John Webber was a freelance engineer in several studios throughout the UK before becoming resident engineer at Blue Pro Studios. He has established himself mastering, mixing and producing for a wide variety of indie, jazz, pop, rock and world music acts from unsigned prospects through to major label talent. Previous clients include Universal, SonyBMG & World Music Network for artists including Whitey, Rooster, Simon Webbe and Polar Bear.

Hi John, what have I interrupted you doing today?
I have just completed mastering for Candid Records’ new signing, Joe Stilgoe, a really impressive Jazz album featuring a wonderful cover of the scarecrow’s song from the Wizard of Oz ‘If I only had a brain’.

How would you describe your role within the music industry?
Primarily within the industry my main role is as a mastering engineer. We have slowly built up the mastering facility at Blue Pro over the last 2 years to be truly world class and have become known for consistent high-end results. We do still offer recording and mixing but our mastering work does dominate our schedule these days.

How did you first get into the industry?
Well, I have always been into music and started playing guitar at a very young age. My first paid audio related role was making speaker grills at a local sweatshop, sorry factory, near my hometown (Southend On Sea). Feeling like I’d never escape, I got lucky and was employed as a technician in a local studio, which eventually led to engineering work. I was then invited onto the second year of a degree at LCM (London College Of Music) which resulted in meeting with Charles Westropp, which soon after resulted in mixing for Rooster (Sony BMG/Brightside) at Blue Pro Studios.

I understand you are launching a new website soon, can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well over the coming weeks www.blueprostudios.com will be replaced with what we feel is the most informative and interactive studio website around. Users can create accounts to upload material and book sessions. The site will also contain news feeds and offer lots of useful industry insight and tips.

Soon after the main studio site goes up we will also be launching www.remotemastering.com, the worlds most ‘easy to use’ and ‘functional’ online mastering facility. Nothing particularly groundbreaking on paper but the interface and site design is truly unique. Users will be able to check DDP masters, compare mastered and un-mastered material in real time and effortlessly submit work with a 5-day turnaround.

What projects are you currently working on?
Well as I mentioned I just finished the master for Joe (Stilgoe). I am about to start a mix with songwriter/producer Adam Crowe. I am also working with Goodbye/Delete on their debut EP (John is actually the founding member). I’m doing more work with The Operators who are on the cusp of being very big. Aside from this I am always mastering and often do several records a week.

Who have you enjoyed working with?
I enjoy anything that pushes me to enhance my own skills. If the music’s good and the people involved are passionate then I get a kick from it.

Who would you like to work with in the future?
Any artists who have the potential for greatness!

Where do you see yourself in 5/10 years?
It would be great to win a Grammy Award, as being noticed for your efforts is always cool! Really though, to be associated with great music in any shape or form would be fine. I also intend to do a bit more writing for other acts.

What tips could you give to help people survive the crazy world of music business?
What I tried to do was to be diverse and see what direction my opportunities led me in. I can write, produce, record, mix and master music. If you’re looking to make a living you certainly will find it hard to survive in one area exclusively, so be smart and dare I say it ‘think outside of the box’.

In general be persistent, be stubborn and never say no to anything work wise. Talent is not enough alone, it takes seriously hard work!

John Webber’s UK Music Jobs profile: http://my.music-jobs.com/john.webber
John Webber’s Myspace blog (full of advice on Home recording!): http://www.myspace.com/johnwebbermusic
Blue Pro Studios: http://www.blueprostudios.com

Lee.

Welcome to our new series of Q&A’s with music professionals from all walks of the industry. The idea of this series is to provide you with advice and insights into working in the UK Music Industry.

This interview is with singer/songwriter Kelli-Leigh Henry Davila lead singer of the band ‘KI’. 22 year old Kelli is an accomplished vocalist and trained at the renowned Brit School alongside Leona Lewis, Katie Meula and Luke Pritchard of The Kooks. In this interview Kelli tells us how she finds working in the UK music industry and her advice/tips on how to survive.

Q1. What made you want to get into the music industry??

I don’t remember how old I was when I specifically said to myself I want to be a professional singer but my family are very musical. My uncle is a professional drummer, my other uncle is a professional singer and my mum is a singer/songwriter amongst other artistic skills. So I grew up quite musical, and I would love to sing along and dance to; I think it was Eternal at the time and try and hit all the high belts that Easther Bennett would sing.

Q2. How did you begin your career in music?

I started after I left school. I had started helping other younger students with their voices for upcoming shows and I kind of got a knack for it and started as an assistant to a singing teacher, which then developed into me becoming a professional singing teacher myself. I then met my other half and in doing original material gigs this managed to manifest into doing paid gigs, realising I could also do covers very well, began getting bookings for bars, clubs, weddings and more.

Q3. What was your first experience of success in the industry and how did you build on it?

Mmmm, this is a difficult question as in my eyes I haven’t had the industry success that I desire, but in terms of basic working within the music industry I suppose I am very successful. I do music full time, as a teacher and doing gigs, function bands, private events, my own band bookings, session work and now co-own my own disco company with my partner IBP Music…which is now doing very well.

Q4. How has networking with other musicians and in the music business helped you?

Networking is a weird but often wonderful thing. But I think it’s a little bit different then going up to someone and saying ..’what do you do?…oh well you can book me for this then’. Its getting to know other people in the industry and being honestly yourself with them and if you make a friendly connection then passing each other your details is great as you are going to remember and want to work or pass work to that someone you get on with and respect.

Q5. What sort of networking do you find the most effective for you?

I think its through doing gigs and meeting other musicians and singers. There you can get to know someone as a person but yet see their skills first hand. The worst thing is getting on with someone then putting them up for a gig that they are just not right for.

Q6. Are you a member of any music industry organisation or professional body and how has it helped you?

We are members of PPL as our company IBP Music is also a registered label. This enabled us to release our debut album independently. We also need to be members of MCPS AND PRS…infact I really need to that in a bit.

Q7. What would you recommend as the most effective method of breaking into the industry or gaining experience?

Make sure you are confident in your instrument or skill and that you know yourself and how you will cope in stressful and individual situations then go go go for it. If you want to be a professional singer then get some good demos, pictures and CV and apply for singing jobs you see on places like UK music jobs. Do backing vocals for other singers you may know. Get a repertoire together as with lots of function gigs you need to now a lot of songs (in my ones its mainly disco classics, pop and popular modern tracks) or basically get together covers that suit you …e.g- if you want to be a jazz singer, then you need to know your jazz standards! If you only want to do your own original material then there’s not much to suggest but go out and do live live live gigs and build your fanbase, but unfortunately until you hit it big, it may not pay your bills in the mean time.

Q8. What would you describe as the best thing about working in the industry?

I like being able to see the sun on a sunny day like today and managing my own time. The worst thing when I worked in an office job for half a year was the strictness of it. The early mornings and then the evenings being gone by the time you got home and had dinner, and not seeing the light of day especially in the summer! Also I am not very good and being told what to do unless in a music work situation…honestly it felt like a grown up version of being at school!

Q9. What’s the best bit of advice you have even been given about working in music?

Be honest and work hard. Don’t get a gig and then turn up not knowing their songs or be late on your first job, they will remember it and you wont get a 2nd job. In singing world…look after your voice, not only is this your prized possession if it goes, what singing work can you do?! Be versatile and smile a lot, it makes you happy and other people whom are looking at you. And if you do something wrong like mess up lyrics or sing bum notes, it happens to everyone just keep going and most importantly when you sing or play an instrument or produce or DJ etc.. have fun that’s why you started doing it the first place right?!

Q10. Who do you admire most in the industry?

There are a lot of artist I love and really like but the people I admire are the ones that you probably don’t know. They are other musicians and artists I have met that work their backsides off getting further into their career and trying to reach their dream goal. I admire them!

For more information on Kelli-Leigh please view her UK Music Jobs profile by clicking here;
http://uk.music-jobs.com/fview1.php?uid=634044&type=&start=&position=0&search_uid=&uploads=

For more information on ‘KI’ please click visit their website;
www.myspace.com/worldki

For more information on ‘IBP Music’ please visit their website;

http://www.ibpmusic.co.uk/

Joe Driscoll is causing quite a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic with his unique sound, brilliant lyrics and stonking live sets.  Mixing together threads of hip-hop, reggae, soul, folk and roots rock, Joe is doing his own thing and doing it with style.  The worthy recipient of the Indy Award for ‘Best Solo Act Of The Year’ Joe’s star is set to rise even higher with appearances at Glastonbury and The Secret Garden Party in the coming months.

We were lucky enough to meet Joe at a small set he performed in London a few months back and not only do we think he’s one of the best new talents around he’s also a incredibly charming, nice guy to boot!

UK Music Jobs intrepid Lee Jarvis sat down with Joe to ask him how things are going and what he thinks of the music industry at the moment.

When did you first get into music / singing / playing guitar?

That’s kind of what inspired Origin Myths, my last album. When I was ridiculously young, like 5 or something I was listening to John Lennon singing and told my mom thats what I was gonna do when I grew up. Been singing as far back as my memory goes, musical theater by age 8 or 9, playing guitar by 10 or so. The guitar was way bigger than me when i started.

You grew up on the east coast of the US, right? What music did you listen to growing up? Who were your early influences?

Beatles and an old Bob Marley tape I found. My brother turned me on to hip-hop, mainly De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest. 3 feet high and People’s Instinctive Paths were unbelievably influential in early years. Wu-Tang and Rage Against the Machine held it down for a long time. Ani Difranco and the Beastie Boys are ever present.

Where are you based at the moment? – it seems like you are permanantly on tour!

Yeah, in my song Nomad I say I live in my heart my head and 10,000 houses. Yeah, always on tour, but lately been slowing it up a bit. Brixton is where I find my rest now.

When i saw you live in London, i think i described your sound as a very relaxed kind of sound, the kind of sound you expect from the west coast, or even a hawaiian sort of vibe. But then certain songs obviously have an east coast hip hop flavour and reggae sounds, all the time with the kind of story telling associated with American folk songs. Fair to say that you are a mixed bag?! Do you think this has a lot to do with your broad success in so many countries with so many different kinds of fans?

Yes, definetly. Thats what has always turned me on most about music, is the bridges it gaps. I’ve played purist folk shows, and purist hip-hop shows and gotten amazing reactions from both. I grew loving music that could do that; make everybody groove regardless of classification. I live for music that transcends, so I love when thats what turns people on about my stuff.

And you were the headlining Live act at the Malawi Lake of Stars Festival in ‘07, that must have been one helluva gig. Did that further influence your music making / lyric writing?

Yes, spending time in Africa is one of those experiences that goes beyond words. It was incredibly mind expanding, and I just want to figure out how to spend more time there. The rhythm is completely different over there, and I absorbed so much. I want to go back!

Your live show is very unique too, how did you create / develop it? It’s almost like a jam session, with yourself as several band members, would you say that’s accurate or do you have a description you like to use? Would you say that songs sound different each time you perform them – do you add new elements while you’re jamming away?

Yes, thats pretty accurate. Being that all the loops are chopped live, there are always slight (or sometimes major) differences. I like that alot. To quote The Chairman Of The Board : “I never play the same song twice.”

What about the equipment you use live, the loop sampler / trigger pedals – were you looking for some sort of technology to help you since you perform on your own, or are you a technology geek?

Wow! So funny, I’m about the furthest thing from a technology geek! I wish I was one! I had never owned a computer before, and hardly ever played electric guitar when I found it. No, a producer I was working with was making loops of my beatbox in his computer and we started to discuss live possibilities. We went to the guitar shop, I pulled out the pedal, and chopped up a pretty good Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nothing to F*$@ With right there. I had them wrap it up and spent the next 3 months composing in my room.

Even though you are a “modern one-man band”, is there anyone you’d like to work / record / perform with?

Loads. I am actually currently collaborating with a crew called the One Taste Collective- http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=ZGvA5hAXd0Y. I love the solo show, but expect to see alot more cross pollenation from me in the coming year!

You’ve won an Indy Music Award, and sold out shows both sides of the atlantic, yet people can still catch you at an intimate bar gig too. This is obviously your passion and you love performing? Could you see yourself doing anything else / if you weren’t a musician what would you be doing?

No doubt I’d be teaching. I used to volunteer doing after school music shops. I love inspiring the youth, and passing along culture. I will definetly end up in some form of teaching later in my life when touring and recording schedules slow up a bit.

Tell us about your previous albums.

Well, as the solo loop artist I released Little Beat BIg and Life As A Monkey, which were both live albums. I’m still proud of Life As A Monkey, but there is only so much you can do live. Origin Myths was my first studio thing, and that was a huge step for me. After that I put out a project called Local Principles, which was more straightforward hip-hop with old samples and drum loops. I never used to get inspired in the studio, cause I was so used to the live rush and energy. Nowadays, it is my passion and I’m just loving the craft of making quality albums.

Do you think that the whole advent of music downloads and myspace is good for music and musicians? Do you see this growing even more in the near future?

Yes and no, it’s evolution and devolution simultaneously; like most human progress. Every artist on myspace will tell you how much it has helped them, from getting fan mail from holland and fiji, to getting gigs in france, it is great. People can type your name in, and in seconds hear what you do and make direct contact. However, it has flooded the waves of communication with people that don’t really have talent or anything to say. It has kind of muddled the laws of supply and demand, in both the spiritual and fiscal sense. I’m glad thousands of people get my music for free, but I also wish I had ten pounds for everyone of those downloads as well so artists could recieve the kind of pay they deserve. I love the internet as much as I hate. It’s just the new battleground of life, so whether it’s good or bad is what we make it. And yes, it will be even more so in the future.

What about your plans for the near future? More touring? Back in the studio?

Studio studio. I love performing, but it’s two different head spaces. I’ll be doing the festival circuit this summer, but in a more relaxed vibe than hardcore touring. Hardcore touring probably commence in the fall, or upon completion of new recordings.

What about further down the line – do you aspire to be involved in the music industry in any other ways? Record Label? A&R? Or is the beatboxing / singing / rapping / bass / guitar / harmonica enough for you?!

Yeah, like I said- One Taste Collective– http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=ZGvA5hAXd0Y. I’m trying to start up a new label now for a batch of releases, then enshallah- global domination. Or at least a couple of shweet tours. There will never be enough!

01 – Cassandra

Check out Joe’s MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/joedriscoll

Lee Jarvis.

Welcome to our new series of Q&A’s with music professionals from all walks of the industry. The idea of this series is to provide you with advice and insights into working in the UK Music Industry.

Tony Platt is a freelance Music Engineer/Producer based in the U.K. His career in the music business started at Trident Studios in London but he made his name as an engineer at the now legendary Island Studios and has worked in most of the best studios around the world recording some of the best artists including Bob Marley, AC/DC, Buddy Guy and more recently The Bad Plus.

Q1. What made you want to get into the music industry?

Mostly just a desire to do something that entailed music and tape recorders.

Q2. How did you begin your career in music?

I got a job as a tea boy at Trident studios beofre moving on to Island Studios as a tape operator.

Q3. What was your first experience of success in the industry and how did you build on it?

My first realisation that I had done something that had been noticed was when a person i knew from school stopped me in the street to tell me he had seen my name on a Bob Marley album – and he liked the album! I didn’t build on it because I had no concept of self promotion in those days. It was very much a case of good work got you noticed.

Q4. How has networking with other musicians and in the music business helped you?

In later years networking has been essential – people need to know you are there.

Q5. What sort of networking do you find the most effective for you?

I share a project studio within a larger complex which enables me to meet people just by going to make a cup of tea – you see tea features again! Being a member of the Music Producers Guild is useful too.

Q6. Are you a member of any music industry organisation or professional body?

I am a member of Music Producers Guild and JAMES (Joint Audio Media Educational Services). Both these help me to keep in touch with the trends and attitudes that drive the industry.

Q7. What would you recommend as the most effective method of breaking into the industry or gaining experience?

This depends very much on who you are. I think the most effective way nowadays would be to take a course and use the time there to build yourself a profile and portfolio.

Q8. What would you describe as the best thing about working in the industry?

Music

Q9. What’s the best bit of advice you have even been given about working in music?

Work with it – don’t fight it.

Q10. Who do you admire most in the industry?

I can’t honestly come up with just one person – there is a list that still gets added to year by year.

To view Tony’s UK Music Jobs profile please click here;http://uk.music-jobs.com/fview1.php?uid=753139&type=&start=&position=0&search_uid=&uploads=