Coming Up Roses | From Singapore to London and back

Ahead of their ICMP gig, we get to know more about ICMP band Coming Up Roses and the team promoting the show…

 

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Hailing from Singapore, ICMP guitar slingers Coming Up Roses are making a name for themselves in London, picking up plaudits from the likes of NME and working with production whiz Caesar Edmunds. 

On March 11th, the band will be bringing their sound to The Venue at ICMP, performing as part of an event promoted by BA Music Business and Entrepreneurship (BAMBE) students, Anthony Schindler, Rumbi Doba-Ngara and April Rene.  

Coming Up Roses are fronted by Emily Sera on vocals and bass (studying an MA Music Business at ICMP), Darius Oon on guitars (BMus Popular Music Performance Scholarship winner at ICMP) with Charlie Wilson (ex- ICMP student) on guitar and Caleb Blake on drums (BMus Popular Music Performance at ICMP). 

Emily and Darius, both from Singapore came to London to study at ICMP and develop their dynamic sound  in the UK, where so many of the bands that inspired them, such as My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins and Slowdive, come from. 

Here, we catch up with promoters Anthony, Rumbi and April to find out more about their plans for the gig, their experiences at ICMP and how they came to work with Coming Up Roses...

What led you to ICMP and the programme? 

Rumbi: We are all passionate about the wonderful, ever-changing music industry and its endless ability to generate amazing new talent.

As a dynamic and growing music education institution in central London, ICMP is perfectly placed to nurture emerging talent from around the world and, as BAMBE students, we want to promote this process within ICMP. April is a very talented photographer, I'm a social entrepreneur supporting artists from Zimbabwe and London and Anthony is an ex-finance professional.

How does the event with Coming Up Roses relate to your academic work? 

Rumbi: This event is part of our Live Event Management Module, taught to us by Daryl Bär, and we are assessed on the documentation and analysis of a live event that we have arranged.

However, probably more importantly, Coming Up Roses are an amazing band and we want to arrange the best possible concert for them to show their wonderful music to the ICMP community.

And how did you connect with the band? 

Rumbi: We met the band at an excellent BAMBE networking event arranged by our programme leader Ken Foreman. ICMP events like this provide a great platform for students with different skills to meet, collaborate and generate new ideas.

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The live stream sounds great - how are you putting this side of the event together? What are the challenges with this? 

April: The live streaming idea first came about because Coming Up Roses have a core fanbase in Asia, mainly Singapore and Taiwan, and we wanted to share this concert - showcasing their new single, 'Utopia Reimagined: These Corners', with their fans in Asia, hence the start time of midday which is 8pm Asia-Pac time.

I’m a photographer (check out my work here) and I have assembled a team of friends with live streaming experience to execute, with the support of the ICMP Facilities team

We think live streaming music is a very interesting promotional concept and we want to develop this medium and acquire the technical skills to help new artists promote themselves in this way."

Why did you choose the Venue at ICMP to host your event? 

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Rumbi: The facilities at the new ICMP Queen's Park campus are so impressive and the whole campus is such a positive addition to the Queen's Park area. We really wanted to use this space to promote ICMP talent to the ICMP community and also find expertise and support from within the college to execute the concert. 

What are you hoping to get from the gig? What are your aims for the event?

Anthony: Firstly and most importantly, Coming Up Roses are a very talented alternative rock band with smartly crafted song writing and distinctive guitar driven alt-pop songs. 

These talented people deserve the full support of ICMP as they embark on their music career and we wanted to make full use of ICMP facilities to help build a core fan base for the band within the college, livestream the gig to fans in Asia and create some great film and media footage for the band's socials.

There is new emerging music talent coming from all over the world and we think it is wonderful that ICMP can help nurture a band from Singapore at a time when music from Asia is beginning to make significant inroads onto the global music scene."

How have you found your studies so far? And what are the most important things you've learned while studying with us? 

Rumbi: We have been able to learn so many aspects of the music industry from real industry practitioners and we are simply enjoying learning and collaborating with so much ICMP talent on projects like this one.

What future projects do you have in the pipeline? 

Anthony: At the moment we are just focused on helping Emily, Darius and the band make a great success of this show and supporting them in the promotion of the new single 'Utopia Reimagined: New Corners'.

Will you be putting on more live events in the future? 

Anthony: Coming Up Roses have an exciting month of live events coming up to promote the new single: They are playing ‘The Alex Charlie Blake Sessions’ in Singapore on Saturday 25th February; and then back in London for the Camden Club on the 4th March, ICMP on the 11th March and the Hard Rock Café in London on the 28th March.

Visit cominguprosesband.com for more. 

Watch the video to 'Utopia Reimagined: New Corners'. More information on the ICMP event and tickets are available here.

Take the first steps in your music career with ICMP

We've been developing and delivering contemporary music education for over 30 years – longer than any other music school in the UK. With a proven track-record, countless music industry connections and unrivalled access to facilities, it's easy to see why hundreds of students choose ICMP each year. 

To completely immerse yourself in your music career, chat with our friendly Admissions Team via email enquiries@icmp.ac.uk or give them a call on 020 7328 0222.

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by Jim Ottewill
February 23, 2023
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