My progression from volunteer to shadow artist to Youth Band Leader by Frankie Beardsmore (Youth Band Leader on Base Studios' The Junction project)

My journey from volunteering to paid work.

I became involved with Base Studios at the age of fifteen, after my first visit there to practise with my school. This was my first foray into the world of music studios and straight away I knew this was a career I could see myself pursuing.

Through my music teachers at school, I managed to secure a place there for my work experience. This gave me the chance to experience many aspects of life in the studio, such as booking bands for an upcoming gig, sitting in on recording sessions with local bands and even helping out on the desk at a gig at the end of the week. It was this gig at the end of the week which propelled me into volunteering at the studios, as I learned they had no one to operate the lighting rig on a regular basis. I saw this as an opportunity, and asked if I could take up the position voluntarily, to which they were happy to oblige. I volunteered in this position for many years before leaving when I moved away for university.

The following year, I heard about a project called Base Bands, run by Base Studios and Quench Arts (funded by Youth Music), which supported the development of young musicians in the local area. I took part in this programme and found it very beneficial to my skills both musically, as well as the organisational and social skills required to be a part of band. My prior links to the studio, as well as my willingness to help others learn whenever I could on the project, led to me being recommended by the lead artists to the project to become a Shadow Music Leader on the following year of the project. This role consisted of supporting the band leaders in their teaching by working closely with the participants. This improved both my musical skills as well as my interpersonal skills through sessions teaching one-on-one guitar, sessions focused on song writing, giving the participants constructive criticism on the strengths and weaknesses of their band, as well as many other supporting roles.

Seeing the musicians develop, and being able to support them, encouraged me to continue this path in the future. Unfortunately, the timing had not been on my side at this point, as with the end of my year as a Shadow Music Leader, I was due to be moving away to university. This temporarily stopped my involvement with Quench Arts and Base Studios. However, after a year away, and with added experience from both my university course and my newly formed band, I noticed that The Junction (a new band development project) was in need of Youth Band Leaders. I saw this as a great opportunity to continue with my love of helping others learn the joy of music, and applied for the position.

This position has given me the chance to improve my leadership skills within the music industry, and working with a range of young musicians from diverse backgrounds has been a lot of fun. I like to think that I have positively affected these young musicians not only in terms of their musical ability, but also in terms of their team work skills and self-confidence, and I would like to thank Base Studios and Quench Arts for giving me the opportunity to do this.