There are always going to be obstacles on the path towards dreams and goals. The real question is how much are you willing to sacrifice in pursuit of them? For a lot of people, sacrifices mean smaller or more trivial things; skipping a Starbucks coffee, eating in for supper, not buying a new Xbox or skipping getting your car detailed. For me, well, let’s just say I’ve always been an extremist…
In September of 2016, I had just wrapped up my last festival for the summer where I got my feet wet with stage managing and caught my first glimpse into the world of sound. I had already learned a lot from witnessing the relationships and interactions between techs and performers and I’d also been put to the problem-solving test of running an entire stage for a whole weekend without knowing what the hell I was doing. My trick in that department boiled down to two key components.
1) Always observe the what is going on around you, and if you find yourself stagnant, walk a lap. Chances are you saw that musician put his sunglasses down backstage, and you’ll probably walk by as he’s enlisting all of his friends on the hunt for them. Grab the glasses and deliver, when it is his turn on stage your relationship is already gravy and you will thank the heavens above for this happenstance. At first, I thought I was magic, no lie. I seemed to just see it all and fix all the problems, but the reality is if you pay attention – you are effective. Even when in conversation, keep half an ear to conversations around you. This will save you! Whether you’re working in concert, theatre, film or probably any job ever.
2) You don’t have to know how to fix a single thing. You just need to know who does! Network. Pay attention. I had a full stage running ten minutes behind because of roaming musicians and ten minutes before an eight-piece Argentinian clown band was meant to hit the stage I was informed that there is no mirror backstage for them to use for makeup application. Let me explain that we are in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere, on an island in the ocean! Before even batting an eye I accepted his needs and scanned the faces in the immediate area. I went on my gut instinct about this one person’s connection with another person who may be able to help, but who is at the other end of the field. I attempted the delegation and continued on with my rushed plethora of duties. No more than two minutes later (and I was watching the clock) a full-body mirror was being toted backstage. Hazaa!! Faith! Observation! Delegation! What a victory! The show may go on! I put in the effort and believed that I could accomplish anything. From mirrors to electrical work! Anything is possible.
After this experience, I was confident that if I pursued this path, I could find success. So as I was leaving Vancouver Island, I got in touch with a sound tech that I had met at festivals up north. He invited me to stay at his place/studio with him and let me shadow him at work. I didn’t even stop for Vancouver pizza or sushi; I went straight to his work from the boat. He was awesome. I felt at ease being upfront with how little I knew. I straight up told him I knew nothing, had zero experience but was going to be good at this quickly. He laughed, nodded and shared his knowledge, and answered all of my questions. I stayed with him two days and during that time connected with some other folks I had met up North on the festival circuit.
A new pal Joey was having his CD release party up in Prince George on Oct 1. and Danny Bell was going to be mixing him at the Legion there. I barely knew Danny from Adam but I got in touch and asked to shadow. He agreed! Now I had one week to get there. I had no money and no vehicle. If I stayed in one place I could grab a job and get a house and be warm and comfortable, but I wanted to LEARN, and I felt like I was out of time.
That evening, outside with my new mentors (he didn’t know that was his title yet) Vancouver workplace we ran into a festival-goer from up north. He offered me a seat in the rideshare to Kamloops that he was taking the very next day! From there I got to the highway and stuck out my thumb. It was cold, I was tired, and I was terrified that I was making a fool out of myself, but I decided I had no time to be embarrassed. This was the beginning of a new path, a new me, and I was going to be fearless and unstoppable.
I was lucky to stay with some lovely pals in the evenings along the route, and although I was fully prepared and even expected to be sleeping outside, it thankfully wasn’t in the cards this trip.
When I got to PG, I had a day or two to kill, then came the show! I was so nervous. Danny was great and showed me how he set up the stage, what his methodology was and talked through his mixing with me. He didn’t make me feel like a jerk for mentioning instrument imbalances. This was before I knew how rude it was to approach techs with that, and maybe that’s the reasoning behind why a useful skill of mine is balancing ensembles. Possibly because he let me talk about it so freely. My biggest memory of this event was having him explain compression and showing his X32 app to me on his iPad. I watched that ball bounce around like it was a secret code. Within its fluctuations were a language that might be able to explain to me….what the hell compression even was! I smiled and nodded and promptly added it to my lengthy note of necessary sound things to google.
On the longish walk back to Danny’s place reflected on the sacrifices I had made. What the hell was I doing? I asked. I just wanted a house, and a partner, maybe some kids, or at least a dog and some friends and a car. Why am I hitchhiking across British Columbia with everything I own on my back, just to not understand anything I was being taught. Ahhh, because you see, I was facing my fears. I was embarking on an uphill battle to complete a task, to work towards a goal and follow through. To realize a dream you must first climb mountains, and I was just learning how to walk on my own, so it felt insurmountable. I could feel the arduous path before me, and it was a terrifying realization.
Around this time another new festival-goer friend and musician had been telling me that they knew some techs that lived in Edmonton and that they would probably be willing to meet with me. And with that, it was decided I was hitchhiking to Edmonton to meet and find my next round of educators.
Janna Dickinson aka JDog broke into the industry last year when she accidentally worked nine festivals! At the Last-ival, having worked every volunteer role through to stage-managing, she watched the techs and realized that she had finally found a job where her varied skillsets could finally all work in unison. She spent nearly two months couch hopping while hitching to every tech across BC that she had met at festivals who were willing to teach her anything. Her first gig was waiting for her when she returned! With a childhood free from live music, she had never played in a band or plugged in an electric guitar. She was learning it all from scratch! So, learning WHAT an XLR cable is called, let alone what it’s for! She returned to the same festivals this year with a new role and received honorable mentions at each one. Follow her on her journey of navigating such a complex industry as a complete novice, working solely on instinct, an ear, and the drive to work at her passion no matter the odds. Unafraid to ask embarrassing questions on her quest for excellence, she carries with her goals of touring, teching/tuning, tv and teaching. Her freelance company is Penny Lane Audio & Production.