Great Escape festival set to bring in almost £10 million to Brighton and Hove’s economy

Bosses at The Great Escape, which begins tomorrow [May 19] for its 11th year, are expecting 20,000 punters to descend on the city - along with more than 500 bands and 400 volunteers and staff for the three-day festival.

Organisers predict another pay-day for bars, hotels, restaurants and boutique shops.

Kevin Moore, general manager of The Great Escape, said: “You hear so much about the music industry being in London but there's a huge chunk in Brighton.

“It has a fantastic food and drinks scene and also much charm and character.

“With London just an hour away and Gatwick half an hour away it's also very accessible for the industry. One of the main reasons TGE does so well is because of Brighton.”

Gavin Stewart, executive director of Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said the city's music industry was central to its diversity.

He said: "From gigs in bars to full blown concerts, music production and management to staging and events, it’s as important to the city as the reasons people want live, work and visit here.”

Meanwhile, The Argus is revamping its On The Radar section in The Guide every Friday in a partnership that sees the superstars of tomorrow interviewed by their aspiring journalistic peers.

All will hail from the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM), which now has three sites across the city since its foundation in 2001.

Martin Wright, principal of BIMM Brighton, said: “This will be a great opportunity for students to showcase their talent to a wider audience both as artists and music journalists.

“Our journalism students will be interviewing the bands and artists each week providing a little insight into them along with some exciting video performances, their upcoming gigs and releases.

“As our curriculum is very vocational, it is essential for us to continue to provide this first-hand experience for our students along with creating opportunities to get them working with each other as part of the microcosm of the music industry they create at BIMM.”

As The Great Escape approaches, BIMM has also announced it will be education partners with the festival for a second year running. A host of bands from the institute get to play and showcase their sounds to the industry.

Argus editor Mike Gilson added: “Sussex and the city has had a long successful track record of inspiring young people to make great music, indeed all forms of art.

"We are one of the few regional newspapers to review thousands of events every year and The Guide on Friday is a must-read.

“We love to see young people with talent emerging from the local scene. That is why I’m delighted that we have partnered the wonderful BIMM to bring you a better than ever On The Radar."

STUDENTS CREATING CAREER ROAD MAPS

NOT only has Paige Martin’s songwriting developed at college, she also has it to thank for a better relationship with her father.

The 21-year-old songwriter started at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in Brighton in 2013 and is now working on her finals.

She said: “It has been refreshing. Going to BIMM has made me realise there are so many different jobs you can do in the industry and hearing other people’s work has been the best thing.

“On a personal level, my relationship with my Dad has got better because I never really used to share my music as much.

“He’s a good lyricist and so I send him what I do and he tells me what he thinks, which we never did before.”

Paige is one of the first artists to feature in a new On The Radar section in The Guide every Friday. The music of every artist will be heard by a potential audience of tens of thousands of readers.

Paige added: “I think being in the press is exciting because you don’t know who is going to listen to your music.”

Paige has been writing since she was 10 years old and has drawn nods of approval from her teachers.

She said: “I really appreciate how down-to-earth the tutors are. Feedback is definitely an important thing when you’re writing songs.”

Jake Shillingford is head of songwriting at BIMM. As frontman of the Britpop band My Life Story, which peaked in the late 1990s following a string of top-40 singles, he knows a good song when he hears it.

He said: “Paige is a very mature lyricist and not afraid to go deep into the human condition.

“If I’m honest, I think lyrics can sometimes be weak in new young writers because they haven’t lived, but Paige is well beyond her years.”

Mr Shillingford’s task is to refine the songwriting of all the students at BIMM through practical sessions with groups and tutorials. “Without songs we have no music industry,” he said.

His role is one of several geared towards preparing students for the vagaries of the industry.

He added: “The good thing is we are working with real bands. There are networking possibilities.

“We are trying almost to create a microcosm of the creative music industry. We try to keep it as real-world as we can.”

The courses at BIMM, which give students a degree through the University of Sussex, include tuition, collaboration and direction on every aspect of what it takes to become a rock star. But the institute also trains up the next wave of songwriters, session musicians, events managers, producers and music journalists.

One of BIMM’s real-world tie-ins is its education partnership with The Great Escape (TGE), an international music festival that takes over venues in Brighton and Hove for three days every year to showcase emerging bands and those with a new offering. This year’s festival kicks off tomorrow.

General manager Kevin Moore said it was Brighton and Hove’s musical and cultural scene which made the festival so desirable.

“It is the spirit of the local industry in Brighton that has allowed The Great Escape to grow into what it is,” he said.

The festival’s first year in 2006 included performances from The Kooks and The Maccabees. The following year saw Adele play at the Red Roaster cafe in St James’s Street and shows by Foals and Laura Marling.

BIMM has also been getting in on the act, with its artists appearing at showcases to gain the crucial exposure.

Music promoter Simon Parker, who has put on both unsigned bands and bigger names in Brighton at Cableclub nights since 2002, said TGE’s ongoing success and BIMM’s expansion show how the city by the sea is bucking industry trends.

He told The Argus: “The music industry has shrunk because you don’t sell as much physical music but interestingly in Brighton there’s more access to music, whether that’s performing or studying at places like BIMM, and that means increasing revenues.

“More people than ever before can get involved and put gigs on and go to college.”

Mr Parker moved to Brighton in 1993 to focus on playing in a band before putting on nights at what was the Pressure Point, now a language school, in Richmond Place. When the venue closed in 2007 he moved Cableclub to The Prince Albert in Trafalgar Street.

The 49-year-old said: “Over the past 20 years Brighton has become more internationally aware.

“It has grown from a town that celebrates itself to a city that celebrates what’s going on all over the world.”

READ ALL ABOUT MUSICAL TALENT

SUSSEX is bursting at the seams with musical talent and The Argus has been profiling emerging bands every week since September 2007.

In its earlier incarnation, Download of the Week, it included acts such as The Leisure Society, Beardyman, Toploader, Esben And The Witch, Thomas White, Fear of Men and Lawson.

In January 2014, the platform was renamed On The Radar and is now being revamped to include videos of the bands and artists that are playing.

The revamp is in collaboration with the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM), which runs three sites throughout the Brighton and Hove area.

The artists featured are honing their craft at the college while their counterparts studying music journalism will tell you everything you need to know about them and where to see them perform.

Argus editor Mike Gilson said: “Every Friday in the paper and online we’ll be profiling new bands and singers and online we’ll be showcasing a brilliant video of new music.

“I hope you show support for the fantastic talent we have by joining us in this celebration.”

The first artist up on Friday is Paige Martin, who is completing her studies at BIMM this summer.

The 21-year-old said: “I think being in the press is exciting because you don’t know who is going to listen to your music.”