The BIMM Dublin and Manchester album, volume two
It gives us great pleasure to announce the release of the BIMM Dublin and Manchester Album Volume Two.
The record features 19 original tracks from our Dublin and Manchester students and is a reflection of the wealth of talent we enjoy at both BIMM colleges.
The album is available now to listen to on Spotify and to purchase at many other digital retailers.
The competition was fierce again this year. We received over 250 tracks, giving our Songwriting and Artist Development lecturers a difficult time compiling a shortlist of 30 demos.
This shortlist was then passed onto an external A&R panel of music experts who were equally impressed with the quality of this year’s songs. The panel included Columbia Records A&R Mike Pickering, BBC Radio 1Xtra Music Manager Austin Daboh, record producer Jim Spencer (The Charlatans/Johnny Marr/Noel Gallagher), Stereophonics keyboardist Tony Kirkham and Out Promotion boss Nicki Befalls. Once the 19 tracks were decided, our talented musicians were invited to our in-house professional recording studios to begin work on their songs.
Ahead of the release of the album, we caught up with several students who were involved in the final project to find out their thoughts and feelings on the album.
Jess Kemp, a Music Business student at BIMM Manchester and the artist responsible for ‘Stars’, said:
“I submitted my track for the BIMM album with little expectation. However, when I was told that I had been chosen by a panel of industry professionals, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face! It is an amazing opportunity to go and record a fully produced track in the BIMM studio.”
David McDonell was another of the lucky 19 students to be selected by a panel of experts. The singer-songwriter spoke about producer (and head of Higher Education & Music Production course leader) Stuart Eastham’s part in bringing his track to life.
“Working with Stu was great, he was so professional in what he was doing and brought things to the song I did not think would work in a million years. It’s great that I was picked for this as it gives me hope in the future in what I want to do.”
Echoing his sentiments was Greg Dixon of BIMM Manchester band Psyblings. His group penned the brilliantly named “Lemon Whiskey in Herbal Tea”. Speaking about the album, he said:
“It’s great we managed to make the list with so much talent and so many great sounds coming out of BIMM at the moment. I just hope people enjoy hearing the track as much as we enjoyed recording it!”
BIMM Dublin luminary Audrey Gleeson said appearing on the album still felt like a dream:
“Finding out that my song was picked to be on the BIMM album was honestly a dream. It still feels surreal to tell people! When I studied vocals at BIMM back in 2010, the album was not even in my thoughts as being a possibility for me. To get recognition for my songwriting ability was the best feeling in the world. All I’ve ever wanted to do was write songs and now I have industry professionals telling me they like my song. It’s crazy!”
We also caught up with BIMM Dublin Events & Guests Assistant, Stephen D’Arcy, who was heavily involved in the record from start to finish, he said:
“Working on the album from the initial selection process all the way up to holding the physical copies has been a real joy for me. The talent and professionalism of the bands involved was inspiring and our producers/engineers put the hours in to make sure everyone was happy.”
Full track listings
BIMM Dublin
Recorded at BIMM Dublin studios. Produced & engineered by Michael Heffernan & Stephen Dunne. Mixed by Ciaran Bradshaw at The Muse. Mastered by Fergal Davis at Fergal Davis Mastering.
SAINT JRDN – Only One
Fabian Molloy – In The Dark Pass
Keith Margo – I Won’t Be Home Tonight
ELM – So It Seems
Sean Behan – Lady In The Water
The Virgins – Running
Leila Jane & The Healers – Regret
Idyll – Poison
Audrey Gleeson – Lonely Eyes
The Real Swan Lake – Soz
BIMM Manchester
Recorded at Bank Chambers BIMM studio. Produced by Stuart Eastham. String and brass arrangements by Neil Young. Artwork by Paul Rowley.
Dons Skiffle – Promise the Elephant
Dan Jones – Golden Lies
Jess Kemp – Stars
Ambiere – Tree of Life
Days – From a Stranger
Johanna Alba- All I Wanna Do
Psyblings – Lemon Whiskey in Herbal Tea!
Sam Craighan – (Somewhat) Sunlit Salford
Young Jack – Mojo
We’d like to congratulate everyone who made it onto the final album. 2016’s entries were extraordinary and both our lecturers and the expert panel had a tough job with the final selection.
We’d like to give special thanks to everyone involved in the recording, mixing and mastering of the album including Stu Eastham, Neil Young, Ciaran Bradshaw, Fergal Davis, and our panel of industry experts for taking the time to listen to all the selected entries.
