23/09/2019

(One of) My New Place(s): BIMM Bristol


My new place - from next Monday!
Honoured to plunge into this new adventure...

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Why Music Journalism? | BIMM


ALL ABOUT MUSIC JOURNALISM COURSES AT BIMM




KEY FACTS:

  • Degree course
  • Industry-leading tutors
  • Well-balanced classes — a mix of theory and practical 
  • Excellent internships and opportunities
  • Elite masterclasses
  • Access to BIMM Connect an exclusive networking service
Successful Music Journalists are made at BIMM and our three-year degree produces some of the best Music Writers in the modern music industry today. 
A BIMM degree is designed to bring out the best in our students. We’ll teach you business skills to land your dream job and our tutors will give you the knowledge and drive to become a world-quality Music Journalist.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR BIMM JOURNALISMCOURSE

During your BIMM journey, you’ll be supported by a team of talented tutors who have years of experience and the inside know-how to help you crack the industry. 

LECTURES TO PREPARE YOU FOR A CAREER IN MUSIC

You’ll be taught the fundamentals of journalism and will be chasing down your own stories and scoring interviews with the hottest bands. You’ll also collaborate with your peers and harness BIMM’s cutting-edge facilities to sharpen your writing skills and business acumen. During the course, you will learn:
  • Music and Digital Media
  • Music Business
  • Journalism in Context
  • Artist Development and PR
  • Engaging with Industry Contacts
  • Global Communication
  • Professional Development
Aside from your core classes, you’ll also be exploring potential career pathways through research and your Professional Project; as well as, learning about the vital business skills that drive the music industry.

Why Choose Music Journalism at BIMM

BIMM, The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, has colleges in eight cities where music matters most – London, Berlin, Dublin, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Hamburg and Brighton – and is proud to be the largest and leading provider of contemporary music education in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

WHO WILL BE TEACHING YOU AT BIMM

Studying at BIMM means that you’ll learn from a variety of sources. From our experienced and accomplished tutors to our exciting masterclasses that allow you to get up and close to some of the biggest names in music journalism. 

TUTORS

BIMM has produced some of the most successful names in Music Journalism and some of these industry icons will be teaching you how to follow in their footsteps.

MASTERCLASSES

BIMM students get special access to our famous Masterclasses. During these talks, you’ll meet some of the biggest names in Music Journalism, learn from them and get answers to all your crucial questions.

STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

We’re proud that so many BIMM students have become successful in the music industry and professionals such as Jade Foster, The Kooks, Marina and the Diamonds, Jamie Skinner, Jules Pestano and James Bay have all walked BIMM’s halls. Go to the BIMM success stories page to find out more.

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STAPLES: BRISTOL with Danny Nedelko

Bristol is a city with an unquestionably rich music and cultural heritage. We caught up with Heavy Lungs frontman, IDLES homie and all round great bloke Danny Nedelko, to get his five 'STAPLES' of Bristol's music scene.
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And to finish, my piece on The Exchange for The Bristol Cable: 

Fat Paul and the Exchange’s rebirth as Bristol’s first community owned venue

For the past decade, he has been one of the key “behind-the-scene” players in Bristol’s music scene, and now building a new era at The Exchange.


In the familiar surroundings of Cafe Kino ‘Fat Paul’ Horlick and I meet to discuss his part in saving The Exchange, by turning it into Bristol’s first ever community owned music venue.

The ‘DIY’ club on Old Market is not the only music venue currently under threat in Bristol. On the way from the Bearpit, I pass Lakota and Blue Mountain on Stokes Croft; the former has announced it will be closing in the next few years, the latter the Cable revealed has been bought by developers of student accommodation who are registered in the tax haven of Luxembourg.

Keep going and you get to the Canteen – one of the few survivors following the saga over the future of Hamilton House. Just like Westmoreland House, whose demolition began on November 21st, the whole of Stokes Croft is undergoing a complete transformation. For better or worse, depending on your perspective.

“When I was living here, the area was still a nightmare, marred with poverty, drug dealing, noise, insecurity,” says Paul, who first moved to the area 33 years ago, in a building facing Café Kino. “It has changed… and is continuously changing.”

With change comes opportunity, too. The team behind the Exchange, who used to own the Croft here in Stokes Croft have a solution that might inspire others in the fight to defend nightlife.

In October, they launched a campaign to become a Community Benefit Society, a set up where everyone gets one share in the enterprise regardless of whether they put in £250 or £25,000. In this way all shareholders equally own the society and can have a say in how it’s run.

This is similar in many ways to the Bristol Cable’s model, whose members contribute a minimum of £1 a month to own a part of the co-op and steer its direction.
“I cannot claim to own anything of the Exchange now,” says Paul
So why did the Exchange team decide to take this route? “We had experienced some difficulties with the council, in every way,” laments Paul. “I was working with Matt Otridge and Pete, and we were literally working all the time for free! We couldn’t afford to give ourselves any wages; we started running the venue out of passion only. We opened the Exchange six years ago in 2012, but it was never easy. But as we also needed the help of other people, we were aware of the fact that it was unfair for them…”

So something needed to change. Raising money, not from venture capitalists, but gig-goers and locals was the solution they came upon.


Bristol’s first community owned venue


By the time the community share offer ended on 31 October the 400 shareholders, mainly locals and fans of the venue, including a generous donation from the Fleece’s owner Chris Sharp, had raised an investment of £300,000. The new arrangement means that in January 2019, the Exchange will become Bristol’s first community owned venue.

The funds will allow them to make significant changes to the venue. Just as important to their future success will be a new ethos, or as the team declared after the completion of the campaign “the enthusiasm and ideas that our new co-owners will bring”.

Since 2012, the venue has been open almost every night, for gigs or charity events. But now the 400-something group will be able to bring in new ideas for events and musicians to perform. From January 2019, the leading team will launch improvement work,and a rebuilding of the stage, but want to keep it organic in the spirit of their newly formed co-op.


For the love of Bristol music


Music fan and drummer, Fat Paul is also known for his talent as a DJ. His sets are remembered for their lists of pagan folk music, from Tibetan monks to ritual themes, crossed with punk music.

Paul has also launched independent labels to give new artists a platform and free them from the regular commercial pressures.

The most successful has been Invada, created with Geoff Barrow, founding member of Portishead. Invada released all the albums for Dope and Barrow’s own band, BEAK> which he launched with Billy Fuller and Matt Williams in 2008. Paul is completely uncomfortable with the success. Invada is a label that is now “too big and selling too much”, he says.

To produce even more underground music, he launched the label Environmental Studies here in Bristol, which “doesn’t have to sell”, giving the artists no boundaries to their creativity. Documentary filmmaker Katie Bauer, who directed a film on Paul Horlick this year (named Dead Man’s Money), released her album Post via Environmental Studies.

2019 is going to be a busy year for Fat Paul, and the new owners of the Exchange too, as they struggle to keep up the good work in trying times.
“I cannot claim to own anything of the Exchange now,” says Paul, who still works seven days a week to run the venue. “We now vote all the important decisions together, of course not every detail every day or even every week, and we’re putting into place a new team of managers. We want the Exchange to continue as it is, really.”

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