The nomination of two alumni for the 2017 Brit Awards: Luke Patterson (Clean Bandit), and Sophie Elton (aka Dakota), Luke is the drummer for Clean Bandit, who topped the UK singles chart for thirteen weeks in 2016 with their single ‘Rockabye’ featuring Sean Paul & Anne-Marie. The track was the UK’s Christmas number one in 2016 and only the eighteenth song in chart history to spend nine or more weeks at number one on the official UK singles chart. Its accompanying video, illustrating the song’s lyrics which tell the story of a single mother struggling to provide for her son, was self-directed. Clean Bandit have been nominated for Best British Group and Best Single in 2016.
Sophie, who performs under the name ‘Dakota’, featured on producer Jonas Blue’s tropical house cover of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’. This cover version peaked at number two in the official UK single charts and remained in the UK top ten for eleven weeks. The accompanying cinematic video tells the love story between a biker girl and a cowboy, and was shot in Wild West format in California. It has been nominated for Best British Single and Best British Artist Video of the Year.
These nominations continue a long history of ICMP students’, alumni and teaching staff association with the Brit Awards. The Vaccines (featuring Diploma alumnus Árni Hjörvar Arnason on Bass ) were nominated for Best Live Act in 2013, British Breakthrough Act in 2012 Critics Choice Award in 2011; Songwriting tutor Gabriel Stebbing was part of the team who developed/co-wrote with Christine and The Queens, nominated for Best International Female; ICMP graduate and focus of a recent ICMP masterclass Sandy Beale has played bass over recent world tours for One Direction, who are nominated for ‘British Artist Video’; ICMP graduate Jihea Oh was long-time bassist for Ellie Goulding, nominated for ‘British Female Solo Artist; and graduate Pablo Tato recorded guitars for the track ‘The Sweetest Devotion’ on Adele’s recent album, 25, nominated for ‘Best British Video’.