Work Experience:

Concepts:

Shadowing sound engineers at local gigs.
Being a runner at a show: Ask torquay arena and apple and parrot for work.
Band gigs.
Studio - Ask Barney if I can help out.
Festival work, apply online.
Local radio work.

7th October 2025, Band Gig at Bomba, Exeter
(1hr, 30mins):

On the 7th of October, my band 'Full Disclosure' played a gig or more specifically a 'Battle of the Bands' with 5 other local grassroots band, we were selected to play out of a pool of over 200 bands who applied online.

We played a set completely consisting of originals, 1 of which is released and 1 of which is fully recorded, our set went down very well with us getting in the top 2 of audience vote but we were cast out just by local pirate metal band 'Parlay'.

We were the first band on and first with a soundcheck so we spent around half an hour configuring everything in our set up before doors to the venue opened, we then played our half an hour set with half an hour of packing away shortly after every band.

We hired a photographer for the night and I will display some of the photos she took below.

9th November, Shadowing Sound Engineer at Torquay Boys' Concert (3hrs):

Visiting my old secondary school to watch a few of my friends perform, I was invited to assist with the sound engineering at the performance where I was in charge of muting the correct tracks at the correct time and handed a sheet with what effects to put on at the right songs and sections.

This was the first time I'd ever done sound engineering under any sort of pressure and it definitely helped my decision making in a tight musical environment.

My friend Tom was also in charge of the more specific sound settings as he had been through multiple run-throughs whereas I went in completely blind.

He walked me through what he was doing the entire time.

10th November, Recording a Song in a Professional Studio Environment (7hrs):

In eager anticipation to release a second after our first released at the tail end of summer (Sidelined), as it gained quite a bit of traction (8,000 streams), we headed over to the Barnyard in Paignton where we recorded our newly finished song 'Smoker's Lungs'.

It took 7 whole hours to set everything up and to double our parts and whatnot, and it was a lot less straightforward than 'Sidelined' which made it a long gruelling time but taught us that tedious nature of studio recording and barney showed me specifically how he got the desired sound we wanted.

4th February, Band Gig at Exeter Phoenix (3hrs):

'Full Disclosure' got another gig, again in Exeter for a charity called 'War Child', it was set up by some Exeter college music students. I played alongside a classmates band 'Krystal' as well as bigger south west names 'The Retrospect' and 'The Upper Hand'.

We played a 7 song set with six originals consisting of 2 we have recorded including the newly recorded and referenced 'Smoker's Lungs'. Our set went down quite well and the venue sold out.

Our set was only 30 minutes but the load in time as well as helping with decoration, soundcheck and loading out took 2 and a half hours extra and helped me further understand the duties of a gigging musician.

I hired a friend from Bristol university to do photography for us and these are some of the photos he took of us playing.

17th December - 22nd February, Organising and playing a live music event at Things Happen Here (14hrs):

On the 17th of December 2025 my tutor, Jonathan Lee gave me the idea to set up a professional gig myself without a venue or promotion agency to book us due to me complaining about scarcity of gigs during the wintertime. The idea took a long time to take off but after a week I had the number of a venue manager at a bar in Dartington called 'Things Happen Here'.

After some communication it was agreed to have a gig on the 21st of February with my own band (Full Disclosure), Krystal (a college peer's band) and Misled (a college technician's band). After a while we also decided the headlining act to be Leonard and the Zombies as they have quite a following in the Dartington area.

I ran into many challenges when trying to organise gig which I overcame very well, these including photographers pulling out, a replacement band for Misled as they pulled out (Hoztility), financial troubles in putting the event on, doing strenuous amounts of promotion to make a profit and organising timings and how sound gear would be managed.

After 2 months of preparation, planning, organising and promoting everything was set in stone and the gig day came.

All bands played sets with crowd of more than 30 people at all times, we sold roughly 80 tickets for the event both on the door and online and over 100 people were present with photographers, band members and plus ones included.

We advertised it as an 'Alt/ Indie Night' and this helped targeted an alternative demographic as being the majority who attended.

Full Disclosure's set consisted of full original's (including a live debut of my solo song 'Mockery') and a cover of Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff'. This set went down very well with the demographic who attended.

Altogether I believe with 7 hours of work on the day (4-11), hours spent putting up posters and setting up websites for promotion, booking photographers, conversing with the venue, creating an on the day plan, sorting out who would bring each piece of gear, posting about the gig the day after for social media engagement and practicing with my own band, this all equates to 14 hours of work experience.

11th May, Organising and playing a live music event at Things Happen Here (7.5hrs):

On the 11th May I had my showcase event for my final major project for my college course. This was also at the venue 'Things Happen Here' just like my previous entry.

As well as performing for this event I also have spent the last month practicing, running through in a professional setting, setting up equipment, sound checking and organising many aspects of the show for my set.

This has been a great experience as well as my previous entry to help understand how much effort goes into putting on event outside of the actual performance itself, this has helped me understand other job opportunities in the music industry other than just performing.

Through this performance I have come to understand the work that engineers and technicians go through all the time when working for a live event.

I played 6 songs. 3 were bass playing for other bands and this included: Easy - Commodores, This Love - Maroon 5 and Sign 'O' The Times - Harry Styles.

I also played 3 songs with my own band who I orchestrated, this included: A.M. 180 - Grandaddy, My Desperate Place (an original) and Mockery (also an original).