but never banters on stage with Ralph and Jerry boring answer. These are often punctuated with BIMMLIFEO07

“What we accomplished in just two short years, but at the same time, Nile and Bernard became between 1977 and 1979, with just one little band, increasingly in-demand as producers for Madonna, is incredible to think,” he beams. “Artists these days David Bowie, Duran Duran, Rod Stewart and more. take years to produce just one album.” Rodgers returned to the limelight in 2013 with Rodgers went on to reveal that it was an ex- Daft Punk. Get Lucky went to the top of many girlfriend’s love of Roxy Music that influenced charts and Nile received three Grammy Awards early Chic. Inspired by the visual appeal of Roxy, for his work on the French duo’s sensational Chic began their domination of the new disco album, Random Access Memories. scene. We heard about when a nightclub played It was easy to see how Nile Rodgers has Everybody Dance 20 times in a row, and how lasted in the business for so long as all his the track had been recorded in secret, with their answers were full of humour and humility. school friend, Luther Vandross, for $10. No-one wanted the masterclass to end but, Rodgers discussed his entire career, from the unfortunately, it had to. Before it did, we were inspiration behind some of Chic’s greatest songs treated to an amazing performance of Let’s to the ‘Disco Sucks’ movement of 1979, which Dance, at which point the masterclass became he explained was both racist and sexist. an impromptu gig with the infectious groove of Chic’s popularity suffered heavily as a result, “one little band” filling the hall. Domonkos Gargyan A WHOLE HEAP OF reports from a talk given by musician and industry campaigner for artists’ WISDOM rights, Imogen Heap. It’s a cold Wednesday morning, and more than a advance, you buy a house.” It’s a good job she hundred BIMM students are gathered in Chelsea’s did, because, she goes on to reveal, she had to Under The Bridge venue to hear the wisdom of remortgage it to fund her second record, Speak award-winning singer-songwriter, visionary and For Yourself. businesswoman Imogen Heap. She goes on to talk about the importance of As we are waiting for the masterclass to begin, I financial awareness, highlighting it as one of the start paying close attention to what those around main ’make it tor break it’ factors. Then we get to me are chatting about. Many are trying to guess see some Prezi slides that guide us through the what Imogen will be like, what she will be wearing, journey of her most well-known song, Hide and I even overhear a girl hoping to see her in the dress Seek, along with complete royalty reports, which she wore in the video for Me the Machine (given provide an amazing insight into the business. the time and season, this wasn’t likely to happen). There’s also a lot being said about Mycelia, Confuting our presumptions, Imogen Heap which is the prototype of an extensive database comes to the stage in casual clothes, appearing with every bit of copyright information of, to be a genuine and down to earth person. The hopefully, the entire recorded music history. She conversation is led by Music Journalism course doesn’t hesitate to express her ideas of where leader Dr. Jennifer Otter Bickedike, who starts music consumption can progress from streaming, by asking about the making of Heap’s first solo as well as the future of record labels. album, 1998’s iMegaphone. The session ends with about half of the crowd Whilst recollecting events, Heap gives a valuable climbing onto the stage for photos, and although piece of advice to all future music-makers in the she’s obviously in a hurry, she tries to fulfill as many room: “First thing you do when you get your wishes as possible before she leaves.

HEAP: “First thing you do when you get your advance, you buy a house.” BIMMLIFEO09

OPPORTUNITIES KNOCK about how saying yes to Joe Harries talks to production student Liam Chapman everything leads to working on a Woody Harrelson movie and mixing metal with grime.

It is a typically overcast Friday afternoon in distorted scream (taken from the world of rock West London. I’m sat in Fulham Wetherspoon’s, and metal) on grime tracks. “I never thought I a favourite haunt for BIMM students to drink, would be making grime beats,” he says. socialise and make connections. Liam has been keen to take up every opportunity I’m meeting with Liam Chapman, a first- that has arisen. For example, Lyrix Organix and the year Production student, who, through BIMM, Woodland Trust collaborated with BIMM and ran a has made connections that have led to some two-day studio workshop, The Tree Charter, which exciting commercial music projects. gave students the chance to record a double EP. One of his most recent projects was as a Tutor James Yates was responsible for overseeing member of a radio-friendly pop/rock band, the recording process with help from Liam. Newpoint, who successfully reached out to former It was from this that Liam was recommended by Sleeping with Sirens guitarist Jesse Lawson, who James for more shadowing and assistant engineer agreed to a collaboration. The band felt that the opportunities. One of the projects Liam has production should be equally high profile, so shadowed was the composition of the soundtrack they got in contact with Joe and Sam Graves, for a film, Lost in London, directed by Woody the producers who have previously worked with Harrelson, who also starred in the movie. Asking Alexandria and Deaf Havana. Liam was present in the studio whilst the Liam is clearly not one to be restricted to tracks for the movie were being recorded. He one specific music genre, which is useful for a also went on the very busy film set where the producer faced with multiple projects. One of his crew were working out the timings for the favourite experiences has been meeting with, and music. It was a very exciting experience for being influenced by, a vast array of students with Liam, who says: “It was great to get to see the varied musical backgrounds. process from origin to finish.” He feels that this is of great importance – Liam hopes to have the opportunity to release and it has encouraged him to evolve from his own tracks by the time he finishes at BIMM. rock and metal-oriented productions to pop His advice to all BIMM students could be best and deep house. This, in turn, has led to an summed up as: turn up to everything, work interesting mix of styles. He has, for example, hard, be open-minded, collaborate and make been experimenting with implementing a low the most of every opportunity presented. BRANCHING OUT The Woodland Trust recently visited BIMM to host a songwriting reports. and recording session with a difference.Noa Lou Enderli

Music touches all spheres of life and personifies Through hosting the music masterclasses, a powerful communication tool regardless BIMM gave eight students the opportunity to of the differences in culture, opinion and collaborate and use their skills in writing and experience. recording for a double EP due next April. Conscious of these characteristics, the The whole experience was supervised by Woodland Trust and Lyrix Organix recently Daniel Tsu, who kicked the first session off by ran a two day studio workshop as part of their challenging the students to think outside the nationwide environmental campaign, the box and come up with creative ideas through Tree Charter, and put its roots down in BIMM various songwriting exercises. London. After an intense and productive session came The charter is seeking to (re)connect people the recording process, which turned out to be to their surroundings and raise awareness using just as challenging and exciting. Each student creativity in various fields such as music, art, recorded their song in BIMM’s studio, where photography and poetry. James Yates worked alongside one of his Music With a vision to unite today’s youth with Production students, Liam (see interview on education, events and employment, Lyrix page 9). Organix put on free workshops around the UK, Following the two sessions, the ‘Charter each one offering the chance to win a grant of Champion Innovation Award’ for the music up to £1000. workshops was given to Ina Shai. The singer- BIMMLIFEO11

songwriter won the distinction and the grant for place on Earth Day in Dalston Garden. He is her forthcoming single and music video, Lonely setting up a petition to raise awareness and save Tree. green spaces in the city as an aftermath of his Alongside her manager, Nikki Camilleri, ‘‘eye opening experience.’’ Ina plans to develop a campaign around the He says: ‘’I feel privileged to have been given song, which will include a video to convey the a chance to make a change and I want to find essence of the Tree Charter. new and innovative ways to put on events.’’ She explains: ‘’The environmental theme The up-and-coming coordinator realises the can be unusual for some, but I immediately importance of creativity both in events and felt inspired as nature and environmental music and aims to use his career in the industry consciousness are very close to my heart.’’ to bring about a change. Driven by her passion and talent, Ina is Along with winning the event workshop, currently perfecting the song and working on Tashan will be featuring on the EP as he took the music video which will include illustrations part in the music masterclass and wrote R.O.O.T. and animations to enhance the lyrics. (Running Out Of Time). The song expresses the Another BIMM student rewarded for his skills importance of going back to the foundations of was Tashan Bonner, who won the grant for our society and ties in metaphors on building the Events and Environment workshop held by down to what matters the most. Bootstrap Company. Besides taking part in the Through the Charter for Trees, Woods and studio masterclass, the first year Music Business People, BIMM allowed its musicians to be student made the most of the opportunity by exposed to the challenge of being creative attending the event-related workshop. within an innovative concept for an important Tashan is now organising an event to take cause: protecting our planet. ETERNITY STARTS HERE Having already built a fearsome live reputation, are set to go into horror punk band Creeper overdrive this year with the releaseEline of their Joling fi rst album, Eternity, In Your Arms. meets a band on the brink.

Creeper have a big year ahead of them. Truth be tangible music again, which is really exciting. told, they have a pretty big year behind them. In IM: I had a friend and we used to do this thing 2016 the Southampton six-piece won Best British where we’d get together and have listening Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards and Best New parties. We would set up his record player and Band at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. put a record on, put two chairs in front of it and In 2017, however, they’re planning to widen their just sit and listen. It was really nice. fan base in a major way following the release of their debut album, Eternity, In Your Arms, on Is there anything that you’ve enjoyed in March 24th. Frontman Will Gould, keyboard player making the album that you didn’t have with Hannah Greenwood and guitarist Ian Miles came previous EPs? to BIMM to talk about the new record, playing IM: When we were writing, we were very focused Download and sexism in the music industry. on dynamics. We like to play with dynamics a lot rather than just keeping one train of noise, and At the moment a lot of bands are focussing on when you’ve got such a long amount of time, tracks, whereas you’re about to release your you’ve got a lot of freedom in terms of what you debut album. Do you think there’s a future for can and can’t do, so it works really well. the album? WG: To have something that has more depth WG: All I’ve ever wanted to do is to make albums. to it is really important, and you can do that There is something about being able to take more on an LP. You’ve got room to breathe, to someone from one place to another throughout try diff erent things and experiment. We have a the course of an album, taking them to another country song on our record; we would have world for the portion of time that you listen to never got away with that on an EP because it. I think the world is changing and people want you’ve only got fi ve songs. BIMMLIFEO13

You’re set to play Download this year. Do you WG: It was such a sad experience. She had her prepare diff erently for a festival set compared lanyard around her neck, security had seen her to a show on tour? coming in and out throughout the day and then IM: You have to, there’s so many people at saw her gender and were like, Oh, I’ll just ignore a festival and the majority are not going to this lanyard and the fact I’ve seen her around today. know you, so you take that into consideration HG: It’s a lot better than it was, but it’s still and put together almost a starter pack. It’s an really diffi cult. Hopefully one day it’ll get to the introduction to the people who haven’t heard point where men and women within the music you before, so it’s important to try and condense industry will be seen as the same. everything that you think summarises your band into one set. We’ve talked about your love for albums, is your WG: You’ve only got one shot with a lot of those debut album the way people are supposed to get people, 30 minutes to sum up your band, so you to know and consume Creeper? pick your very best songs and go with those. WG: I think this is a pivotal point for the band. You don’t start with the EPs, you start with album Hannah, you’ve mentioned having to deal with one and learn from there. A lot of the people sexism at gigs before, do you think it is improving who are going to come and see us play next at all in the music industry? year for example, will probably know us from HG: I don’t think it’s at the level where it needs to this album. The EPs show progression towards be. A lot of the time I am the only girl in a touring the album, but if someone were to ask me what party and I’ve had security come up to me and be the best way is to experience Creeper, I’d say like, It’s band only now, you’re going to have to listen to the album, because that is where we leave, and I’m like, I am the band! are at now. 14OBIMMLIFE

THE GRADUATE explains how she Former BIMM student Rachel Mosleh BIMM as went on to tour with a Sex Pistol and return to a vocal coach and Head of Alumni.

When did you study at BIMM and what did you the Head of Alumni for the BIMM Group, which study? means I get to work with graduates. That might I started at BIMM in 2006 and did the BA (Hons) mean helping them with career planning so that Degree in Professional Musicianship, specialising they can carve their way in the music industry, in vocals. booking alumni as guest speaks for BIMM events or coming up with initiatives to support What were the most important things you our alumni. learned? The most important thing I learned whilst at Can you tell us about the newly launched BIMM was the value of networking. At the time, Artist Award? the word ‘networking’ used to scare me a bit. The BIMM Artist Award is a very exciting new For some reason, I used to imagine rooms filled initiative for 2017. It is a chance for an alumni with men in suits where I’d have sell myself in a band/artist to win up to £5000 plus artist sentence with my career hanging in the balance development. It can sometimes be tough for if I didn’t come across as being interesting emerging bands to gain access to funding and enough. following in the footsteps of the great work that In reality though, I learned that it is simply the PRS Momentum Fund do, we wanted to building and maintaining relationships with like- make sure that we are doing what we can to minded people. It actually just meant being pro- help support our graduates. active in lessons, booking tutorials, rehearsing with other musicians, going to jam nights and Do you help current as well as former students making sure I kept in touch with the people that get jobs? I met. The alumni service is for graduates and final year students. We think it is extremely important What do you do now and how did you get the for final year students to be able to use services job? such as the tutorial system, so that they can talk As with most people in a creative industry I have about their progression, and BIMM Connect, what I guess you might call a portfolio career. I an online platform where they can network am a session singer, which means that I get to with other alumni ahead of leaving BIMM and be involved in a wide variety of projects. Last gain access to the online jobs board etc. For autumn, for instance, I found myself recording any students wishing to gain support with a radio jingle one day and then touring with a internships and careers planning, they can Sex Pistol the next. Additionally, I am a vocal book tutorials with Nicky Kingsbury-Williams: coach at BIMM and at The BRIT School through [email protected] To sign up my company, The Harmony Group. I am also to BIMM Connect, go to: www.bimm.co.uk/alumni