#2

Bimm in Brighton, no idea how it is as a college but in terms of places where you can find other musicians it’s a good option, lots of artsy people and not as large and anonymous as london

1 Like
#3

I used to work there as a side job doing stuff like reception for the practice studios. The curriculum is really good, and they have good teachers, but some of the students and what they produced was a little soulless. Like they were competent and hard-working, but aiming at being a session musician or bland lifestyle music. Quite a few interesting local musicians moonlighted as technicians there though.

2 Likes
#4

Also the school was very proud of the fact that they produced the Kooks.

#5

Yeah there is a similar college here, acm, it churns out session musicians, the people who go there tend to be into Q magazine canon type stuff. That’s why I thought Brighton would be good because at least if the college is full of musos there will be plenty of interesting stuff in the city. Weird how music colleges don’t produce many good bands but art colleges do

#6

Although Jeff Buckley did attend one of those colleges when he was aiming to become a session guitarist and hadn’t considered singing yet.

1 Like
#7

Sounds rough man. Lack of contact/loneliness drives anyone insane. Been there. Join us in the depression thread if you ever want to talk about shit. From minor slumps to full blown breakdowns its always welcoming and never judgy. I’ve always found it a good place to open up about things How’s your depression?

2 Likes
#8

Bimm has an awful reputation locally for the bands it produces. They mostly sound alike and as you say very souless. I accidentally went to the Bimm Stage during Great Escape one year and I did an audible sign, heard the band playing for 10 seconds and went back out in the rain. I hear its got great teacher but all the bands deffo sound like they’ve studied a curriculum and will not stray away from it.

#9

Imagine what it was like staffing the rehearsal studio there.

I also remember chatting to one of the lecturers who had his head in his hands after he’d done a class with some 19-20 year old students and used the Velvet Underground as an example and every single student had been like “huh? Who? Never heard of them”. Not even one has heard the name before, let alone the music.

1 Like
#10

Got a couple of old friends in Brighton. From what I hear the music scene is pretty diverse. I live in Basingstoke which ain’t too far, so it could be worth a shot going to some open events at the music colleges up there. Thanks for the response I really appreciate it.

1 Like
#11

I guess because at least in the UK, art colleges insist on you being creative and exploring things, not just walking you through a bunch of drawing and Adobe tutorials to get you to reach a certain level of competence. (There are art colleges like that in other countries though)

2 Likes
#12

There is a diverse music scene, a lot of collectives who are very welcoming as well. Its actually quite easy to accidentally ‘fall into a band’ in Brighton especially at your age as a lot of people in their 20s (relatively) who live in Brighton play instruments.

1 Like
#13

Yeah that stale sound was the kind of thing I experienced in the lame colleges in my hometown. The band I was with were friends from school and I was the only one studying music. I vibe on creativity so I stuck out a bit as the oddball with the kind of music I was making. Not sure i want to go through that again. It seems like these days much of the highly praised music colleges do churn out sessioners rather than artists. On top of that I play psychedelic alternative kind of stuff mostly so it’s harder to find fellow musicians I can jam with.

#14

Dear lord xD

#15

There are A LOT of psychedelic musicians in Brighton

1 Like
#16

Oh yeah Basingstoke is pretty dull.

Years ago (2004 I think) I went to see Gorky’s and Yo La Tengo do a double bill in the theatre in the shopping centre there. I was at university in Reading at the time, and could easily have gone to the London date.

My friend didn’t believe me though when I said they were also playing Basingstoke. So I bought us tickets and got her to come.

At the gig there were hardly any young people there. It was full of older couples who must have been Friends of the Theatre or something. They seemed to find the whole thing really confusing, especially when Gorky’s kept switching between English and Welsh. I overheard one older man saying in the interval (proper theatre interval with drink booking) “well he can certainly sing, but I don’t see why he has to be so scruffy” about Euros Childs.

#17

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out some time man.

#18

I reckon just moving somewhere like Brighton or Bristol where there will be like-minded people and people are friendly and it’s not as stressful as London and getting a job would work out just as well as going to the music college.

Glasgow would prob be good too, but a much longer way away/more cultural differences to get used to.

4 Likes
#19

There’s no decent music venues in Basingstoke. I mostly go to London or up North for gigs. Plenty of drum and bass 15 y/o chavs about though :roll_eyes:

#20

A close friend I met when I was living in Reading comes from a village halfway between Reading and Basingstoke. Not once in the nearly fifteen years I have known her have I ever heard her mention going to Basingstoke for anything.

#21

Southampton isn’t too far away, gets some alright bands on. Same in Portsmouth. And bigger gigs in Bournemouth. All easily accessible by train from Basingstoke. Even the railway in Winchester does ok. And, as you say, not too far from London, 45 mins on the train.

But, yeah, Basingstoke, yeesh.