"When it comes to vernacular British pop few do it better" Q
"I never thought that it would happen
With me and the girl from Clapham" Squeeze
The British Music Experience presented an exclusive Songwriting Masterclass and Workshop with double Ivor Novello Award winner Chris Difford on Saturday 30th January.
Firmly established as one of the UK's most respected and most loved singer–song writers, Chris Difford is a leading component of legendary British rock/pop band, Squeeze.
This is was a unique, collaborative event for aspiring songwriters as well as fans of Chris who hosted a Songwriting Workshop and provided a Q&A discussing his songwriting technique, his 30 year musical journey writing top 20 hits and performing new material with some of his most loved songs.
This is the first Dance Masterclass we've run and it was amazing to see so many of you turn out, we hope you had as enjoyable, educational and fun time as we did.
More importantly, a massive "THANK YOU" shout out to James Wiltshire for giving up his time and expertise and for providing nuggets of DJ gold with the tips, techniques and advice.
We've got some lovely pictures and a lovely 8 minute video edit from the Masterclass, enjoy!
Stadium fillers Bon Jovi performed a secret gig especially for a handful of their British fans last night, right here in the British Music Experience playing here to an audience made up entirely of winners of a competition held on their UK website.
The set of indoor fireworks included the classics 'Wanted Dead Or Alive', 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and an acoustic, strippped down version of 'Livin' On A Prayer' as well as songs from their new album The Circle released this week.
Bon Jovi are set to take up a London residency with a series of concerts here in The O2 arena, starting June next year.
In the meantime, here's some delightful pics to enjoy:
"Paparazzi seem intent to present their subjects in the worst possible light. In the days of Harry Hammond, photographers only wanted to show the best of you. I guess that's why it was always such a pleasure to have Harry Hammond." Cliff Richard
From 25th September to 27th November the British Music Experience will premiere a unique exhibition of photographs of Britain's biggest musical icons, from the V&A's collection.
Covering that golden era when Britain dominated rock and roll, one man, Harry Hammond, was Britain's leading showbiz photographer and for almost two decades he captured the definitive images of every leading British musician, as well as visiting Americans.
Tuesday 27th October 2009 Howard Jones, one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop was our honored guest for a very special Songwriting Masterclass talking about his career, songwriting techniques and performing some of his songs.
During our Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock photographic exhibition, we hosted a very special evening with three of the nation’s leading music photographers.
Jill Furmanovsky, Mark Mawston and Philip Townsend presented their amazing images, techniques and photography tips, as well assome very funny and personal backstage stories on the journies to the forefront of British music photography.
On the 1st of October 2009 we hosted a unique day of talks, workshops and live demonstrations exploring the relationship between sound, light, space and experience. The event was developed and curated by SPACEPILOTS, a collaborative practice of architecture and art and gave participants the chance to meet experts in sound and lighting design.
Contributors included David Atkinson, who's lighting scheme plays an integral part in the design of the British Music Experience, artist and sound designer Thor McIntyre-Burnie, and Sharon Stammers from The Professional Lighting Designers Association.
After the fantastic response to the event, we commissioned SPACEPILOTS to work with 40 students from Chelsea College of Art to develop a series of case studies exploring ways that sound can engage students at Key Stage 3 and 4 with subjects across the curriculum.
The resulting series of proposals which includes interactive sound maps, tactile sound explorations and aural guides of The O2 and it's surrounding areas can be viewed here on the SPACEPILOTS web site.
Pre Hospitality at Matter we put on Hospitality Q+A+E at the British Music Experience to give fans, ravers and budding producers a chance to hear how Hopsital Record's finest: London Elektricity, High Contrast and Logistics make their tracks. Hosted by BBC Radio 1s Nerm we had 90mins of excellent hints, tips and questions from the audience and a certain little new dance move called 'The Drum & Bass Step'.
Graced by the presence of professional dance outfit Hypnotik to teach us the art and fun of Hip Hop dancing. These guys can move like you wouldn't believe
Thursday 6th August 2009 For just 3 days only, Andy Warhol's famous 1984 portrait of Michael Jackson arrived from the U.S. for exclusive display in the British Music Experience.
This famous work of art had never been on display in Europe before, but was on view at British Music Experience visitors on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th August. It then went straight under the hammer in New York.
Check out this great little video by ace young reporter Ruby Daniels checking out our Hip Hop Masterclass and interviewing DJ Rolling Sound like a pro:
To celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and , the British Music Experience and Mercury Records presented The Hand-Bell Ringers of Great Britain vs. The Orb.
The Hand Bell Ringers of Great Britain, Europe’s largest Hand Bell and Chime Orchestra, descended on the British Music Experience for this completely one off event. In addition to playing selections from their repertoire and extracts from Tubular Bells, they ran workshops so you could learn to chime in time with the pros.
AND...
Legendary ambient house pioneers The Orb performed a unique 'Orbular Bells' DJ set. Here's what you missed:
Your Smarticket allows you to tag your favourite parts of the museum and your recordings and brings it all back home for you to keep...
HOSPITALITY
The British Music Experience is a stunning and flexible space that can be the perfect venue for a range of personal and professional occasions...
NEWS & EVENTS
Stay tuned for music news, random quotes, music geek facts and info on a plethora of exciting exclusive events...
LOG IN TO MYBME...
YOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN
ARTIST MEMORABILIA
Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis has used this custom microphone fitted with Neumann KK 105 head on all of her shows including the American Music Awards, Echo Awards in Germany, the MTV Asia Awards in Malaysia and the American MTV Awards.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Join the British Music Experience for a daily dose of quotes, news and a plethora of British music nerd facts.