What were you doing before you embarked on Sound City Launch Training?
I had just moved back up north from London after finishing my degree and was looking for work anywhere that would take me. I had studied Politics and Economics but was always interested in the music industry and had thrown together a few gig nights while I was in my last year.
What was the best thing you took away from Launch?
The relationships I made with the other people on my course and previous alumni, a lot of the music industry can still be a “it’s not what you know it’s who you know” vibe which is a bummer, but the people I met now work at Spotify, Sound City, SONIC PR and we have always been there for each other to offer advice and help on projects. It was amazing to meet so many like minded people from similar backgrounds who are committed to working to make the music industry more equal and fair access to all.
What are you up to now?
After the Sound City Training I got a job with BBC Introducing as a freelance assistant working on local radio shows finding the best new unsigned, undiscovered and under the radar talent, as well as helping out at festivals and events such as 6 Music Festival, Reading and Leeds and Introducing Live.
I have also been able to grow that small student gig night into a larger multi-media company with my best friend. HATC now consists of regular local gig nights in 4 cities, a yearly festival, podcast series, panel sessions and a magazine, with two documentaries and two TV series currently in production. We’ve been really lucky to work with the likes of Hayley Williams, Anne Marie, ASHE, Jake Bugg, Raleigh Ritchie, Tom Greenan and Sam Fender (to name a few) so far and have even bigger names lined up for 2022!
If you could give one piece of advice to someone at the start of their career in music, what would it be?
Try your hand at everything and never say no to an opportunity! It can be very difficult to get your foot in the door at the best of times but especially after the past year, so having a bunch of skills under your belt in different areas will not only help set you apart, and garner a little side hustle, but will also help you figure out exactly what it is you want to do in this industry. If you can afford to intern or work shadow do it, if you can’t a lot can be learned from YouTube tutorials, podcasts and online courses - it’s how I did it.
