‘It’s not your standard university’ – Inside the Bristol institute run by music professionals

Outside the Passage Street entrance of BIMM Institute Bristol, the sound of an electric guitar can be heard blaring from the riverside as students gather to get a glimpse of the performance.

This scene seems to be a microcosm of life at BIMM, an unorthodox, dynamic and cutting-edge school that is producing some of the most exciting emerging talent in the music industry today.

Hannah Phipps, BIMM Bristol’s current principal, greets Bristol24/7 at the door. She takes little notice of the show outside – perhaps a regular occurrence in the day-to-day runnings of this elusive institution.

Opened in 2008, BIMM Bristol is part of the British and Irish Modern Music Institute, a group of eight independent colleges across England and Ireland that specialise in the provision of creative education, encompassing everything from theatre, tech, dance and filmmaking to performance art and music.

BIMM Bristol currently has two bases in Stokes Croft and Passage Street – photo: BIMM

At its heart, BIMM is an industry-led institution – the degrees were written by 180 music industry professionals and over 150 members of staff already work in the industry.

“We exist in the same places and we’re part of the same community,” says Hannah.

This connection allows BIMM the flexibility to both make and respond quickly to changes.

“We’re not teaching students things that are three years out of date, which is actually 20 years out of date in the music industry,” explains Hannah.

Hannah has been working at BIMM for 12 years, and became principal of BIMM the weekend before lockdown, facing the gargantuan task of managing an institution that relies so heavily on student collaboration, practical teaching and physical space during a global pandemic.

Speaking about the pandemic period, she says: “It’s been a period more of survival, rather than thinking beyond that in terms of what we can do to make [the] student experience the best it can be.”

Hannah has invited a few students along to our meeting. Rosie and Jamie run the Women’s Collective, which they describe as a place for networking and writing for female and gender minority students and alumni. Jamie is also label manager for HUBB Records, a student-run record label which aims to showcase Bristol’s rising talent.

One is struck by how much crossover and collaboration there is between each of these groups. Hannah says that the work coming out of BIMM now, especially from those doing masters courses, represents “a new creative era for BIMM”.

“It’s more interdisciplinary, collaborative – it’s really nice to see that evolution,” she explains. She is especially proud of the Women’s Collective and is passionate about how much they can achieve when they collaborate and support each other.

Hannah even runs her own support group, TIME, for women and non-binary members of staff and notes another BIMM women’s collective called Women in Recording and Electronic Music and DJs (WIRED).

Despite the multitude of exciting collaborations happening at BIMM, Hannah is open about how the school has been limited in the past few years in how much it can extend this collaboration to all corners of the institute, which is currently split between Stokes Croft and King Square, or in her words, the “noise-making building and the business building”.

The divide has been “a source of frustration” for Hannah, who hopes an ambitious new building development in Stokes Croft will open the doors to more integration and collaboration, as well as allow the institute to extend a hand to the local community.

“We have been a bit insular,” she says, “but we really want to do more”.

The new building, St James’ House, is a huge project, a 33,000 square feet former office building in central Stokes Croft that will open in September, just in time for the new academic year. Hannah has designed the space in collaboration with a group of contractors and sound engineers so that no detail goes amiss.

The new building will feature state-of-the-art music equipment – photo: Hannah Phipps

The space will feature professional sound booths, top-of-the-range recording studios, a cafe & bar, a main stage and glass DJ booth which will all surround a central atrium.

“It’s designed so that you can see the whole community around you,” says Hannah.

She hopes the space will allow students to rely less on external hire, adding: “We want to choose that [venue] because it benefits the students, not out of necessity”.

All three students and Hannah herself can’t speak highly enough of Bristol’s music scene.

“Bristol is such a good city to be exploratory,” says Hannah.

Jamie agrees, saying: “There are so many small venues you can start out in – Dareshack, the Jam Jar, St Anne’s.”

Bristol’s abundant music scene has helped many students break into the wider music industry. BIMM’s very own Drum and Bass Society for example has grown hugely in the last year, from a small student society to becoming established promoters in the Bristol drum and bass circuit.

BIMM also organises outreach programmes which have effectively engaged young people interested in pursuing music from all kinds of backgrounds. Hannah is particularly proud of the access and participation plan, which specifically researches and targets underrepresented groups in the music industry and BIMM to increase their engagement.

Speaking about the importance of the programme, she says: “We can market all we like to people but unless we start actually at a younger age targeting certain groups, we aren’t going to really have as much impact as we could do.

“It’s about getting into communities that we haven’t done before – going to schools to teach music, providing a home for charities or organisations that don’t really have the money or resources.

“There’s been a lot of cuts to music funding. So many music departments in schools don’t exist anymore. So it’s about asking, what are those issues, how can we actually have an impact there?”

It seems like BIMM’s staff and students are carving their own path in an ever-changing music industry and education landscape.

“It’s not your standard university,” Jamie laughs, “I don’t think anyone here would fit into a normal university”.

Main photo: Beth Butcher 

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