Q: What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you? Who did you meet and what do they do? Did you engage in any code switching?
During my first week at my internship, i learned more about what it takes to get into not only Berklee College of Music but other music schools like CalArts, The New School and LACM. I got to know more about what i need to have a good audition and create a schedule in order to do as much as i can in order to be prepared for the auditions and to get the most out of the internship.
What surprised me about my internship was how down to earth everyone is and how supportive they are about my music career. As well as how ill be doing more music related stuff when i thought it’d be more of assisting and cleaning.
I met Jesus who is a worker there that helps out with producing songs for artist and teaches other kids about music. I also met Mase who does the same thing as Jesus and is a drummer and bassist as well.
I did engage in code switching. My first day i was professional with everyone even though I’ve met everyone over the summer through Fempower. Now i am more chill and down to earth with everyone, i am still shy but I’m more open about my ideas with everyone that i work with and that help me improve.
Q: What was the best thing that happened this week at your internship? How did it make you feel? What else makes you excited about your internship?
Not a lot happened this week. I mainly practiced scales and different rhythms on the bass for an hour everyday i went, then afterwards i’d go and chill with whoever was there and talk about music. There isn’t much for me to do around the place so i tend to jam and hang with everyone.
Doing that made me felt welcomed and loved. They treat me like one of their own and help me out so when i go to college, i get into my first choice. Although i sometimes feel like I’m in the way, in the end, they always show me how they like having me there even if I’m not doing anything very important.
What excited me about being at YOR is how I’m going to be able to play so many shows in the future aswell as work with different local artists and get to know more about how to do all these cool thing like work a soundboard, produce/record, etc. Aswell as learn more about the music industry and how everything works.
Q: How do your actions affect your workplace? Do your contribute positively? How do your co-workers actions affect your internship? Which co-workers are you communicating with?
For this past week at Youth On Record(YOR) my actions have brought joy to those who work there. They know what i want to do in life and every single one helps me everyday i go in any way they can to help me achieve my goals, they are happy i am taking this internship time to focus on my career because many of the workers are living their dream in music through me, whether it be learning, teaching or even applying to one of Americas top music schools.
I have started giving bass lessons and have played at an event ever since I started my internship, I contribute positively by making my co-workers proud by taking every chance i get to improve my musicianship.
Everything that my co-workers do encourage me to play more and not give up on my dreams despite all the obstacles that come my way. They all support each other in their careers as well as support me in my dream more then anyone ever did.
Since i started at YOR, I’ve met a lot of unique and fun people. I’ve made friendships with everyone so far, Diego, someone i met recently has a really unique personality and is a really chill guy to talk to about music and anything else that comes to mind. Joshua, the man in charge, is my “go to” guy when im not sure what to do when I arrive. He is who i made my plan with and knows what i want to achieve during my time at YOR and how he can help me achieve everything.
Q:What are you responsible for at your workplace? What do you think your main contribution to your work site? What do your day to day duties look like?
To me, my internship is not normal. Internships typically make you do work as in like clean something or run quick errands, besides that they still allow you to interact with the subject of the internship site.
For me, it doesn’t feel like an internship, it’s just like an activity I go to a few days a week. My only responsibility is to play and make music as much as I can with whoever I can. Getting in the practice in order to audition for music colleges and to play upcoming shows.
I believe my main contribution to my work site is that everyone is slowly teaching how to make it in the music industry, they use this opportunity to make me a better musician. Other than being able to teach me more about my career choice, I am also able to help out when needed, whether it be moving instruments, giving input on ideas, or being available to play shows with people that need a bassist.
As for daily duties, I usually go in, say hi and got to the tracking room and practice bass for around an hour and after that i either work on my own music, jam with others, work on college things, or just hang out and get to know my coworkers more. It varies, everyday is different. That’s what’s great about this internship.
Q: How do you feel your internship is going so far? What are the highlights and the “lowlights”? Do you feel like you are making connections with your co-workers? What can you do to improve your experience?
So far, my internship is going great. It’s been the funnest experience iv’e ever had. I’ve gotten the opportunity to play with a lot of talented people at amazing shows and I’m extremely lucky to have this internship. I will never forget this experience and i love going so much that i plan to continue going after the semester is over.
The highlights of my internship so far are, like i said, getting to play music with such amazingly talented people at venues I’ve dreamed of playing at for so long. The lowlights of my internship are that sometimes I don’t have much to do so I end up having to work on non-music things while everyone is busy. It’s always a bummer when I want to jam with someone but they’re busy.
I feel like I’m definitely making connections with my co-workers. It’s been taking me a while to get comfortable with everyone since I’m very shy, but I’m getting closer to everyone. Some more than others, but I’m getting close to everyone slowly.
What I can do to improve my experience is I could get more involved. For example, I can ask for days off of work to be able to go to YOR’s open labs on the weekends. I can also put myself out there and start my own projects and start my own events to help out YOR with promoting or something.
Q: How do people at work treat you? How does it make you feel? If you have an intern one day will you treat them the same? What have you learned so far from your co-workers and sponsor?
At work, everyone is extremely welcoming and treat me with so much love and respect. It always makes me feel great, like they want me there. If i ever have an intern i will treat them the same and better. I will make them feel like they’ve been there for years. So far, i have learned that no matter how experienced you are or how great of a musician you are, you won’t get far with a bad personality. As well as to never give up because hard work pays off in the end.
Q: What is the difference between working on personal art projects and working in a creative business? What have you learned about working in a creative business?
The difference between working on personal art and a creative business is time. On your own, you can take as much time as you want to finish a project. When working in a creative business, there will be deadlines. Another thing is creativity. When working on your own, you can be as creative as you want, and experiment with everything. While working in a business, that may limit your creativity.
While working in a creative business, I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned that there’s different sides to one career. For example, if you want a career in music, you don’t have to perform or produce or write. You could teach classes or lessons, as Well as get into the business side of music and handle sales and similar things. I’ve also learned that everyone has their own personality. There isn’t one person that you’d say “they’re just like so and so” some may take in similar ideas and styles but everyone is different and more then free to be themselves.
Q: How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project gp with your sponsor? Did they have good insights into how to improve or expand the project? How does your project bridge what you do at your internship and what you like to create for yourself? Has your relationship with your sponsor evolved as you have engaged in a creative dialogue about your project? Are there any challenges you are experiencing planning or doing your project?
My internship project is going great. I have many ideas that i want to incorporate into it as i progress my project. As my main goal for my project, i wanted to make a whole ep, whether it be my original songs and production or produce someone else’s ep or song. As time progressed, i saw how much time i would need to do all that and so i had to make my whole plan smaller in order to have enough time to finish my project in time.
The talk about my project with my intern sponsor went great. I knew i was going to need a lot of help and told Mace about what i wanted to do and that i would love his help, along with everyone there. He was very supportive and down to help me with whatever i needed. We didn’t really talk a lot about it aside from what i wanted to do and how he and others could help me. I have been working on my project at home, trying to figure out a sound and central idea on an original song and find a way that makes it easier for me to make a song easy, from writing lyrics to composing the sound of the whole thing.
This project bridges what i do at my internship and what i want to create for myself by helping me get more into creating music and get more familiar with everything that goes into making music. It also helps me with what to expect as my career in music expands. As i want to create and perform music as a career for as long as i can, this gives me insight on how everything from the idea to the production will be and what i can improve and change to make things easier.
The relationship i have developed with my sponsor has grown not only through my project but through helping around with cleaning and moving/arranging things. The relationship i have developed with Mace has grown gradually over time as he’s been my go to guy for the past month or so, we talk a lot and bond over music and just hanging out.
The challenges i have faced have revolved around time. As a senior i’ve been very busy with this internship, work, school and looking and applying to colleges, so managing my time has been hard. Originally, i wanted to make an ep consisting 2-4 original songs but as i started working, i saw it was harder to create a song then i thought so i had to decide on what would be easier for me and time wise.
Q: What have you seen or experienced in your internship that has inspired you the most on your own artistic journey? Has this experience changed your artistic ambitions? How?
Seeing so many people my age do so much in the music industry has motivated me more to work on my own music as well as to learn more instruments and many more things like how to produce/record, how to run sound for a show, etc.
This has changed my ambitions positively. I have been encouraged and motivated by everyone i work with to do my own thing, which ha been great.
Q: Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or why not? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted with your expectations? What is the most important learning you did during your internship?
This experience has been extremely rewarding. I’ve done so much this year that i never thought i do so soon. I’ve met so many great people that have slowly made me a better person.
In reality, i thought that having an internship meant that id just have to do chores most of the time. When i started, i realized that was wrong. I play shows, attend concerts which count as intern hours which is great because i get to have fun and do what i’ve always wanted to do as a job.
The most important thing i learned at my internship was that hard work and dedication pay off immensely in the end. Everyone i’ve met has had very stressful things they’ve had to do and it got overwhelming, but they didn’t give up so in the end the outcome was great.