How does a young musician make the step from being a student to being a professional? I remember my first pro engagements clearly; I started being offered outside work by lecturers and tutors while still in college. Like most of us, I sublimed gently into freelance life without really noticing. For bands, solo artists and producers, the transition is a very different experience. The role which used to be taken by labels and managers in guiding young artists into professional life is increasingly being squeezed out in the digital landscape.
The Future Sound Project, based in Birmingham, fulfils a need to help young artists make the transition from student to professional life. Part promotor, part artist development, The Future Sound Projec is the brainchild of brothers Tom and J Amphlett, two former bandmates who turned their passion for helping young musicians build their careers into a multifaceted project, guiding young bands on their first steps towards their careers.
The co-founders set out with a simple mission statement: ‘Artist development is at the heart of everything we do’. The Future Sound Project bases its work around the personal approach. They understand that there is very little preparation or guidance for artists playing their first gigs outside the safety net of education. Young musicians might wonder what is expected of them at a soundcheck, for instance, or how they should behave in that environment.
How to approach the studio
The Amphlett brothers build their relationships with their artists on trust. In addition to providing the first performance opportunities for artists without the safety net of college or school, Tom and J spend as much time offering advice and feedback. With most artists producing original music, a second pair of ears is invaluable in knowing when a set is ready to put in front of an audience, and just as importantly, to take into a studio.
The Future Sound Project has built a dynamic relationship with RNL Studios in Wolverhampton, offering the potential for young artists to record their music and work with professional producers and engineers. For Tom and J, knowing how to approach the studio and what to do before the red light goes on is central to the end result. The expectations of the studio, how much to prepare beforehand, what to bring on the day, and even, quite simply, when a band is ready to go into the studio environment with their material, are tricky and potentially emotive subjects. Guiding young artists through this journey and helping them to develop their own instincts plays an invaluable role in helping music students become musicians.
The Future Sound Project currently promotes between 15 and 20 shows per month in Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton. To support their work, the brothers have built a team of representatives to help them retain the human touch. Many of these reps are drawn from the ranks of previous Future Sound mentees, who have gone on to establish their own careers.
One of these, guitarist Liam Deakin, started his own professional experience with The Future Sound Project, before joining his band, The Clause. The band has now been signed to Warner Music Group and is making serious waves in the UK indie rock scene. Having artists of Deakin's calibre as reps and mentors for young bands adds a reassuring validity to the work of the Project, allowing young artists to learn from the real-world experiences of a more established musician, as well as providing an aspirational figure.
Continuing to grow
This work has started expanding out from the Midlands. The brothers have launched a relationship with Notting Hill Arts Club in London, currently producing three shows a month at the iconic venue. The Project is also launching a Manchester presence, developing and producing their first shows in the Northern hub, with a more significant presence planned for 2023. The demand for this expansion speaks to the unique and valuable role which The Future Sound Project fulfils in the industry. The group has also produced and promoted tours for their artists, building on their expanding network to link musicians across the country together. This growth has been organic, rooted in the human relationships which the brothers have built up.
The Project was born in 2018, in its current incarnation, but the roots stretch back to early 2012 when Tom and J started putting on their own shows as Dakota Beats, an indie rock two piece with roots in the guitar-driven alternative scene which exploded in the north of England. Finding artists to fill support slots, to book tours with, and to grow with, the band went on an early learning experience. Their first promotions venture was centred around their own impressive work as artists. In 2018, the brothers decided that the project needed a ‘fresh lick of paint’, rebranding and relaunching as The Future Sound Project, with a new outward focus. This was supported by their experiences of launching and managing their own projects, together with the contacts and network with they had built as Dakota Beats.
Lessons for the sector
Having started their project in the early days of the digital scene, the brothers have found that many of the lessons they had to learn the hard way are still applicable today. The minefields which The Future Sound Project guides young artists through include:
- Overplaying: the temptation, especially with their first early sets, for young artists to overplay, and thus overexpose their acts. This is particularly true outside major cities, where fan bases can be easily saturated, making the event less unique and less valuable for both the artist and the audience.
- Releasing material at the wrong stage in the artists' development: either rushing to get new material out before it has had time to develop, before the band has had time to find their ‘sound’, or without a firm release plan, and sufficient material to back it up.
- Access to the right equipment, the right collaborators and the right support has made too many artists embarrassed about their early output.
- Knowing how to build relationships with the people who will support your career: producers, promotors, agents, while also avoiding the pitfalls and common bumps which can most often arise in those relationships.
- How to maintain the value of the artists' work in a landscape where both digital royalties and, too frequently, live fees are subject to devaluing.
Career steps
In addition, the Project supports artists with on-the-ground assistance in building up the promotion for a live gig, for building a social media presence, and even with know-how and the practicalities of creating still and video content.
Video, Tom believes, has been revolutionary for young artists in understanding their own brand identity. The ability to record a show, watch it back and learn from the experience, while also creating an avenue for engaging an audience is invaluable to young artists trying to build their brand. The Future Sound Project has a list of questions which it sends out to its artists to support and encourage them in building their social media brand identity, understanding social media's role in promoting the artists' work, and creating fan engagement.
The work which The Future Sound Project is doing is filling a long-overlooked niche in the music industry, and one which for more traditional careers has long been understood and developed. The group also supports artists in getting involved with management, promotion, and even shadowing the technical side of live sound, in order to build a better-rounded understanding of how these strands sit together.
With the value of music in constant flux, it is more important than ever that young musicians understand how they fit in to the wider industry. The work of The Future Sound Project is an invaluable step in developing artists' practical, performing, and professional careers and helping young musicians take those first steps on the journey of their careers.
