BIMM students and staff work on BBC’s This Town

Some of our incredible students and staff have provided their services to This Town, a six-part British television series for BBC One, written and created by Steven Knight – who also wrote Peaky Blinders.

Set in the streets of Birmingham, Coventry and Belfast, This Town is about four young people who are drawn into an explosive and iconic music scene. This Town tells the story of a band’s formation, set against a backdrop of violence, capturing how creative genius can emerge out of madness.

BIMM Birmingham graduate band SANTÙ were asked to write a track for the series. This was then recorded in BIMM Birmingham studio, produced by the show’s Musical Director Rupert Christie, and engineered by Jack Trubshaw, a BIMM Birmingham Music Production graduate.

The band are also seen performing said track in Episode Three of the six-part series, with SANTÙ’s drummer replaced by Shyvonne Ahmmad, who plays Matty in the series. However, the band’s real drummer, Jonathan, provided lessons to Shyvonne and acted as a drum tech for the rest of the series.

Martin Wright, our BIMM Birmingham Songwriting course leader, provided guitar coaching and tuition for lead actor Levi Brown. In addition, our Performance course leader, Hannah White, provided vocal coaching for cast members.

We caught up with SANTÚ’s drummer, Jonathan, who told us about his experience:

“We got the opportunity to record a track for a scene of the BBC’s This Town which was super exciting. It made sense for us to actually be the ones performing the track in the scene, so we ended up with some crazy haircuts and outfits!

I obviously wasn’t part of the scene as this is where the character ‘Matty’ basically gets scouted for the main band of the series, but I ended up being the on-set instrument tech for the series, gave drum lessons to Shyvonne, and was put on the sound team. I also helped with some production bits too. We’re hoping we can get involved in Season 2 – that would be amazing!”