At a time when much of the conversation around grassroots music focuses on venue closures, rising costs and the challenges facing emerging artists, Brighton’s festival season offers a reminder of something else entirely, its role in developing, showcasing and celebrating emerging talent from across the UK and beyond.
Throughout May, as Brighton Festival, Brighton Fringe and The Great Escape transformed the city into one of the UK’s cultural hotspots, emerging artists performed across a series of showcases, livestreams and grassroots events that connected local talent with industry professionals, international audiences and new opportunities.
Among them were artists performing at the WaterBear Venue and WaterBear Music Bar during The Great Escape, where acts including Lily Moore, Charlotte Plank, Bimini, Matt Hennessy, Milly Pye, Boudicca and SPIKEMYHEART shared stages alongside international showcase artists from Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Portugal.
The momentum continued when DJ AG brought his livestream platform to Brighton, creating another high profile opportunity for local talent. The event featured WaterBear students and alumni alongside artists supported by AudioActive, the Sussex charity that uses music as a tool for social change and supports young people across the region.
For singer songwriter Milly Pye, who performed during The Great Escape programme, the experience captured the spirit of the month.
“It means so much to be picked for an opportunity like this. You feel appreciated, you feel heard and it’s a sense of community. We couldn’t ask for more.”
Asked what advice she would give to other emerging artists, her answer was simple:
“Be brave.”
The partnership between DJ AG and WaterBear has also extended beyond the livestream itself through the launch of the DJ AG Scholarship, which will fully fund a BA (Hons) degree place at WaterBear for a talented young artist, alongside mentoring and industry support.
Eve Massaad, Chief Marketing Officer at WaterBear, said:
“When people talk about Brighton’s festival season, they often focus on the artists at the top of the poster. What excites me is everything happening underneath that.
Throughout May we saw emerging artists sharing stages with international acts, building audiences, making connections and gaining experiences that can genuinely shape their futures. Brighton remains one of the best places in the UK to be an emerging artist because there is a community here that genuinely wants to see people succeed.”
The artists who stepped onto stages throughout May are a reminder that while the challenges facing grassroots music remain real, the pipeline of talent coming through Brighton shows no signs of slowing down.
WaterBear Music Bar sets at The Great Escape:
MARINA JOSEPHINA – WaterBear Music Bar 15th May 13:30 – 14:00
Effortlessly authentic and captivating, Marina Jospehina delivered a beautifully intimate performance at the WaterBear Music Bar, armed only with her voice and a Nord Electro 6 in the absence of her regular backing band. The Teesside artist blended smooth R&B grooves with touches of soul and jazz, creating a warm, late-night atmosphere despite the afternoon slot in the Northern House basement showcase. In addition to some new songs that hinted at the impressive depth in her songwriting, her rich expressive vocals and understated stage presence kept the room completely absorbed throughout the set. Check out her latest single ‘Did It Again’ as the perfect introduction to Marina’s music.
(Martin J Fuller)
GREENWING – WaterBear Music Bar 16th May 20:30 – 21:00
Four-piece high-energy alternative rock band GreenWing are from Saskatoon, Canada, and they are very happy to be in Brighton for the festival on their first visit to the UK. Having already played at Green Door Store on day two of the festival, they are at the impressive WaterBear Music Bar for their second and final performance. They were so impressed with the Green Door Store that lead vocalist Matt Stone is wearing one of their t-shirts. Not only that, Matt and his other band members, Anthony Allegetto (guitar), Declan Hills (bass), and Nathan Henry (drums), have all got rat tattoos as a memento to playing there. They play an eight-song set, drawing on inspiration from classic punk and post-rock. Their energetic feel-good rock anthems sound heavier live than they do on record, and by the sound of it, they so want to come back to the UK to play again in the future.
(Ian Holman)
SPIRAL DRIVE – WaterBear Music Bar 16th May 21:30 – 22:00
My last review of the festival is for dynamic Austrian-German psychedelic rock five-piece band Spiral Drive, who played at WaterBear Music Bar. Their set flips effortlessly between dreamy, spaced-out psychedelia and heavy fuzzed-out stoner rock riffs, and they are a delight to hear and see. They play three released tracks ‘Echoes’, ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Space Train’ as well as three new ones ‘Never Say No’, ‘Green Vanilla’ and ‘Reality’. As you may gather by its title, ‘Space Train’ is the more spaced-out song of the set, while the other five tracks are on the heavier side of psychedelic rock. ‘Green Vanilla’ was my pick of the set, closely followed by the grungier sounding ‘Never Say No’. I’m surprised they have not played Brighton Psych Fest, although lead vocalist Raphael Neikes did say they would be back in the UK in September playing a couple of shows. Finally, I recommend checking out their cover version of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ which was released in 2024.
(Ian Holman)
