I graduated from City in 2009. I had really enjoyed a huge range of specialisms at City but I had particularly enjoyed Ethnomusicology and Electroacoustic Composition. I’d done a lot of work in ethnomusicology on the social role of music in different ethnic communities living in London and had discovered a passion for talking to musicians and recording sounds/instruments, as well as experiencing other areas of new cultures (mostly food!). Alongside this I was very dedicated to Electroacoustic composition and the manipulation of sounds using new technologies. I became interested in recording, field recording and music recording. The department really ignited this crossover between ethnomusicology and music technology and after I graduated I began using my recording skills to do little jobs in film and documentary.  As my passion grew I was briefly involved at Resonance FM and then for a short while I worked at a community radio station in my hometown of Sheffield as well as doing some jobs for BBC radio. I worked on various low-budget short films and sometimes some mid-budget ones throughout this time. I was developing a love for telling stories in sound. This involved music, field recordings and voices and it was a natural progression to pursue this at a more professional level into the world of film and TV where having not only a musical ear, but an ear for a good story and how to tell it is crucial. And naturally, I had been interested in cinema, television and drama for many years. provides a great space to combine a technical interest in technology with the desire to create something more abstract that has emotional content.

I gather you’ve just finished a course at the National Film and Television School. Can you tell us about the course and what you enjoyed most/got the most out of?

The National Film and Television School is a place that nurtured my creative passion and taught me update technical to enter the world of film sound. Its an old institution and the MA course I did there was incredibly exciting and taught me everything about proffessional sound that I know. The School operates as a replica film studio with films being produced, shot and post-produced year round. I worked on various fiction, animation and documentary projects over two years using industry-standard facilities and with visiting tutors who work in film and television.

I had access to very good technology, and very good teaching. It’s very intense – more like a job in post-production facility than a degree course. It also allowed me to become more creative with my field recording, interacting with film makers, mixing and editing sounds. Building on all the things from my undergraduate degree at City University  and allowing me to develop myself creatively and technically.

Where are you working now? Can you tell us what your work involves and what you enjoy the most.

I’m currently working on several projects. I’m employed as an assistant sound editor by a production company making a children’s animation series due for broadcast this year on CBeebies. I edit dialogue for them in an office in Camden.

I’m also working on two short films, one is a comedy produced by some friends of mine who hope to get a pilot commissioned for television and the other is a short drama with no dialogue – so I’m having a lot of fun creating atmospheres and recording foleys and Sound FX. Because there’s no dialogue I can be very precise about how a scene sounds because I can replace everything very easily without the need to do expensive voice re-recording.

The other area of work that has opened up is sound design for Video Games. Its a huge industry and its ever-expanding. there are hundreds of indie games out there and they all need creative sound designers to help them out. I’m currently working in development with a small team who have been commissioned by the Wellcome Trust to produce an education science app.

Projects large and small keep getting thrown my way and thats what I enjoy about the job most. I get to meet a huge range of people from a range of disciplines and backgrounds and help them realise their projects using sound and music.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? What would your ideal job be?

Right now, as long as the work keeps coming, I’m in an ideal place. I’d like to work on larger feature films and also develop my sound ideas as installations. I love recording and editing sounds so I hope to be doing that in 5 years time.