NEMIMU (North East Music Industry Meet Up)
North East Music Industry Meet Up (NEMIMU) is bought to you by Sage Gateshead and Generator North East. For the September edition we’ve teamed up with Tracks Darlington – a new-music collective aiming to develop activities and services for the benefit of local musicians, music organisations and audiences living, working and visiting the area.
This NEMIMU will take place at the Forum Music Centre in Darlington as part of Last Train Home Festival. Join us for a morning coffee and connect with Tees Music Alliance, Butterfly Effects Records, Generator and Sage Gateshead before a day of incredible live music. You will hear more about what these organisations have to offer independent artists and industry professionals, what you can get involved in and how they can help you develop your career in music. You will also hear from Jodie Nicholson who is an independent artist and will be sharing her experience, tips and advice on how to progress in the North East music industry.
ℹ️ Useful Information
? Forum Music Centre in Darlington
NEMIMU is for independent artists and anyone working in the North East music scene.
Please note this event is free but you need to grab yourself a ticket to secure a place.
Chris Cobain (Tees Music Alliance)
“I am the Venue and Programmer Manager at TMA which means I look after the day to day running of the venue and I book artists for our venues as well as looking after hires. I am also one of the main bookers behind Stockton Calling festival and work on several other mini festivals throughout the year. We run a range of development initiatives and we collaborate with a variety of agencies in order to deliver opportunities for music activists – including regular advice surgeries and our On Point music industry conference.” – Chris Cobain
David Saunders (Tees Music Alliance)
David Saunders started as a performer, fronting musical outfits such as The Felons, Goy Boy McIlroy and The Black Sheep Frederick Dickens, where he enjoyed relative success and performed at venues around the UK. He currently performs in the band Wax Heart Sodality who were selected to take part in Sage Gateshead’s Summer Studios music residency and more recently performed at Stockton Calling and Whitby Goth fest.
In 2014, during a prolonged spell of unemployment, David began putting on numerous events around the Darlington area including grassroots festival, Music Box, alt-rock band night, Bruja, artist development events Darlington Music Forum and Soapbox Sessions open mic night. He was also one of the original co-founders of the town’s local music collective Tracks, responsible for Last Train Home music festival, Get Informed music advice coffee mornings and Noisy Daughters women in music events.
David now works at Tees Music Alliance, based in Stockton-On-Tees, as their Music Development and Marketing Manager and is the Website Coordinator at North-East music and culture magazine, NARC. In his role at the TMA, David offers support to up-and-coming musicians and music activists with events such as Tues-DIY round table sessions and On Point music conference alongside Chris & Dave’s Music Drop-In Sessions. His NARC. duties include writing articles and creating content for the magazine’s website (including local cultural event previews and features with North-East artists) as well as co-presenting NARC. TV, alongside magazine editor Claire Dupree, and mentoring up-and-coming journalists via the NARC. Academy.
Stephen Gill (Butterfly Effect Records)
Always looking for the undiscovered and the unconventional, record label Butterfly Effect creates limited vinyl releases for artists from around the region. Each record is carefully curated, designed, and packaged with unique goodies; a musical metamorphosis ready to flutter its wings, and send ripples from the North East of England across the rest of the world.
Rianne Thompson (Sage Gateshead)
Rianne Thompson is the Producer for the Artist Development team at Sage Gateshead, which is a multi-genre music centre rooted in the North East, with an international profile. She works across the Artist Development programme and runs three different residences throughout the year including Summer Studios, Foundry and Artist in Residence, as well as commissioning artists and curating the new music series ‘From the Glasshouse’, which provides a platform for new projects and emerging artists.
Helen Walkinshaw (Generator North East)
Helen Walkinshaw is the Head of Creative Development; they are responsible for shaping and delivering Generator’s music and talent development programme and are passionate about the North East creative community. Helen is the lead event producer for the Generator Live Festival and Music Industry Conference and has worked in the music industry and events sector for over a decade.Gaining experience in multiple roles including; live event management, festival production, promotion, artist development, label support and venue/hospitality management, they are also an experienced recording, performing and touring artist. Helen has a personal investment in grassroots, underground and independent music, and a commitment to exploring alternative pathways into the industry for those facing barriers to access.
Question & Answer with Jodie Nicholson
Jodie Nicholson is a genre-bending, independent soloist based in Hurworth-on-Tees. Awardee of PRS Foundation’s ‘Women Make Music’, Help Musicians’ ‘Do it Differently’ and Sentric’s Academy Fund, Nicholson furthered her career throughout the pandemic with releases produced remotely by Tim Bran (London Grammar, Aurora, Birdy).
Her music has been featured on BBC Radio 6 Music playlist, Best of BBC Introducing 2020 on Radio 1 and Amazing Radio’s A-List, alongside airplay across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Introducing. Following the return of live shows, Nicholson has graced festivals nationwide, including Wilderness main stage, All Points East, The Alt Escape, Y Not, Cambridge Folk Festival, Liverpool Sound City, Live at Leeds, Long Division and Twisterella, completed her first headline tour in 2022 with a full band, and supported Emeli Sandé, Tom Rosenthal, Bernard Butler, The Howl & The Hum, Nathan Ball, The Futureheads and Benedict Cork at sold-out shows.
Alongside her solo project, Nicholson toplines in collaboration with dance, trance and house producers/artists, works with creative organisations across the North to inspire and support the next generation of artists, and has shared her artist experience as a panellist at Twisterella (Un)Conference and Manchester’s Unconvention.