Richie - A sound engineer
What makes music so important to you?
That's a deep question, I play it ad listen to it and that helps me to appreciate when I listen to it and also when i'm watching other people play it, it helps me to be more aware of what their playing because I can play myself ( or at least try to). I'ts just great, It's just one of those things that just is. I've always cared about it since I was really little. I just think there's not much meaning to music. There's no bullshit, it's a pure form of entertainment. There's not to much meaning or people's opinions on it, it is just a sound it's kind of pure like that, which is what I like about it.
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What inspired you to become a sound engineer?
A couple of things, my friends were always better at playing music than me and they started before I did. So, I used to sit in the school hall when I was 14 and watch them play in their band and I was the one to hang out with the band, I never really knew anything about sound engineering I just always liked to be close to a band whilst they were rehearsing. I wanted to be involved even if I wasn't playing. Maybe that was a sign that I was always gonna be that guy that stood around whilst everyone else was playing.
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A little while later, when I was playing a lot myself, I wanted to learn how to record myself. I wasn't in a band , so I wanted to be a one man band. I wanted to play, a guitar part, then add some bass and add some drums and make a song, or piece of music on my own with a computer. I found I needed to learn more about doing that and I found a course a bit like you're on, and magazines and read about it and taught myself in order to record myself which is what I think a lot of people do.
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How does music make you feel/ has it ever been a therapy?
Wow. It makes me feel all sorts of emotions that's the thing. It can make you happy, sad, and all the things in-between. It can make you excited, or remind you of places, people or times in the past. It can also be very frustrating as music is my job and not just a hobby anymore. Especially when I here people playing badly or out of tune and if i'm working on something I can't always get it to sound how I want so yeah, It can be frustrating now it's my job. It can be hard work. I don't tend to listen just for fun anymore, because I don't find it that relaxing anymore.
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How did recording Fick As Fieves and Impilo come about ?
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I didn't organize that. Each year the media department at Suffolk new college put on a big event called live event, with two stages, different bands and interviews. It's really great, always a success and they often get the music students to play. It's a really big thing. They always get us technicians to help.This year was a bit different as Chris (A colleague) approached BBC introducing Suffolk and asked them if they knew, any up and coming bands , they knew or had been on their show that would come and play as guests for us, which is quite cool. They have a bit more experience and have a name meaning both us and them get exposure. So Fick as Fieves and Impilo were the two band from the BBC, that played that night. I recorded and mixed everything and sent those mixes to BBC introducing and they played them on their show which was nice, I think they quite liked them and both bands have since asked me to record them again. So that's quite a success really.
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What has been the highlight of your music career?
It sounds a bit pretentious, but everyday you learn something new, so everyday you get a little spark and you think wow, I haven't learnt that before, and I do like learning I believe in life long learning and i'm finding out new things all the time but I know there's still a lot to learn. The highlight I think is when I first made a multi-track of myself playing, where I worked out finally, after stubbling around in the dark where I worked out how to record a guitar and then how to record another instrument on top of that and create a multi-track and have layers of my own music and that was a massive buzz. I miss that I don't do that so much anymore, so the buzz of hearing your own music of you playing your own music and hearing that come back at you, that is great! Playing it people that also gives a buzz. Certain gigs I've been to, the first time I heard certain albums and things like that. I terms of my career, getting nice feedback, for example the BBC introducing guys. Progression and working with bands a little bit more is something i'd like to do more of.