#259 - Claire Heat

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Hello and welcome to Geezers of
Gear with the Ladies.

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Now don't worry everybody,
Geezers of Gear with our

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brilliant host Marcel is still
here.

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Not going away.
Marcel and I just had a lovely

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idea that don't hide me in the
back.

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Let's bring me out from and why
not have a special edition of

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Geezers Gear, but with the
ladies.

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So it's me, Sarah Burnie.
For those of you that don't know

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me, I am the producer for
Geezers of Gear.

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I've known Marcel for quite a
few years now and I live in

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Crete in Greece, which is a
beautiful island and I'm very

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lucky enough to work remotely.
Now.

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When we came up with this
concept, I didn't know how to

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put it all together, how it was
going to sort of how it was

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going to unfold and I still
don't.

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So I have actually recorded with
my amazing friend Claire who we

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met on Coldplay and I knew that
if there was somebody that I

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wanted to do the very first
geese of gear with the ladies,

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it would be this fantastic
woman.

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Now, as always, or I say as
always, well, I had a few

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glitches at the start.
So 10 minutes at the start of

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the keys of gear with the
ladies, it's a little bit iffy,

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but you can still hear our
conversation.

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It's still great.
And then it rolls into the rest

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of the podcast.
So with no further ado, I'm

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going to introduce Claire.
So Claire is a highly motivated

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individual with over 25 years
experience in the industry,

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specialising in events and
special projects for the music,

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television and film industries.
She has huge amounts of energy,

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a strong work ethic, bags of
enthusiasm, common sense and

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professionalism.
Claire started working in the

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industry as a stage crew while
studying at university and has

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had different roles within that
time from Event Manager,

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backstage artist liaison,
driving bands and sold

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merchandise all over the UK,
Europe and the US.

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Tour management worked for BAFTA
Production Assistants, VIP

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Manager and now LED Tech.
Claire has worked with some of

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the biggest bands including Sir
Elton John, Eric Clapton,

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Coldplay, Mariah Carey, and
Roger Waters to name but a few.

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I can't wait for you to hear
this podcast and I really,

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really hope that you are going
to enjoy it.

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So please welcome Claire Heat to
the podcast.

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And for everyone listen, this is
Claire.

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This is an amazing friend that I
actually just had to Google.

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When was the Head full of Dreams
talk?

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Because I was like, when was
that?

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It was like 2000, well 2015, but
we met in 2016.

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Yeah, 2016, two 1017 with the
European and UK run that I did

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and you did so, yeah.
And that's what I did with you.

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And then after I, I think of
2917, I joined the American leg

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as well.
But like literally we haven't

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seen each other since.
No.

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And we're just, we're just
saying that like love Facebook,

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but hate it because I know
everything what you've been up

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to.
I like it, I do this, I do that,

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but we haven't actually spoken.
It's shocking.

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I think did actually come close
once when I was in the UK.

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He was going to come back, yeah.
Yeah, that's right in.

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The UK working like I just have
to COVID wasn't it?

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Yeah, I think you were up north
somewhere, in comparison to my

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down South at least.
For all the all the bands that

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were going out because
everything had just like been

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just left for two years.
Yeah, that was bad.

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That was bad.
Strange times, but.

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Anyway, so where are you now?
I'm at home in Bisley in

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Gloucestershire, so I've lived
here since the beginning of the

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year and it's absolutely
beautiful.

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It's in the Cotswolds and my
neighbours are sheep and yeah,

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just lovely and quiet and a
complete change to my lifestyle

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on the road basically.
So after living out of pretty

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much a suitcase and a storage
unit for three years, I finally

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had the opportunity to rent this
place.

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So.
It's amazing because I've seen

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so many photos of you walking,
like, when you get back

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tomorrow, you have a break,
like, you just go out drinking.

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But she's obviously something
that I've started doing now,

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basically.
But like, just we live in, like,

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I don't now, but like, two
different worlds.

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You're on the road and you're
hectic 24/7, always with people.

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And then you come home and you
live with sheep.

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Yeah.
Pretty much.

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I was saying that after I'd
moved here in January, I went

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out on a tour and the loading
dock was the loudest place on

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Earth.
It felt like it was just.

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I just thought I've been ruined.
I've been ruined by the

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countryside.
But no, it's lovely to come back

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here and recharge.
Yeah.

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Are you close to friends and
family there or are you like?

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My brother lives about half an
hour away, so that's, that's

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pretty fortunate.
But no, it was actually through

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a friend from tour, from a tour
that I was on who lives 5 doors

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down.
So.

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So his sister was renting out
this cottage.

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And so yeah, just the stars
aligned and it all worked out,

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thank goodness.
But I never see him because he's

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always away on tour.
Like we're ships in the night.

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I think we've seen each other
for two days since the beginning

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of the year.
That's crazy, isn't it?

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I mean, even that like when
you're on a tour, you're, you're

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a family.
Like, you know, we, we, Oh yeah,

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we're like, you'd hang out or
like 24/7 basically.

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And then you slip, go separate
ways and then you join another

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family and then it, it's, you
know, it's a, a, a crazy, but I

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do miss it.
I have to say I do.

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I do miss it.
But at the same time, you know,

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working from home now and doing
the podcast, it's just amazing.

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And of course, I get to do my
walks and it's, yeah, different

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lifestyle and, you know, yeah,
lifestyle.

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But every now and again I miss
those, you know, Roadie Fridays

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and everything.
I'm busy.

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But anyway, so where, like, what
are you on now?

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Like, I know we're going to go
to the future and go back again,

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but I just want to know because
I'm so excited.

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Yeah.
So I've just been prepping for

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summer gig, which is in Munich.
So Adele's doing 10 shows

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throughout August in essentially
a car park, which is being made

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into a, which is being made into
a stadium.

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I think it's about 85,000
capacity outdoors.

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And so I've been working for the
video company.

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We've just being in prep in the
in the warehouses over in the

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UK, getting everything labeled
and ready, just hundreds of

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meters, hundreds of thousands.
Of meters of cable.

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This is what?
I really want to know you're now

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in Video World 2016.
It was VIP management like.

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That's why I mean.
There's such a beauty job.

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Yeah, I have the attention span
of a flip flop I think is the

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best way, but also I just it was
time for me to finish doing VIP.

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A lot of things had changed
after COVID, I feel in terms of

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people, the public in general,
they and also, you know, I'm not

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getting any younger, my
tolerance levels for just

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smiling sweetly this way,
please.

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They tend to wane a little bit
when you get older, I feel.

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And yeah, I just wanted a new
challenge as well, really.

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So at what point did you, yeah,
decide to have the new challenge

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you?
Did yeah last.

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Year, It must have been like a
gradual step, like every now and

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again I'd see you.
Yeah.

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It was during the Elton John
farewell tour, really.

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There was about 330 of those
shows and I did 253 of them.

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And during that time I held
three different positions at

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different times.
So, So what?

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Yeah.
What did you go?

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In I went in as what would you
call it even kind of like a

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customer relationship person, I
guess for this technology called

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Peeks PEEX, which was new
technology that Elton had

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invested in and it was a way of
using your phone to mix the show

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in live.
When you're at it, you wear some

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earbuds.
You would wear a radio receiver

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around your neck, which should
be connected to your to the via

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Bluetooth.
And you know, you download this

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app and you would get a mixing
desk essentially on your phone

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and you could play with the
sliders during the show.

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It received a feed basically
through radio transmitters

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around the venue.
What's that?

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Was it successful?
It was a great product.

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It was fantastic if you were up
high in the gods in sort of

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arenas, stadiums and things like
that.

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I think the the model just
wasn't very easily scalable, if

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that makes sense.
So we were me with a team of

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local assistants that I had to
train each show in many

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different languages.
I sort of had 15 to 20

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assistants and we'd train them
up and they'd go out with iPads

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on the concourse before the show
started and we'd hire these

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headsets out if you like to, to
customers for like €10 or

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something so you had puts.
As well.

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Yeah, I'm getting some warning
signs, by the way.

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Yeah, I know.
We're just going to maybe.

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Have a little.
Pause on this one.

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Let's just say I'm going to, OK,
we're going to stop the

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recording.
We have a little issue, but we

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will be back.
OK?

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So we're back now.
Whether we've lost the last bit,

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I don't know.
You're on your mobile now.

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Yes.
I'm on the mobile, yeah.

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It's funny, I was like so
nervous about this because this

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was like the first one, but I
knew that if I wanted to talk to

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anybody, you know, on the
podcast, you know, it was going

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to be with you.
Like I just knew it.

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I don't know why.
I just was like, I, I, you just

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could have got such a great
story.

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I feel you've got a great story
of everything and everything

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you've done all the like
different.

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I don't know what, what do you
do areas you've worked in, you

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know, all of these things.
And I was like, I knew it had to

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be with you because then if any
little mistakes, we just laugh

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about it.
So myself, sorry about that.

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That's that's, that's the actual
host.

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I'm the guest host right now.
And we're, we're not too sure

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what we're going to call this,
you know, if it if it hopefully

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it works, but like we're
thinking of like geese of gear

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with the ladies.
And so there we are.

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Anyway, where were we?
So I think, yeah, one set that

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sounds, it does sound really
amazing.

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But did you have little friends
all the way around the stadium?

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Well.
No, we basically we'd hand, hand

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out.
Yeah, sorry.

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Yeah.
In terms of handing them out,

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yeah, we had several dotted
around and and then we had to

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collect them all at the end of
the at the end of the night as

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well, asking people to hand them
back.

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So generally, generally
speaking, people did hand them

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back and they did enjoy using
them, but it was getting people

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over the concept of why would I
wear earbuds to a show?

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But it let ambient sound in.
They were like designed

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especially to do that.
So, you know, it was a it is a

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really good product.
It's still out there, still

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trying to find a suitable home,
I think.

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But yeah, ultimately that was
the introduction for me to this

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incredible tour, this massive
machine and we and has basically

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enabled me to make friends for
life really.

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So yeah, basically what
happened.

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So I was doing the Peaks thing
and then we were due the tour

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was due to go to Australia and
New Zealand in November 2019.

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Peaks decided it was too
expensive for them to freight

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the gear over there.
I mean it's really costly thing

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to do to tour over there as it
is and you know, once you've

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you've flown all the stuff over
there and what have you.

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So I was quite gutted because it
was quite short notice and I

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sort of made never been to
Australia or New Zealand before.

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You know, we were due to be
there till March 2020.

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So yeah, it was quite a big
chunk of, of work.

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So I asked the production
manager if I knew that they were

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looking for a production
assistant for that leg of the

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tour, as the lady that would
normally do it wasn't able to,

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00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,560
for whatever reasons.
I saw that opportunity and asked

226
00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,040
the question, thinking, well,
the worst thing he can say is

227
00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,800
no.
And fortunately he didn't.

228
00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,440
And so, yeah, I'd done
production assistant work

229
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:06,080
previously for Alabama Shakes
and a couple of other smaller

230
00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,960
bands, and so didn't really faze
me.

231
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,040
And I just thought, well, I know
all the crew anyway, let's just

232
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:13,920
get on with it.
I was.

233
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,440
Yeah.
Production assistant then right

234
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,680
up until the tour came, well the
leg that leg of the tour came to

235
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,280
a natural end on March 7th,
2020.

236
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,040
I say natural end because
obviously that was when we were

237
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,560
getting into the realms of of
COVID etcetera.

238
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,280
So.
How do you get?

239
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,240
Strange COVID.
Before like.

240
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,560
So we were starting to hear
things on the tour in January

241
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:51,280
and I was getting sent daily.
I was getting sent posters about

242
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,760
washing your hands to put up
around the backstage areas and

243
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,960
everyone was like what the hell
is this?

244
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:00,440
Yeah.
Right, whatever.

245
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,240
So yeah, I mean, it was a really
strange time.

246
00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,160
I mean, everyone has their own
experiencing their own story to

247
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,400
tell.
I think of of COVID and where

248
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,640
were you when that happened and
where were you when places got

249
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,920
locked down and stuff.
I mean, I managed to land back

250
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:22,520
into the, well, I got back to
the UK on March 10th and we were

251
00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,720
actually due to restart the tour
in the US two weeks later.

252
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,400
So I was thinking, oh, you know,
maybe that's going to happen.

253
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:33,720
Who knows?
We don't know this.

254
00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,120
And I was like, well, what's
the, you know, yeah.

255
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,360
And I was thinking, well, I knew
that I wasn't going to be going

256
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,720
back as production assistant
because generally speaking, the

257
00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:48,520
tour didn't use a production
assistant for parts of the US

258
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,120
And so I knew that wasn't an
option.

259
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,760
So yellow.
But yeah.

260
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:57,960
And I was like, well, peaks,
peaks will come back.

261
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,240
You know, we'll do peaks in in
the US and then and literally

262
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:07,000
landed into Heathrow and and got
a message to say that the peeps

263
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,960
thing had had gone away and
wasn't going to be rejoining the

264
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,359
tour.
And I was like, oh, I left two

265
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,760
pairs of trainers in the
wardrobe flight case.

266
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:18,920
Like how am I going to get those
back?

267
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,280
And what about what about those
people?

268
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,119
Like, haven't said goodbye to
anyone, you know?

269
00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,640
And yeah, so that was pretty
heartbreaking, really.

270
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:34,960
But as it turned out, the world
kind of shut down a bit, didn't

271
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:35,280
it?
What?

272
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,760
Did you doing?
Yeah, what I was going to say

273
00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,800
because I know with you, you
wouldn't just sit still, you'd

274
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,360
use this time to so.
So what did you do during COVID?

275
00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:49,000
Well, I was very, very lucky in
that I wasn't living.

276
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,520
Was I living somewhere?
No, I wasn't living anywhere.

277
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,600
I had my things in the storage
unit pretty much I just.

278
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,240
Say that just matter of fact,
yeah, I wasn't living anywhere.

279
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,880
Yeah, I honestly you should see
my mum's address book is

280
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,360
ridiculous.
It's got about 16 different

281
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,760
addresses for.
Me, I never had.

282
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,360
I never, never was anywhere.
I was living in somewhere one

283
00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:18,920
minute in somewhere else.
Exactly.

284
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:20,920
I mean, my post still goes to my
mum's.

285
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:23,680
Right, exactly.
Yeah.

286
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,400
So I was very lucky.
I had arranged to stay with a

287
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:33,360
friend for a couple of weeks in
Cardiff, which is where I went

288
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:35,960
to uni.
Yeah, we just did lockdown

289
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,080
together essentially.
I was like, I'm really sorry.

290
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,720
Do you mind if I stay?
And she's like, no, it's fine.

291
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:48,600
She was furloughed and she just,
you know, she enjoyed the

292
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,920
chilling out time.
But yeah, I'd like you say I

293
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,520
can't really sit still for very
long.

294
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,640
So I, I decided to pick up
rubbish.

295
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:02,520
I decided to collect litter.
Yeah.

296
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,440
Because, you know, we'd gone
from doing really long days

297
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,480
really, you know, yeah.
Tour life.

298
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,640
And so yeah, I basically picked
up rubbish from anywhere between

299
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,720
an hour to 8 hours a day and
hundreds and hundreds of bags of

300
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,920
rubbish around Cardiff.
But you've got people in the end

301
00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,120
people joining you to do it as
well, didn't you?

302
00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,520
Yeah, yeah, it was quite
bizarre.

303
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,800
I got a Lockdown Legend award.
From the local, the lockdown

304
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,440
legend award.
That's amazing.

305
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,280
Seriously, I knew that, you
know, during and I remember now,

306
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,720
I remember seeing photos of you
with all this rubbish.

307
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,080
It's like only you, you know,
everybody else is just relaxing

308
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:44,800
and you're like.
What?

309
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:46,880
But you know what I mean.
The thing is.

310
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,200
Go outside and start picking
rubbish and then just walk

311
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,880
further and further away from
the house.

312
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:57,320
Well I started doing couch to 5K
for the like 19th millionth time

313
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,800
and having never completed it
because I've always got bored of

314
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,120
it and got too far and too
sweaty anyway.

315
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,200
And when I was a kid, me and my
friend.

316
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,960
One of my neighbours, we used to
go and pick up rubbish on our

317
00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:17,360
estate where we grew up like
this, really little kids and we

318
00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:20,840
found like the old ladies would
like come and let us choose a

319
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,880
suite from the quality St.
Tin and all this kind of stuff.

320
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,280
And also I was, I was, everyone
was out walking, weren't they?

321
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,640
And like trying to enjoy the
outdoors for the limited time

322
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,120
that we were allowed.
And everywhere was I just felt

323
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:34,760
like everywhere was covered in
rubbish.

324
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,720
It was making me really
miserable and and I thought,

325
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,840
well, rather than moan about it,
I'll try and be proactive and do

326
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,840
something about it.
So I ordered a couple of little

327
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:52,080
picker things off Amazon and I
asked my friend if she wanted

328
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:53,880
to, to come out as well.
She was like, no, you're all

329
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,240
right, thanks.
And then I found out through,

330
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,840
you know, the local council,
they would deliver these special

331
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,240
pink bin bags to your house,
which meant that you could leave

332
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,880
them for the.
Local refuse collectors to pick

333
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,840
up.
Anyway, so that's what I did,

334
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,640
hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of bags and hundreds of

335
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,960
hours of picking rubbish and
people would give me a beep as

336
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,840
they went past.
And then I took the local Tesco

337
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:26,120
to task because all around the
back of their store it was like

338
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,440
walkways through sort of a park
and etcetera.

339
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,040
But there was no bins there.
There was, you know, people just

340
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,760
threw their rubbish on the
ground and I said, oh, I think

341
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,200
you should provide a bin.
Yeah.

342
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,440
Anyways, it was a strange time.
The thing is, I.

343
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,400
Remember as a kid, my mum, you
know, we always, even now you,

344
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,560
you've put your rubbish in your
pocket, Whatever you take out,

345
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:47,800
you put your rubbish in your
pocket.

346
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,240
Now it just doesn't happen.
I and I kind of years ago I

347
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,520
looked, I was like, why?
But then when I went down, when

348
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,040
I was living in like England,
there were no bins.

349
00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,280
There weren't any bins to put
stuff in.

350
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,240
I mean, people are lazy as well,
but you know.

351
00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:06,120
People try and hand me an empty
can, they'd be out for a walk

352
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,000
and go, oh, can I just put this
in your bag?

353
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,880
And I was like, can't you just
hold on?

354
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:15,040
Why have I got an hour Carry
your rubbish around for the next

355
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,840
hour.
Well, I, it was very, very

356
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,120
strange.
But yeah, I went down, went down

357
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:25,000
a bit of a rabbit hole with that
because I, I wasn't sure that

358
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:31,600
the industry was even going to
come back and went through a

359
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:37,200
period of sort of bereavement.
I think really of thinking, oh,

360
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:42,560
there's that job that I adore,
that lifestyle that I love, and

361
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,560
I don't know if we'll ever be
able to do that again.

362
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,640
There was real mixed messages
and, you know, I could see film

363
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:53,200
and TV was gradually trying to
find a way, but music was just

364
00:22:53,640 --> 00:23:00,760
never given the the grace of
being as important.

365
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,960
And I think people just take
music for granted all the time.

366
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:06,800
They take it for granted
constantly.

367
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,120
Film and television seems to be
more of a tangible thing or

368
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,200
people, you know, what would
people do without a telly box in

369
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,560
the corner of their room?
But music people, just because I

370
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,520
don't know if it's they, they
can't see it, I don't know what.

371
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,080
The thing is, though, that
during that time as well, I

372
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,120
mean, you know, you ask anybody,
oh, you know, Netflix became

373
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,400
extremely popular.
People sitting down binge

374
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,880
watching series.
Yeah, look, I'm, I'm, I'm guilty

375
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:36,680
of that.
You know, you, you go on a tour,

376
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,560
even on a day off, you binge
watch.

377
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,720
But what does music do?
Music makes you feel good.

378
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,440
It's it's everything now.
They didn't want people to be

379
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,280
with music and like, not happy.
That's a stupid thing to say,

380
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,160
but they wanted us to be, like,
calm.

381
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,400
So just shove a load of TV stuff
at you, watch a load of like,

382
00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,200
binge TV, and you're kind of
like, oh, well, this is all

383
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:01,920
right.
I'm watching TV from my home.

384
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,400
You know, it wasn't.
I mean, I know there were

385
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,600
musicians out there doing stuff
online.

386
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,760
But yeah, it was a very, very
scary time.

387
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,280
I mean, that's basically when I
ended the like my like touring

388
00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:16,800
days.
I mean, I was going to come up

389
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,920
with Avril Lavigne and you say
being stuck with say stuck.

390
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,760
But during lockdown I'd asked I
Long story short, somebody came

391
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,320
to look after my dogs.
She was from Australia, she was

392
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,440
travelling in Europe and she
arrived about a week before and

393
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,200
I was due out and I was like
seeing all these tours

394
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:39,160
cancelled, cancelled.
And I was like, surely it's not

395
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,040
going to cancel.
No, it's not going to cancel.

396
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,680
Then all of a sudden I get the
letter, the e-mail, it's

397
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,160
cancelled.
And I was like, OK, I was like,

398
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,120
well, you've just come over here
to look after my dogs.

399
00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:49,800
I was like, look, just stay for
a week.

400
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,880
You know, we can enjoy.
I can show you my area.

401
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,760
And then literally the following
week, everything shut down.

402
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,200
And I was like, well, looks like
we're together then.

403
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:01,320
Yeah.
And that was it.

404
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,040
Like the whole COVID time we
were together, which was

405
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,200
fantastic because I lived on my
own up in the mountains.

406
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,480
And if I didn't have that person
with me, maybe I would have felt

407
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,320
isolate, too isolated.
Whereas I had her as

408
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,320
companionship.
Obviously everyone was then

409
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,600
calling everybody at any time of
the day because you knew you,

410
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,080
you know, if they didn't answer,
well, what what are you doing?

411
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,280
Because they were, you know, you
had to be there.

412
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,560
You couldn't do oh, I'm busy
because no one was busy.

413
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,960
So that whole chatting with
everybody, everybody like

414
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:38,920
getting together on the groups.
But you know, I, I, I know, you

415
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,560
know, it was, there's obviously
very bad things that happened,

416
00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,320
but I love that time, me
personally, you know, I, it was

417
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:50,040
something that changed my whole
attitude to life, started

418
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,320
walking, started doing
everything and it was just

419
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,120
incredible, you know.
But like I said, for you to not

420
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,920
just sit there watching TV and
I'm sure you did a lot of

421
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,760
analysing whilst picking up all
the rubbish that you did

422
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,840
something, you gave something
back to the community and

423
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:10,440
that's, you know, that's
amazing.

424
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,760
Yeah, it was, it was just, yeah,
people would drive past and say,

425
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,200
oh, we've seen you picking up
rubbish and where'd you get

426
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,280
those bags from and maybe can I
come out with you And I'd be

427
00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:23,120
like, yeah, sure, do whatever
you want.

428
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,960
And because of all the COVID
guidelines and everything else,

429
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,400
you know, they did have a local,
it's a picking group or what

430
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,240
have you there.
But because of all the

431
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,960
guidelines and because it was
run out of the council, they had

432
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,240
to shut it down and have, you
know, whereas me, I was just me,

433
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,640
an independent and you know, we
would, me and a local man,

434
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:50,040
Ahmed, we would, we would go and
we sort of took it.

435
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,720
He would take up a grade and
pull out sofas and shopping

436
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,680
trolleys and stuff like this
from local waterways.

437
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,080
So we'd get up really early in
the morning and go.

438
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,600
And go do that.
Just bizarre anyway, but yeah.

439
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:10,280
And then, you know, I, I also
did AI got a job doing online

440
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,920
events.
I, I did have a job interview to

441
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,960
go and be a carer and I was due
to start my training.

442
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,640
And then somebody contacted me
saying that they were looking,

443
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,480
they'd heard of a job running
online events for a company.

444
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,600
And so I was like, well, maybe
I'll give them a shout and see

445
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,840
where that goes.
And if not, then I'll continue

446
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:38,200
down the route of of the caring.
But they did, I got the job

447
00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,680
doing the online events.
So I did that for about 6

448
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,760
months.
And what do you mean?

449
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,240
Online.
Well, so there was like an

450
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,240
umbrella.
Yeah, it was actually

451
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,040
technology.
It was an umbrella organization

452
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:58,480
for the, the tech industry in
Wales, tech across all different

453
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:04,280
kinds of sectors.
Not music at all.

454
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,160
Not really.
I don't like fintech and, you

455
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,000
know, farming and, you know, all
different sorts of things.

456
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,800
Yeah, we, we did one big event,
which was like 1500 delegates

457
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:21,400
and like, it's several.
Well, oh, I can't remember now.

458
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,720
Like maybe 20 speakers from all
over the world.

459
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:29,280
And I was sat in my friend's
spare room in heaven on my own.

460
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,560
Just like being so connected to
all these people, yet not

461
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:36,800
connected to anyone either at
the same time.

462
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,240
Such, so weird.
And at this point, did you?

463
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,000
Obviously, music started to come
back.

464
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,840
Yeah, I mean.
What was what happened after

465
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,800
COVID for you?
Like when did you get a call or

466
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,360
did you be you and approach
somebody like?

467
00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:02,280
Well, during so yeah, throughout
that time, obviously the Elton

468
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:09,520
tour was still trying to get
back out on the road and with

469
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:15,320
the help of the tour accountant,
DC Parmet, shout out to him,

470
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,280
tour accountant, tour manager,
and also Andrew Sharp from AEG.

471
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:30,720
I was like the the VIP manager
had had a baby during COVID and

472
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:35,320
I was like, maybe there's maybe
there's a job for me there

473
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:41,320
because I've done VIP since 2016
on other tours at quite, you

474
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,800
know, a fairly high level.
And so, yeah, the three of us

475
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,920
put in like this three pronged
attack.

476
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,480
It's AG and and yeah, they went
for it, thankfully.

477
00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:03,960
So we were due to go out with
Elton in the autumn of 2021, but

478
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:11,240
he hurt his hip, Yeah.
So the tour was postponed again

479
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,680
until January 2022, and that's
when it all started back up

480
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,040
again with really strict COVID
protocols in place.

481
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,520
So, yeah.
But I mean, that was doing VIP,

482
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:27,320
yeah.
And.

483
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:29,200
What?
What does that entail for?

484
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,040
Oh gosh.
So for that tour, every package

485
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:41,280
is always different, you know,
So on that tour, it was, I think

486
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,440
now, gosh, it wasn't even that
long ago it was it was a pre

487
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,880
show like guests, some guests
would turn up early and they

488
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:56,440
would have sort of pre pre
doors, nibbles and drinks.

489
00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,840
And then they would all go to
the into the arena.

490
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,640
I'd take them into the arena.
They would have their photograph

491
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,520
taken at Alton's piano and they
would also.

492
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,400
No.
No, no.

493
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:16,920
And then one of the the head
touring rigger would give them a

494
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:21,320
presentation about from the
stage about, you know, what it

495
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,600
takes to put the tour on.
They have an opportunity to ask

496
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:28,040
questions, nothing like that.
From you know, I remember like

497
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,720
again, my first tour, seeing
everything that happens

498
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,320
backstage, you're like like just
blown away.

499
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,040
So it that is an amazing package
to do that.

500
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,760
Yeah, it was a really popular
package.

501
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,800
But you know, with the strict
COVID protocols, they didn't

502
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,720
want people to be on the stage.
And so we would get the piano

503
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:52,720
set up on the floor.
We'd have this incredible the

504
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:58,360
tour photographer, Ben Gibson,
he would take photographs of the

505
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:00,320
people.
Sometimes you had to bring in

506
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,400
local people because Ben had
other commitments or what have

507
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,680
you.
But yeah, somehow we just sort

508
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:10,720
of made it work, really.
Everyone was given their own

509
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:15,320
sort of Elton John K-95 mask
with an E star printed on it.

510
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,080
I was.
Just going to say because I

511
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,000
mean, I, I Jim, I'm terrible.
I just, I do forget things, you

512
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,840
know, I'm like even that, you
know, COVID is gone.

513
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,200
It's, you know, I've forgotten.
But of course that at that point

514
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,040
as well, we were still wearing
the masks, you know, distance, I

515
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,160
mean, even distance apart.
Was that still a thing?

516
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:32,160
Did you have?
To.

517
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,160
Oh yeah, yeah.
Every everything.

518
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,880
So that must have been like.
Yeah, and we had understandably

519
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,120
really strict taught COVID
protocols.

520
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,960
You know, we travelled with a
bus of nurses.

521
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:46,840
Really.
Wow.

522
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:53,680
Yeah, all local stage hands were
tested coming in for the morning

523
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,120
in and the evening out they
were.

524
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,360
Crew like did you like have to?
Oh, crew, we had.

525
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,920
So we were all PCR tested and
vaccinations were mandatory.

526
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,440
Yeah.
And we had PCR tested and then

527
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:19,160
we were in different bubbles
depending on our depending on

528
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:24,520
our location during the show.
So those of us who were in the

529
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,280
public areas, should we say so
like those running camera or

530
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,520
front of house, me doing VIP,
lots of contact with with the

531
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,800
public merchandise, you know,
all those people.

532
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,400
We were in sort of a testing
schedule of like being tested

533
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,440
every day.
Go to your hotel room.

534
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,880
Like there'd be a knock on the
door and there'd be a nurse

535
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,520
there sticking the thing up your
nose.

536
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,640
I, I, I seriously, I don't think
I could have done it.

537
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,120
Like, really, I don't think I
could have done it.

538
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,240
Oh, you know what?
Though we were just so happy and

539
00:33:55,240 --> 00:34:01,680
feeling so grateful to be back
together again, I think, and,

540
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:06,400
and, you know, just be back
doing what we loved.

541
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:13,960
You know, I don't think it's any
secret that, you know, lockdown

542
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,239
was incredibly hard for a lot of
people and many people in the

543
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,239
industry, you know, coped
better, better than others.

544
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,760
And, and for some it was it was
something that they simply

545
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:29,040
couldn't cope with and and
sadly, you know, take their

546
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,719
lives as a result.
I mean, it was brutal.

547
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:37,719
It's a brutal time and.
I mean, I think when mentally, I

548
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,159
mean, I know, I mean I did a lot
of stuff again, I did like

549
00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:43,800
little podcasts during that
whole time with a guy called

550
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,480
Andy Flack.
I don't know if you, if you meet

551
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,320
met him before, but he was
brilliant because it was all

552
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,520
about mental health and people
are here for you.

553
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,840
And I remember, I remember one
person and I won't mention

554
00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,480
names, but they were like I
because I, I took it on to like

555
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:01,880
you.
I took it on to the positive.

556
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,280
Don't get me wrong.
I had, I had bad days as well,

557
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,880
you know, it was like I had no
work, you know, and I didn't get

558
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,040
any extra money.
And all of a sudden all this

559
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,520
money was slowly going and I was
like, how am I going to survive?

560
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,480
Like I'm just not so trying to
turn it into a positive.

561
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,440
I started walking as you know,
but somebody had said to me and

562
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:26,000
said, I can't watch your videos,
you know, and I was like, OK,

563
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,440
like I'm, I'm not expecting
anyone to watch them, she said.

564
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:32,360
Because like I'm, I, I'm in the,
in, in the apartment.

565
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,960
I, I just can't.
Like it's, it's, it just makes

566
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,960
me feel sad.
And then I was like, shit, you

567
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,320
know, you imagine everybody in
the cities, you know that

568
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,520
everything about it financially,
I mean, I'm, you know, I'm

569
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:47,920
lucky.
I've got no, I had no

570
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,200
responsibilities.
I had dogs to feed and but I

571
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:55,360
didn't have a family.
I didn't have all yeah, children

572
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,400
and all all these things and
that isolation.

573
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,280
I mean, I've seen posts like
going back, you know, there's

574
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,880
there's, you know, people with
babies and meet the grandparents

575
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,920
through a window.
Like, you know, it was

576
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:12,600
absolutely crazy.
And I do know, you know, we know

577
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,560
both the people that, you know,
died during that time.

578
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:22,800
You know, it's, hopefully it's
in the past, you know, and

579
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:24,320
that's.
That's gosh, I hope so.

580
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,360
I hope so.
Yeah.

581
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:28,360
I know.
But we, we never went, you know,

582
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,920
you never know what could be
around the corner next.

583
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,240
But I do feel that with
everybody that they were doing

584
00:36:34,240 --> 00:36:37,880
for the music to bring it back,
you know, that was something

585
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,520
people did, the music, people
wanted it back.

586
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,800
And like you said you would what
you did, you did everything.

587
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:49,040
You had the the Test every day,
every morning, every night, just

588
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,000
to get that tour on the road
again.

589
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:54,880
And, you know, pretty amazing,
in fact.

590
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:59,400
We had a a gentleman on fame,
McMahon, and he was he was

591
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,720
mentioning that, you know, out
of his tour, you know, there had

592
00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:04,480
to be vaccinated.
And one particular person was

593
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:05,960
like, I don't want the
vaccination.

594
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,200
And he was like, the amount of
stuff you put in your body,

595
00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:14,160
like, come on, like.
But you don't know what's in it.

596
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,880
Oh, really?
Really, what about everything

597
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:18,600
else you've done in your, in
your life?

598
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,280
And you know, but then that was
my decision.

599
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,440
I decided I, I wasn't going to
be vaccinated.

600
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:25,080
That's me.
That was me personally.

601
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:30,440
But I also knew that if I got
the call to work, I would be

602
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,160
like, I wasn't like, you know,
I, I knew that that's what I

603
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,440
would have had to have done and
I wouldn't have gone.

604
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,160
No, no, no, no, no, I would have
done it.

605
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,360
But it just just turned out
nobody called me.

606
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:48,560
Sorry so.
But yeah, so then obviously

607
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,360
Elton finally did go back on
tour.

608
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,160
But what I really want to know
is how you got into the new.

609
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,440
Oh, OK, this is.
What I really died to hear.

610
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,880
OK, so yeah, we did a bunch of
arenas and then we did a bunch

611
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:10,120
of stadiums with Elton and yeah,
the whole schedule was all sort

612
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,960
of mixed around.
It was kind of weird time.

613
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:23,400
So the very last leg of the tour
ended up being an arena leg

614
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,280
around Europe.
And for those last four months,

615
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:33,280
because I've been having, it'd
been quite a tough time with the

616
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:37,560
general public, let's say.
And I had had enough, had

617
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:39,240
enough.
And I was like, I need to do

618
00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:45,000
something else.
And so my very good dear friend

619
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:51,040
Kim Hampton, who is the video
crew chief on Elton and

620
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:56,080
basically my light and
inspiration and mentor, if you

621
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:58,920
like, she just said, well, why
don't you?

622
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,280
Why don't you come join video?
We're a good bunch and they were

623
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,640
a good bunch.
They were like the most

624
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:09,680
incredible people as everyone
was on that tour, to be honest.

625
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,640
Anyway, So I was like, really?
I don't think everyone's going

626
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,200
to think that's a bit weird,
aren't they?

627
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:20,760
Normally I'm wandering around in
a pink suit and sequin going

628
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,480
this way, please, you know,
dealing with dealing with all

629
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:28,640
the the public and she's like,
Nah, Nah, Nah, you know so, but

630
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,480
this is.
What I mean, sometimes it's not

631
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,640
excuse, but it's not what you
know, but it's who you know.

632
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,280
Imagine that you know someone
saying just come and join us.

633
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:38,920
We'll trade just come and join
us.

634
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:42,440
So I was like, how can I make
that work?

635
00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:45,320
And I'm probably going to get
myself into trouble now, but

636
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:50,400
there we go.
So basically I I figured out

637
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,600
that because of the way the
timings land throughout the day

638
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:59,160
of show setup and everything
else, that I could possibly make

639
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:04,080
it work so that I could
volunteer with the video crew on

640
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,560
their loadings and their
loadouts.

641
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:10,160
Definitely with their loadouts
and I could also still.

642
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:14,280
Maintain my commitments doing
VIP and because basically the

643
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,960
VIP tour, etcetera happens
during a time when it's downtime

644
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,440
for the rest of the crew.
Everyone usually, you know, they

645
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:25,080
take a nap or everything has to
be set up and ready to go by

646
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:29,400
sort of 4:00 or 3:30 or
whatever, which is when the the

647
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,440
VIP tour would start.
And whilst I had some setting up

648
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,880
to do, it was fairly, you know,
easy and, and quick.

649
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,560
And by that point I've been
doing it for a year and a half,

650
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,040
so I could sort of do it
backwards really.

651
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:45,800
So yeah, I'm, I basically did
the the load insurance and load

652
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,280
outs of the last four months in
these arenas.

653
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,640
You made it happen.
Instead of sleeping, you got up.

654
00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:54,560
You volunteered to learn it and
do it.

655
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:58,560
Yeah, I mean my day was I never,
I would be doing VIP.

656
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,960
Everyone sort of doesn't really
know what you do on a crew, I

657
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,200
think, which is fine because
you're just usually a department

658
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,360
of one or two, you know,
depending on the the size of the

659
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:10,880
tour.
And you just, I always tried to

660
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:17,880
be as speedy as possible.
So yeah, they didn't really see

661
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,880
the huge amounts of merchandise.
I'd have to figure out how to

662
00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,400
shift from one side of the
stadium to another or whatever

663
00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,760
it was anyway.
So yeah, my day would sort of go

664
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:34,680
from, I don't know, 930 till the
end of the VIP package,

665
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,520
probably.
So yeah, I mean, I didn't feel

666
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,640
like I was missing out on on
anything.

667
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,040
It just meant that I had, you
know, something to fill my night

668
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,920
with, which was awesome, you
know, and and, and learned

669
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:50,440
something at the same time.
And the the the crew was.

670
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:55,000
So at first there was a bit of a
oh, hey, video Claire.

671
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:59,320
I just Nick there video Claire.
Is this VIP Claire or video

672
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:01,800
Claire?
And I'm like, I want to put my

673
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,720
hard hat on and my.
And.

674
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:09,080
Video player, yeah.
And, you know, they, they gave

675
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:12,160
me certain jobs to do during the
loadouts and stuff.

676
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:17,600
And yeah.
You know, you're seeing how it

677
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,680
operates.
It's, you know, because again,

678
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,920
even being like for me, you
know, being like in the

679
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,160
catering.
So we never saw the load in the

680
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,680
loadout apart from you.
So and even for you, I'd you'd

681
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:29,360
come in, I'd never used to see
you.

682
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,720
What what everybody's doing.
So be yeah.

683
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,440
And involved.
You learned.

684
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:37,200
I think you learned very much,
you know.

685
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:42,600
Yeah, I mean, I I wasn't a
stranger to how a loadout goes

686
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,560
as such.
I used to do local crew when I

687
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:49,880
was when I was like way, way
back in in uni.

688
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:52,240
I started on the stage crew at
university.

689
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:56,920
So I wasn't kind of, it wasn't
that I didn't know it or didn't

690
00:42:56,920 --> 00:42:59,720
understand what went on.
But for production of that size,

691
00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:02,400
the order in which things happen
and have to happen.

692
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:06,520
And remember the first couple of
loadouts, it was like everyone

693
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:10,240
was getting psyched up to like
start the loadout.

694
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:16,160
And the stage manager would be
like, you know, sort of pacing

695
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:19,440
around and getting stuff ready
and like speaking to local crew.

696
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,160
And the adrenaline was just like
nuts.

697
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:26,040
And then as soon as the last
note was hit, it would just go

698
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:31,080
into complete, you know, de Reg
mode and and I remember

699
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:34,360
thinking, my gosh, everyone's
shouting at each other and you

700
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:37,080
know, all the noise and I was
like, my goodness, this is

701
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,440
terrifying.
But then after a few, you just

702
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:42,680
kind of get used to it.
You learn what needs to be done

703
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:46,040
in what order and and you know
what other departments you have

704
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:50,280
to be mindful of and you know
who's going to be potentially in

705
00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,240
your way or you know, vice
versa.

706
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:58,640
And also Kim.
Would basically give me the end

707
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:03,200
of a fibre cable and go, OK,
this is yours, follow it around,

708
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:07,120
coil it up and go to the stage,
write imag and I'd be like OK

709
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,880
and I would take that fiber.
It was the most precious thing

710
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:13,000
in the world.
Yeah.

711
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:16,280
And I would just follow the the
trail of it, which was like

712
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:19,720
round things, under things, over
things, you know, whatever.

713
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:21,080
And then that was my first
thing.

714
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,200
And then I would just look
around and see what needed to be

715
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:28,720
done and who I could help.
And, you know, I'd try and take

716
00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:35,640
the take the weight off of some
of the the other video people if

717
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,560
they were under the stage
coiling robo looms, which were

718
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:42,600
really heavy.
I would like just go over and

719
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,080
try and take it off them and
find the case for it so that

720
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:49,800
they could save their energy for
getting the next robo loom or,

721
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:53,880
you know, whatever it was.
And so, yeah, it was, it was

722
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:55,560
great.
And I really, really enjoyed it.

723
00:44:55,560 --> 00:45:00,880
And I arranged it so I could
ride on the video bus and I

724
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:02,400
really felt.
Do you watch how the?

725
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,840
Video was as well.
Yeah, you lucky devil.

726
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,280
Yeah.
So it was, it was really good

727
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:12,640
times.
And then just again, through

728
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:21,120
fortunate meetings, really, we
were doing a load out in the O2

729
00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:28,800
in May, and one of the local
crew people was a rigor that

730
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:32,360
Kimmy, the crew chief knew.
And she was like, yeah, this is

731
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:34,560
Adam.
Like, he's from Wales.

732
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:37,240
Remember, I was telling you he's
like, this is my friend's

733
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:39,600
brother.
You know, it's all like who you

734
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:42,600
know, I guess isn't it because
crew people.

735
00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:49,440
And yeah, Kim knew this Adam guy
and his sister was a touring

736
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:51,440
caterer or used to be a touring
caterer.

737
00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,280
So.
And because I used to live in

738
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,520
Wales, she said I was Welsh.
I was like, not strictly Welsh.

739
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,280
No, not strictly Welsh.
She was like, oh, all right.

740
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,200
And then didn't really think
anything else of it.

741
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,760
And two weeks later, Kim
received an e-mail from from her

742
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:11,720
friend saying my brother said
that you've got a Welsh LED

743
00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:16,000
chick working with you.
My husband is a project manager

744
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:18,560
for a video company and he's
looking for crew.

745
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:23,000
Can you send us her details?
And so Kim was like, this is it,

746
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:24,400
this is how you're going to get
work.

747
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:27,680
This is it, you know, And I was
like, my goodness, no, I don't

748
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:29,040
know anything.
I don't know what I'm doing.

749
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:34,720
She's like, yes, you do, you do.
It's 80% being able to talk and

750
00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:38,840
you can learn the rest of it.
And that's kind of the mantra

751
00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:42,520
that I've.
Held Seriously, I've got, I've

752
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:49,040
got just because it's such a I
was going to ask you, you know,

753
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:51,960
for, for old, young people, for
anybody coming into the

754
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:56,520
industry, like what advice would
you give them?

755
00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:00,720
You know, but you, you just, you
just kind of like that, that for

756
00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:02,480
me, I'm going to answer my own
question.

757
00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:05,880
I'm asking, but you just did it,
you know, instead of sleeping,

758
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:10,280
instead of if you know, you, you
used your time to volunteer, to

759
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,840
learn something, to shadow
someone.

760
00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:16,680
And then it was through you
being, I know exactly how you

761
00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:17,920
are.
You know, you're wonderful,

762
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:21,320
you're bubbly and you know, no,
it's true.

763
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,520
You know, talking to people and
putting yourself out in a

764
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:29,640
situation where you, you might
feel a little bit uneasy and,

765
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,920
and you know, one thing leads to
another and you got this call.

766
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:36,280
It wasn't because you were, you
know, just sat on your bus

767
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:39,640
waiting for everyone to finish.
It was because you were

768
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:43,720
proactive.
Yeah, the VIP was coming to an

769
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:46,600
end for you.
Maybe this would maybe this

770
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:48,360
didn't work, but I know you
would have tried something

771
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,960
different, you know?
But it it has so.

772
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:55,320
It's yeah, I mean, I was really
lucky and and that, you know,

773
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:01,520
yeah, this this video company,
they got in touch and was like,

774
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,480
you know, are you available,
blah, blah, blah.

775
00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:07,640
You know, do you have a visa?
And I was like, well.

776
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:15,880
Raced in Cardiff.
No, not really just this guy

777
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:20,840
lived in in Barry Joe Mason
shout out to Joe.

778
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:27,120
So he he was a you know,
thinking about it, I feel like

779
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:28,240
it was a risk.
Really.

780
00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:32,560
It was a massive risk, but I
was, you know, Kimmy gave me an

781
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:40,720
amazing glowing reference and
and I went into their warehouse

782
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:42,480
to prep.
It's in Basingstoke actually,

783
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,280
which it's only about an hour
from where my parents live,

784
00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:47,600
weirdly.
So yeah, I went there and and

785
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:49,880
was prepping in.
The first tour that I did then

786
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:55,280
was Peter Gabriel.
We did a seven week run in the

787
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:59,760
USI know.
Just like that, just mental.

788
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,520
It was nuts.
And I got, you know, and it was

789
00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:06,640
in the US and I love working in
the USI love it.

790
00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:12,640
And everyone is very, they've
got a real my experience anyway,

791
00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:17,120
but real can do, you know, they
really want to help you.

792
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:18,920
They really want to help.
They really want to make it

793
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:22,680
good.
That's not to say that that's

794
00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:27,080
not the same in Europe, but you
do hit wars and it's not

795
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:28,760
possible.
No, we can't do that.

796
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:31,320
No, no, no.
And it's, I don't know, that's

797
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:34,720
just my personal experience.
But yeah, seven weeks in the US

798
00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:39,320
with Peter Gabriel and I got
paired up with them a guy.

799
00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:43,880
And because generally that's
kind of, you know, your work on

800
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:49,440
different sections of, of the,
of the, of the LED of the walls

801
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:52,120
or whatever's needed.
And then we were building this

802
00:49:52,120 --> 00:49:57,280
circular screen, which was
inside a fascia.

803
00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:00,880
So it wasn't even a
straightforward rectangle imag.

804
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:06,680
It was, you know, this kind of
jigsaw puzzle of a screen.

805
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:12,760
But it was amazing.
I loved every second of it.

806
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,920
And even if maybe some days were
were harder than others,

807
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:17,800
obviously, as they always are in
any job.

808
00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:24,880
But I loved it and and just felt
so grateful and still do

809
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:28,160
grateful every day that I was
given that opportunity and given

810
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:30,000
that chance, you know.
Yeah.

811
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,520
And then after so only because I
was looking at, you know, you

812
00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:36,720
said then after last year you
went in to do some training.

813
00:50:36,720 --> 00:50:38,840
Was that just to what?
What was the training?

814
00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:41,000
Yeah, so.
Official training, shall we say.

815
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:45,440
I was basically thinking, oh,
you know, how do I build upon

816
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:47,600
this now?
And I've got this sort of

817
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:50,560
downtime, you know, how am I
going to fill that?

818
00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:58,280
So I looked into, so the
processes that one make of the

819
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:01,240
processes that are used in, in
video called Brompton.

820
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:05,920
And they do like free courses or
like free days where you can go,

821
00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:11,880
you can go to London and, and
learn about the processes.

822
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,320
I mean, it's sort of beneficial
for them and works both ways.

823
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:18,760
So I went and did that.
I mean, my, I didn't understand

824
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:21,440
a word of half of what was being
said, to be honest with you.

825
00:51:23,720 --> 00:51:26,800
Bit by bit, you know, you take
things in and you know, you

826
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:30,480
learn with repetition or I, you
know, that's kind of how I learn

827
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:33,880
and, and I'm much more of a
visual learner rather than sort

828
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:37,440
of sit down with a textbook, you
know, that's never really been

829
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:42,680
good for me.
Plus I was getting through the

830
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:47,560
same company, VSS and this
project manager Joe, he was

831
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:50,560
bringing me in to do sort of
film and TV stuff.

832
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:57,880
So I was doing stuff at Wolf
Studios in in Cardiff, like

833
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,960
massive installations for like
virtual production and stuff

834
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:04,200
like that.
Never done a ground stacked LED

835
00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:08,240
screen before, but you know, did
that and then, yeah.

836
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:12,240
And then also when I came back
off the Peter Gabriel tour,

837
00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:17,440
Yeah, I landed on the Monday
after a 10 hour flight.

838
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:20,720
I picked up, I've got a three
and a half hour coach to

839
00:52:20,720 --> 00:52:23,760
Cardiff.
I picked up my car and then

840
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:29,600
drove straight away 4 hours up
to Pontefract to do a three day

841
00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:34,480
course with Roe.
So I did this three day

842
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:38,640
classroom course with Roe
straight off the bat with my jet

843
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:44,200
lag and everything fully intact.
And then I was like this is

844
00:52:44,200 --> 00:52:47,760
awesome, this is so good, teach
me stuff, this is great.

845
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:51,760
So yeah, again, free.
You know, that's a free thing

846
00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,720
that Roe offer and these things
are out there.

847
00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:57,120
You just have to search for
them.

848
00:52:57,120 --> 00:52:59,040
You just have to look for the
opportunity for.

849
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:02,040
A free, Yeah, free.
A free learning package

850
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,400
basically.
Yeah, in production Park, which

851
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:07,520
is an amazing space up up north,
in point of fact.

852
00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:08,840
That's where I was working that
time.

853
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,880
There you go.
So Roe have got like a learning

854
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:18,200
area there, which they get a lot
of college, local college

855
00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:22,000
students there, but also, you
know, there were people there

856
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,080
from other video companies as
well.

857
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:26,880
Just sort of upskilling because
I think it.

858
00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:29,760
Was there as well, Isn't it at
Production Park?

859
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:32,160
Because we were there for like 3
months at Production Park.

860
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,440
I love that place.
I mean so much.

861
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:36,640
We were there when they were
building.

862
00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:40,240
I don't know what it's called
now, Studio 1A or something, but

863
00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:44,280
the other studio area and what
they're doing there is like

864
00:53:44,520 --> 00:53:48,080
incredible.
Like, I mean, so good and but I

865
00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:49,520
didn't realise that Roe were
there.

866
00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:51,760
Sorry, Roe.
Roe's actually a sponsor of ours

867
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:52,640
on geese.
Oh really?

868
00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:55,520
I didn't actually realise that
they're there.

869
00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:57,840
So I'll have to look into more
about that.

870
00:53:58,160 --> 00:54:00,560
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So yeah, I did.

871
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:05,800
I did the two sort of the basic
and then the advanced rogue

872
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:09,320
course when I was there and I
was talking to Kimmy, who was

873
00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:12,480
obviously back in the US.
Well, I'd say obviously she's

874
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,080
from the US.
And then she's like, yeah, we're

875
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:17,080
going to be.
We go and she works for a

876
00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:19,720
company called Solatech and
she's like, yeah, we're going to

877
00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:22,200
go and do this road course.
I said, Oh yeah, I've done that.

878
00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:28,600
Oh, so funny.
But yeah, so I did that and I

879
00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:31,640
was just sort of looking around
of ways to try and fill my time

880
00:54:31,640 --> 00:54:35,680
because I didn't really know I
was approaching the other big,

881
00:54:36,360 --> 00:54:38,560
you know, video companies and
things like that.

882
00:54:38,560 --> 00:54:44,680
But I've always just being a
believer since I got once

883
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:47,840
self-employed in 2011.
I just think you have to kind of

884
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:50,160
keep the faith.
But that doesn't mean you you

885
00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:53,560
just sit and wait for the phone
to ring.

886
00:54:54,040 --> 00:54:59,680
You know, you have to go out and
search and hustle.

887
00:54:59,960 --> 00:55:03,440
Yeah, you have to.
I call it like just getting my

888
00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:10,480
hustle on.
But also with that being being

889
00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:18,960
disciplined and not turning back
to my previous roles.

890
00:55:19,480 --> 00:55:23,400
So I decided that I was going to
stay focused this time because I

891
00:55:23,440 --> 00:55:27,640
tended to always in the past see
the opportunity to think, oh,

892
00:55:27,640 --> 00:55:29,520
yeah, I can do that, or I've
done that before.

893
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:32,240
And so I will duck around.
You know, I've done a bit of

894
00:55:32,240 --> 00:55:35,040
production assistant work.
I've done VIP work.

895
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:38,200
I've done sort of event
management work, artist liaison,

896
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:44,320
you know, all sorts of different
things, but never really focused

897
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:47,120
in on one specific thing.
And I thought if I'm going to

898
00:55:47,120 --> 00:55:53,160
make this work, I already feel
like I am way behind in terms of

899
00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:57,280
my knowledge for where I'm at in
the industry, in terms of my

900
00:55:57,280 --> 00:55:58,760
age.
OK.

901
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:04,520
So like, you know, I'm 47 and
it's like there are other people

902
00:56:04,520 --> 00:56:06,960
out there, but it's all about
what you know.

903
00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:08,960
And so I just feel like I'm, I'm
catching up.

904
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:13,280
I'm trying to catch up, catch
up, catch up constantly and I'm

905
00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:15,320
never going to have.
What what amazing.

906
00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:18,480
Like again, sorry to you might
you're going to have a massive

907
00:56:18,480 --> 00:56:20,440
head by the time you leave this
podcast.

908
00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:23,640
But like what happens?
Seriously, like, if I'm honest,

909
00:56:23,640 --> 00:56:29,760
like even when even before, when
I was we was touring always like

910
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:34,360
it was kind of like a dream to
get into, you know, the video or

911
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:37,280
even like the production side of
things, you know, like that was

912
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:40,920
like, Oh my God, that's amazing.
Like I you know, I wanted and I

913
00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:44,160
never pushed it.
Same as lighting and and and the

914
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:45,160
and.
The.

915
00:56:45,560 --> 00:56:49,600
Or anything, anything on that
backstage side, because I have

916
00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:51,640
to say I, I felt exactly the
same as you.

917
00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:57,640
I was tired of smiling, you
know, like tired of smiling and,

918
00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:00,560
you know, getting up and, you
know, you always had to be

919
00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:04,720
happy, you know, and it was like
actually, you know, you see all

920
00:57:04,720 --> 00:57:07,000
the crew come in and the crew
and you know, if they're not

921
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:08,880
happy, then they're not happy.
But it doesn't matter.

922
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,360
They're not, they don't have to.
They don't have to be anybody

923
00:57:11,360 --> 00:57:15,280
different.
And you know, so when you first,

924
00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:19,520
you know, like Kimmy said to
you, come and do it, what would

925
00:57:19,520 --> 00:57:24,600
you be like 45 then?
I guess so, yeah.

926
00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:28,040
Well.
No, like last year.

927
00:57:28,040 --> 00:57:31,760
So yeah, yeah, 40, yeah. 40.
I'm going to be 40.

928
00:57:32,240 --> 00:57:35,400
I'm 47 next week, yeah.
Really no way.

929
00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:37,360
OK, happy birthday for next
week.

930
00:57:37,920 --> 00:57:41,440
But again, you know, to anybody
that's listening out there,

931
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:45,280
anything is possible and that's
what I love about you and coming

932
00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:49,600
on because you know, when you
when you started, I mean you

933
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:51,240
said you was at university at
Cardiff.

934
00:57:51,240 --> 00:57:53,080
What was you studying at
university?

935
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:55,880
So is it University of
Glamorgan?

936
00:57:55,880 --> 00:57:58,240
It's not even called that now.
It was so long ago.

937
00:57:58,600 --> 00:58:00,440
It's called University of South
Wales now.

938
00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:04,080
And I studied humanities.
How vague is that?

939
00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:08,720
And so within that I did lots of
different modules of psychology,

940
00:58:08,720 --> 00:58:12,880
philosophy, journalism, script
writing, theatre, media, drama,

941
00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:16,320
arts, administration, like lots
of different things.

942
00:58:16,440 --> 00:58:22,440
And it in my second year, the
beginning of the second year, my

943
00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:25,960
friends started going to looking
for jobs.

944
00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:27,920
We all sort of started looking
for jobs.

945
00:58:27,920 --> 00:58:31,760
And I didn't want to work behind
the bar and I didn't really want

946
00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:35,440
to work in the Cafe.
And I saw someone coming out of

947
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:37,400
the students union with an
application form.

948
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:38,840
And I just said, oh, what's that
for?

949
00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:41,560
And they said, oh, it's for the
NTS crew.

950
00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:45,360
And I said, oh, what's that?
I'll go and see what that's

951
00:58:45,360 --> 00:58:48,080
about then.
And I got this application form

952
00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:52,680
and filled it.
Yeah, filled it out and was on

953
00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:56,240
the end screw, which was
basically can't remember how

954
00:58:56,280 --> 00:58:58,080
many of us, probably six of us
or something.

955
00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:02,960
And they had some really great
bands played, played at the

956
00:59:02,960 --> 00:59:06,920
Students Union.
Then, yeah, I would load bands

957
00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:12,400
in and we'd help set up the PA
and whatever else was needed,

958
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:18,520
you know, and during the show,
we did front stage security

959
00:59:18,520 --> 00:59:24,280
during the show, which is kind
of wild, you know, catching

960
00:59:24,280 --> 00:59:26,240
crowd surfers and stuff like
that.

961
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:28,720
I mean, yeah, it's kind of
bonkers, really.

962
00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:32,560
And then, you know, the Summer
Balls would happen and we have

963
00:59:32,560 --> 00:59:34,320
quite an extensive crew for
that.

964
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:38,560
And then put me in stage manager
on Summer Ball and yeah, you

965
00:59:38,560 --> 00:59:42,760
know, just talking to people and
trying to figure out.

966
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:50,000
When you was at university, had
you imagine doing what you're

967
00:59:50,000 --> 00:59:53,240
doing, what you've done
throughout your life, or was it

968
00:59:53,280 --> 00:59:57,280
the fact that this student union
guy came up candid you a leaflet

969
00:59:57,480 --> 01:00:01,200
and that's how you fell into the
you saw, you saw the other side

970
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:05,560
basically.
Yeah, I mean, I, I like doing

971
01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:10,560
physical things.
You know, I'm, I'm sort of, you

972
01:00:10,560 --> 01:00:14,320
know, I like lifting and
shifting stuff, which is

973
01:00:14,320 --> 01:00:18,040
probably just as well.
And, you know, I like the fact

974
01:00:18,040 --> 01:00:22,840
that I was able to be amongst
that night out and get paid for

975
01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:29,360
it and not, you know, get paid
for it, Not feel, you know, like

976
01:00:29,360 --> 01:00:30,960
I didn't feel like I was missing
out.

977
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:33,400
You know, my friends would come
out to the nights at the

978
01:00:33,400 --> 01:00:36,440
students union and drinking and
getting drunk.

979
01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:38,800
And don't get me wrong, I did my
fair share of that, but

980
01:00:38,800 --> 01:00:40,040
obviously not when I was
working.

981
01:00:40,320 --> 01:00:44,840
But it was a great, great time
to, you know, see, hear those

982
01:00:44,840 --> 01:00:49,280
bands, see those bands and, and
like I say, get paid for it.

983
01:00:49,280 --> 01:00:52,480
And I remember thinking, oh, I'd
love to see the world and get

984
01:00:52,480 --> 01:00:57,000
paid for it.
But that time, I think that used

985
01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:00,760
to mean joining the army or, you
know, you see that on those

986
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:04,440
adverts, then you see the world.
And I, I never, no, I didn't

987
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:09,040
really ever dream that I would
end up doing this even even

988
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:11,400
really in, in sort of my 20s and
stuff.

989
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:19,240
When I left university, I for my
arts administration module, we

990
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:26,360
had to get work experience and I
was already doing some local

991
01:01:26,360 --> 01:01:29,600
crew work in the coal exchange
in Cardiff Bay.

992
01:01:29,760 --> 01:01:35,440
And so I was that was through
the guy who was the ents manager

993
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:39,560
at the, it's all very strange.
It's just like this whole path.

994
01:01:39,560 --> 01:01:43,840
It's the guy Pablo as the hence
manager at the at the

995
01:01:43,840 --> 01:01:46,200
university.
And he would also do a bit of

996
01:01:46,200 --> 01:01:50,200
local promoting on the side in
Cardiff and he would put gigs on

997
01:01:50,600 --> 01:01:53,280
through the coal at the Coal
Exchange in Cardiff Bay.

998
01:01:53,280 --> 01:01:56,240
It's a beautiful thousand
capacity venue.

999
01:01:56,240 --> 01:01:59,520
It used to be the Stock Exchange
for Wales where the 1st

1000
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:02,800
$1,000,000 check was signed.
It's a hotel now.

1001
01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:09,520
But yeah, it was this awesome
venue and I got some work doing

1002
01:02:10,800 --> 01:02:15,560
office stuff, admin stuff for
the for the events that they

1003
01:02:15,560 --> 01:02:20,640
held there.
And so on days when they had

1004
01:02:20,640 --> 01:02:26,520
bands playing, it would get sort
of two 3:00 load in time and I

1005
01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:30,920
would go and get changed out of
my office attire and stick my

1006
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:35,640
boots on and my shorts and
T-shirt and go and load in the

1007
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:39,120
PA and help load in the band and
then go into gig mode.

1008
01:02:39,120 --> 01:02:42,880
So sort of that split role
again, I suppose, I suppose like

1009
01:02:42,920 --> 01:02:46,440
I was doing on else.
And yeah, so I worked and then I

1010
01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:51,920
ended up they, they ended up
giving me a job doing the office

1011
01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:53,880
stuff and being an events
manager there.

1012
01:02:54,240 --> 01:02:55,760
So I was there for a couple of
years.

1013
01:02:56,800 --> 01:02:59,440
That's the.
The event thing just carried on

1014
01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:01,240
really.
Yeah, because you've always

1015
01:03:01,240 --> 01:03:04,880
done, even when you've come back
from tours, you've always done.

1016
01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:08,640
I mean, I've got to mention this
because this is, I mean, I

1017
01:03:08,640 --> 01:03:11,640
remember seeing again a photo of
you, but the elf, the Christmas

1018
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:13,600
elf, I mean, you really will do
anything.

1019
01:03:14,240 --> 01:03:16,800
Really.
I really will do anything pretty

1020
01:03:16,960 --> 01:03:21,600
much as long as it's legal.
I mean, yeah, I did.

1021
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:28,320
So between tours I needed to
find work or I wanted to find

1022
01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:30,000
work.
You never know when the next

1023
01:03:30,640 --> 01:03:33,760
tour is going to or the
opportunity is going to arise.

1024
01:03:34,080 --> 01:03:36,640
You can hustle for it as much as
you want, but unless there's an

1025
01:03:36,640 --> 01:03:39,600
opening for it, especially doing
VIP, which is usually, like I

1026
01:03:39,600 --> 01:03:43,200
said before, like one or two
people, you know, it's not like

1027
01:03:43,520 --> 01:03:47,720
on a video crew where they might
put 8-9 people on a crew.

1028
01:03:47,720 --> 01:03:50,320
You know, there's obviously a
lot more opportunity for, for

1029
01:03:50,320 --> 01:03:55,200
work.
So yeah, I, I found the world of

1030
01:03:55,680 --> 01:04:00,360
experiential marketing and
promotions and just a world that

1031
01:04:00,360 --> 01:04:04,240
I never even knew existed.
But you know, if you've ever

1032
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:06,240
walked down the street and
somebody's tried to hand you

1033
01:04:06,240 --> 01:04:10,040
something free like a can of
coke or I don't know.

1034
01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:13,520
In my.
Case it could have been me.

1035
01:04:13,520 --> 01:04:16,600
Yeah, yeah, we.
I've done some really bizarre

1036
01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:20,920
like pickle anyone just you've
just finished a Tough Mudder.

1037
01:04:20,920 --> 01:04:24,240
Would you like some Hayward's
Pickles on this piece of cheese?

1038
01:04:24,520 --> 01:04:26,200
Yeah.
And I did 2.

1039
01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:31,040
I did two seasons as an elf in
Manchester.

1040
01:04:32,080 --> 01:04:35,800
There it is, but with your face.
Seriously, Come on.

1041
01:04:37,720 --> 01:04:40,760
So, yeah, I was at Cabin Elf for
the first season, pretty much in

1042
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:44,720
the second season, I was, I call
it clipboard elf, but I was

1043
01:04:44,720 --> 01:04:47,000
basically on the, on the main
front door.

1044
01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:51,680
And we all had nicknames so that
we could speak to each other

1045
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:54,960
freely, you know, without the,
you know, breaking the magic.

1046
01:04:55,400 --> 01:05:00,760
Yeah, there was all sorts of
strange snowy, of course.

1047
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:03,440
Snowy.
Elf snowy.

1048
01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:06,160
Elf Snowy.
But yeah, there was like

1049
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:10,240
marshmallow and toffee apple and
Cracker Jack and all different

1050
01:05:10,240 --> 01:05:11,760
sorts.
And, and actually, even to this

1051
01:05:11,760 --> 01:05:14,200
day, I, I don't know some of
these people's real names.

1052
01:05:14,200 --> 01:05:15,760
I just know them as their elf
name.

1053
01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:21,040
So what was your address?
What's that?

1054
01:05:21,520 --> 01:05:25,720
What was your first tour Your.
First name.

1055
01:05:25,720 --> 01:05:31,720
So, OK, well, in 2011, I went
freelance, I've been working for

1056
01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:35,360
the Welsh Government as a
strategy manager for the

1057
01:05:35,360 --> 01:05:41,800
creative industries and I took
voluntary redundancy from that.

1058
01:05:43,800 --> 01:05:46,840
Everything just took too long.
Everything, you know, you're

1059
01:05:46,840 --> 01:05:49,360
trying to represent these
companies and, and provide,

1060
01:05:51,680 --> 01:05:55,160
provide things for these
companies and so that they can

1061
01:05:55,160 --> 01:05:57,680
take advantage of opportunities
as they arise.

1062
01:05:57,680 --> 01:06:01,920
And the machinery of a public
sector organization like that,

1063
01:06:01,920 --> 01:06:04,400
it's just too slow, it doesn't
react quickly enough.

1064
01:06:04,400 --> 01:06:05,720
So they would miss
opportunities.

1065
01:06:05,720 --> 01:06:10,320
And it just became, I never was
able to see like the fruits of

1066
01:06:10,320 --> 01:06:14,880
our labour, if that makes sense,
you know, So that's why I like

1067
01:06:14,880 --> 01:06:17,000
doing events, you know, you've
got a beginning, a middle and an

1068
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:19,040
end and you get to see it all
come to fruition.

1069
01:06:19,120 --> 01:06:20,320
Move on.
Next one.

1070
01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:23,160
So it's quite funny that I was
doing strategy, which is

1071
01:06:23,160 --> 01:06:25,720
obviously the longer term,
longer term vision.

1072
01:06:25,880 --> 01:06:27,880
Yeah.
So I took voluntary redundancy

1073
01:06:27,880 --> 01:06:30,720
from that and decided that I was
going to be a tour manager and I

1074
01:06:30,720 --> 01:06:32,880
was going to set myself up as a
tour manager.

1075
01:06:32,880 --> 01:06:36,200
And then I quickly found that
the first people, first question

1076
01:06:36,200 --> 01:06:38,280
people ask you is who else to be
tour managed?

1077
01:06:38,320 --> 01:06:42,240
And I was like no one yet, but I
can do it.

1078
01:06:42,440 --> 01:06:48,720
I can do it.
Anyway, I was putting myself out

1079
01:06:48,720 --> 01:06:51,880
there on sort of social media
and I did the whole thing on my

1080
01:06:51,960 --> 01:06:56,760
business cards printed and this
whole thing getting set up.

1081
01:06:56,760 --> 01:07:02,360
My goodness, how nice.
Anyway, this local Welsh label

1082
01:07:03,840 --> 01:07:10,320
in Cardiff called Angst, there
was a guy there that I knew

1083
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:13,160
from, you know, working with
Welsh bands throughout my time

1084
01:07:13,160 --> 01:07:17,320
in Welsh government.
And also I used to work at the

1085
01:07:17,320 --> 01:07:19,400
Bath Line.
I used to work, you know, all

1086
01:07:19,400 --> 01:07:22,720
these different places.
So, you know, it is kind of,

1087
01:07:22,920 --> 01:07:25,600
well, for me, it's who, who, who
I knew, really.

1088
01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:29,000
And he got in touch and said, I
see you, you're a tour manager

1089
01:07:29,000 --> 01:07:31,840
now.
He said, well, we've got a van

1090
01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:33,920
that needs picking up from an
airport.

1091
01:07:34,080 --> 01:07:36,240
Have you got a driving license?
And I was like, Oh yeah, I've

1092
01:07:36,240 --> 01:07:38,200
got a driving license, right.
OK.

1093
01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:41,920
Well, we've got this van that we
need drive, we need a driver and

1094
01:07:42,200 --> 01:07:46,040
we need merchandise.
Seller actually does seller

1095
01:07:47,000 --> 01:07:51,600
actually just just for that.
I'd done a, I'd done a Christmas

1096
01:07:51,600 --> 01:07:54,720
tour with a Welsh choir called
Only Men Aloud, who I think came

1097
01:07:54,720 --> 01:07:57,320
second in like Britain's Got
Talent way back when.

1098
01:07:57,600 --> 01:08:01,880
And I sold their merchandise and
we travelled all around the UK

1099
01:08:01,880 --> 01:08:05,520
playing different arenas and,
and it was a Christmas tour.

1100
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:09,000
And so I used to wear like this
Christmas hat and a red dress

1101
01:08:09,040 --> 01:08:13,200
and like sell their merchandise.
I mean, it was absolutely cringe

1102
01:08:13,200 --> 01:08:14,920
when I think about it.
And they, these were all my

1103
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:17,279
decisions.
These are my choices to do that

1104
01:08:17,279 --> 01:08:20,040
because I felt hilarious, you
know?

1105
01:08:20,359 --> 01:08:22,040
But it's Christmas tour, let's
dress up, right?

1106
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:25,080
Let's be Christmas.
So anyway, I'd had a bit of

1107
01:08:25,080 --> 01:08:28,319
experience in doing merchandise
from that, I guess.

1108
01:08:28,600 --> 01:08:31,200
Yeah.
And so they this company Angst

1109
01:08:31,200 --> 01:08:36,359
took me on to look after the
merch and to drive an American

1110
01:08:36,359 --> 01:08:43,080
band called Perfume Genius.
So tour manager to split a van

1111
01:08:43,200 --> 01:08:45,640
driver.
Watch yeah.

1112
01:08:45,640 --> 01:08:50,000
And occasionally, like during
festival season, the same

1113
01:08:50,479 --> 01:08:55,080
company Angst had a band called
Islet and they had a band called

1114
01:08:55,080 --> 01:08:58,760
Los Campesinos that they worked
with.

1115
01:08:58,760 --> 01:09:05,880
And so they would trust entrust
me to to drive and sort of look

1116
01:09:05,880 --> 01:09:09,000
after their requirements.
I suppose that I mean to say I

1117
01:09:09,000 --> 01:09:12,040
was a tour manager is probably
pushing it some in in those.

1118
01:09:12,040 --> 01:09:16,680
Respects I mean I would love
that you know you you you put it

1119
01:09:16,720 --> 01:09:20,920
out there you spoke to the
universe and again you got the

1120
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:24,439
work and you know just because
you did the business card I mean

1121
01:09:24,560 --> 01:09:27,240
the.
Thing is, it sounds like I'm a

1122
01:09:27,240 --> 01:09:30,080
Blogger, which actually couldn't
be the furthest from the truth.

1123
01:09:30,279 --> 01:09:36,600
The truth is that I didn't
really know what I wanted to be

1124
01:09:36,600 --> 01:09:42,080
or do.
And the thing that I get asked a

1125
01:09:42,080 --> 01:09:44,840
lot by local crew were like, oh,
how did you get into this?

1126
01:09:44,840 --> 01:09:47,760
How do I, you know, and what do
I need to do?

1127
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:51,960
And oh, I want to work in music
and I'm always like, well, what

1128
01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:57,440
Bit like you need to get a bit
specific because there are so

1129
01:09:57,440 --> 01:10:00,560
many different roles that you
can do.

1130
01:10:01,000 --> 01:10:05,240
And I just think just try and do
the one that you enjoy the most

1131
01:10:06,440 --> 01:10:09,800
when you stop enjoying it and do
something else.

1132
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:13,560
Yeah, well, I was just going to
say that that's one thing that I

1133
01:10:13,560 --> 01:10:15,240
know of.
Like for you, I'm going to read

1134
01:10:15,240 --> 01:10:16,600
something at the end.
I want to read something at the

1135
01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:18,560
end.
But you know, if you're not

1136
01:10:18,560 --> 01:10:22,320
enjoying it, change it.
So give an advice to somebody by

1137
01:10:22,320 --> 01:10:25,920
saying, you know, concentrate on
one thing, kind of like

1138
01:10:25,920 --> 01:10:32,680
contradicts, you know, because.
Yeah.

1139
01:10:32,680 --> 01:10:35,200
I mean look for the
opportunities at the same time.

1140
01:10:36,040 --> 01:10:41,280
Yeah, it's so I was.
About, yeah.

1141
01:10:41,720 --> 01:10:45,000
Absolutely take it.
You know that that that has

1142
01:10:45,000 --> 01:10:47,840
actually been my life as well,
you know, certain things and

1143
01:10:47,840 --> 01:10:52,880
never once even for ACV, like I
think I've had ACV once, you

1144
01:10:52,880 --> 01:10:57,800
know, like it's all been word of
mouth and going into a different

1145
01:10:57,800 --> 01:11:01,200
Ave. going into something here.
You know, obviously you've had

1146
01:11:01,200 --> 01:11:04,840
skill set, but it's like it's
still it's other people giving

1147
01:11:04,840 --> 01:11:06,960
you opportunities as well.
So.

1148
01:11:07,800 --> 01:11:09,840
Yeah.
And if you're if you've ever

1149
01:11:09,840 --> 01:11:14,080
been one of those people who's
taken a risk on someone, taking

1150
01:11:14,080 --> 01:11:16,160
a chance on someone and thank
you and to.

1151
01:11:17,760 --> 01:11:19,760
Those people thank you for me
too on that one.

1152
01:11:19,840 --> 01:11:20,760
Yeah.
Thank you.

1153
01:11:21,560 --> 01:11:25,280
Because sometimes you don't get
the best out of somebody by

1154
01:11:25,760 --> 01:11:28,760
sitting them down in a formal
interview situation.

1155
01:11:28,760 --> 01:11:31,080
And sometimes you just need to
see what they can do.

1156
01:11:31,080 --> 01:11:36,360
And sometimes it's sink or swim.
I mean, this is kind of how I

1157
01:11:36,360 --> 01:11:42,160
got into the bigger echelons of
touring in terms of like arenas

1158
01:11:42,160 --> 01:11:45,000
and larger artists.
Was that?

1159
01:11:45,800 --> 01:11:49,680
So I'd been touring with Perfume
Genius on and off for a few

1160
01:11:49,680 --> 01:11:52,800
years and that was lovely.
I drive the Splitter van.

1161
01:11:53,040 --> 01:11:57,800
The first time I ever drove a
van was on the wrong side of the

1162
01:11:57,800 --> 01:11:59,680
road.
That was also the first time I'd

1163
01:11:59,680 --> 01:12:01,120
ever driven on the wrong side of
the road.

1164
01:12:01,120 --> 01:12:04,600
I went and picked the van up
from Tiger Tours in Wembley was

1165
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,880
like, Oh my goodness, it was a,
you know, a right wheel, right

1166
01:12:07,880 --> 01:12:11,600
hand drive British vehicle.
And then we were going on this

1167
01:12:11,600 --> 01:12:14,520
European Tour and I'd never
driven on the opposite side of

1168
01:12:14,520 --> 01:12:17,880
the road in my life.
And I thought, well, it's now or

1169
01:12:17,880 --> 01:12:19,520
never.
And you've got to kind of,

1170
01:12:19,600 --> 01:12:21,880
you've got these people, you've
got responsibility, you've got

1171
01:12:21,880 --> 01:12:24,240
to get on with it.
So put your big girl pants on

1172
01:12:24,240 --> 01:12:28,760
and get on with it.
And and so I did.

1173
01:12:28,840 --> 01:12:32,440
And with the thanks to to their
tour manager slash sound

1174
01:12:32,440 --> 01:12:35,240
engineer Dan.
Yeah, he sort of gave me lots of

1175
01:12:35,240 --> 01:12:38,680
he was so patient and so
encouraging and would help me

1176
01:12:38,680 --> 01:12:42,400
park and, you know, all these
kinds of things showed me how

1177
01:12:42,400 --> 01:12:45,080
to, you know, manoeuvre the
vehicle and get into the

1178
01:12:45,080 --> 01:12:49,360
tightest of spaces just like
unreal things that I never would

1179
01:12:49,360 --> 01:12:52,600
have thought was possible.
He showed me that that that was

1180
01:12:52,600 --> 01:12:54,960
possible.
And the band were were awesome.

1181
01:12:54,960 --> 01:12:56,120
Still are awesome.
Still in.

1182
01:12:56,520 --> 01:12:58,520
Touch.
Yeah, basically still in touch.

1183
01:12:58,640 --> 01:13:00,120
Yeah.
I mean, they're shoot, they're

1184
01:13:00,280 --> 01:13:02,080
going on.
That's a much bigger, bigger,

1185
01:13:02,080 --> 01:13:04,400
better things.
Well, you know, incredible

1186
01:13:04,400 --> 01:13:06,680
growth as a band.
And yeah.

1187
01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:11,560
So basically I had a phone call
one evening from a friend of

1188
01:13:11,560 --> 01:13:16,600
mine, Carlina, who said of you,
are you still looking for work?

1189
01:13:17,160 --> 01:13:20,320
And I was like, yeah, yeah,
always looking for work.

1190
01:13:20,320 --> 01:13:21,600
Why?
And she said, well, because,

1191
01:13:22,320 --> 01:13:26,080
well, I've been asked to go out
on this massive tour and I can't

1192
01:13:26,400 --> 01:13:29,920
can't tell you who it is, but
basically I've just started

1193
01:13:29,920 --> 01:13:33,600
doing work for VIP Nation, which
is part of Live Nation.

1194
01:13:33,600 --> 01:13:38,800
And so I've just told them that
I won't be available to do any

1195
01:13:38,800 --> 01:13:41,160
more work with them.
For one, I think they're a bit

1196
01:13:41,160 --> 01:13:43,360
peed off.
So I wondered if that would be

1197
01:13:43,360 --> 01:13:44,880
something you'd be interested
in.

1198
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:47,760
I was like, yeah, yeah, sure, no
problem.

1199
01:13:48,480 --> 01:13:54,520
Who do I speak to?
So she put me in touch and I

1200
01:13:54,520 --> 01:13:56,680
went, and I was living in
Manchester at the time.

1201
01:13:56,680 --> 01:13:59,760
And they said, oh, we're doing
the Madonna show at the

1202
01:14:00,360 --> 01:14:03,120
Manchester Arena.
Would you like to come and be

1203
01:14:03,480 --> 01:14:06,360
AVIP assistant and then you can
like, sort of see what's

1204
01:14:06,360 --> 01:14:08,760
involved and stuff.
So like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1205
01:14:08,760 --> 01:14:11,680
Great.
So I went along and did that and

1206
01:14:11,680 --> 01:14:16,640
met, met their event manager and
their VIP manager.

1207
01:14:17,560 --> 01:14:20,840
And she sort of said, oh, you
know, if you're ever in London

1208
01:14:20,840 --> 01:14:23,600
passing, you know, come into the
office or a cup of tea, be

1209
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:26,080
lovely to see you.
So I was like, OK, great.

1210
01:14:26,400 --> 01:14:29,600
Next week.
Well, this was like November

1211
01:14:30,720 --> 01:14:35,120
2015.
And I was like, OK, that's

1212
01:14:35,120 --> 01:14:39,720
great.
Didn't really think much more

1213
01:14:39,720 --> 01:14:43,920
about it until it got to the new
year and I didn't have anything

1214
01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:46,240
in my diary.
And I was like, what am I going

1215
01:14:46,240 --> 01:14:50,560
to do?
So I sent an e-mail to this

1216
01:14:50,560 --> 01:14:54,120
person and I just said I'm going
to be in London in the next

1217
01:14:54,120 --> 01:14:56,840
couple of weeks.
And I wondered if I could pop in

1218
01:14:56,840 --> 01:14:58,200
and have that cup of tea with
you.

1219
01:14:58,200 --> 01:15:00,360
Yeah, this is great.
Well, let me see if a couple of

1220
01:15:00,360 --> 01:15:04,640
other people are available.
And so they sort of, I still

1221
01:15:04,640 --> 01:15:07,920
just thought I was going in for
a cup of tea, right.

1222
01:15:08,880 --> 01:15:12,480
This was the only reason I got
on the mega bus and I, which for

1223
01:15:12,480 --> 01:15:14,920
those of you don't know is a
pound to traffic.

1224
01:15:15,200 --> 01:15:20,120
Or used to be.
Double Decker, is it?

1225
01:15:20,160 --> 01:15:23,080
Oh my God, this double Decker
Bone shaker from Cardiff to

1226
01:15:23,080 --> 01:15:27,040
London.
And then I went for the day and

1227
01:15:27,040 --> 01:15:29,720
went in for this cup of tea and
we were there for like 20

1228
01:15:29,720 --> 01:15:31,240
minutes and I met all these
people.

1229
01:15:31,240 --> 01:15:33,680
And then I sort of realized that
we were having this.

1230
01:15:34,120 --> 01:15:38,640
You were asking me these quest
like questions about it was an

1231
01:15:38,640 --> 01:15:40,960
interview, but a really informal
thing.

1232
01:15:42,000 --> 01:15:44,320
And I went away.
I think that was kind of odd,

1233
01:15:44,320 --> 01:15:46,960
but I don't know what's.
That was worth found.

1234
01:15:47,920 --> 01:15:50,120
Yeah, yeah.
It was lovely to see my friend

1235
01:15:50,640 --> 01:15:53,520
and you know, this lady.
And that was great.

1236
01:15:53,520 --> 01:15:57,280
And then four days later, they
contacted me and offered me the

1237
01:15:57,280 --> 01:16:01,880
Mariah Carey tour, which was
seven weeks around Europe, UK

1238
01:16:01,880 --> 01:16:05,840
and South Africa, looking after
her meet and greets and the VIP

1239
01:16:05,920 --> 01:16:09,120
packages.
And I was like, right, here we

1240
01:16:09,120 --> 01:16:11,440
go.
Then another chapter begins.

1241
01:16:12,440 --> 01:16:14,560
So.
Say again, amazing.

1242
01:16:14,560 --> 01:16:17,880
Like, you know, just because
you're proactive, I'm like, I'm

1243
01:16:17,880 --> 01:16:19,800
going to be in London.
It's the kind of thing I'd do as

1244
01:16:19,800 --> 01:16:21,760
well.
Like I'm just in London.

1245
01:16:21,760 --> 01:16:24,480
I'm not actually like I'm still
in Greece, but I I can get there

1246
01:16:24,480 --> 01:16:26,360
if you say yes.
Yeah.

1247
01:16:26,640 --> 01:16:29,680
Yeah, exactly.
And then again, and now another.

1248
01:16:29,680 --> 01:16:33,600
So then from Mariah Carey.
What?

1249
01:16:33,920 --> 01:16:38,040
Led you to the next door.
Well, just more or you can just

1250
01:16:38,520 --> 01:16:43,240
through VIP nation then.
Yeah, so through them I did lots

1251
01:16:43,240 --> 01:16:47,000
of different tours then so with
lots of different VIP packages.

1252
01:16:47,000 --> 01:16:50,720
So I got to understand, you
know, all the different elements

1253
01:16:50,720 --> 01:16:54,080
of of those are more challenging
than others.

1254
01:16:54,080 --> 01:16:57,960
So you know, Avenged Sevenfold
where fans were literally inside

1255
01:16:57,960 --> 01:17:01,320
the stage and sort of these
sunken pits and had to figure

1256
01:17:01,320 --> 01:17:07,160
that out with the stage manager
and the the crew, you know, the

1257
01:17:07,160 --> 01:17:11,720
production manager, etcetera.
And did 5 Seconds of Summer

1258
01:17:11,720 --> 01:17:15,000
where the band were being asked
questions by the audience.

1259
01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:21,840
And it was quite a young crowd.
And we do 500 for early entry.

1260
01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:26,120
And those kind of acts, you
know, the the people that come

1261
01:17:26,120 --> 01:17:29,000
to see them fairly young, they
tend to be anyway.

1262
01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:32,320
And they queue up all through
the night and they get their

1263
01:17:32,360 --> 01:17:35,160
position at the barrier and they
start writing numbers on their

1264
01:17:35,160 --> 01:17:38,000
hands and all this and they
don't lose their place in the

1265
01:17:38,000 --> 01:17:39,880
queue.
And I understood how important

1266
01:17:39,880 --> 01:17:42,520
that was to them, right?
They don't want to lose their

1267
01:17:42,520 --> 01:17:45,560
place in the queue.
But I also didn't really want to

1268
01:17:45,560 --> 01:17:50,600
go by their hand marking system
because some were involved in

1269
01:17:50,600 --> 01:17:52,800
that and some weren't.
And I didn't really think that

1270
01:17:52,800 --> 01:17:57,480
was fair.
I basically had wristbands and I

1271
01:17:57,480 --> 01:18:03,400
would number the wristbands 1 to
500 when we opened for the early

1272
01:18:03,400 --> 01:18:05,320
entry and give them all their
wristband.

1273
01:18:05,320 --> 01:18:07,680
I would go down the queue
beforehand, make sure everyone

1274
01:18:07,680 --> 01:18:11,600
was OK, welfare check them along
with the stewards and venues and

1275
01:18:11,600 --> 01:18:14,480
stuff and just explain to them
that it didn't matter what

1276
01:18:14,720 --> 01:18:17,080
number was written on their
hand, it was the number that was

1277
01:18:17,080 --> 01:18:20,600
on their wristband that would
would count as their place in

1278
01:18:20,600 --> 01:18:22,680
the queue.
And so we'd get them all in.

1279
01:18:22,680 --> 01:18:25,720
They'd have their sound check
experience, but due to the rules

1280
01:18:25,720 --> 01:18:27,600
and regulations of a lot of
venues, that meant that they

1281
01:18:27,600 --> 01:18:31,520
then had to go back outside or
queue up again.

1282
01:18:32,400 --> 01:18:34,640
And obviously then they've lost
their position.

1283
01:18:35,000 --> 01:18:40,760
So I would get them re queued
back up in their order of 500.

1284
01:18:40,760 --> 01:18:44,360
So if you've ever tried to queue
up 500 people in order of

1285
01:18:44,360 --> 01:18:50,160
numbers.
So I used to stand on a chair

1286
01:18:50,160 --> 01:18:55,040
and like say, OK, one to 10 over
here, like 10 to 20 over here

1287
01:18:55,040 --> 01:18:57,240
and then like, yeah, go through
the queue.

1288
01:18:57,240 --> 01:19:00,800
But they appreciated it.
They appreciated the fairness

1289
01:19:02,480 --> 01:19:03,640
camping.
Out all night.

1290
01:19:03,640 --> 01:19:05,920
And they do.
And they do.

1291
01:19:05,960 --> 01:19:08,440
And you know, you just got to
put yourself in their position

1292
01:19:08,440 --> 01:19:12,280
as a 15 year old or a 14 year
old, you know, and they were

1293
01:19:12,280 --> 01:19:14,280
really sweet.
They were really, really sweet.

1294
01:19:14,280 --> 01:19:16,200
But again, you didn't have to
care, you could have.

1295
01:19:16,200 --> 01:19:18,280
Just said I didn't have to care.
No, I didn't.

1296
01:19:18,280 --> 01:19:21,520
I didn't have to care no at all.
But I did.

1297
01:19:21,520 --> 01:19:25,000
I always did care about the fan
experience, and I think that's

1298
01:19:26,320 --> 01:19:30,000
was ultimately really my
downfall in some ways, because

1299
01:19:30,280 --> 01:19:36,400
sometimes you feel like it's not
the value for money that you

1300
01:19:36,400 --> 01:19:40,480
would expect.
You know, they could be very

1301
01:19:40,680 --> 01:19:45,960
happy with what they've got.
But me personally, I would think

1302
01:19:45,960 --> 01:19:49,880
that, you know, maybe I'd like
to try and take care of people

1303
01:19:50,040 --> 01:19:52,840
anyway.
So yeah, so I did.

1304
01:19:53,080 --> 01:19:55,760
Also.
Paul Rogers Avenged Sevenfold 5

1305
01:19:55,760 --> 01:19:59,360
Seconds of Summer Coldplay,
which was so.

1306
01:19:59,440 --> 01:20:00,960
Good, I bought this for you
today.

1307
01:20:00,960 --> 01:20:03,920
The cold thank.
You, I did notice, yeah.

1308
01:20:04,080 --> 01:20:06,040
Yeah.
You know the Coldplay is.

1309
01:20:06,600 --> 01:20:09,040
A. 1000 people.
Load of everything now, but I

1310
01:20:09,040 --> 01:20:10,720
was like yeah, where is the
flair?

1311
01:20:13,000 --> 01:20:14,640
I love it.
For anybody that doesn't know,

1312
01:20:14,680 --> 01:20:16,960
this is the Coldplay swag that
was given.

1313
01:20:17,160 --> 01:20:18,960
I missed the swag.
I missed the swag.

1314
01:20:19,760 --> 01:20:23,160
So much swag, so much swag.
They had to give us a bag to put

1315
01:20:23,160 --> 01:20:27,640
all the swag in.
Yeah, but real good times.

1316
01:20:27,640 --> 01:20:31,040
Real, real good people.
And even now, I mean, I watched.

1317
01:20:32,200 --> 01:20:36,720
I wasn't a Coldplay fan before I
started working on that tour.

1318
01:20:36,760 --> 01:20:39,600
Honestly, I bought the first
album I saw them in Chloe for

1319
01:20:39,600 --> 01:20:43,840
back when they first came out
with Shivers and Yellow, and

1320
01:20:43,840 --> 01:20:48,480
that was pretty much as far as
my liking for them started and

1321
01:20:48,480 --> 01:20:50,400
ended.
And then I did that tour and it

1322
01:20:50,400 --> 01:20:52,920
was just incredible.
It was.

1323
01:20:53,280 --> 01:20:56,200
Just incredible.
You remember Sal, do you

1324
01:20:57,320 --> 01:21:00,280
remember Sal?
So Sal blessed she sent me a

1325
01:21:00,280 --> 01:21:02,480
video because she knows I like
out of everything.

1326
01:21:02,480 --> 01:21:04,080
Like I've always loved the song
yellow.

1327
01:21:04,640 --> 01:21:08,280
And anyways, literally yesterday
she'd sent me a video of her

1328
01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:12,160
walking like backstage and him
and Chris Martin playing yellow.

1329
01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:14,600
And I was like, ow.
And she knows like it's just

1330
01:21:14,600 --> 01:21:16,560
like a it's a special song for
me.

1331
01:21:16,800 --> 01:21:20,680
So every time, especially after
a hard day, I'd go out and

1332
01:21:20,920 --> 01:21:23,160
yellow would come on.
I would often have like a tear

1333
01:21:23,160 --> 01:21:25,240
in my eye, you know, like that
tired tear.

1334
01:21:25,240 --> 01:21:27,960
And I'd be like, I love this
song and I'm hearing it, all

1335
01:21:28,400 --> 01:21:32,080
these people.
Yeah, yeah, it's mad.

1336
01:21:32,280 --> 01:21:34,840
And it's mad how?
God, yeah.

1337
01:21:34,840 --> 01:21:38,000
Crouching down at the front of
the barrier and just feeling,

1338
01:21:38,360 --> 01:21:41,920
you know, when just feeling like
that additional part of the

1339
01:21:41,920 --> 01:21:45,600
show, you know as well, just
just such brilliant memories.

1340
01:21:46,120 --> 01:21:47,480
I was going.
To say I'm going to explain this

1341
01:21:47,600 --> 01:21:49,400
now.
So the balloon part were these

1342
01:21:49,400 --> 01:21:53,120
huge, huge balloons that were
blown up by Paul Trainer, who I

1343
01:21:53,120 --> 01:21:54,920
believe now is the stage
manager, isn't he?

1344
01:21:56,080 --> 01:21:59,600
Which is awesome.
So anyway, he would block like

1345
01:21:59,600 --> 01:22:02,120
everyone would block these big
balloons and he would need

1346
01:22:02,120 --> 01:22:04,160
people.
You could only carry one in one

1347
01:22:04,160 --> 01:22:08,480
hand, one in another and you'd
walk down and literally the the

1348
01:22:08,680 --> 01:22:11,440
side of the stage wasn't it like
was below the stage?

1349
01:22:11,440 --> 01:22:16,000
So the banger on the stage, and
I can't remember the song, the

1350
01:22:16,000 --> 01:22:18,160
last song, but you would
basically you've got adventures.

1351
01:22:18,360 --> 01:22:20,600
Of a lifetime or something like
that maybe?

1352
01:22:21,000 --> 01:22:23,840
Everybody get down.
So the whole stadium, everyone

1353
01:22:23,840 --> 01:22:26,680
would get down, we would get
down and then it would go.

1354
01:22:26,720 --> 01:22:29,720
Then the music would hit back up
again and we'd jump up with the

1355
01:22:29,720 --> 01:22:32,320
balloons and then all the
balloons would be released and

1356
01:22:32,320 --> 01:22:36,000
you're like, my God, like
there's the band literally to

1357
01:22:36,000 --> 01:22:37,280
the to touch.
We didn't look.

1358
01:22:37,320 --> 01:22:39,680
That didn't bother me, but just
like that was there.

1359
01:22:40,000 --> 01:22:44,680
But the stadium and every now
and again you're looking at me.

1360
01:22:45,840 --> 01:22:47,920
Yeah, yeah.
Amazing.

1361
01:22:48,080 --> 01:22:53,400
Faces in front of you, they were
like just everyone's so excited.

1362
01:22:53,560 --> 01:22:54,120
Lovely.
Yeah.

1363
01:22:54,600 --> 01:22:56,840
Highlights.
Yeah, it's, it's incredible.

1364
01:22:56,840 --> 01:23:03,040
I was strangely enough, the the
lady who used to be the one of

1365
01:23:03,120 --> 01:23:06,720
the event manager account
managers at VIP Nation, the Live

1366
01:23:06,720 --> 01:23:09,400
Nation Emmy.
She is now the production

1367
01:23:09,400 --> 01:23:13,760
coordinator for Coldplay.
And, yeah, so I was very lucky

1368
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:17,560
last year, myself and Kimmy went
to see them because we crossed

1369
01:23:17,560 --> 01:23:21,520
over that beautiful, fruitful
moment when, you know, the this

1370
01:23:21,960 --> 01:23:25,880
the cloud, the planets align,
and you happen to be in the same

1371
01:23:25,880 --> 01:23:29,160
place as another tour, and you
get to meet up with all your

1372
01:23:29,160 --> 01:23:30,720
buddies again.
Yeah.

1373
01:23:30,720 --> 01:23:34,520
So we went to, I think it was in
Manchester, We went to the

1374
01:23:34,520 --> 01:23:36,480
Coldplay show.
And I just spent the whole time

1375
01:23:36,480 --> 01:23:38,480
crying.
I just was like, you know, so

1376
01:23:38,480 --> 01:23:41,120
overwhelmed by the whole thing.
So absolutely pathetic.

1377
01:23:42,080 --> 01:23:44,240
It's not.
I remember because I think we

1378
01:23:44,240 --> 01:23:47,000
both were leaving, weren't we?
I can't remember where, where,

1379
01:23:47,000 --> 01:23:50,000
where the last leg was now, but
in Europe and everyone was off

1380
01:23:50,000 --> 01:23:56,120
to America on the first time.
And I was so sad, like so sad.

1381
01:23:56,120 --> 01:24:00,360
And I was so and I was like,
seriously, why am I crying?

1382
01:24:00,360 --> 01:24:01,720
Like I'm actually finished work
now.

1383
01:24:01,720 --> 01:24:03,680
I'm like, I miss everybody all.
I know, I know.

1384
01:24:07,600 --> 01:24:11,000
So what would say has been your,
I know this is really hard, but

1385
01:24:11,240 --> 01:24:13,120
what is what would you say has
been your best tour?

1386
01:24:15,840 --> 01:24:21,840
Oh my goodness, every tour.
Every tour is different, good or

1387
01:24:21,840 --> 01:24:24,040
bad, for different reasons.
It's so different.

1388
01:24:24,080 --> 01:24:27,480
I think generally speaking, I
don't care what the music is.

1389
01:24:27,480 --> 01:24:33,480
It's all about the crew and the
relationships you make on that

1390
01:24:33,480 --> 01:24:35,880
tour.
Also, obviously it depends at

1391
01:24:35,880 --> 01:24:40,240
what stage you are in your life
when when tours happen.

1392
01:24:40,920 --> 01:24:47,120
But yeah, I mean, Elton, for the
reasons that, you know, the

1393
01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:49,520
people that I met on that tour
is definitely, you know, the

1394
01:24:49,520 --> 01:24:52,080
longest tour that I've ever been
involved in.

1395
01:24:52,080 --> 01:24:55,520
And, you know, the number of
different jobs I I did on that

1396
01:24:55,520 --> 01:25:00,120
tour allowed me so much, you
know, to meet every single

1397
01:25:00,120 --> 01:25:02,800
person of it.
Another question was going to be

1398
01:25:02,800 --> 01:25:05,600
like one that's impacted you,
but I'm sure actually Elton John

1399
01:25:05,640 --> 01:25:09,000
is the biggest one because of
where you are now and what now

1400
01:25:09,000 --> 01:25:10,280
you've.
Yeah.

1401
01:25:10,280 --> 01:25:15,720
I mean, yeah, it's definitely
been the the one that's had so

1402
01:25:15,720 --> 01:25:18,880
many pivot points coming off of
it, both in terms of, you know,

1403
01:25:19,440 --> 01:25:24,160
friendships that I've made and,
you know, changes changing in,

1404
01:25:25,600 --> 01:25:27,280
you know, career positions and
stuff.

1405
01:25:27,560 --> 01:25:30,320
The crew would always joke that
I was trying to get every go

1406
01:25:30,360 --> 01:25:33,120
work in every department in the
hope that I'd get a set of steak

1407
01:25:33,120 --> 01:25:34,680
knives.
They're like, yeah, she's going

1408
01:25:34,680 --> 01:25:37,480
for the steak knives.
She's she's going to be a lampy

1409
01:25:37,480 --> 01:25:39,520
next week and the following week
it's going to be a car.

1410
01:25:40,080 --> 01:25:41,880
And it's like I'm open to that,
by the way.

1411
01:25:41,880 --> 01:25:47,040
But right now I really want to
give give that video LED a real

1412
01:25:47,040 --> 01:25:49,880
good crack but.
It wasn't.

1413
01:25:49,920 --> 01:25:51,880
So you've done it, Eric Clapton
as well, haven't you?

1414
01:25:52,840 --> 01:25:57,560
Yeah, yeah, We just just
finished Eric Captain that Yeah,

1415
01:25:57,560 --> 01:26:00,120
you.
Haven't just gone into the

1416
01:26:00,120 --> 01:26:04,280
industry slowly, you know, start
off with like something local to

1417
01:26:04,280 --> 01:26:07,760
learn it you've just got.
Yeah, well, you know what as

1418
01:26:07,760 --> 01:26:12,440
well, the the other part of
doing video sometimes can mean

1419
01:26:12,440 --> 01:26:15,160
that you're asked to run a
camera during the show.

1420
01:26:15,680 --> 01:26:21,120
And, and I'd never even thought
that that was even going to be

1421
01:26:22,400 --> 01:26:25,840
asked of me because of how
little experience or zero

1422
01:26:25,840 --> 01:26:30,880
experience I'd had.
But on on Peter Gabriel, I was

1423
01:26:30,880 --> 01:26:33,520
given the opportunity to run a
long lens, which is sort of

1424
01:26:34,120 --> 01:26:37,400
maybe it's sort of seen as like
the safety, the safety shocks

1425
01:26:37,400 --> 01:26:41,920
you're, you're further away.
You know, I was Ed Coleman, the

1426
01:26:41,920 --> 01:26:45,000
the director on that.
Thanks, Ed.

1427
01:26:45,040 --> 01:26:48,080
He sort of trusted me to, to do
the long lens.

1428
01:26:48,080 --> 01:26:52,520
And it was like, OK, so you are
basically going to be focused on

1429
01:26:52,520 --> 01:26:55,400
Peter Gabriel.
And I was like, what?

1430
01:26:55,400 --> 01:26:57,920
You're putting me on the main
part.

1431
01:26:57,920 --> 01:27:00,280
I don't think you understand.
No, I've not done this before.

1432
01:27:00,280 --> 01:27:01,840
Don't No, no, no, no, you'll be
fine.

1433
01:27:02,400 --> 01:27:06,480
And it was like, just don't take
your camera off him, you know?

1434
01:27:06,480 --> 01:27:09,360
And I was like, OK, it's like
easy doing missile.

1435
01:27:09,720 --> 01:27:15,760
So I did that and then on and I
love I love running camera now.

1436
01:27:16,800 --> 01:27:21,240
And Eric Clapton, I was given
the position of doing pit Cam,

1437
01:27:22,320 --> 01:27:25,040
which was just, it was just so
cool.

1438
01:27:25,120 --> 01:27:26,640
It was just so amazing.
Yeah.

1439
01:27:27,400 --> 01:27:30,120
And it gives you, you know, it
gives you something to do during

1440
01:27:30,120 --> 01:27:33,520
the show, which is awesome, you
know, and your adrenaline is

1441
01:27:33,520 --> 01:27:37,320
pumping and that takes you
through to the loadout and.

1442
01:27:37,680 --> 01:27:38,680
Yeah.
I would just be going.

1443
01:27:38,800 --> 01:27:41,480
Into.
Like the side of the stage and I

1444
01:27:41,480 --> 01:27:44,120
would, I'd see like all the
video crew like with cameras.

1445
01:27:44,120 --> 01:27:46,920
I was like, I'm gonna be like,
like, I'm a bit confused now.

1446
01:27:46,920 --> 01:27:48,720
And they're like, no, no, we get
to do this as well.

1447
01:27:48,720 --> 01:27:50,920
I was like, that's amazing.
Like seriously.

1448
01:27:50,920 --> 01:27:54,640
Yeah, yeah, it's amazing.
And you know, you look up at the

1449
01:27:54,640 --> 01:27:58,240
screen and you look down your,
your viewfinder, you think,

1450
01:27:58,240 --> 01:28:00,040
well, that's, that's what I'm
doing.

1451
01:28:00,400 --> 01:28:05,760
So I mean from my memory only
looking at the remember the

1452
01:28:05,880 --> 01:28:09,360
production sheet, the video crew
were always generally the last

1453
01:28:09,960 --> 01:28:13,480
last in and 1st out.
Am I still correct on that?

1454
01:28:14,560 --> 01:28:16,600
Yeah.
And I think it depends on the.

1455
01:28:17,400 --> 01:28:19,200
Coldplay anyway, I know that was
the case it.

1456
01:28:19,200 --> 01:28:23,560
Depends on the tour like and it
depends on, you know, lighting

1457
01:28:23,560 --> 01:28:26,680
obviously, rigging obviously and
lighting.

1458
01:28:26,680 --> 01:28:30,040
It depends on the position of
the trussing, the trusses and

1459
01:28:30,040 --> 01:28:32,440
stuff like that and what has to
go up in what order and what

1460
01:28:32,440 --> 01:28:34,840
comes down.
I mean, on Clapton we were

1461
01:28:34,840 --> 01:28:40,080
quite, and on Gabriel actually
as well, because of the, because

1462
01:28:40,080 --> 01:28:42,680
of where our points were and
where our screen was hanging

1463
01:28:42,680 --> 01:28:44,280
from.
Yeah, it didn't.

1464
01:28:44,520 --> 01:28:47,040
I don't think we were ever first
to finish.

1465
01:28:47,040 --> 01:28:48,680
Ah.
You weren't OK?

1466
01:28:49,320 --> 01:28:52,200
Yeah, I always, I don't.
Really care, you know I don't.

1467
01:28:52,280 --> 01:28:54,840
No, no, no, no, I know.
But it was just, I remember

1468
01:28:55,000 --> 01:28:58,400
obviously looking at, you know,
the, the, the day she and it

1469
01:28:58,400 --> 01:29:01,040
would always be, you know, you'd
see all the times of everybody,

1470
01:29:01,040 --> 01:29:04,280
you know, like riggers,
everybody 6:00 in the morning

1471
01:29:04,280 --> 01:29:07,320
and it was 7.
With catering, well didn't

1472
01:29:07,480 --> 01:29:09,200
catering.
Forget that that's, you know,

1473
01:29:09,200 --> 01:29:11,920
like that, that that's forgiven.
That's like 6:00 in the morning

1474
01:29:11,920 --> 01:29:13,320
then.
You guys have a slap.

1475
01:29:14,240 --> 01:29:16,560
Hold on a minute.
Video are coming in at 12:00.

1476
01:29:16,560 --> 01:29:19,720
I was like.
Oh my goodness, I've done a six

1477
01:29:19,720 --> 01:29:21,440
hour day.
And you're oh.

1478
01:29:21,680 --> 01:29:24,320
My.
Goodness at 12 like you know and

1479
01:29:24,320 --> 01:29:27,880
I know.
I think how I think our latest

1480
01:29:27,880 --> 01:29:30,840
call has been sort of like 930
probably that's.

1481
01:29:31,320 --> 01:29:34,400
That's still good though.
And I mean, it's great.

1482
01:29:34,600 --> 01:29:38,520
It's great.
I mean, do you still like, say,

1483
01:29:38,520 --> 01:29:42,720
spare time, not spare downtime
on a tour, are you?

1484
01:29:44,640 --> 01:29:47,480
How should I put this nicely?
Are you having the odd day where

1485
01:29:47,480 --> 01:29:50,800
it gets a little bit one too
many and we're dancing and

1486
01:29:50,800 --> 01:29:58,000
singing and being very jolly now
in the focus mode of going

1487
01:29:58,000 --> 01:30:02,360
walking and, you know, taking in
the, the sights of the cities

1488
01:30:02,360 --> 01:30:05,640
where you are?
Because I remember being.

1489
01:30:05,720 --> 01:30:08,680
Together.
Yeah, for sure, I think.

1490
01:30:09,240 --> 01:30:12,480
There's definitely going to be
time for that and then there's

1491
01:30:12,480 --> 01:30:16,760
time to not do that as well.
When I was, when I was a

1492
01:30:16,760 --> 01:30:20,200
production assistant on Elton, I
made the decision not to drink

1493
01:30:20,200 --> 01:30:25,360
for four months whilst I made
that position because I didn't

1494
01:30:25,360 --> 01:30:29,320
want to fuck it up essentially.
Not that I, you know, want to

1495
01:30:29,320 --> 01:30:33,200
fuck up any job, but you know,
it's just I needed to be.

1496
01:30:33,200 --> 01:30:37,600
And it also that job entailed
you being on for sort of 24/7.

1497
01:30:37,600 --> 01:30:40,880
You could get an e-mail or a
text message or a phone call at

1498
01:30:40,880 --> 01:30:43,400
any point in time for you or
manner of things.

1499
01:30:43,800 --> 01:30:49,400
But I mean, as I've got older as
well, I don't really think I can

1500
01:30:49,400 --> 01:30:52,160
be bothered with the headaches
and the hangovers so much.

1501
01:30:52,920 --> 01:30:56,400
Seriously, I don't know.
Years ago, how I kind of did it,

1502
01:30:56,400 --> 01:30:58,800
you know, like, you know, sort
of the partying and then the

1503
01:30:58,800 --> 01:31:01,760
getting up in the morning and
then doing a full day's work and

1504
01:31:01,760 --> 01:31:04,960
either doing it all.
I mean, the last tour, which was

1505
01:31:04,960 --> 01:31:07,280
Muse or one of the last ones was
Muse to me.

1506
01:31:07,280 --> 01:31:10,800
I actually had a, it was just, I
think it was about, it was 15

1507
01:31:10,800 --> 01:31:16,560
months, no alcohol.
And it was the best tour I, I,

1508
01:31:16,600 --> 01:31:19,800
I'd ever done.
Everyone knew I didn't drink.

1509
01:31:20,440 --> 01:31:23,960
Yeah, non alcoholic drinks
everywhere, even on the bus.

1510
01:31:24,600 --> 01:31:29,400
It was the best I'd ever felt.
I woke up every morning amazing,

1511
01:31:29,400 --> 01:31:32,960
no matter what time it was.
And OK, I missed out on the

1512
01:31:32,960 --> 01:31:35,480
silly stuff.
And you know, like, and I do

1513
01:31:35,480 --> 01:31:37,400
miss that.
I miss that kind of like that,

1514
01:31:37,560 --> 01:31:41,560
you know, that silly roadie
Friday on the bus or whatever.

1515
01:31:41,800 --> 01:31:44,040
I missed that.
But then at the same time I went

1516
01:31:44,040 --> 01:31:45,800
to bed.
So I got up in the morning and

1517
01:31:45,800 --> 01:31:49,560
went for a nice walk when I got
to the next city, you know, So I

1518
01:31:49,920 --> 01:31:53,520
it was, it was amazing.
But even hearing Creek now I

1519
01:31:53,520 --> 01:31:56,600
can't, I just can't do it.
I If anyone's listening to us

1520
01:31:56,880 --> 01:31:58,080
talking now, they'll be like,
what?

1521
01:31:58,080 --> 01:32:00,040
Do you mean you do?
Can't do it anymore?

1522
01:32:01,280 --> 01:32:04,800
Yeah.
No, no, I, you know, I still

1523
01:32:05,440 --> 01:32:10,000
like to have a drink, but I'm
for me right now, I'm learning

1524
01:32:10,760 --> 01:32:15,480
and this job is, you know, VIP.
I could kind of do standing on

1525
01:32:15,480 --> 01:32:18,600
my head, to be honest with you,
like that's just, you know, put

1526
01:32:18,600 --> 01:32:23,480
the faith on off you go.
But this is, you know, very much

1527
01:32:23,480 --> 01:32:27,560
and still learning about stuff.
You're lifting and shifting

1528
01:32:27,640 --> 01:32:34,040
super heavy equipment.
You could kill someone or get

1529
01:32:34,040 --> 01:32:36,560
hurt yourself really badly.
And you know, we're running

1530
01:32:36,560 --> 01:32:41,400
motors and things like that.
And, you know, I don't have any

1531
01:32:41,400 --> 01:32:43,760
judgement for anyone that does
that.

1532
01:32:43,760 --> 01:32:47,080
And, and generally speaking,
those people are usually going

1533
01:32:47,080 --> 01:32:51,040
to have much more experience
than I have in this side of the,

1534
01:32:51,520 --> 01:32:53,600
you know, the tech, the tech
side of things.

1535
01:32:54,440 --> 01:32:57,440
But I just need to have my wits
about me and, and know what's

1536
01:32:57,440 --> 01:32:59,760
going on and be fresh, as fresh
as I can be.

1537
01:32:59,760 --> 01:33:02,040
And so I try and look after
myself now and talk.

1538
01:33:02,080 --> 01:33:06,640
And so, for example, we were in
Dublin with Eric Clapton and,

1539
01:33:07,400 --> 01:33:10,440
and you know, I've, I've done
most of that.

1540
01:33:10,440 --> 01:33:13,400
I've been lucky to go to Dublin
a lot of times for, for work,

1541
01:33:13,400 --> 01:33:17,680
but I didn't want to get dragged
into the Guinness.

1542
01:33:17,680 --> 01:33:20,520
And you know, don't get me
wrong, I had a pint or two when

1543
01:33:20,520 --> 01:33:23,040
I was there, but you know,
didn't want to sort of go down

1544
01:33:23,040 --> 01:33:25,880
that road Rd. really.
So I took myself off on the

1545
01:33:25,880 --> 01:33:31,000
train to health, which is about
20-30 minutes away to the coast.

1546
01:33:31,320 --> 01:33:36,240
An amazing coastal walk about 10
miles on one of the days, which

1547
01:33:36,240 --> 01:33:39,960
was just perfect for me.
You know, I just thoroughly

1548
01:33:39,960 --> 01:33:42,440
enjoyed it.
Other people, you know, they

1549
01:33:42,440 --> 01:33:47,400
might want to just completely
chill out, watch TV, sleep all

1550
01:33:47,520 --> 01:33:49,920
day.
I'm not the biggest and best

1551
01:33:49,920 --> 01:33:53,520
sleeper in the world anyway, so
I'd much rather recharge my

1552
01:33:53,520 --> 01:33:58,280
batteries by walking and being
in nature or you know, doing

1553
01:33:58,960 --> 01:34:01,920
doing some kind of activity.
I sometimes take my Brompton

1554
01:34:01,920 --> 01:34:05,960
bike on tour with me, so they're
quite handy.

1555
01:34:05,960 --> 01:34:10,280
So you get to the hotel and you
can just unfold that and go off

1556
01:34:10,280 --> 01:34:13,600
somewhere, which is quite cool.
But it's a great way.

1557
01:34:13,600 --> 01:34:17,280
I mean, even this now, I mean,
when you said, you know, I can

1558
01:34:17,280 --> 01:34:20,200
record, I'm up at six, you know,
we can record it whenever.

1559
01:34:20,560 --> 01:34:23,160
I was like, OK, amazing.
I mean, you know, we've just now

1560
01:34:23,160 --> 01:34:26,240
got the morning and you know,
like I think what's the time now

1561
01:34:26,240 --> 01:34:30,160
for you, 8:50?
Now, yeah, 8:50 yeah, at the end

1562
01:34:30,160 --> 01:34:31,680
of the day, I've been up since.
Five.

1563
01:34:31,840 --> 01:34:33,960
Seriously.
I know, we know it is.

1564
01:34:33,960 --> 01:34:37,400
I'm two hours ahead of you, so
it's 10:10 to 11:00 for me now.

1565
01:34:38,520 --> 01:34:42,040
But it's the same thing.
It's just doing like I've and I

1566
01:34:42,040 --> 01:34:43,720
think you're the same.
You know, we've loved all these

1567
01:34:43,720 --> 01:34:47,240
silly things we've done, but now
it's like, yeah, getting on the

1568
01:34:47,880 --> 01:34:50,880
instead of, you know, having
that session in Dublin, you

1569
01:34:50,880 --> 01:34:54,640
know, getting on the train.
Well, I went for a beautiful

1570
01:34:54,640 --> 01:34:57,360
long walk and then I came back
and I met up with a couple of

1571
01:34:57,360 --> 01:35:00,560
the guys from tour and we had a
couple of pints of Guinness and

1572
01:35:00,560 --> 01:35:02,680
then I went to bed.
You know, it's just like,

1573
01:35:03,240 --> 01:35:06,520
perfect.
Seriously, I couldn't agree

1574
01:35:06,520 --> 01:35:08,000
more.
Now there's something that I

1575
01:35:08,000 --> 01:35:11,320
want to read out because this is
in your words and I I'm sorry I

1576
01:35:11,320 --> 01:35:14,840
haven't memorized it, but this
is what a great attitude you

1577
01:35:14,840 --> 01:35:18,960
have.
So if you are ever miserable or

1578
01:35:18,960 --> 01:35:22,880
the thing you're doing no longer
makes you want to get out of bed

1579
01:35:22,880 --> 01:35:25,560
in the morning, then change
something.

1580
01:35:26,120 --> 01:35:30,200
Do something else.
Practice gratitude and don't be

1581
01:35:30,200 --> 01:35:35,600
a Dick.
I love that, seriously.

1582
01:35:36,360 --> 01:35:40,440
And that's true.
So I can't thank you enough for

1583
01:35:40,440 --> 01:35:42,440
doing this.
The very first geese of gear

1584
01:35:42,440 --> 01:35:45,080
with the ladies.
Thank you, I'm honoured.

1585
01:35:45,560 --> 01:35:47,480
I hope you've enjoyed chatting
with me.

1586
01:35:47,480 --> 01:35:53,400
Because I've really loved it and
yeah, just good luck with this

1587
01:35:53,400 --> 01:35:55,760
summer.
I mean after a Dell do anything

1588
01:35:55,800 --> 01:35:57,880
going on after that or you don't
know yet?

1589
01:35:59,040 --> 01:36:01,760
Not yet, not you.
Just keep this face.

1590
01:36:02,400 --> 01:36:05,440
Anybody out there listening?
Claire here.

1591
01:36:05,960 --> 01:36:09,520
Amazing lady, call her because
she's brilliant.

1592
01:36:10,520 --> 01:36:14,600
So anyway, thank you so much,
Claire, and I hope that one day

1593
01:36:14,640 --> 01:36:16,800
our paths will cross or you're
going to come to Crete, aren't

1594
01:36:16,800 --> 01:36:18,320
you, this year?
I hope so.

1595
01:36:18,320 --> 01:36:20,440
Yeah, I hope so.
Trying to figure that out.

1596
01:36:21,200 --> 01:36:22,320
Yay.
OK.

1597
01:36:22,360 --> 01:36:23,760
Thank you so much.
Bye.

1598
01:36:23,760 --> 01:36:24,920
Thanks, Sarah.
Take care,

1599
01:36:36,560 --> 01:36:36,800
music.