BiGiAM

Cafe des Artistes

2012-02-29T17:34:00.006Z

Cafe des Artistes Event Cafe des Artistes Page

Cafe des Artistes (CdA) is an exclusive boutique 'industry' day festival on Sunday 22nd April, taking place at Arthole, an inspiring, highly stylised warehouse space situated in the heart of the beautiful Sussex town of Lewes.

The event, organised by BiGiAM and the lovely people at CdA, with invaluable support from nearby Yellow Fish Music Group, will run from noon to midnight on 22nd April. It will feature live music stages, artwork and other interesting soon-to-be-revealed features. The idea is that we not only have a fabulous, entertaining day - bar and refreshments, pizza oven and more are all on site - but it's also a great chance for like minded artistic and industry folks to network, relax and party.

Tickets are £25 (limited supply of early bird tickets £15, available from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/155063

Children are welcome during the day but we ask that after 8pm the day operates as an adult’s only event.

Musical acts already confirmed to appear at the Festival include electro-swing sensations, Kitten and the Hip, much touted folk harmony outfit House of Hats, and pioneering electronic/experimental composer Daniel James Ross with very many further acts still to be announced.

Z Star visits BiGiAM HQ

2012-02-03T11:19:00.001Z

BiGiAM were very lucky to have a visit from the formidable international artist Z Star! She popped in for a glass of wine & an impromptu jam, fresh from her appearance at the Brighton Dome, touring with Nigel Kennedy.

The BiGiAM Office

BiGiAM's Monthly Gossip Column

2012-02-01T12:31:00.001Z

Guide to Brighton Website

I normally write this column by the rather admittedly unsophisticated process of dumping my uppermost thoughts, largely uncensored and certainly unedited, onto the page. Sam, the editor of this august tome might well be forgiven for thinking this a somewhat lazy technique, to say the least, but I try and cloud the issue somewhat citing the advantages of 'creative organic thinking' and the benefits of 'flowing streams of consciousness' (who am I fooling?). I also am only too aware that as this is a monthly exercise, most of any good - and repeatable gossip - is not exactly front of mind. So I shall cheat. I shall, in good Piers Morgan fashion (isn't there a law which prevents the words 'good' and 'Piers Morgan' appearing in the same sentence?), consult my diary and pick out the best, and most clattering name dropping bits and report accordingly. Even if, in my case, the clatter wouldn't disturb a mouse. Problem is I've recently managed to pour hot tea over my computer so, while it's in the menders/graveyard, I can barely struggle to remember anything but l here's what happened at BiGiAM towers last week. But hey ho, here we go....

Sunday 22nd January - Up to the smoke as the Harmanator booked to play her first ever gig at the prestigious Pizza Express in Dean Street, Soho. A quick scan of wall photos reveal that the likes of Sting, Diana Krall, Courtney Pine, and just about every member of blues and jazz royalty, from not just here but the States too, have graced this famous stage. However the name ('hey we've playing some pizza joint!')

- not helped by a totally uninformative website, in terms of it's heritage - always amuses my friends from America when I try and big up the place. Anyway, it was a fine gig, a full house, the promoter kindly tweeted his approval of Jo the next day. Jo, being Jo, decided to sign the artist wall immediately squeezed between the signatures by Tony Bennett and US sax legend Michael Brecker (RIP). Go girl!

Monday 23rd January - Invite to the Dome by the formidable artist Z Star (who was part of the show) and her lovely manager Lucy to see Nigel Kennedy and his biggish, multi-genre orchestra perform the Four Seasons and much much more. Jaw dropping show, must be said, and the backstage party started immediately in the dressing rooms, before moving on, in earnest, to Nigel's rather large suite at the Grand.

Suffice to say it was one of the most memorable after parties I've been to in recent times. Everyone was lovely, everyone was out to have a good time and we were the first to leave.... at, er, 4am...well, it was a school night, after all.

Tuesday 24th January - missed the start of the regular BiGiAM Tuesday meeting (funny that), rolling up at 11am. Caught a couple of hours in bed (sleeping!) before the evening gig at the Latest for the 'Reverb Live' showcase. Very enjoyable that was too, another good crowd and local artists Jack Brett, Gypsy and The Switch, Raising Maisie and Jetglo all performed well, gaining new fans and admirers along the way.

Wednesday 25th January - I actually stayed in and watched TV but the Harmanator went up to St Pauls to hang and have a little sing with The All Stars....basically a collective of London's finest soul sessioneers and sidemen. Actually, that's wrong...I was planning to stay in and watch TV but ended up going to Lewes for a meeting at Cafe Des Artists (exciting news about this to follow soon, I hope) and then to Yellow Fish studios where owner Ross McCracken failed to offer a single Kit Kat or biscuit for the entire 2 hours I was there!

Priorities, Ross, priorities!.

Thursday 26th January - up early for Reverb breakfast show with Paul Mex where one of our clients, Deadbeat Descendant, were doing a session, before another enjoyable client meeting in Havanas (much more civilised than my normal greasy spoons!) with international artist prptection organisation, Future Copyright. Back up to town to the lovely Bulls Head in beautiful Barnes for 'Never The Bride's' monthly residency where the powerhouse vocalist Nikki Lambourne had invited us up. Jo had a little sing - well would have been rude not too! - as did Chesney Hawkes. Yes, you heard it right; Chesney Hawkes got up and performed 'The One and Only'. Nikki, apart from being a wonderful singer (and writer) is also a huge, very funny, personality and it was a wonderfully chaotic night of great music, fun, (unplanned) comedy and more. Good times.

Fri 27th January - more meetings, including a quick cheeky pie and ice cream with Gary Hutchins at his local Carvery (Gary for once, dissisted!) and more ideas were thrown about and some were even caught before smashing to the floor. Oh, and the tax return. A very good..indeed an exceptionally good week...was so very nearly spoiled by her Majesty's finest who seem to turn the act of paying ones tax due into an episode of Crystal Maze. First you have to find out which office needs to get the money (Cumberland or Carlisle? ...dunno is it a quiz? Can I phone a friend?) then what reference number is needed to be quoted. It says the number is quoted on my payslip but I don't have a pay slip. I have a gateway access number, there's my 11 letter password (very top secret..sent by special mail, complete with peel off sealed paper!), my UTR number, my national insurance number and my employer reference number (apparently I still have a number, even though I have no employer!). My word, this is fun. I reckon the people at Bletchley found it easier to break the German's enigma code than cracking the Inland Revenue payment system. It's not like the country doesn't need the money. It's not that I'm not keen to pay it. But hey, we got there in the end, as we always do, so till next month, keep your powder dry and I'll see you soon. Hopefully with a de tea-ed computer back in tow. Be good. Marky Mark.

Future Copyright

2012-01-15T18:21:00.000Z

Used by musicians, designers, actors, film makers, inventors, writers, journalists, teachers, cartoonists, biographers, programmers etc to copyright and protect their creative work.
This is an easy to use, clever web-based system; out-dating by 100′s of years the system of ‘posting files’ to yourself!
BiGiAM are happy to be working with Future Copyright on their creative and far-reaching 2012 marketing campaign.

www.futurecopyright.com
www.facebook.com/futurecopyright
www.twitter.com/futurecopyright

The BiGiAM end of year report - Jo Harman

2012-01-06T20:50:00.000Z

2011 has been a good development year for BiGiAM artist Jo Harman as she seeks to secure solid foundations for a long and successful career as 'a blues fuelled soul singer of rare distinction', to quote one of her earliest reviews (Brighton Source). 'BBC Introducing' sessions in Plymouth and Cambridge (adding to her BBC The South session of 2010), and attention building performances opening for Average White Band in Newcastle, Wolverhampton and elsewhere served to expand not only her fan base but also increase her exposure to regional reviewers and taste makers.

This regional outreach was further extended by sell out 'arts centre' gigs in Devon and Dorset, alongside impactful festival appearances at Chagstock and North Devon and, more locally, Kent and Meadowlands. Closer to home, Jo played Brighton more selectively in 2011 - most notably opening for Candi Staton at C2 and selling out the Latest Bar - concentrating on securing a reputation in London, getting booked to play the more prestigious London club venues, who programme established artists of the quality of Claire Martin, Liane Carroll, Mica Paris and the like. One particular example is the Hideaway in Streatham (parliamentary Jazz venue of the Year), where Jo enjoys regular prime Friday night bookings and where they, and she, recorded their first ever live album.
Whilst 'Live At Hideaway' is something of a self confessed 'stop gap' whilst Jo continues to explore her development and identity as a writer and (studio) recording artist, the album is nonetheless a good representation of the engaging live act and a DVD professionally recorded at a recent Church gig in Lewes aims to further evidence Jo as a compelling live performer. Indeed, the recent digital release of 'Live At Hideaway' has attracted consistently favourable reviews in places as far afield as America, Holland, Poland, France, Croatia and, indeed, Korea. Indeed, attracting favourable press, albeit local and regional press at this stage of her career, has never been too much of an issue.

Jo continues to enjoy the love and support of truly some of the finest and most 'decorated' (in terms of their playing CV's) musicians in the country....the pool of guys that comprise 'The Company' in 'Jo Harman and Company'. This support and acceptance is invaluable and gives enormous credibility to both Jo's as an artist and also her 'offering' as a live performer. She has also increasingly been asked to 'guest' with some of most noted and respected bands and artists in the soul, blues, gospel and 'groove' community.

All of this has been achieved without any significant backing, marketing plan or financial spend and, indeed, without any studio material whatsoever. Although already accepted and respected in many of the 'right quarters', Jo considers herself still to be an artist in development, not least in terms of material and defining the detail of her musical vision. It's getting increasingly close but she is right not to rush it and progressing this will clearly be one of 2012's priorities, alongside alongside expanding her outreach and building upon the foundations achieved thus far.

Our gossip column for December....published in guide2brighton

2011-12-28T16:41:00.002Z

http://www.guide2brighton.com/news/393/Brightons-BiGiAMs-Monthly-Gossip-Column

A DAY IN THE LIFE - the importance of marmalade and toast to the well oiled BiGiAM machine.

People ask what we do (if you find out, be sure to let us know) so we've started keeping a (near) daily blog of all things BiGiAM by way of diary. I expect this very article will be up there at some point, such are the ways of 'social networking', which spins me out a bit, but there we are. Speaking personally though, my own day goes like this.

I wake up when I wake up (I might just put the alarm on if I've had a particularly late night) and having read the overnight emails and checked facebook accounts in my dressing gown (you got facebook accounts in your dressing gown?) I go in search of breakfast which, depending upon initial diary commitments of the day will take place in one of three locations - the Cafe round the corner from the Shoreham office (best sofas), The greasy spoon at the Lagoon in West Hove (best doorstep bread) or Izzy's Cafe in St James Street (best 'home from home' from Brighton base which is Latest Musicbar). I order the same thing every day, irrespective of location, being Earl Grey tea (where available, otherwise 'builders') and toast and maralade. This is a ritual I cannot, and will not, miss. Most of my regular clients, friends and associates are brow beaten into joining me in these establishments should they have had the temerity to ask for a morning meeting. Some, normally female, contacts, whilst understanding that it is fruitless to try and deny my habit, do at least have the sense to pick their own meeting location, normally an upmarket independent coffee house (but having first checked said establishment does indeed include toast and marmalade on the menu!).

This way they avoid the tattooed builders and recovering users that normally comprise the mainstay clientelle of my regular haunts. Why am I telling you all this? Frankly I have no rational explanation except perhaps it's some deep seated inner need to confess my habit. Hello my name is Mark and I'm a tea and toast user. It could be worse but I do really think I have a problem here....Anyhow, where was I, oh yes...what happens for the rest of the day, post fix ? This and that...I guess.. the above mentioned blog might shed a little light, but, speaking personally, my thoughts are already returning to the orange coloured fruit just waiting to be spread on some gently burnt bread...

EVENTS AND SCHIZZ

OK...so what's happening?...well, if you're reading this at the very start of the month you should go down to the Ropetackle on Friday 2nd December to support a charity gig there for Martlets Hospice. Organised by South African born but locally based singer, Sam Horwill, the night will feature the rather wonderful harmony voices of 'House of Hats' (one of my favourite new bands) with special guest appearances promised from both Jo Harman and Autumn Red's Lloyd Williams.

Also, if this is still an early read. then don't forget the Radio Reverb 'Reverbathon' live all nighter on 3rd and 4th December, sounds like one long party y'all www.radioreverb.com

If you've missed all this stuff then what can I say, except that this is the season to be merry and jolly and this is the time for Xmas parties and drinking and feasting and this is the town to do it! There is no shortage of events on across the dozens, nay hundreds, of venues across our fair City, so go take your pick.

CALL ME AL

Local producer Al Scott is in the album charts having produced the much acclaimed 'Ragged Kingdom' album for June Tabor and the Oyster Band. Mojo folk album of the year, Roots magazine album of the year and 4 BBC folk awards to the good, Al also picked up his guitar and joined the artists on tour, playing 17 out of 18 sold out shows. Nice one Al and another gold star in the production CV which already includes a chart toping album by the Levellers amongst a host of gold records. Well done Al, on another remarkable success.

Also on the BiG i AM radar:-

- Raising Maisie. This teenage outfit write remarkably melodic and catchy tunes well beyond their tender years and are rightly attracting much watchful attention from people in the know. Their new video is a hoot too. Definitely ones to watch!

- The Brighton Eye. What's all that about then? The Brighton Wheel, in fact, to call it it's proper name. "Temporary planning permission till 2016'. So, here to stay for a bit then. All alright with that? We are? Ok, that's fine, then. Carry on!

- The Source, Brighton's leading music magazine (it says here) is thirteen! It's now officially a teenager. I sometimes find myself questioning the sometimes rather too knowing smugness of it's views and reviews. But this is a good thing, a magazine should occasionally push your buttons and, in any event, 90% of the time they get it spot on. What's more, one gets the sense they really care and believe about anything good in our City. Congratulations and more power to them say I as they enter their surly years!-

- The Cosmic Snowball at the Blind Tiger on 16th December. A party, raising money for charity that's all I know but could be a very good one, knowing some of the folk involved.

- Theatre Royal Brighton. A lovely Victorian theatre makes for a lovely night out with some lovely events, Spamalot and some interesting music events included early in the New Year.

Till next time dear chums.... You can follow/contact BiG i AM on twitter @BIGIAMBrighton and email comments on info@bigiam.co.uk

A Good or Bad time for Music?

2011-12-16T22:57:00.000Z

In many ways it's never been a better time to be an artist as the 'democratisation' of the 'industry' means anyone - and I do mean literally anyone - can make a record andput it out for sale. The ready availability of computer sampling software and the like even means there is no longer any need to be a skilled musician in the traditional sense. Moreover low cost digital distribution outlets such as itunes etc. provide a non-discerning open outlet for music to be put on sale. Literally anyone can now be 'in the music business'; no longer are there the old barriers relating to production and physical manufacturing costs associated with the old 'vinyl' industry where, unless you were signed by a record label, it was as good as impossible to make a record, let alone market it.

So, that's the upside, but with this opening of the floodgates has come - unsurprisingly, of course - a deluge; a deluge of self made, self produced and self marketed music. So much so that it's almost impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff and, worse still, because all music is now so readily available, it is no longer a scarce commodity and, by dint of the laws of economics, has largely become financially valueless.

Music is now, by and large, simply given away. Spotify, soundcloud, myspace, youtube, facebook and/or by the many dozens of other 'social network' and download distribution channels - let alone the thorny matter of illegal downloading - make everything so freely available to the extent that why would anyone actually go to the bother of buying it? And of course people aren't buying it and so revenue streams for artists, both real and potential, are drying up at an alarming rate. Music itself will survive - people will always make music and people will remain compelled to self express as long as there is a sun in the sky - but, for now at least, the ability to make music for money seems severely curtailed. It's a

bit of a win win for the consumer - we can have whatever music we want, pretty much however we want it, for zero cost - but a far less rosy outlook, I would suggest, for those seeking some financial reward from the creative process.

Agree or disagree, we'd love to hear your views.

Social Media tips for Musicians

2011-12-04T16:45:00.005Z

Social media and social networking networking allows artists to connect to their fans in a number of ways, and make discovering music much easier.

Since web 2.0 was created social media and social networking sites have taken off and are now a major part of any companies or musicians marketing efforts, the reason for this is the outreach these social networking sites can have, the Internet has always been a brilliant way to share music. Now I'm a bit of a social media geek, so i thought i'd share with you a few tips!

Myspace started off the movement for bands to create their own online presence, and since then there has been many more sites offering the same kind of thing. I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy but if there is one thing Myspace is still good for, it's hosting your band page. Many people when they search for your band name will find your Myspace page at the top of their results. Although Myspace is dying (& desperately holding on for dear life), it is still a great SEO booster for your band and a great way for people to hear a couple of your tracks & find out where else you are online.

Twitter has become a part of the mainstream culture, it can be a powerful asset in music promotion that not only helps spread the word about new music, but is great for making real-world connections with people on an individual basis. Twitter allows the artists and fans to share links to radio interviews, YouTube clips of live performances or SoundCloud links to an artist’s latest tracks. Users can also upload images of behind the scenes photos or flyers for upcoming gigs directly to the Twitter stream with services like TwitPic. Artists can get insight into what the community thinks of their latest track, suggestions for where their fans would like them to play a gig or to give their followers the oppourtunity to help pick artwork design for an upcoming album release. Twitter is a direct line of communication between fans and artist’s.

Soundcloud is a platform for sharing music, and is a great way to discover new music. It has had a significant effect on the way music is consumed. Soundcloud works brillantly with other social media websites, as every song that is shared has a unique URL, so a new song can be linked directly. The soundcloud player is embeddable, where the Myspace player is not, and it allows the artist to decide whether they want to make the track downloadable to fans. Overall Soundcloud is a brillant social media website that allows interaction with other websites, making sharing much easier for artists and fans.

Facebook is a great platform for artists and fans to share and discover music. Applications can be added to an artists Facebook page, such as BandPage (RootMusic) which can be made the default landing page, and offers a clearly laid out page with a music player, which can be linked to Soundcloud, and can be updated with new gig announcements and links to iTunes to purchase music, as well as a Twitter stream. The ‘Like’ feature for artists pages is another element that can spread the word about a particular artist, when a fan presses ‘Like’ on the artists page, it automatically updates in the Facebook feed, so all of that fans friends can see that they have ‘Liked’ that artists. Facebooks other facets include the ability to upload photos into different albums and the ability to create events and invite all fans to RSVP.

YouTube

YouTube is not only a great way to showcase what you’re up to, your music videos, and live performances but it is also a great discovery engine. Many people will click on your video if they find it in the related videos section of a band they already like. I always urge any artist to set up a YouTube channel, start off with something simple, like recording yourself covering a song that's popular at that moment in time, it's a guaranteed way to at least get a couple of hits on your video, and you never know, whoever is watching your video might even click through to some of your other vids. YouTube is becoming more of a search engine these days, if someone wants to learn how to play 'Stairway to Heaven' they don't google the tabs, they search for it in YouTube.

When used together Social media is a powerful tool, artists can make music discovery easier by spreading themselves on every possible networking site, and with the ease of these websites being able to interact with each other so effortlessly, it makes social media awesome.

if you need any help with setting up social media sites for your band or organisation, we can help and have some very cost effective pricing offers alongside our general press, publicity and promotion support packages.

Glenn Tilbrook

2011-12-01T14:10:00.004Z

Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships in recent times; as part of Squeeze they churned out an endless stream of highly original and intelligent pop songs: Cool for Cats, Up The Junction, Take Me I'm Yours, Another Nail in the Heart, Tempted, Is That Love? Squeeze reformed in 2007, cashing in on their earlier success, with Glenn still working the circuit as a solo artist.
"Absolutely fantastic, the reaction to the tour has been amazing," say Glenn who is currently in the middle of a long UK tour. I keep on finding that doing different things more and more feeds into the next thing I'm doing."

When Squeeze got back together we were quite fastidious in preparation in terms of rehearsal and production - we were involved more as band, and it showed - it was a better show, a better Squeeze. And I wanted to take that to my solo world - I've got Simon Hanson and Chris McNally with me - although I wanted to do the opposite to Squeeze... Tyrannosaurus Rex was my starting point funnily enough - the idea of acoustic guitars, wild bongos, ukuleles, harmoniums, but with the addition of electronic percussion - we're using iPad's. It's a proper instrument; it's so many great apps. For instance, there's a drum machine app I use now - I would have paid £400 for a few years ago for the actual machine but now, as an app, it's just £10. I remember when we hired a mellotron in 1978 for a Squeeze gig it cost over £500; now, it's £13..."
Tilbrook is further embracing the brave new world by selling USBs at the end of each gig. "The response has been incredible, the enthusiasm people have for it has been beyond my wildest dreams.

"Next year, Chris and I will see if we can come up with anything Squeeze-like and brilliant... if we can't, we won't do it... Originally, the thought of getting Squeeze back together didn't really excite me... but I thought the only way we could do it was to be a proper band and work hard at it and that's what we do... combining Squeeze and my own work - its got to be real and passionate, on both counts.

Glenn Tilbrook, Monday 19 December, Komedia, Brighton (and UK tour) 7.30pm, £17.50

www.chiefmusic.co.uk

A DAY IN THE LIFE AT BiGiAM - BiGiAM diary entry 30th Novemember

2011-11-30T17:28:00.001Z

Up in Eastbourne today for guest lecture to music production students at Sussex Downs College (part of Brighton Uni) which, in the event, was cancelled due to 'general' strike today. Instead had productive lunch meeting with consortium hoping to take over a famous provincial theatre with which we may, or may not, get involved with. Watch this space I guess.

Popped in to Yellowfish studios near Lewes on way back where owner Ross failed to find a biscuit on the premises. Never mind the vintage pianos and Hammond's where are the Kit Kats? Priorities guys, priorities!!! Assistant Rob responded to my howls of protest to go find a Mars Bar which, for some reason, required him to find a key to turn off the alarms???!!! Never mind the hundreds of thousands of pounds of gear in the place, it's the Mars bars that are under lock and key!. The increasingly surreal day took a further turn when the entry intercom rang (yes, the place has more security than Stalag 17) and a voice announcing 'Bird buggery inspector', demanding entry. Subsequently, Arthur 'God of Fire' Brown himself, resplendent in blue workmans overalls complete with obligatory flat cap, emerged to collect some gear from the archiving/storage area. I left Yellowfish leaving Arthur at the Grand Piano, singing away to himself, with Ross somehow having talked me into promoting both the new Teenage Cancer Trust single and legendary r&b rock band Pretty Things new recording for, as I understand it, nothing ('do it as a favour to me this time Mark'!). Do me a favour Ross, next time at least have a Kit Kat in the fridge with my name on it, to sweeten the deal!

Hey ho,.... just another day at the BiGiAM office.