RobTechnix Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hello BR, I am a student studying sound and I have been trying to find some casual positions, paid or otherwise in London music venues;Live music is the area of this industry I aspire to be in but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to acquire these kinds of positions? Or the people I need to be talking too, to get said positions? Thanks for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top-cat Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 In the smaller venues the best thing to do really is just go along to the gig, get chatting to the sound engineer, offer to help him pack down, and see if he wants any shifts covering so he can take other work. That said remember you will be expected to work independently. You will end up being sound engineer, backline tech, general technical man, stage manager, referee, promoter's scapegoat; and everything else in between so that everybody else present can get drunk. It's a people person job, not just a sound job, and it's not always the best place to 'learn on the job'. Remember that you 'don't know what you don't know" and ask yourself whether aiming for a learning position rather than going freelance straight away might be a better career move. I mean, phone up stage miracles you could be helping the sound crews load in and out at the O2, Wembley, Hammersmith Apollo, etc. Yes you won't be a 'sound engineer' per se, you'll be pushing and stacking boxes, running the multicore, and things like that; but you'd get to work with the biggest tours in the world and get a big insight into touring live sound. And being local crew gives you the get out of jail free card - you're not expected to know anything, and you can always ask for help. As soon as you take a sound engineer gig in a club or venue you will be expected to know it all and there'll be nobody (literally, in many cases) who you can ask for help at 11pm when the desk isn't doing what you thought it would and the band are due on stage any second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobTechnix Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 Thank you for your reply, I wasn't hoping or expecting to be in a FOH or Monitor engineering position with this sort of casual job, I just really want to get into a venue to work and learn. Building stages, running cables and multicores, bits of rigging, loading trucks and similar tasks are all good by me. I've done work for a live events company (corporate stuff mainly) So I'm happy to do it all. I suppose what I'm mainly looking for, is a way into the music industry itself, I'm lurking about in corporate and theatre mainly at the moment but the live music sector is where I'd love to be. Thank you again for your reply and advice! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 If you are over 18 then signing up with crew companies is one of the quickest ways to get on but be aware that they need reliable, fit people and it is far from just "humping" nowadays. If you are getting work in corporate and theatre fields, keep doing it, it all helps. You already seem to have a crossover contact from that work and contacts are what it is all about at your stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Look after the contacts that you have, it's people who will call you again or not. Allow yourself two years to move from pushing boxes to assisting with sound/light etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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