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Check out our Spotify playlist, it's chock full of tracks from students and alumni!

Check out the photos of the final showcase of our Performance Summer School!

After 5 days of hard work, the very talented students at our Performance Summer School finally got to put their hard-earned skills to the test! Check out the full album on our Facebook page.

#music #performance #gig #summerschool #institute

After our successful Performance Summer Schools last week, this week it’s the Songwriting Summer School here at the Institute! Students will be working on their composition skills, writing songs to brief, and eventually performing a showcase!

#music #summerschool #songwriter #songwriting #performance

Backstage Pass Tour

Friday August the 14th sees our next Backstage Pass Tour, an opportunity for anyone interested in the Institute to come down, get information about courses, meet tutors, tour our great facilities, and maybe even hear some live music!

We’ll also be running a Clearing information session, so for anyone with any questions about applying through Clearing, come on down!

http://icmp.co.uk/open-days-and-backstage-pass-tours

#ucas #uni #music #clearing #openday

The Institute hosts a Symposium

Last week, the Institute was fortunate to host a symposium on the Sacred in Popular Music. Organised by our BMus Programme Leader and punk academic Mike Dines, along with the University of Central Lancashire, the symposium saw academics from across the globe gather at the Institute in Kilburn to discuss the role of religion, spirituality and the sacred in popular music. The talks began with the keynote from Kripamoya Das, a Hare Krishna practitioner from the Bhaktivedanta Manor. He set the tone for the day with reflections upon the spiritual, the ways that the Hare Krishna movement has influenced musicians from the 1960s up to the present, and of course, the prerequisite George Harrison anecdotes.

A whole host of presentations followed, with papers on topics as various as Gary Davis the Fingerpicking Preacher, the Rave Church Movement in 1990s Britain, and Spiritual Nostalgia in Sufjan Stevens’ album Seven Swans. The discussion was lively, with questions about religious identity, the role of ritual in pop performances, and whether rock stars are the new priests!

#music #religion #education #spiritual

USC Thornton Collaboration

We have been very happy to host a group from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music in one of our continuing international collaborations. Led by jazz guitarist Richard Smith, students from both schools came together for a week of jamming, workshops and gigs.

The students from USC and the Institute, featuring musicians from all disciplines, were placed into bands before they even met, and upon arrival they got straight down to jamming and writing songs. Their debut gig was at The North London Tavern, around the corner from the Institute in Kilburn, where the bands, newly named as Wanderlust, Charged, The Eclectics, and And All That… showed off their stuff. They were also joined by the Institute’s very own Louis & The Scruff Club.

There was a whole range of activities that the students got involved with, including a trip to the recording studios at the SAE Institute, a tutor jamming session at the Fiddler’s Elbow in Camden, and a songwriting masterclass from our very own tutor and guitarist Jay Stapley.

One of the highlights of the collaboration was a special edition of the Institute’s famous Songwriters’ Circles at Proud Camden. Led by host tutor Luke Toms, the Circle featured student songwriters from both schools. Aidan Grey and special guest alumna Jessica Sharman represented the Institute, whilst the talented Shannon Rindahl, Haley Kloess and Casey Astorino brought their Californian tunes to the North London venue.

The final event of the collaboration was a much-anticipated showcase at The Bedford Pub in Balham. Not to be deterred by the heatwave or tube strikes, the students and their newly-formed bands rocked the South London pub, with support from Institute bands Funky Monks and Burnz. The whole show can be seen here: livamp.com/bedford/

The Songwriting Jam

Last month, the events team had the pleasure of introducing a new kind of jam. The premise was the following: To escape the monotony of the tried-and-tested “funky jazz” instrumental jams and to bring talented musicians and songwriters together, creating a networking platform where ideas could flow effortlessly. Songwriters presented their creations to the house band, either in the form of a chart or a few chords whispered on the spot, and the musos would have to quickly follow and adapt to a composition completely new to them.

Hesitant at first, the drink deals seemed to slowly encourage everyone, and we could witness some truly special moments, where everyone let go of their inhibitions and gave new life to those songs. Institute students like Jane Fraser, Marina Zazzeri or James No-e joined the house band and delivered terrific vocal performances, and over the course of the night we could enjoy improvisations in all kinds of genres, from dark, ambient pop to a funk extravaganza where 10 people took the stage and were joined by beat box extraordinaire Tobias Hug.

This was an incredibly refreshing night, and due to positive feedback the events team will be bringing back The Songwriting Jam soon. For now enjoy the pictures and check out some of the great jam nights organised by students and alumni, like the NW2 Acoustic Jam (https://www.facebook.com/NW2jam) or The Juke Joint Jam (https://www.facebook.com/groups/jukejointjamgroup)

#jam #songwriter #northlondontavern #musos #improvisation #music

A round up of Okapi's recent whistle-stop visit to the Netherlands as part of The Institue's partnership with Fonty's Rockacademie....in the word's of Dyne Road Recordings Label Manager, Sam Sutherland:

Banter was the key word throughout this trip!

Okapi, the band selected by the students at Rockacademie, to travel over and play in Holland, have one of the most intriguing band relationship I've ever come across. They all have their say, and all fit perfectly to form their part of what we see as Okapi.

It all started with a 10 hour over-night bus journey. We got to Rotterdam without any trouble except for the standard crying baby on the coach! We were met by the Dutch students and after a quick drop of bags at the hotel the band were in a writing session with another Rockacademie student - Kris van Son. It was a full day capped off with some music at a bar in Tilburg - a lovely town!

Recording at Rockacademie the next day went very smoothly, the band got all their parts down by 6:00pm and we headed over to the venue, Extase, where they headlined later that evening.

The following day was full of travel...we trained it from the south of Holland to the north to play Altersonic (part of the Eurosonic Festival) in the beautiful but hard to pronounce Groenigin...is that how it's even spelt?! <N.B. It's Groningen> The group then had to rush back to the station to jump on the last train to Amsterdam.

Arriving in one of Europe's most infamous cities at 2:00am in the morning was quite an experience...and we had the pleasure of staying in an ex-women's prison in which each room was different...nothing at all normal about this hotel...that kind of summed up the tour!

A great end to an eventful few days that felt like a month!

DRR were very happy to be a part of this and look forward to future ventures with Rockacademie and Eurosonic!

THE INSTITUTE WELCOMES FRESHERS’ WITH A HOST OF EVENTS

Over the last three weeks, The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance has put on a wide variety of events to welcome new and returning students to its North London campus. With masterclasses, live nights and social events, with packed venues and a growth in Freshers’ activities once again.

Events began on Sunday 14th September with a laid back opportunity for students to meet possible housemates and take part in an Open Mic, but the festivities really kicked off on the Monday with fantastic Tutor Showcase at Cargo, which raised £350 for Nordoff Robbins. The next night, Extravaganza Productions; a group of current and alumni students led the official Freshers’ Party: ‘Circus Extravaganza’ at Proud, with costumes, aerialists and three Institute acts on the line-up. The Institute’s longest-running event Bandeoke, filled the Prince of Wales on the Thursday night and Friday night was spent showing students around Camden, before going to ‘The Last Gig in Town’ at The Good Ship run by Institute Alumni. The school also supported Cricklewood Community Festival, on Saturday 20th September, providing backline for the main stage, a compere and Performances from Naomi Shalom and Busto Power Trio.

During the daytime, the Institute’s Wellbeing Team ran both Drama and Preventing Performance Injury Workshops, The Hub offered an A&R Panel and the school held its first Sports Day comprising Football, Zumba and Yoga. Friday saw the biggest Freshers’ Day yet with activities from partners including Shure, Wembley Music Centre, Hard Rock Café, O2 Academies, Musician’s Union and many more. Students had the chance to win In-Ear Monitors from Read Audio, tickets to Chvrches and Boy & Bear at the O2 Brixton and a Barfly Golden Ticket (covering entry all gigs in October).

In the following two weeks a Songwriters’ Circle Folk Special featuring alumnus Robbie Boyd took place at The Paradise and a Songwriting Tutor Showcase at the Bedford with a set from Tim Elsenburg and his band Sweet Billy Pilgrim. A Coffee Morning for MacMillan Cancer research raised £143, alumni band The Manic Shine hosted the first of a new style Jam Night, and the Institute co-hosted the UK Premier of Music Documentary Girls in the Band with The Tricycle Cinema.

Two masterclassses were held exclusively for students. Firstly, Anne-Marie Speed, founder of The Voice Explained, covered the Estill technique and good vocal practices. Anne-Marie has worked as a vocal coach for numerous film and music stars as well as Sony Records, SyCo, Universal, Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor. Secondly, Mo Foster, an established and renowned bassist who has worked for a host of top musicians including Phil Collins, Jeff Back, Dusty Springfield, Eric Clapton, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and many more. Mo talked about his astounding career and the history of British Rock Guitar.

The three week’s came to a close with the student’s independent record label, Dyne Road Recordings holding a Freshers’ Party at Bloomsbury Bowl. The night showcased four of the Institute’s best upcoming acts; Crystal Seagulls, Joseph, Frasier Banks and Remote View, followed by a DJ set from former student Jury.

After all this activity the Institute’s events are set to continue with more masterclasses and social opportunities for students to network and perform. For more information about the Institute’s courses and events, visit the website or contact us directly:

- www.icmp.co.uk

- 0207 328 0222

- [email protected]

FINISH.

Institute Freshers: Songwriters Circle

The first Songwriters' Circle of the new academic year saw four Institute songwriter generations come together on stage to present their work to a packed room of new and current students and tutors.

Recently graduated from the BA Songwriting, Nadine Furer adeptly hosted the evening from behind the keys sat next one of our particularly successful alumni students from the Institute's original Songwriting Diploma - Robbie Boyd. Representing fresh talent to the school was Ciara Hazel,who gave a polished and confident performance, particularly considering she had only been in classes for one day. Completing the line up were two acts entering their second year on the Songwriting Degree - Lee Rahn, who did some fantastic guitar percussion in his final song and our first duo for Songwriters' Circle, The Bonny Isles. This duo of Ruby Finch and Tommy Hearne met in their first year and quickly joined forces as a co-writing couple, with quirky songs written for guitar, ukelele and two voices.

The evening featured songs of struggle, love, family, living (and dying) together. There was and emotion and an audience of attentive musicians and songwriters which always leaves for a great atmosphere.

The quality of the performances laid the standard for future Songwriters' Circle events, which will now be held at Proud Camden.

The next event will be a Piano Special on Wednesday October 8th.

Institute Students answer the Standon Call

Last weekend saw the three-day party that is Standon Calling take place in Hertfordshire. With the theme of Lost in Latin America there was a definite carnival atmosphere to the site which, with just a 7000 capacity certainly felt far more intimate than the usual summer festivals. It was full of entertainment; not just music, but theatre, art, a swimming pool a dog show and a flying trapeze.

I went along for the first time to work on the Autumn Shift Stage, which turned out to be a hub of Institute student performances. First up were Busto Power Trio, featuring Daniel Perez on drums – one of the most active of the Institute’s Spring Higher Diploma cohort. They kicked off the proceedings on Friday afternoon with their experimental surf jazz set that fitted perfectly with the sunny weather and brought back memories of Tarantino soundtracks.

They were followed by Chanty Town with Marco Ninni on drums and Jake Elkan on guitar who kept the energy going with lively soul jazz tunes. Later came TEYR, a contemporary folk three-piece with roots running from Ireland to Wales to Cornwall. Guitarist/Vocalist James Gavin finished the Institute’s Foundation Degree two years ago and it was positive to hear that he continues to make a living purely out of playing music! TEYR’s performance brought a mix of the many sounds of the British Isles to the tent. Later in the evening, members of Busto Power Trio and Chanty Town bands returned to the stage for an impromptu jam with another performer from the stage.

Saturday evening saw Clean Bandit on the main stage before headliners Public Enemy, with Institute Alumni Luke Patterson on drums. It was interesting to see them live, taking strings into the mainstream and they drew an impressive crowd to dance to their upbeat electronic tracks.

On Sunday afternoon, just as he was about to leave, Daniel Perez found himself back up on stage when he was recruited by Alice Phelps to stand in for her percussionist who hadn’t turned up. Having never heard her music, let alone the specific songs in the set he did a sterling job taking discreet cues from the violinist and adding subtle drums to her ambient folk tunes.

Sunday saw another set form TEYR, encouraging the audience into get involved in one last day of frivolities. As the sun set, I caught Robbie Boyd entertaining the audience in the Aztec Pub Stage by the pool and then returned to the Autumn Shift stage to catch James once more when he returned, this time on the fiddle, with the headliners of the night - Rad Orchestra.

All in all, it was a full on weekend, in all the good ways and great to see some many Institute students doing what they do best and enjoying every minute.

Check out our Alumni Page to see what else our students are up to....

Makeila (Events Executive)

USC Gig at The Bedford

As the sound checks were finished, the bands were happy; all they had to do was wait. The sound engineer for this evening was Dale (who also does sound for The Zombies) and he had done a fantastic job on sound ensuring the night was going to be great success from the start. As the bar area at the venue started to fill up there was a palpable buzz in the air as this is one of the final performances, showcasing the collaborative work in one of London’s iconic venues.

As the doors opened, the audience streamed in and the bands got ready to play. Tony Moore our wonderful host for the evening streamed the live show which could be watched all over the world. With up to 100 people watching online as well a great live audience the bands really got to showcase the work they had done.

Tony gave a great introduction to visiting USC professor, Richard Smith. Richard spoke about collaborations taking place throughout the week and the amazing music, friendships and ties between our institutions that had been created. Afterwards band one was ready to play. Aptly named the four bands were numbered band 1, band 2, band 3 and band 4. However, some of the acts did come up with their own names.

With an array of amazing performances and a very appreciative audience the night had a great energy and the bands just seemed to keep building upon the performance that went before, culminating in the final act being provided by Tony who was accompanied by a mixture of USC and Institute students. Overall a fantastic evening and I am sure we are looking forward to more collaborative work in the future between these talented musicians.

USC Tutor Gig

The tutor showcase definitely had a good buzz going before it even started. As always the Institute tutors are highly regarded by our students and they come down at every opportunity to watch, listen and play along with some of the best in the business.

The tutors included Katrin Yr, Alan Mian, Christopher Newland, Darren Ashford and Richard Smith. As we all went for dinner before the gig it was clear the excited tutors were as much looking forward to this event as the students. The evening kicked off with a bang as students flocked into the Fiddler’s Elbow (a brilliant little Camden venue) both from University of Southern California and the Institute. There were a string of stunning performances by the tutor band including super vocals by Kat and also amazing solos and instrumentals by all band members on stage.

As the evening drew on students were invited up on stage to play alongside the tutors, mixing and matching the band as they went. There were some stunning performances put in by students from USC such as Morgan, Brooke, Katie and Skyler who all did vocal performances to die for. Skyler’s duet was definitely something to behold. We were also graced by many alumni and a mixed cohort of current students continuing to show support for their tutors, friends and mentors. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to play together throughout the evening. The tutor band finished off the evening with some fantastic solos from Richard Smith and Chris Newland both shredding so hard that you would’ve sworn their fingers were smoking!

What a great evening had by all and we are looking forward to a repeat event in the near future. Thanks to all those who came along, played, watched and listened. You guys made the night and if you couldn't make it, there will be plenty more events coming up so keep your eyes peeled for what’s next.

Songwriters’ Circle - Transatlantic Stories

As part of our USC Collaboration visit we held a special summer Songwriters’ Circle allowing three USC students to join with two Institute songwriters and a tutor host.

Due to the main room being taking by Richard Strange’s Cabaret Futura, which two other USC students (Alexander Flagstead and Max Quilici) were also lucky enough to play at, we were back in the conservatory doing it completely acoustic.

Unfortunately this meant battling slightly against a raucous 21st Birthday party next door, but we did have the benefit of a well air conditioned room. Jonathan Whiskerd lead the night telling an amusing tale of how he can’t remember recording his song Battlescars as his producer insisted he get over his control freak attitude by getting drunk before the recording session. He did admit this worked particularly well and was happy with the result, showing it’s sometimes ok to let go of the reigns.

Nadine Furer, who has just completed the BA Songwriting degree was the first Institute performer with her catchy melodies and hope-filled lyrics, the second was Kaity Rae who has been studying on the Higher Diploma for the last year and we are pleased to be welcoming back to the Songwriting degree in September. You can check this out in a recent Institute Live video.

From the USC we had Katie Stump who put on great performances relating to her experience in Nashville and co-writing. Alex Rosenbloom talked about the feelings behind his songs, some of which involved the type of struggles faced in a contemporary society. Finally we had Skyler Garn, who put so much emotion into his performances through his strong vocal style it is difficult not to get drawn in.

By the end of the evening there was plenty of accompaniment between artists with harmonies and beats, which is one way to know the night has really been an engaging success.

USC Visit 2014

The Debut Gig to kick of the collaborations.

Every two years the Institute welcomes a group of students from the Thornton School of Music @The University of Southern California to it's north London Campus to work with Institute students for two weeks of learning, networking, collaboration and performance.

This year ten students landed in London accompanied by Prof. Richard Smith - a veteran of the contemporary and Smooth jazz world in the United States - and came to the school to join twelve Institute students from the BMus, BACM, Songwriting and Higher Diploma courses.

The students were divided into four bands, which they will work with for the next two weeks sharing ideas and skills and hopefully writing a number of new songs together.

On Wednesday evening, having rehearsed together over just two afternoons - some students only meeting their bands that afternoon - they had to perform their first gig at The Priory Tavern in Kilburn.

It was great to see how quickly they had gelled and pulled together in their groups, with the Institute contingent quickly picking up and adding to songs written by those from the USC and vice versa, as well as a couple of bands writing new songs for the night.

Whilst there was clearly a lively american edge to a lot of the tracks the bands did vary in style from country and pop to RnB, Indie to electronica/newwave, with Marta employing the Boss VE20 effects machine she uses so well.

The bands filled the small stage at the Priory and filled the venue with their energy both onstage and off,which made it a really positive first performance.

In the following days they will continue to rehearse together as well as having masterclasses from key Institute Tutors and recording session at SSR Studios to capture one of their songs (Friday).

On Sunday night they will be entertained by the Tutor Gig with a a night of funky Latino, Jazz and Contemporary music from a band made up of four of the Institute's fantastic tutors and Richard Smith at The Fiddler's Elbow, Camden.

Their next event will be a special Transatlantic Stories edition of Songwriters Circle, with two Institute students alongside three from USc and Songwriting Tutor Jonathan Whiskerd as host.

If you are free on Monday, it is too, so come along to The Paradise, Kensal Rise to check out what they have to offer.

http://icmp.co.uk/events

Kilburn Live

Some of the finest young bands from the Institute showcase their talent.

Following on from Experience Day was Kilburn Live, an all ages/no-alcohol gig working, which saw the Institute working with South Kilburn Studios for the first time and featured five bands who were warming up for the Diploma Festival on Monday 30th June. South Kilburn Studios, home to Clean Bandit and K2K Radio was transformed by the wonderful guys at Knight Sound and Light, who provided the stage and lighting, we can’t recommend them more.

The evening kicked off with Hyde, who topped and tailed their set with strong covers of R U Mine and White Noise, alongside three original songs in their swinging indie style. The amusingly titled Gary (none of the band members have this name) came next with a tight jazz set of standards and originals that exuded a skill level above what one would expect form such young musicians – Tommy Remon, Matthew McAllister and Ben Swan . It is no surprise that the guitarist won this year’s HDip Guitar Scholarship.

Monette (now named The Bluebirds) are another act who come across as more mature than their age would imply. A contemporary soul jazz trio, again featuring Tommy on both guitar and bass, Alana on drums and conga and the serene Monette on vocals. Their original songs ‘Do you Regret It’ and ‘Piercing Eyes’ were equally haunting and catchy.

Meerkats followed and Tommy was back for a third time with Nawel Kobb on vocals. Her style is refreshingly unique like PJ Harvey crossed with Bjork, crossed with Kate Bush only even that doesn’t quite describe it.

Four-piece Dawsons, brought the back the talented Ben (drums) and Matthew (guitar) from Gary, along with Grady and Holly, which made it no surprise that their four original tracks were tight punky numbers. Watch out for their EP coming in the summer.

Rounding off the evening was Sienna, the vocal duo (Esther/Floriane) leading the group are regular faces at our local open mic so it was wonderful to see them in a full band set up – a seven-piece band that is! Their band Sienna mixes folk, pop and blues to create an exciting set of atmospheric songs that will take you to unfamiliar places and they were a truly beautiful end to the evening.

We would like to thank South Kilburn Studios - Caren Owen for arranging the use and George who was with us throughout the day and went crazy on his various Instagram links covering the gig. Thank you also to Knight Sound and Light for the gear and Martyn Hall for his engineering expertise.

Watch out for more events coming soon….www.icmp.co.uk/events

Institute Experience Day

A chance to see what a day at the Institute is like....

Our second Experience Day started off with arrivals coming in fresh faced and quiet. We started off with a quick presentation about what the day would include as well as an introduction to the tutors who would be showing them the tricks of the trade. The group were then whisked off on a tour around the Institute with Bass Tutor, Ben Jones, after which they were split up into instrument groups. With a day full of learning ahead, the groups began to look at techniques for warm ups, playing and singing, and also different styles. Tutors encouraged them to step out of their comfort zone and try something they hadn’t done before.

During the break for lunch there were some fantastic performances from Kaity Rae and Maddie Bower along with a stripped back acoustic version of Sienna, who would also feature in Kilburn Live later that evening. As our experience guests sat back and enjoyed the performances they also got the opportunity to ask questions about the Institute, before returning to their rooms to do the final prep for the Live Performance Workshop.

The Institute tutor band played a blinding set just before the LPW and then it was onto our guests. With the performances being recording in the Institute studio everyone gave a fantastic performance, showing how much talent is out there. With our tutors giving tips throughout on how to improve their performance, all acts had definitely overcome their initial nervousness put on a great show. We are looking forward to seeing them back in the future and would like to thank everybody for coming along and to our performers and tutors - Ben Jones, Jenny Howe, Gareth Spicer and Tolis Zavaliaris - for making it such a wonderful day.

Congratulations also to Alexia Elena who has since been accepted on our Higher Diploma Course for Bass.

If you are interested in finding out about future Experience Days or Open Days contact Cameron on [email protected].

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