Emily Plays Drums for Gabrielle Aplin

15 October, 2015

Here at BIMM, we love sharing news about our former students and their achievements. BIMM Brighton’s Emily-Rose Swaisland, who graduated last month with a Drumming Degree, has been making a name for herself drumming for Pop starlet Gabrielle Aplin – starring in her video for Sweet Nothing and appearing on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show.

This wonderful opportunity came through BIMM Brighton’s former Head of Drums, Andy Nixon, who was on the lookout for drummers for this exciting project. Emily was put forward along with fellow BIMM student Tony Watts to star in the video as part of a 30 strong synchronised drumming orchestra. We think you’ll agree, the end result looks fantastic.

Nobody could predict that a national television appearance would follow. Emily was one of only 12 drummers invited onto the chat show to recreate the video live in front of a studio audience and a couple of Hollywood superstars.

“Jonny Colgan, Gabrielle’s drummer contacted me to ask if I would be interested in working on a television appearance with them,” she explained. “He then forwarded details, to say that it was for the Graham Norton show and the guests were Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman!” Some good networking there from Emily!

Gabrielle and her troupe of drummers, including Emily, received a rapturous applause from the audience and seemed to go down very well with Graham Norton himself who called the performance ‘fabulous’.

“Those drummers were great, just fantastic,” beamed the chat show host.

Gabrielle herself is an inspiration to all young people trying to make a name in music. The singer-songwriter found fame after ‘accidentally’ starting her own independent record label, promoting herself and other artists on YouTube, aged just 15.

Emily’s success reflects some of the incredible opportunities available to those studying at BIMM. Our vast network of lecturers and industry professionals mean BIMM students are often put forward for once in a lifetime experiences, helping to kick-start their music careers.

We’re incredibly proud of Emily and expect this won’t be the last we’ll see of her on our screens.


Fancy studying drums at BIMM Brighton?  Take a look at our Courses here.

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