What is your current role in the Scottish music industry?
I’m a venues manager across a local authority
Can you tell us about your journey into the music industry and how your role has progressed?
I started as a singer-songwriter and musician, playing in bands and I was so interested in that, but I didn’t really enjoy being in the spotlight. I discovered that once I started organising the gigs for the band that I was in in, that was the bit that I really liked and that was what led me more into being a background person, which I vastly prefer. And then that career progression has gone from being that performer and then slightly being a background person to being a person that was entirely background and about producing events or festivals, whatever that might be – putting programmes together, getting production sorted out. And now I’m ultimately still in the background but more about the venues and less about the actual performance.
What are some positive aspects of getting older in the industry?
I can’t speak from a performer point of view because I probably hung up my performer hat largely in my 30s, although I still have done the odd thing. It’s never felt like an obstacle to me. But then I’ve never been trying to get myself to the top of the charts or anything, it’s more been about just enjoying the performance and doing something. On the whole from the production side, I’ve felt like age has been an advantage, it has certainly been an advantage when you’re trying to manage a team of people or trying to control and event or programme something, people do just take you more seriously when you’re more mature and you’ve had a longer career, plus of course you’ve got the contacts that you’ve built up over your career so you’re in a much more established position. So, age has definitely been an advantage. As I’m approaching 60, I’m currently a venues manager, you know, how long do you keep doing that for, am I coming out of the other end of that, what is that going to look like. But for now, it feels pretty good, it feels like people take you seriously because you’ve got some serious miles under your belt.
How has getting older influenced your creativity and confidence with your work?
I think I’m still quite confident, I feel like I have to work hard to try and be more in touch with what younger people are interested in when you’re thinking about programming things because I definitely know how to programme things for my age group and a little bit younger. But it’s harder for me maybe to engage with some of the younger music, so I do work at that and try to keep a finger on the pulse of what is happening. But I also recognise that the age that I am and the number of people that are in my age group at the moment, there’s a big market for the kind of music that I have liked and continue to like, so there’s quite a lot of people that are interested in the same things as me.
Are there times you have felt your age is an asset or a limitation?
Almost all the time I feel like it’s been an asset and perhaps because my career has moved with me and I’ve moved with it and that’s just fine. But yes, certainly for that period in my 30s and 40s when I’ve been programming things it’s not always about what I like, it’s about understanding what other people are interested in as well and making sure I’ve got a broad representation.
How do you feel your relationship to your work has changed as you have grown older?
I think I’m probably more relaxed about it, I think my days of doing 24-hour shifts are behind me, I don’t want to be loading vans at 6 in the morning with steel toecap boots on anymore. But I still accept that I work in an industry that’s got long hours, and you can be late and it can be quite physically demanding work. I feel that I’ve also got a bit more confidence in my ability to solve problems as they come up, so I might worry less because I’ve got more faith in myself and people around to know that the show will go on. One of the interesting things about events is that you’ve just got to do whatever it takes to get it across the line but with a bit of experience, you’ve probably got a bit more confidence about what it will take to do that.
What does your current age mean to you personally and professionally?
I’m surprised at my age; it seems to have come all of a sudden. Largely, lots of the activities I’m involved with are kind of youthful type activities that keep you busy, engaged, so I certainly don’t feel like I’m on the wind down to stopping work but probably in an age sense I am. But then I’m looking forward to a period where I might have more time to pursue my own music and less of the urgency about doing everything for other people.
Do you believe there is ageism in the Scottish music industry for women? If so, in what form does it appear?
I believe it is a thing, but I personally haven’t experienced it and I actually think that in terms of artists that when you’re talking about artists that have reached a certain maturity that is reflected in the product that they’ve got. It’s more relatable its more knowledgeable, all of these kind of things. I’ve been fortunate in that when I’ve programmed things I did try when programming a festival or something to be a champion for women and to balance it out. Age was never really a consideration for that; it was just about having women involved as much as men. I found that difficult because there weren’t as many women out there doing things or able to be at things. Maturity brings something that can give more to other people. I personally haven’t experienced ageism but maybe because I’ve been at different places in different stages of my career.
Are there aspects of growing older that you find empowering? Either creatively or professionally?
Absolutely, yes there are aspects because you do have some experience, you do have some knowledge, and people do take you more seriously because you can talk with a bit more authority perhaps. Not in a bossy way but just with knowledge.
How do you see yourself in 5-10 years’ time?
Theoretically I should be thinking about retirement, but I think that would just be retirement from the coalface of these types of jobs. I think that I’ve got loads of things I’m interested in musically and I’ve got a few groups that I’m involved in that do events and things like that so these aren’t going to be things that fall by the wayside, these are things that I’ll still be doing probably even more so as time allows. So, I actually see it developing more in a creative sense.
SAGE 