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Thank You R

As almost everyone in this industry knows, and as I have said multiple times, this work is a thankless job. You do ridiculous hours, sometimes no guarantee of pay because companies are trying to take advantage of everything they can including free labour, hardly any time to rest/prep/have personal time, and the list goes on. But occasionally, you get something that makes it worth it. Occasionally you get a reaction from a young audience member and you know that is the moment they fall in love with the arts. Or a chance encounter with someone you have idolised. Or just after a really long strenuous and stressful week, you get the rare occurrence of a thank you.

A recent day while on tour, there was a particularly bad day. It had been a rough few days leading up to this day for various reasons. Mostly admin paperwork and things that were generally out of my control and out of my pay grade. But of course, these things were still factors in making a show happen so as the day approached for the show, and things still weren’t complete, the stress levels rose and a question began to be prevalent on everyone’s mind. Can we even put the show on without this paperwork done? For those who don’t understand why I was stressing about something that was out of my control, it’s simply because I was worried for two main reasons. The first being that the blame would be put on us technicians for the show not being able to be put on (even though the admin paperwork needed was not our responsibility). The second being that at the time it was unclear to me if a show was cancelled whether or not we would still be paid. So, hopefully, this lets you see why I was a bit stressed. Us techies were not the only ones stressed about this either. The performers were dying to know whether they were going to get to perform or not, and if not would it mean we would premiere the show later or would they also not get paid for months of hard work? Obviously, on the day the performance was supposed to be opening, tensions were more than a little high.

 

 

We get into the venue and it takes us a while to get the rig working. Once that was finally done, the lighting plan was still not given to us so we had very little information to go off of but we tried to make it work. The paperwork still hasn’t been finished and signed off on. We have less than 8 hours before the curtain goes up by the time we have finished with the lighting. We skip ahead to rehearsals where the performers are practically ignoring us techies and we’re trying not to yell at them to pay attention to where their damn spots are marked. The sound keeps cutting in and out during rehearsals, so we do a hard reset of the system. That seems to fix the problem and we have less than 6 hours before the curtain goes up. After rehearsals, we’re frantically trying to see what anyone can do about the paperwork and the legalities of what might happen if it doesn’t get finished in time. The head honcho finally comes up to the Technical Director, less than 3 hours before the curtain goes up, and he gives us the news that would determine the rest of our weekend, potentially the rest of the tour. The paperwork has just been signed off and given approval. There’s almost a collective breath of relief. Now we just face one other problem… The performers don’t feel ready for the show because they have been practising for other shows for the tour in case the paperwork didn’t pan out. So now we’ve finally been given the green light, with an unprepared cast.

 

 

Amazingly, they pull it together and make the show happen anyway. As the saying always says “The show must go on.” It was after the show and once the audience left that one performer, in particular, made a point to come up to the tech booth as we were finishing shutting everything down and prepping for the show the next day. This performer, I’ll call him R, is the senior performer on tour. He’s been with the company for a while and is the one who tries to get the other performers comfortable with us techies. What he said to us that day I will never forget. He said,

“I know today was rough. Rougher than most of us would have liked it to be. I know a lot of the others didn’t notice how stressed you guys were, but I did, and some of the others who have been with us a while noticed as I’m sure you noticed we’ve been stressed too and some of them took it out on you guys which wasn’t cool. So I’m sorry for them. I always wanted to say thank you because you guys did amazing with all that was going on.”

We techies just kind of looked at each other. R was always nice but this was something entirely unexpected. We congratulated him on making the show happen and for a great performance. The relief came over his face as he was clearly happy to hear that the audience couldn’t see the nerves bundling underneath. We as technicians often forget the performers are just as stressed about a show as we are. Just like performers often don’t understand why we’re stressed about a show. It was nearly an industry miracle getting an apology as well as a thank you. So I just wanted to remind everyone that it does happen, even if as rarely as spotting a unicorn.

 

Work Life + Personal Life = Balanced Life?

A balanced life is defined as achieving optimal health in every aspect of your life including work and personal life. Unfortunately while working in this industry the personal life often comes to a grinding halt.  It’s no secret that I have always chosen my work life above almost all else. This is a personal choice, obviously not one everyone makes. So what does that “balanced life” look like to someone who chooses work life first and how do the other aspects fall into order behind the priority? While this particular article is an inside look at how I rank them, that clearly won’t be how everyone else puts them in order and no one can make that decision for you. Hopefully, this will give you some insight into how each aspect of life is affected by this industry.

Work Life

Starting with the obvious one: your work life. To get anywhere in this industry it is widely accepted that you have to put work first. There have been several things that I have missed out on due to putting my work first, and I accept that. There are also people that I don’t get to talk to nearly as often as I would like because I travel so often for work and don’t have the same time off as most others in my friends and family circle. To compensate for this, most of the people I work with become close friends while on the road, and for the most part we get along. The long extended hours that we all pull together help keep that bond, and the after-work drinks help as well. Keeping in touch with family and friends who aren’t part of the industry continues to be a challenge though, but most of them are understanding of the fact that I love what I do for a living and how long I have strived to be where I’m at in my career.

Family Life

On the road, the crew you work with practically becomes a second family. This by no means replaces your blood relatives and some people place more emphasis on needing this aspect. I still talk to my family as well, but in all reality, they don’t have a clue as to what goes on out here and it’s nice having a close bond with people who do understand. That’s why I would put family life as fairly important and higher ranking. Family can be chosen as well and I get family time with my work family. At the most recent festival I worked at, we were all so close that one of the technicians noticed all of us having a rough week of tech rehearsals and made waffles the next morning. That’s pretty akin to having breakfast on the porch of your parent’s house in this industry. Just like family, you also get dragged into family drama. We know each other’s ups and downs, what everyone is going through, and struggling with, why this person isn’t talking to this person at the minute, etc. It can be just as exhausting as any blood-related family.

Personal Life

I personally keep my personal life separate from family life and work life. My boss at work doesn’t need to know what I get up to while I’m not on the clock and my family doesn’t get to see certain sides of me (would you really want to run into your parents while heavily drunk on the road?). This is why I don’t consider family life part of my personal life. What you do in your downtime is entirely your business, except when you’re in this industry. Being on the road with a crew means you get pretty close. So close, that you practically know each other’s habits and time clocks by heart. I know my boss will always be ten minutes late to get in at a venue because he can’t function around people who aren’t part of the crew without coffee, and I know one of the dancers is consistently half an hour early to the venue so she can have the dressing room to herself to meditate. You learn each other, and pretty quickly. That means all your habits that you like to do to relax before/after work, they’re going to know about those too. It’s not because of other people learning it that I tend to put my personal life as one of the last priorities, but instead, I see it as I know how much alone time and social time I need and want. I regulate both sides of it at my own pace.

Romantic Life

Any person who has been working in this industry for any point in time, you know the struggle of attempting to date while working. Let’s be honest, your regular date nights are obliterated. The weekends are when you work and asking someone to go to dinner on a Tuesday is underwhelming. So I put my romantic life last once I got into this industry. I sacrificed dates for more work time and personal time, and that is a decision I can both live with and stand by. When I have gone on dates and I try to tell people about my job, I get some expected questions like So you’re a singer/dancer/performer (No)? Can you get me backstage (No)? Can you introduce me to the casting director (I’ve never even met them)? Do you get autographs all the time (No, only sometimes)? Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever met (Probably someone who isn’t famous to you because you like the actors/actresses, not the behind-the-scenes people)? And many more… Dating is hard. To begin with, now it’s expected that I either meet someone in some random town that I’m not going to visit again anytime soon while on the road or I meet someone at work and have rumours spread like wildfire about how I actually got my job. No thanks.

 

Everyone in this industry balances the aspects of their lives differently. Some families back home understand that the touring life takes them far away, and some have companies that will bring their families out on the road with them. They spend time splitting it between life on the road and time off at home. Some people tour with their romantic partners and do what is called a “couples contract”. Some people just go with the flow and make the best of their experiences and time on the road while getting lots of personal time. The balance that you currently have can change during the course of your career. Figuring out what is best for yourself is part of being in this industry, and your priorities can change during that time. All options are valid because we all need different things for ourselves.

Working Through Pain

Once again, I would like to start this off with a disclaimer:

This is about what I do and what works for me. This will definitely not be the case for everyone, nor do I encourage people to work past what they are physically capable of. I will admit, I have done some sketchy things when it comes to working through pain levels. No one condoned this, I’m merely stubborn. Also, this article is not a justification merely an explanation. Now that I’ve stated all of that, let’s get to it.

Without trying to be too obvious, this industry is dangerous. Flight cases, metal truss, entire sets of furniture, band equipment, it doesn’t matter what you’re working with or on. You’re more than likely going to get hurt at some point. Ask any rigger on the fly rail what the worst injury they’ve gotten is and they will go into gruesome details and tell you horror stories. I wouldn’t recommend asking them if you’ve just eaten. What do we as technicians risk in comparison to that? Well… let me take a look at just the past 12 months.

We start off with a festival I was working at last year during the summer. I was resetting for a show in the morning when a ridiculously tall ladder wasn’t footed correctly and fell off the stage. I caught it one-handed (was wrapping cables at the time so my other hand was busy holding the massive coil) and dislocated my shoulder. Why did I catch it? Why not do the sensible thing and move out of the damn way? Those are both questions I have gotten asked many times and here’s the answer: As a team, we were told if anything in the venue breaks it would be coming out of our paychecks. The ladder could fall off the stage and break part of the venue and the seating as it wasn’t far from the balcony or I could catch it and keep my job and pay for the remainder of the festival. Not great reasoning to catch something falling towards you, but at least it’s an answer.

 

We move forward about a month or two and I’m on tour. One of the stagehands at the venue we were visiting didn’t run a bunch of snakes correctly so I’m crawling under the stage trying to find everything and put them where they’re supposed to be. This is how we find out we have a live wire. I’m shocked with a few volts of electricity, and for the record, if you haven’t had it happen to you yet, it’s not fun.

We don’t have too far to move forward to as the following incident happens when our tour leaves that same venue. As is typical, the stagehands are helping load the truck. One of them is impatient and closes a flight case before it’s fully packed, and my fingers are still on the edge of it. Thanks for that. Luckily I saw what they were doing so I managed to mostly move them out of the way but still had bloody fingertips, nails, and knuckles.

 

This time we do have to move forward by about 4 months. Still on tour, we’re unloading into a venue in the morning before anyone has had their coffee or apparently the forethought to put on some damn steel toes. Before we can even unload the cases, the ramp is somehow put on a pothole (how no one noticed this is still beyond me and this will come into play shortly). The very first flight case we unloaded ran over one of our technician’s feet and he broke three toes. That’s why we wear steel-toed boots, kids. The next incident of the day doesn’t happen until we start moving the meat racks down the ramp. Someone trips on the pothole, sprains their ankle, and bashes their head against the rack falling to the ground with a concussion and bleeding forehead. Looking back now, it is almost comical how all of that happened. My injuries haven’t even happened yet and already it looks like we have rocked up to the venue with the world’s most inexperienced crew (I swear we were all professionals). We get through the show by some miracle and start to de-rig everything. I hate one-night stops. This is when the universe decides it’s my turn.

One of the guys thinks it would be hilarious for him to drop his end of a truss while I’m undoing the PA cables. It lands on my shoulder dislodging it, again… We’re loading the last of the flight cases when the same guy thinks he needs to be hilarious again and releases his flight case heading right towards me on the truck. Except my back is turned so I don’t see it coming. As I’m turning around I feel the flight case hit me hard and I’m later informed by the physio I have a sprained ankle and a fracture in my foot. This is why we wear steel-toed boots, kids.

 

We fast forward once again about another 3 months. Still on tour and no longer working with the guy who needed to be hilarious, I’m helping roll the dance floor. If you know what a fun task that is, you likely know where this is going. The stagehand on the downstage part of the mostly rolled dance floor decides this is the opportune moment to lift it and get everything perfectly straight. He doesn’t tell you that is his plan. He drops it just as quickly as he lifts it just a few inches off the ground. But a few inches is all it takes when something like a dance floor is dropped down on your fingers. I have 2 fingers dislocated and 2 more swelling and badly bruised at the palm.

Not moving too far into the future we come full circle to the same festival as last year, now working for a different company. I have miraculously made it all through the festival without any injuries. But then we got to the de-rig and that’s where the universe once again decided it was my turn. On the very first day of the de-rig and a steel deck drops on my foot. Luckily I was wearing steel-toed boots. Unluckily, the steel deck was thick and made it just barely past the steel part of my boots. I was informed later that I had a fractured big toe. Damn it, almost made it this time.

The next day we’re carrying out parts of larger sets from the shows and one of the technicians doesn’t look where he is going and bumps into a railing behind him, pushing the set piece into the other person at the opposite end. She now has an open bleeding lip and chipped tooth to clean up. Only a few hours later, the same guy is helping me carry a piece of wall with a door attached to it. Why didn’t we take it apart? It came as one set piece and we were told not to. We quickly decide it is too heavy for just 2 people to lift and that is when he thinks to himself “Okay let me drop this thing we just decided was too heavy for 2 people without informing the other person I’m dropping it.” I got another dislocated finger from that.

These are just the injuries that stood out to me for one reason or another. These do not include the many bruises each of us gets daily. I worked through all of it. I continued to work through the injuries, came into work the next day, and did it all again fully prepared that the possibility of getting hurt might occur. I don’t take painkillers for unrelated reasons. This is not me trying to be a badass and prove how much pain I can work through. If I wanted to do that, I would be a rigger. I have worked hard my entire life. I have worked through injuries from either sports or work my entire life. For me to continue is simply natural, just as it is natural for a dancer to continue to dance through certain injuries. This is not widely accepted, and as I stated in my disclaimer I do not encourage people to work through what they are physically capable of. So, why do I work past fractures, electrical shocks, dislocations, and countless bruises? Because I know what I am physically capable of I work through the pain.

Festival Survival Guide

 

As another season of festivals is here, I thought it useful to make a survival guide for those of us who work these chaotic events during the Summer months. As I found out all too soon in my career, there was no survival guide on how to make sure you got through it all in (mostly) one piece. For anyone who needs it, I hope this helps.

Step 1: Packing

The majority of festivals are outdoors and are unforgivable with the heat that comes with being outdoors in these Summer months. More than likely, you’re also not working just one festival during the season. This means you need to be careful about what you pack. Most companies will have the basics for you but I still like to bring many of my own things, even my own hard hat. Find some steel-toed boots that are comfortable to move in around the ankles. Your work shirts need to be breathable but take a beating as well. Your shorts will need to have lots of pockets as you likely won’t want to carry around a tool bag, work bag, etc. with you everywhere on site. The company ScrewFix has pretty good work clothes for women, and you can stop into almost any material building store (B&Q, HomeDepot, etc.) to get some basic tools. The ones I’ve used the most on-site are things like pliers, screwdrivers, wire strippers, excessive amounts of electrical tape, socket wrench, measuring tape, and so many more. Honestly, picking up a basic tool kit should get you through your first season of festivals just fine. If you’re like me, you’ll want to bring a bit of home with you. I always travel to festivals with a book and my own coffee cup. A bit of advice, pack a portable fan.

Step 2: What To Do Once You Arrive

Once you actually arrive at the festival, it’s too late. Chaos has already happened. There are people that have been there pre-setting and prepping for this event for longer than you can imagine. More than likely you’ll need to check in somewhere and there will be coordinators for this but none of them can coordinate what you’re supposed to be doing or where. That’s not their job, their job is to tell you where to put your things so you can then find the person to tell you what you’re supposed to be doing and where. Once you’re sorted on that, the work begins. You’re thrown into the chaos of everyone wanting to know what’s happening but no one actually does, so you all just pretend to know the plan and go along with the limited information you have. Remember to drink plenty of water during the day. Try not to get into the constant pissing match between the other techs and the heads of departments.

 

 

Step 3: The Work Days (And Nights)

Everyone knows that festivals go pretty long into the night. Almost no one outside of this industry tells you that those long nights start long before the gates open for the public. You’re there for setup, and teching the shows, and then taking everything down. You’re getting up early in the morning, grabbing something quick to eat on your way into the gates, and hopefully doing tech as soon as possible. You’ll get dragged to help other departments with their jobs, and this is annoying but also helpful because if you help them now sometimes they’ll help you later. You’ll get told the artists are always right, even if it starts pouring down in a thunderstorm and they want to continue the performance on stage. Scream into your pillow/shower/etc. later.

 

 

Step 4: The Aftermath

You made it through your first day/week/festival season. Congratulations! You survived the complete hellscape that are festivals. Now is the time to reward yourself before anything else. For many in this industry, this reward looks like a few drinks with your mates that survived the festival right with you. Savor these moments, get their numbers, and make sure to keep in contact with them. It might be the next festival you see some of them, or it might not be for another year. Either way, these are some of the best people to be around not only for the contacts but because these are some of the only people who understand what you go through for your job. Breathe, you made it.

An Official Claim

 

I recently was asked to write an official claim for sexual harassment in the workplace. I had experienced sexual harassment before in the work environment, but this was only the second time that I felt the need to make an official complaint in writing, and the company I was working with encouraged and aided in the process. I know not everyone, especially those who do not have an HR department and understanding company will be able to take the same steps I did. I am writing this for those who might want an outline to go off of in case they decide to take similar action against the harassment they may come across.

As I mentioned previously, this was only the second time I felt the need to make an official complaint in writing, so I was more than a little nervous about any repercussions that might have come. This complaint was filed because I felt as a touring technician, the venue crew singled me out as the only female technician both on the touring crew and at the venue during my time working with them. Luckily the company I was touring with understood that what I experienced at the venue was unacceptable. I have taken names and many of the specific things said so as to keep the anonymity of everyone involved in this situation.

I wrote:

“In accordance with Discrimination Laws, Harassment is defined as creating an environment that:

In the instances following, the Touring Technician of the visiting company experienced

Consistent comments from the venue crew about the technician’s sexual life which included comments such as her supervising manager must never get bored on the road and making vulgar gestures when discussing the technician when they thought no one could see or hear them.

Pestering and assumptions about the touring technician’s skill level, including being told to simply “deal with it” because that’s not how they have done things previously.

In instances that I have previously seen, it is highly unlikely that a male technician would have had this line of questioning and commentary directed to them even with less experience and as such I felt that I was being harassed as the only female on the entire crew at the venue.

In general, the behaviour of the venue crew made the touring technician feel that her gender, personal life, and professional skill set were called into question and mocked openly. This is by no means appropriate behaviour for the workplace, especially for visiting crew.”

After the Company Manager that I was on tour with had read my official complaint (with names stated, and specific things said added in), he assured me that he wanted to sit down with both myself and my supervising manager (our touring Technical Manager) so he can have a debrief from both of us of what exactly happened and how we would like to proceed. I was again quite nervous and for lack of better terms, felt that this was almost like being on trial. This was not the Company Manager’s intent to make me feel this way, but unfortunately, it is an easy train of thought to jump on.

Now I would like to make something quite clear, it is perfectly okay to not know what outcome you want or how you would like to proceed. It is also completely understandable if you do not feel comfortable reporting such matters publicly. I knew I didn’t want the venue crew to be fired, but I also knew I wanted to be treated with as much respect as any other touring crew they would have had. But that was about all I knew I wanted. Making such claims official can be nerve-racking and can oftentimes make you question if you should have even said anything in the first place, but every little bit helps with ensuring females feel they can legitimise future reports if needed.

Should you need any more help, SoundGirls has a useful guide that helped me when I wrote this claim above. Several of the steps I had already taken without realising it.

Reporting Sexual Harassment

Mental Health on Tour

 

More of the industry is now beginning to talk about the mental health of everyone within it, specifically those of us who are affected by being on tour. Unfortunately, even with those who advocate for it, the majority of the industry is still greatly affected by terrible mental health conditions. In general terms, the tours, the companies, etc. do not seem to care beyond presenting to the public that they have been to panels, or participated in workshops, but do not actually apply it to their team. How do we practice what we preach? How do we hold the correct people responsible?

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if mental health in the industry had a handbook or a map of sorts?

Tamsin Embleton does just that with her book Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual.

Topics Include:

Embleton clearly did her six years of research and three years of writing with over 80 interviews with other professionals in the industry. The book covers A LOT of ground: addiction, the general stress of the industry, depression of post-show/tour, the anxiety of travel days and pre-show, eating disorders and why we don’t get much nutrition while out on the road, relationships you form within the industry and outside of it, and the most common health issues we see in the industry

On the opposite end of that spectrum, however, Embleton recently made public “A call to arms from a touring friend, who has worked on the road for several decades at a high level. We need those in positions of power to carefully consider the health implications of routing and scheduling. We need systemic and cultural change.”

 

Do we need to hold the companies responsible for these conditions? Do we as the technical team need to speak up more and say “No. I’m not doing that.” when we could lose our jobs if we were to utter such a phrase? Do the artists and performers need to be more understanding when they ask for something to be done and be prepared to be told no? Who do we hold accountable? If we were to hold the companies responsible, or the artists were to be prepared to hear no, or the techies say no loudly, what would the new cost of this be, and who’s new cost would it be?

Tools Of The Trade

 

You’re talking shop with the guys over a few drinks in the bar across from the venue. Everyone is listing off what they wish the higher-ups would approve so they can finally put in the order and check off things on their wish list. You’re mentally going through your own wish list and what ideally every venue would have so you can stop hauling all the different things you need for each venue. Our own personal “working wish list.” Like most other wishlists, ours in the audio world is ever-evolving with each announcement of the soon-to-be-on-the-market gear and the newest toys. There are some essentials that are on everyone’s wish list though. For instance, we can never get enough electrical tape, it’s simply something we are constantly running out of and always find ourselves in need of. When you are touring or travelling for work, these tools can sometimes be difficult to get a hold of so it’s always nice to have your own. Hopefully, this wish list will help you both pack your own gear bag and maybe even add more to your growing tools.

What’s In My Gear Bag?

As I briefly touched on the subject in the article “Travelling” back in January, you can’t easily travel with everything you need for this career. However, if you need to travel and bring your own gear, it’s good to have as much of your gear in one bag so you’re not stuck juggling multiple bags with a little bit of everything you need. For the most part, unless you are bringing your own mixing console and sound system, these tools are fairly easy to keep in one or two bags.

So what is in my everyday use gear bag?

This is a bag that I instinctively reach for as I am heading out the door on any given day for work.

On the outside of my bag, I have various types and sizes of carabiners along with multiple colours of electrical tape. These items are ones that are replaced on a regular basis and needed without having to search through my bag to get them.

There is also an ever-growing monkey-fisted knot of tie line, also commonly referred to as a trick line. Tieline is used more commonly in theatres, but contrary to what some people think, it’s not just used for our lighting friends. I have used tie lines to keep cables in place on balconies, and risers, and even sometimes securing them below the stage.

Proceeding to open the first layer of the gear bag, therein lies a shock dispersion space for my work laptop and tablet that I can remotely mix from. I have rarely if ever, found myself in a situation where I didn’t need my tablet in some form. Yes, it’s definitely handy to mix remotely, especially if your mixing location is not ideal, but it’s also a way for you to see notifications and important updates from the rest of the team.

 

 

Closing that first layer and moving on to the next, you’ll easily find spare aux cables, cable adapters, and papers with my Sound Notes notebook. While many of my colleagues have asked why I write a lot of notes about the show or carry spare blank channel strip sheets, this is mostly to keep improving on what we’ve already done for the show. Each performance is going to be different and I like to keep track of where we constantly are on the sliding scale of “How good was that performance?” Some nights, it really does feel like the best performance and you’re listening to it for the first time. Some nights, everything goes wrong. By trying to keep track of where you are on that sliding scale you can see what worked and consistently had good reactions from the crowd, and what needs to be gone over and looked through for next time.

Moving on, therein gets the slightly messy storage of the actual tools one might find in a regular toolbox. A small glow-in-the-dark flashlight, a magnetic flashlight, spare batteries, a portable battery, rigging gloves, different coloured gaff tape, the mini screwdriver kit because something is always needing maintenance, a small hammer, and so many sharpies that have just been randomly collecting at the bottom.

 

 

Finally, the last storage space in this gear bag. This is the space where I keep my mixing headphones, a dynamic vocal mic, a Lavalier mic, and a wireless vocal mic with a receiver. These have been some of the latest additions to my gear bag.

 

What’s On My Ultimate Wish List?

I don’t think most of what I would ask for is completely unreasonable.

For the FOH mixing position, I want a wide enough space to actually be able to load in equipment without breaking our backs or constantly being pushed into walls, or having flight cases run over our feet. This would allow us to actually be able to move and lift these heavy consoles hopefully without breaking anything, including ourselves. Plus a Midas 32 would be fantastic.

 

 

For the PA system, I just want a flying line array, I would settle for a stackable system but we’re going for big dreams here. L-Acoustics recently developed and marketed some amazing ones. Some fill-in loudspeakers to prevent drop-off with distance and sub-bass as well would be amazing! There doesn’t have to be a lot of them for my wish list, but at least something.

 

 

Having copious amounts of radio mics and the spare batteries to go with them shouldn’t have to be on the wish list, but you would be surprised how many places run out of spares for both mics and batteries. It is absolutely not the venue’s job to have spares for all the shows that come to them, but it’s always nice to know if something breaks and you can’t immediately repair or replace it, you have something on standby. Most venues will also provide this in their technical specifications and will be talked about during the advancement process.

A Dante audio network is luckily becoming more common, especially in theatre from what I have seen, but is still not standard. If you make the effort to become certified in something, like Dante, wouldn’t you also want to use that knowledge? Thus, it is on my list.

What current comms system the venue is using is also always nice to know. There have been a few times while on tour that we have rocked up to the venue and found out we needed to use our own instead of being allowed to use the ones at the venue.

 

 

 

This is not uncommon to get things that are antiquated and we don’t always find out they are out of date until we arrive at the venue. During the year 2020, or since soon after, multiple venues globally have undergone restaffing, updates, and reconstruction. This can mean that several of their technical specifications and contact information sheets are also obsolete thus making the advancement process problematic and questionable.

So for the advancement process, I would like to add these things to my working wish list:

Up-to-date power specifications.

An up-to-date contact sheet of people you may need to get a hold of at the venue including the audio crew chief, production manager, technical manager, and venue manager (basically everyone in charge).

Stage specifications, including mixing positions, in advance of the show (not just waiting until the last minute the night before).

Health and safety specifications so you’re not caught off guard if they have something a little uncommon to most venues. A good example of this is some venues requiring Risk Assessors (not always provided by the venues) to be part of the load-ins and load-outs for shows across Europe and the UK. This is likely to also gain ground in North America soon with its growing popularity.

Another thing that I would like to add to my working wish list that would be assumed as common knowledge but somehow isn’t is literally buckets of consumables like tape, cables, tie lines, etc. Every time that I have put in a request for more of these consumables the initial response is something along the lines of “You need more? We just bought some!” Yes, we need more because it’s consumable and we go through comically large amounts of these items.

And of course, the final item on my wish list, who wouldn’t want the classic red curtains?

 

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Five Days In The Life

 

We often are asked the question “What’s a normal day in your life in this industry?” Well, that’s a difficult question to answer because every day is so vastly different, and hardly anything goes as initially planned. As an example of this, I’ve taken the opportunity to write about my recent trip to France for work and the five days spanning that trip. Everything from getting up and going to the airport for the travel day, to a rather unexpectedly long day, and everything in between. It should be stated that I wrote about this trip specifically because it gives insight into how the industry, in general, can be, as well as what it is like being new to an established crew and the only woman on that crew.

Day 1: Wednesday

The alarm goes off but you’re already up and getting dressed. You could barely sleep the night before because you know how travel days are and what is to be expected: Everything will go wrong. Teeth brushed and you double-checked everything to make sure nothing is left behind (something is always left behind). The bag that you’ve already packed the night before is grabbed right before you head off. The cab meets you on the street and drives you the 25 minutes that it takes to get to the airport. Normally this would have taken longer, but there’s no traffic at this time in the morning. Thank the driver as the door closes, rush through security checks at a snail’s pace, check your watch to see if you have time to grab a coffee or something on your way to the gate (you don’t), do the awkward half-run/half-speed-walk straight to your gate, board the plane, get the announcement that the plane will be delayed in taking off by at least an hour and no one is allowed to leave the plane. It’s not even 7 am yet. You finally arrive an hour and a half later than you needed to be. Go through the security checks again and find your ride. Try to memorise all the names of the performers and their specialties that your new colleague is throwing at you, drive an hour and a half to the studio where the orchestra recorded what they’ll be performing this weekend, and spend about three hours in the studio listening and re-listening over and over again. Back in the car to drive another hour down the road to the warehouse where the orchestra has mock setups so everything can be perfectly presented on an actual stage. After a quick tour of the place, you spend the rest of your day going through the setup and asking questions (always ask copious amounts of questions). Dinner out is a quick pizza with the guys on the tech crew. Back to the warehouse around midnight and finally to bed where you see the guys were kind enough to make it for you with bunny sheets and a pillow. Thanks, guys.

 

Day 2: Thursday

Up at 7 AM. Shower in a bathroom full of men giving you a hard time because you’re the only girl, but eventually they leave and you finally have some privacy.

 

 

Breakfast is whatever you can scrounge and a cup of tea. Time for setup and powering everything on for the 9 AM first sound check and rehearsal at 11 AM. Your lunch break rolls around 1 o’clock and it’s family style. Everyone sits around the large table and luckily there’s wine (viva la France!). Back to another rehearsal at 2 o’clock sharp. Dinner is suggested around 8 that night after we’re practically at each other’s throats and had enough. We go out for dinner and more banter at 9 PM. The usual debrief over food helps ease everyone’s minds and stomachs. It is back to the bunker beds close to midnight.

Day 3: Friday

You’re up at 6:30 this time to get some alone time in the shower. One of the guys comes in at 7 on the dot but you are already dressed and about to head out of the bathroom. You’ve found some bread and cheese for breakfast and sit at the communal table to go over yesterday’s notes. It’s raining outside. There is so much to prepare for the show tomorrow to make sure everything goes smoothly and tensions are a little high between techies and performers. Everyone got up and joined the table by 8 AM and the first sound check was at 9 with the first rehearsal at 10 this morning. You’re going to try recording today’s rehearsal.

Mother Nature has other plans for your day…

At exactly 11:30, the power goes out due to the storm and you haven’t hit the save button in the last hour… FUCK! Your coworker thinks that because of the cover of the dark, this is a great time to slap your ass, and you repay him with a harder slap across his face. By 12:30, everyone (mainly the boss) has finally agreed that the power isn’t coming back on anytime soon. The remaining people come in from their extended smoke break and lunch is served around 1 in the afternoon. Power still isn’t restored after everyone is done with lunch, so the tech crew decides now is a great time for another extended smoke break and to show you the town in the pouring rain. At least there’s a castle nearby.

 

 

You get a call around 3:30-4 that power was restored so you head back and see how bad the damage was. You spend the rest of the rehearsal doing damage control before the first truck needs to be loaded. Shut down and final loading of the second truck before everyone goes out for dinner that night around 9. The usual debrief over food and drinks. Back at the warehouse and the performers leave on the tour bus at midnight sharp. You head up to bed and pass out immediately.

Day 4: Saturday

The screaming alarm goes off at 5 am. In the shower, dressed and tea in hand by 5:45. You go to the communal table where a new friend is waiting for you. At some point, the guys bought you a small stuffed animal. Final check to make sure you are not forgetting anything in the bunker room. You and the rest of the tech crew are in the van and leave at 6:30. The Head of Audio plays the show over Bluetooth so you and he can go over notes and highlights of the show. An hour and a half up the road to the venue the show is at today. Arrive at the concert hall at 8. Breakfast is provided by your hosting venue: muffins, coffee, tea, etc. Set up and the push for getting gear from the truck begins at 8:30. Someone’s foot gets run over by a flight case at 8:35. Lighting, video, and sound attempt to work together as best as possible. Risers are raised, then lights are flown, and then hard patching begins. But you notice the audio snake isn’t long enough for the venue. Why did no one check this? You compromise and have the FOH mixing console in a slightly awkward area and decide to mix the show from the tablet. Everyone has worked up an appetite and lunch is served around 1, a type of gumbo-style dish with stewed beef, rice, potatoes, and wine. It helps you prepare for the first sound check at 2. The dancers and performers finally decide to join the fun and come to rehearsal after making it just in time for the lunch break. The show somehow starts magically on time and it goes really well. Then, it happens. The audience won’t stop demanding an encore, and the company boss gives in (at the protest of the entire crew) and runs the whole show again, with intermission. The second unexpected show ends at 2 am and you still have to load out. The dancers and performers disappear sometime around 3:30ish in the morning (no one saw them after they took a second smoke break), and it’s just the tech crew left to break down the set and load trucks. You finally finish the load out at 6:30 in the morning. You have a plane to catch in four hours, and the airport is an hour’s drive away. Do you opt for a little sleep, or act like a zombie for the rest of your extended day?

Day 5: Sunday

You opted to stay awake and one of the guys agreed to give you a ride to the airport since it’s on his way back home. You’re in the car and on the way to the airport at 7 am. After traffic and getting petrol, you arrive a little later than intended but still with plenty of time to get through security and the boarding process. You rush through security checks at a snail’s pace, check your watch to see if you have time to grab a coffee or something on your way to the gate (you don’t), do the awkward half-run/half-speed-walk straight to your gate, board the plane, get the announcement that the plane will be delayed upon arrival due to weather in the local area and that no one will be allowed to leave the plane. The travel day begins, and the circle of techies touring life continues…

The Rules of Engagement

 

I want to start this by stating three things:

  1. Date (or don’t date) whoever you want.
  2. These are not actual rules, merely an observation of what I have found works best in most situations but every situation is different.
  3. It’s not “all men” but it is enough men to still be a massive issue.

The following piece is in two parts:

The work relationships, and lack of, and friendships can feel left out in our ever-so-busy lives. The rules of engagement are an all too familiar hazardous road that is complicated to navigate. Hopefully, this roadmap helps and can be taken light-heartedly as it is meant.

Working Rules:

 

Everyone knows it’s a bad, even terrible, idea to date someone you work with (if you don’t believe me, there are plenty of television shows about it). This is one of the golden rules of working in this industry: it’s always a bad idea to mix play with pro. Even during shorter contracts where you might be there for just a few months, or just one weekend, and it’s justifiable that you might never see the person again. However, as women in this industry, the majority of the time when we try to be friendly to our male colleagues it often comes across as flirting. Then when we explain we were simply being friendly, things tend to get a bit messy. This is not unlike any other work environment except ours, our male colleagues can taint our reputations and easily get us barred from working with them or anyone they know or in the general area again. There are men literally everywhere in this industry as womxn only make up roughly 5% of it. Even during the minor miracle of times when our male colleagues don’t assume we’re flirting, we are constantly talked down to, discouraged, dismissed, and deterred. How do we engage in this professional environment with these situations stacked against us?

These rules are in no particular order.

Rule 1: When you go out from work together, it’s not just the two of you.

I like to call this the kindergarten rule, this means if you invite one person on the team for drinks then you invite as much of the team as possible. This is so you don’t get caught up in someone’s rumour mill of “they were on a date” or “they’re sneaking around.” You may not like everyone on your team, but it’s highly unlikely that everyone you invite for a drink will say yes.

Rule 2: Join in on the banter.

Everyone you work with is going to give you hell of some kind. So give it right back to them. This banter isn’t necessarily specifically toward you. It could be just general goofing off between coworkers and we all need to laugh at ourselves occasionally.

Rule 3: Stick up for yourself.

It’s one thing to banter, but it’s entirely different when you are outright disrespected. Disrespect can also come in many forms. Those with more experience generally know how to guide those with less experience. Leaning over our shoulders telling us how to do the job that we were hired for is not teaching, it shows that we are not trusted to do our job and it is a form of disrespect.

Rule 4: Ask luxurious amounts of questions.

Yes, this will most likely get on your colleagues’ nerves eventually because you’re asking so many things. However, we don’t learn new skills without asking these questions. If we don’t ask, we are often not given the same treatment either. While many of my male colleagues were outright given training for specific skills, I had to ask (multiple times at that).

Rule 5: Teaching isn’t touching.

This is one I have seen with nearly every female’s experience in trying to learn new skills. Teaching someone how to solder shouldn’t involve them sitting on your lap. Teaching someone how to programme a show shouldn’t involve putting hands over the top of theirs. Teaching someone about a studio set-up shouldn’t involve them texting you late at night saying they are in the studio alone saying and thinking about you. And don’t ever let “Well, that’s not what they meant” or “They were just being friendly and working in a small space” be gotten away with. If it felt wrong, it was.

 

Rule 6: You’re not a relationship therapist.

Typically in a more office or corporate setting, somehow women become the experts on other women and what they want. There have been too many times someone’s wife/girlfriend/whoever came into the production office (or tent for those times during festivals) and accused me of telling their partner to do or say something that I didn’t. I later found out it was one of their guy friends but the men told their partner that it was me.

Rule 7: Make a good reputation for yourself.

A reputation is better than gold and worse than death in this industry. A reputation is what everyone will judge you on and expect from you, especially if you’ve never worked with a certain person or crew before. Whether we like it or not, women represent other women in the industry. We are judged as women for our work, and what we do is how it will come across as how every woman does things. Be fast at learning, and even faster on your feet with a problem. Be early, even earlier than your boss. If you’re the first one there, they have to deal with you. When you know you’re right, be heard and be confident about it.

Rule 8: Don’t mince words.

Men customarily are straightforward. Stating exactly what you mean, what you want, and need will go a long way. They’ll get it. You don’t need to explain or go into depth about it, just state it as a matter of fact. This includes your interest, or lack of it, towards them.

Rule 9: Decide your own professional boundaries.

I reached out to a friend, a fellow female audio engineer, who is currently dating someone she works with regularly. She has been dating them for roughly six years and has worked with them multiple times over those years. Her partner’s a lighting technician, and they often found themselves working together before becoming serious in their relationship. She told me it did take them several projects together to find what really worked for them in their relationship while maintaining that professional boundary in the workplace, but it is indeed possible.

 

 

Rule 10: Be yourself.

I can not stress this rule enough. To make it in this industry, it is generally demanded of everyone to be tough because it’s a cut-throat environment. I won’t lie, this industry is tough. This industry is cut-throat. What is tougher is walking into work and acting like someone that isn’t yourself. When I was talking to my friend about her partner, it came up that she recently worked with another female audio engineer. She said she caught herself noticing the other female’s makeup. She caught herself almost judging this other female and how she did her job simply because she appeared “more feminine.” It’s those moments where we have to catch ourselves because really, who cares? It doesn’t affect how you do your job.

Friendly Practices:

 

Our male colleagues are not the only ones whom I have found require a map to engage with them while working in this industry. Over and over, we forget our friends who are on the road or while we’re on the road. It’s not that you don’t miss them, the schedules are just too hectic. You don’t get the typical Friday night through Sunday to make time for each other and hang out. Your days or nights off become Monday and Tuesday. Remember growing up and you hating Monday, now you look forward to it simply so you have a day to sleep in. This is why this industry is so commonly called the “anti-social club” because it truly is for those who don’t plan on socialising within normal hours. Our friends outside of this industry don’t want to go out on either of those days because they’re likely to have work, and we can’t go out with them on their nights off because we have work. So they try to compromise and they make the effort to come to see us at work at one of our shows on their night off, but we still don’t have time to hang out immediately before or after the show because that’s soundcheck time and everything else magical that happens behind the scenes. This often leads to friendships fading or ending.

Again, these rules are in no particular order.

Rule 1: When you do go out from work together, put work aside.

My friends don’t always understand why I don’t want to hang out with them at festivals (the ones I’m not working), or at live band nights. Honestly, it’s difficult to get away from work in those places. I instantly notice things that my friends naturally don’t, and my mind gets stuck back in work mode. Lately, it’s worked when my friends outside of the industry meet me in neutral spaces like a coffee shop or getting a bite at a restaurant.

Rule 2: Don’t expect every detail of each other’s lives since you last saw them.

When working on the road it can be difficult to remember exactly the last time you saw one of your friends, especially if they’re also on the road at the moment. With the hectic schedules, it’s simply tough to remember anything other than the next assignment that needs to be done. When you do get to finally see your friends again, try not to expect a play-by-play of exactly everything that happened since the last time. Honestly, most people will give the big events that had an impact and leave out the details. We will also get things wrong because of so much time away and apart. That’s okay!

Rule 3: Try to remember important days.

Remembering days that are important to your friends can sometimes be challenging, and is even more so with the constantly changing schedules of the job. Try setting reminders and putting things in your calendar so you don’t forget things like birthdays.

Rule 4: Talk as often as you can.

Let’s face it, this is a pretty cool career even if some of your friends have no idea what you really do, they know it’s cool. You may not be able to talk shop with all of your friends, but you’ll still get to tell them about the awesome night you had mixing a show. The friends you can talk shop with, you can always bounce ideas off each other. Sometimes when we’re stuck on something, we forget that some of the best resources we have are our friends in this industry.

 

Rule 5: Take a break from the anti-social club.

It’s okay to take a night off during the weekend once in a while. This is when the majority of your friends will be able to actually spend time with you. This is why we have subs for when we’re on our tour. Take a break, and remember what the world is like on the weekend when you’re not working. Enjoy your friends’ company.

Rule 6: Respect their time.

It might not be a late travel day for them, but they might still be busy. In this industry, it can be easy to roll your eyes and think “You don’t know what busy looks like” because we’re regularly busy. If your friends say they’re just too busy or something came up, chances are that either it’s important or that they’re too tired to hang out. Each of those is fine, and it needs to be respected either way. It’s true that you may not get to see your friends all too often, but you will see them again. Perhaps not today when they’re busy, but maybe they’ll be free for something later while you’re still in town or maybe they’ll take a vacation and come see you on the road somewhere down the lineup.

Rule 7: Treat your friends in the industry as more than just marketing.

A friend in this industry can do wonders for anyone. That doesn’t mean it’s the only way to get anywhere. Your friends in this industry don’t want to feel like they are just tools for you to get ahead in your career. Friends in this line of work can either open new doors for you or slam them shut and lock them before you ever get the chance to ask. It’s good to show support and congratulate them not just because you think it will get you ahead someday. There are so many ways to support each other in this profession like following each other on social media and collaborating with one another.

 

Rule 8: Lifelong friends need to stay lifelong.

One of the worst goodbyes I have had to do was going on the road for the first time. Of course, it’s exciting but also terrifying leaving something that you have gotten comfortable with and somewhere you know everyone. Leaving my best friend to go out on the road to pursue my career while he finished school was heartbreaking. We both promised to stay friends and talk every day as you do when you’re young and naive and don’t know how busy life can get. We haven’t always kept the promise of talking every day, but we’re getting back to that and he’s still my lifelong best friend. Those don’t come around every corner and it’s good to reminisce about things only lifelong friends would know about.

Rule 9: No one is always easy to get along with, and you’re no exception.

Canceled travel plans for the weekend, again. A last-minute phone call from the studio about a client even though you’re already out for the evening, again. Your boss telling you that they need you to cover until four in the morning on Friday even though you’ve already asked for that night off two weeks ago, again. It’s one thing after another at the start of your career, and sometimes it feels like it doesn’t go away. Our friends, especially at the start of our careers, put up with a lot from us too, and deserve to be recognised for that. How many times have we canceled, or gotten pulled away from a beer with the gang because of work? Yet they’ve stuck by us while we’ve advanced our careers because we were putting in our dues. That’s not an easy thing to always get past.

Rule 10: Let them be themselves.

In this work, sometimes we get to work alongside some A-List clients. Setting up panels for Comic-Con, mixing a live concert, or running playback sound for a film festival. We can become accustomed to this environment, but our friends outside of this industry (and even some inside) don’t. What we tend to forget is that we all have that one person/show/film that we would do anything just to get a glimpse of. When your friend is standing next to you shaking you uncontrollably so your arm resembles jello because you got to introduce them to their favourite person/show on the planet, to you it’s annoying and embarrassing. To them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Just let them be themselves and try to enjoy the excitement on their face while they’re starstruck.

 

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