Monday
I was interested in doing my work experience at Farm Factory Studios because music is a big part of my life and I hope to be a singer one day and record my own music in a place like this. The sort of music I am interested in is rock/metal – my favourite band is Avenged Sevenfold - because I like the lyrics and I live for loud guitar solos, to contrast I also like quite slow songs and songs from musicals because they’re good to sing to. At the moment I am quite strong about musical theatre. I’ve done multiple shows such as Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Annie, etc. and I have been cast as Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory which I will be performing in July. I have also performed in the West End (Shaftesbury and Her Majesty’s) twice. I am a student at Stagecoach Theatre Arts Potters Bar and am recognised as one of the strongest singers there which is quite a big achievement. When I arrived here at Farm Factory Studios I had to do a lot of cleaning including hoovering and dusting the studios, restocking the fridge, polishing drum kits and making coffee. This is what I was expecting to be doing as I am working as an assistant which I don’t mind much because it gives me something to do. I don’t do a lot at home so this was quite a change. The rooms are quite big with dimmed lights and look like very chilled out atmospheres to rehearse in. I helped Sam set up a drum kit and microphones and learnt how to work the sound system in the recording studio. It was very quiet in the afternoon until about 6 o’ clock when a few of the bands started to arrive. It was interesting to listen to their music as I walked down the corridor. I answered the phone a few times and sold refreshments to the band members and they were very friendly. I did this until 10pm.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I had to go in an hour earlier which also meant I finished an hour earlier (2pm-9pm). When I arrived I had to Hoover all the studios again and get all the rubbish out. I made coffee for Ash, the drum teacher and Neil, the owner (a job that I’m used to doing at home). After that, I got the chance to go into a recording studio and record a song. It was an amazing experience, something that I’d never done before. I decided to sing Someone Like You by Adele – which is now on Sound Cloud – as it is an easy song and something that I had practised a lot. I had to sing it about a million times to get everything perfect but by the end of it, the song really did sound amazing and I was so lucky to get the opportunity to sing it in a real recording studio. When I had finished the song, I went and had a taster guitar lesson with Jamie, a really nice teacher who was into similar music as me. I’d never had a lesson before so I learnt the basics such as the chords and strumming. This was helpful for me because I am very interested in learning the guitar because it will help me with my music career in the future and so I can use more than just my vocals. At the end of the lesson, I sat with Dave in reception taking calls, talking to parents of students doing music lessons and escorting bands to their rehearsal studio which lasted about an hour or two. After the music lessons had finished and some bands had arrived, I went to freshen up and tidy all the studios that were not being used and then I was back in reception until 9pm.
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| Wednesday
On Wednesday, I had to be in bright and early at 10am. As soon as I got there we had a drinks delivery and so I restocked the fridge and after that I went to freshen up the rooms. I then had to take some phone calls from people who wanted to book a rehearsal studio. Not long after, Kim Wilde and her band arrived to rehearse for the day so I went to help them set up their equipment, make tea and coffee for them all and then I sat and watched them play some songs. It was a really cool experience to see a real band rehearse and see how they do it (and definitely something to boast about to my friends). The music was so loud I had to wear ear plugs to prevent damage to my ears, but it really was incredible. After a couple of hours, I left them to it and went to help Sam prepare the rest of the rooms for later on. Let’s just say the bass amps are extremely heavy! When we had finished, there was nothing to do so we went in the recording studio to record a few more songs just for fun. I sang Creep by Radiohead and Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez. I’d love to have my own recording studio as I really loved singing there. After editing the songs and making them perfect, my mum came to pick me up as it took us all the way to 5pm. |
