Ben studied Theatre & Event Technology at Kendal College. He then progressed on to university in Edinburgh where he studied Theatre Production and specialised in sound design -achieving a Bachelor of Arts.
I would say I learned a lot of practical skills at college and that was priceless.
What have you been up to since finishing your studies with us?
I finished Kendal College in 2006 and went to University in Edinburgh where I studied Theatre Production and specialised in Sound Design- achieving a Bachelor of Arts with honours, over 4 years. I spent a lot of time freelancing and using my time at university to get to know people in the industry. I lived in Edinburgh for a year afterwards working for 3 major sound companies and afterwards, I moved to London to further my progress. I currently work for SSE audio who are part of the Solotech group, which are a large Canadian company who deal with pro lighting, sound rigging and staging across the world, ranging from small pubs and bands and big stadium touring systems. We've even worked with big-name performers like Michael Bublé and Celine Dion. My job title here is Sales executive and I'm here to predominantly sell kit and solutions to the clients.
What do you enjoy about your current role?
Three things I like about my job are meeting new people within the industry, networking with them and the installation side of things. We installed the light and sound for the Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium, and for banks and festivals. I also like how everybody in my industry is very personable and we all feel like friends- so much so that we even work with competitors on occasions and help each other out!
What skills did you learn at College, which support your role now?
Kendal College helped me to learn how Technical Theatre works - set design, lighting, sound and being involved in the rehearsals. I would say I learned a lot of practical skills at college and that was priceless. I also met some good people on my course, and I do still stay in contact with a few who are customers of mine. When I started college, I wanted to be a West End sound operator and I did work on a few West End shows after graduating university. I eventually decided that, even though I loved the show industry, I didn’t really enjoy doing the same thing all the time and there wasn’t enough variety for me. What I do now is much more rewarding and has a lot more variety.
