Industry news & advice blog

Image credit: Nick Page

This month we head out to the South Coast to the quintessentially British seaside town of Brighton to have a gander at what’s going on for local emerging acts.

As always, in order to get a better look at what’s currently going on in the city and for some insider tips from the people who live and work there, we roped in some musical locals to help. This month we have James Fox who presents a show featuring new music on Brighton’s Juice 107.2 every Sunday from 8pm-10pm, Tim Bidwell, a sound engineer and producer who owns local recording studio Clockwork Owl and our favourite Brighton boys High Tyde who featured in our Spotlight blog in March 2013 and have been namechecked as a ‘band to watch’ by BBC Introducing.

Brighton has long had a compelling musical history as one of the UK’s most important cities in terms of alternative, music related subcultures - from the punks and rockers, mods and teddy boys of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to indie and rock bands, reggae and ska groups, DJs and hip-hop artists of the 1980s to current day.

Refreshingly, today, Brighton remains as significant on the music front as it always has been and is rarely overlooked by bands touring the UK. Acts who have started life in the city and gone on to international success in recent times have included the likes of Brakes, The Maccabees, Blood Red Shoes, Bat For Lashes and Toy.

It’s said that every second person in the city is a musician and every third person either in a band, working as a promoter, a producer or sound engineer and it’s estimated that there are more than 500 bands currently active in Brighton. So, how come there’s such a wealth of musical talent in a relatively small town? Well, Brighton is home to BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music) whose founding members include Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and seems to be a breeding ground for music students and creatives. Opened in 2001, BIMM now has schools in Bristol, Manchester and Dublin. Brighton University also has a highly renowned music course, with alumni including Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes).

With its diverse musical prowess it comes as no surprise that Brighton hosts Europe’s leading annual festival for new music, The Great Escape, showcasing over 400 emerging artists from all over the world across 35 venues every May. Kickstarting the festival season every year, it provides a perfect opportunity to discover your new favourite band in an intimate venue before they go on to headline the major festival stages in years to come. The Great Escape is also an unmissable event for the music industry itself with all and sundry descending to Brighton on the hunt for the next big thing. A convention runs alongside the gigs and features insightful panels, topical debates, keynote speeches and networking opportunities aplenty. As Steve Lamacq so eloquently puts it: “it’s the Cannes of the music world.”

James Fox: “I've only followed the Brighton scene for the past few years or so, but my experience of it and knowledge of it in the years that preceded my time, is that it has been consistently throwing up brilliant bands and artists when looking at the broader musical spectrum across genres. There are a number of key factors which may have contributed towards this, most notably the founding of the Brighton Institute Of Modern Music a decade ago. The college now boasts 1,000 students and having that many people coming to the city to make music has an undeniable effect on the output of Brighton within the national musical landscape. It's one of the best scenes in the country packed into one of the smallest cities so it's no surprise The Great Escape festival was set up here. The promoters here who are bringing incredible touring artists into the city support the creativity of the upcoming generation, and provide a platform for them to perform on.” 

So there’s no denying that Brighton is home to a whole heap of talent but what resources are there for up and coming talent in the city? Read on for recommendations from those in the know…

Music Design in Brighton
Design is key in making your music releases, website and image stand apart from the rest. Brighton agency Simply Marvellous Music offer musicians the chance to work with experienced designers on a variety of creative projects. Red Design can provide CD artwork and design and have worked with the likes of Elbow and Bat for Lashes in the past. Similarly filthymedia offer graphic design for print, CDs and EPs, as well as the web and have vast experience of working with music clients.

Radio Stations in Brighton
Who better to give us the lowdown on Brighton’s unsigned radio programmes than Juice 107.2 FM’s James Fox: “Here at Juice107.2 I'm pushing local acts as hard as possible at the moment. It's the main focus of my show, alongside some of the touring bands that come through Brighton that the local talent get a chance to support. We promote new releases from brilliant local artists as often as we can, and promote their shows each week in an effort to get people out of the house and see the great music that's being created.” 

Seahaven 96.3 FM also champion new music and welcome demos from local acts and, of course, there’s BBC Radio Sussex’s BBC Introducing show presented by Phil Jackson that is always supporting local talent.

Venues in Brighton
High Tyde offer up their top venue tips: “For new artists booking gigs in Brighton it’s good to start small. Try and look for other bands you could play a show with then you can gain more fans. We started shows at places like youth centres and very small bars and then got to play some of the better known venues like The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Audio. Look out for some of the Brighton bars like The Hope, Prince Albert and Bar 42 in Worthing who regularly put on bands and musicians too.”

The Green Door regularly hosts a mixture of unsigned, national and international acts and is available for hire too. Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar also holds live events across all genres and is highly recommended for emerging acts starting out. The Brighton Unitarian Church which is used as one of The Great Escape venues hosts live music throughout the year and with a capacity of 140 it’s great for intimate gigs.

Specific information for all the venues mentioned above, plus hundreds more throughout the UK welcoming unsigned acts, can be found in the Venues section of our music industry directory.

Recording and Rehearsal Studios in Brighton

The Clockwork Owl run by Tim offers affordable recording facilities and he also runs a YouTube channel showing clips of artists recording in the studio. The Manor House, Black Wookie, Audio Beach Studios and Yellow Fish Recording also come highly recommended.

James Fox: “Brighton Electric is the hub of the Brighton scene with most of the area’s bands choosing to rehearse there. International bands also rehearse there and even classic acts such as The Cure have been known to frequent the facilities. It may be pricier than other spaces but you absolutely get what you pay for with professional equipment, friendly and helpful staff and everything else to hand you could ever require. Brighton Electric also offer top quality recording arrangements with producers such as ex-Ghost Of A Thousand guitarist Jag Jago using their facilities to record bands.”

“Alternatives to Electric include Under The Bridge situated underneath Brighton train station. If a shorter, cheaper practice is required where top-notch equipment isn't so necessary, head there. Also see Studio 284 for similar requirements, though it is less centrally located.”

Check out the Recording Studios and Rehearsal Studios sections of the Guide to get detailed information on all the studios listed above, plus many more.

Gig Promoters in Brighton
High Tyde: “Lout Events always do a great job and they got us playing the more established venues supporting cool acts. Also One Inch Badge are very good! Mark from Bar 42 in the Worthing area has helped us a lot from the start too.”

Cable Club concern themselves with unearthing Brighton’s next wave of Indie and rock hopefuls and Melting Vinyl are able to book you shows in the likes of Concorde 2, The Haunt and Audio. Skief Promotions who specialise in rock and metal bands, are a not for profit organisation run on a voluntary basis to promotes good music and good causes with 100% of gig profits going to charity.

The Promoters section of The Unsigned Guide has details for over 250 gig promoters in Brighton and across the rest of the UK who can hook you up with gig slots so get stuck in!

Record Shops in Brighton
Brighton still has a good selection of record shops with many offering rack space to emerging acts. Resident in Kensington Gardens is probably one of the most popular but other great options include Borderline, The Punker Bunker, Across The Tracks and Dance 2 Records.

Don't forget you can search The Unsigned Guide for record shops in your area that will stock unsigned material and display posters and flyers. 

Music Press in Brighton
Timothy Bidwell of Clockwork Owl Studio fills us in on Brighton’s music press: “It was very sad that Source magazine shut up shop a few months ago as it was a real voice for the local music/cultural scene. XYZ are still going though and Brighton Unsigned who give lots of coverage to local acts.” 

It’s also worth approaching local newspapers as many provide coverage for local acts with reviews, features and gig listings. Details of those which do can be found in the Regional Press section of The Unsigned Guide directory.

Record Labels in Brighton
It comes as no surprise that Brighton’s currently thriving with record labels all eager to work with the cream of local talent. Hidden Trail Records were a name that came up frequently, as were Tru Thoughts, Amazon Records, End Of The Trail Records, Fat Cat Records and electro and house specialists Pinball Records.

Ray Gun Music are a Brighton-based music company who have championed the likes of The Xcerts, Beautiful Boy and Tigercub. Anti-Ghost Moon Ray are a more electronically-led division musically and release some interesting experimental offerings. 

Make sure you check the Record Labels listings in The Unsigned Guide to find labels specialising in a wide range of genres and welcome to submissions. 

Emerging Bands in Brighton
And last but certainly not least if, like us, you’re keen to hear some of Brighton’s finest talent, these 10 bands and artists make for a great starting point. We expect big things from them all! We urge you to check out Monastery, Don Komodo, Tuval & The Heights, Phoria, Time For T, Us Baby Bear Bones, Foreign Skin, Polymath, Kill Moon and Spit Shake Sisters.

Our next City Focus blog takes us to home of steel, not to mention loads of amazing music, Sheffield! Are you playing or working in Sheffield's music scene? If so, we want to hear from you with your tips and recommendations for our forthcoming Sheffield blog. Please drop us a line here.