The Learning Foundry and Future Yard are offering another chance to get into the live music industry. The Sound Check programme is back again.
The Learning Foundry sat down for a coffee with our Head of Live Events at Future Yard, and their Sound Check Programme Lead, Nick Simcock, to get the lowdown on all things Soundcheck, creative careers and getting into gigs!
“Sound Check is an industry skills programme that provides an entry level route for local young people into careers in the live music industry, with a traineeship programme running in partnership with The Learning Foundry.
The Sound Check course with The Learning Foundry gives young people an opportunity to people who want to run all the backstage elements of live events and concerts, with practical and shadowing experience of all the backstage crew from sound and light engineers to event managers. There is no traditional job advert to be a sound engineer, in fact a lot of careers in the music industry have hidden career paths. The Soundcheck course gives young people access into the music industry, sometimes in behind the scenes roles they didn’t even know existed.
I wish there was something like The Learning Foundry available to me when I first got into the music industry. Although I also started behind the scenes, it was much more difficult. I started off working with band merchandise, working in the box office and even flyering nightclubs until the early hours of the morning. It resulted in me going on tour with bands, then running events and festivals. For the last ten years I have run my own music venue in Leeds.
The young people who take part in the soundcheck course are supported in a way that I wasn’t. Students are taught what to do and what to expect in a controlled, safe environment. They have time to make mistakes – instead of doing it first at a live event! Young people learn through traditional teaching, hands on experience and shadowing. They get to see professionals do what they are training to do. They get used to performing under pressure but always with the support of a professional. You don’t see this in a lot of other places.
It’s great to see the confidence of the young people grow throughout the programme. We teach all the elements separately and I love seeing the moment when it all makes sense to the student and all the elements come together. At the end of the course, students run their own live event, they run their own show that people have paid to come to. We then see confident trainees leaving the programme with the right skills, and these graduates are successful! Some have been employed in some amazing venues such as the Liverpool Philharmonic and even by Future Yard!”
Think a career in sound check could be for you? Apply here: Sound Check @ Future Yard
Got any questions? Get in touch with a member of The Learning Foundry team on: [email protected] or via phone 0300 123 8088.
