With news emerging earlier today that Brighton’s music industry is worth an astonishing £45M, it is no surprise that Brighton has produced some of the biggest names in music.
A report, published earlier today by the The UK’s Music Wish You Were Here, found that the total direct and indirect spend of the music business in Brighton is totalled at £45M.
Brighton’s music scene apparently attracts of 100,00 tourists that travel to Brighton specifically for the music scene. Brighton has over 20 music venues and the music industry is said to employ a total of 481 full time positions in the city. As well as a host of live shows every night of the week, Brighton also plays host to a number of festivals including Wildlife and The Love Supreme.
The Haunt, Concorde 2 and the Dome have all played host to some of the biggest names in the music business, and you may be surprised at just how many of those originate from our city! With that in mind we wanted to take a look at some of the bigger acts from Brighton that have made a name for themselves…
The Kooks: Remember The Kooks? 2006s biggest band? They formed in Brighton in 2004 after all members enrolled at Brighton’s British and Irish Modern Music Institute (or BIMM). Since then the Kooks have gone on to become one of the most infamous indie bands in Britain, with hits such as Naive and She Moves In Her Own Way still sounding as good as ever. The Kooks boast one of the most loved to hated front men in the music industry with Luke Pritchard, and are still touring with new material. Despite a number of line up changes the Kooks remain firm festival favourites after playing at Reading and Leeds last year as well as a tour late last year following the release of their fourth album Listen.
So yes, they’re still going.
Rizzle Kicks are the hip hop duo consisting of Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander – Sule. The band was formed in Brighton in 2011 and since then they have gone on to collaborate with X Factor runner up Olly Murs as well as Pharrell Williams. Forming out of the charity AudioActive, Rizzle Kicks have sold over a million records and managed a number one record with ‘Heart Skips A Beat’. Rizzle Kicks have played at the majority of UK festivals as well as a number of Brighton shows including headline shows at the Brighton Centre.
The ‘Down With the Trumpets’ singers are currently working on solo material under new stage names, it’s clear Rizzle Kicks haven’t peaked yet. Watch this space.
British Sea Power are an indie rock band that have been around forever. Forming in 2001, British Sea Power are still touring and producing new material today. Famous for unusual lyrics and eccentric live shows, British Sea Power played a host of anniversary shows in Brighton and London last year that celebrated the 12th anniversary of their debut album The Decline of British Sea Power.
Still going and still touring, British Sea Power are on the the biggest cult indie bands around – check them out if you haven’t listened to them before to see what the fuss was about.
Passenger: Folk act Passenger formed in Hove in 2003 as more than the solo act that you probably know today. Passenger, or Michael Rosenberg, had his breakout song in 2014 with the huge ‘Let Her Go’ which earned him a nomination for Best Solo act at that years Brit Awards.
Following on from that success Passenger has continued to tour and perform at the UKs biggest festivals. In 2015, Passenger released a new album called Whisper II in which he donated all profit to UNICEF. Passenger is currently on tour in Australia.
And finally, Adele You may have heard of Adele. She has had one or two songs on the radio. She’s not really that much of a big deal. Apart from the millions of Youtube hits, over 100 million record sales and the net worth of 83 million pounds. Adele is currently touring her latest album 25 and has just performed 8 nights at the 02 in London. Arguably the biggest singer songwriter in the world right now, Adele is undoubtedly a big, big deal.
(Technically she comes from Tottenham, but she’s currently living in Brighton so that is close enough).
So, there you have it. All these acts have made it, so there is nothing stopping you from taking up a guitar and giving it a go. The music scene is more than alive and well in Brighton, so get involved.
