Matt Grimes
Course Director BA (Hons) Music Business, Senior Lecturer in Music Industries and Radio
Birmingham School of Media
- Email:
- matt.grimes@bcu.ac.uk
- Phone:
- 0121 331 6642
Dr Matt Grimes is the course director for the BA (Hons) Music Business course and a Senior Lecturer in Music Industries and Radio, with over 13 years teaching experience in higher education. In 2020, he received his PhD exploring ageing and identity in British anarcho-punks. Prior to joining the Birmingham School of Media and the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR) as an academic, Matt worked within the music industries, for a number of DiY record labels, tour manager, music promoter and within music festival production. Matt also worked extensively in the Midlands, Wales and the South West as a freelance radio trainer/producer. He manages internal and external student employability and industry engagement projects and collaborative provision with franchise colleges and external educational stakeholders.
Areas of Expertise
- Music Industries specialist
- Music Industries Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Punk Rock studies
- Popular Music studies
- DiY Music Cultures and Subcultures
- Ageing, memory and nostalgia in popular music
- Radio trainer/producer
- Student employability
- Collaborative Partnerships
- Course development
- External Examining
Qualifications
Fellow of Higher Education Association
BA (Hons) Media and Communication 2005
PG Cert HE Education 2007
PG Cert Research 2010
PhD 2020
Memberships
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Member of International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
UK Music-Music Academic Partnership
Birmingham Music Coalition
Punk Scholars Network – General Secretary
Punk and Post-Punk (Journal) –Editorial board member
Punk Scholars Press-Editorial board member
Riffs: Experimental Writing on Popular Music-Editor
Teaching
Matt teaches primarily on the BA (Hons) Music Business course in the Birmingham School of Media, as well as on a range of undergraduate and post-graduate programmes across the Birmingham Institute of Media and English and Faculty of Arts, Design and Media.
Research
Matt’s main research focusses on ageing and identity within anarcho-punk and attendant punk subcultural scenes. His other research interests include; alternative/underground DiY music cultures; memory and nostalgia within popular music; music censorship; music industries entrepreneurship and innovation and community radio. He was the project administrator for the AHRC/BBC Radio Listeners Online research project that was led by the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research.
Postgraduate Supervision
Matt is interested in supervising doctoral students researching all aspects of punk studies, popular music, music subcultures and scenes, music industries, music industries enterprise and innovation, identity, memory and nostalgia in popular music. His current PhD student is exploring issues around mental health and young Black Hip-Hop and Grime artists.
Publications
Publications
Global Punk Reader 3 (with Bestley, R; Dines, M; Gordon, A and Guerra, P. eds). Bristol: Punk Scholars Press/Intellect. Forthcoming.
A Punk Pedagogies Manifesto by the Riffs Editorial Team. (with Raine, S., Draganova, A. and Taylor, I.) In L. Way and S. Francis (eds) Punk Pedagogies. Bristol: Intellect. Forthcoming.
“Message from Thee Temple”: Magick, Occultism, Mysticism and Psychic TV. (with Dines, M). In Dines, M and Gregory, G (eds). Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music: Beatified Beats. London: Bloomsbury. Forthcoming.
Punk Now! Contemporary Perspectives on Punk. (2020; with Dines, M) Bristol: Intellect.
“Dis one is for alla the junglists”: From Rebel MC to Conquering Lion and Beyond. The journeying of Michael West. Riffs. Experimental Writing On Popular Music. (2018) Vol 2 (2)
How I finally Learnt To Love…Grindcore! And in Doing So Reclaimed a Very Close Friend. Riffs. Experimental Writing On Popular Music. (2017) Vol 1 (1) pp. 44-48
'From Protest to Resistance: British anarcho-punk fanzines (1980-1984) as sites of resistance and symbols of defiance'; in M. Dines and M. Worley (eds) The Aesthetic of Our Anger: Anarcho-punk, politics and music. Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. (2016)
'Call it Crass, but 'There is No Authority But Yourself': De-canonising Punk's Underbelly' in Punk and Post-Punk. Special Double Issue 4.2/4.3. (2016)
'Anarcho-punk webzines: Transferring symbols of defiance from the print to the digital age?' (with Prof Tim Wall) in M. Worley (ed) Fight Back: Punk, Politics and Resistance. Manchester University Press. (2015)
'Radio as a Tool for Rehabilitation and Social Inclusion' [with Stevenson, S] in Mollgard, M (ed) 'Radio & Society: New Thinking for an Old Media' Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2012)
Conferences
A Punk Pedagogies Manifesto by the Riffs Editorial Team. Grimes, M., Raine, S., Draganova, A. and Taylor, I. Punk Pedagogies. University of Lincoln. July 2019
“The Cord is Cut”: Exit Narratives of British anarcho-punks 1978-1986. KISMIF International Conference. Universidad do Porto. Portugal. July 2018
“Dis one is for alla the junglists”: From Rebel MC to Conquering Lion and Beyond. The journeying of Michael West. Reggae Innovation and Sound System Culture, Birmingham City University. April 2018
“The Cord is Cut”: Exit Narratives of British anarcho-punks 1978-1986. Punk Scholars Network 4th Annual International Conference and Post Graduate Symposium, University of Bolton. Dec 2017
“Life we Make”: The continuing significance of anarcho-punk in the subsequent lives of its previous participants. Equal Platforms Research Conference, University of Gloucester. April 2017
Conference organiser and convener: Punk NOW!! Punk Scholars Network 2nd Annual International Conference and Post Graduate Symposium, Birmingham. Oct 2015
Organiser and co-ordinator: Punk Rock! So What? Art exhibition at Birmingham City University. Sep-Nov 2015
From Protest to Resistance: British anarcho-punk fanzines (1980-1984) as sites of resistance and symbols of defiance' Punk Scholars Network 2nd Annual International Conference and Post Graduate Symposium. Birmingham City University. Oct 2015
"Where There’s a Will There’s a Way”: Methodology, investigating memory and the life courses of 1980’s British anarcho-punks. Punk Scholars Network Post Graduate Symposium, University of Leicester. Oct 2014
“Life We Make”: The value of music across the life courses of British anarcho-punks. KISMIF Underground Music and Scenes International Conference, University of Porto, Portugal. July 2014
Panel Chair DIY, punk scenes, fanzines, e-zines and comics. KISMIF Underground Music and Scenes International Conference, University of Porto, Portugal. July 2014
“Life We Make”: The value of music across the life courses of British anarcho-punks. Pop Life Conference, Northampton University. June 2014
Call it Crass but “There Is No Authority But Yourself”. De-canonizing histories of punk. No Sir I Won’t! Examining the Legacy of Crass, Oxford Brookes University. June 2013
‘Anarcho-punk webzines – transferring symbols of defiance from the print to the digital age?’ Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change: A cross disciplinary symposium London Metropolitan University. September 2011
Music Webzines: Acts of Defiance in a Digital Age? Shifting Ground II: A Symposium on Music and Publishing, Oxford Brookes University. April 2011
Radio for Rehabilitation and Inclusion. The Radio Conference: A Transnational Forum. Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Jan 2011
Punk’s Underbelly: De-canonizing histories of punk. Sights & Sounds: Interrogating the Music Documentary, Salford University. June 2010
Using radio for health promotion in prisons. World Health Organisation International Conference Prison Health Protection Madrid. 2009
Media Work
Matt Grimes is one of the University’s dedicated team of trained media champions, and can comment on a range of subjects including:
- Music industry
- Popular music
- Online music
- Censorship
- Subcultures
- Music industry innovation
To arrange a media interview, please contact Birmingham City University Press Office on 0121 331 6738, 07967 271532,
email press@bcu.ac.uk or via Twitter @BCUPressOffice
Work With Industry
Previous projects have seen Matt work with organisations such as UK Music, Birmingham Music Coalition, Birmingham Music Archive, Afroflux and Birmingham Music Promoters. Previous to working at BCU Matt also worked for the BBC and a number of large music festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Boomtown Fair, The Big Chill and Shambala Festival.