INDUSTRY EXPERTS
LILY STURT-BOLSHAW WHO ARE YOU?
Hi, my name’s Lily, I am one half of Sunflower Thieves, I have too many jobs, I’m vegan and I really love fruit pastels.
WHAT ARE YOUR JOB TITLES?
As well as being in the band I also do live sound engineering, repping, production/songwriting and I work for Come Play With Me on events, social media and magazine.
WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?
Being a live sound engineer means I make people sound good when they’re on stage. A rep is basically an artist liaison/ stage manager so you go out and buy the rider for bands, make sure they have what they want for the day and make them feel welcome in the venue. As a producer/songwriter, I write songs with people and then work with them to build the sound they want on their tracks, so whether it’s adding new sounds or manipulating sounds they already have to make them sound Words by Lily Sturt-Bolshaw
even better, I do that kinda stuff basically. And then finally with Come Play With Me at the moment, I’m kind of the event's facilitator so I am helping first-time promoters put on gigs, giving them artist ideas, contacts to venues, that kind of thing. Then with the magazine, I help Andy choose who we’re going to have doing which features and I make and schedule all the posts on socials.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT?
Live sound and repping I got basically by forcing my way through the crowds of men doing the same jobs haha! Just by putting myself in front of people and saying "Hi I do this too please will you hire me". Also having male allies and friends who were already in those venues and positions definitely helped, they were able to recommend me to people who hadn’t met me yet and the rest is history! But honestly, there was a lot of perseverance and proving myself. CPWM - I applied through the Kickstarter Scheme and yeah I’m a 31
delight so here we are. Production/songwriting - I produce and co-write all of Sunflower Thieves stuff so I just decided to branch out and see who else would like to work with me.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHERS?
Back yourself! You’ve got to believe in yourself, I didn’t for ages and when people asked me what I did for work I’d never say I was a sound engineer, even though I did it every other day, I just didn’t feel qualified enough but actually once I started believing in myself it got much easier to get work. Also, ask questions, I always ask questions even if I think it might make me look stupid, it’s so much better to ask and learn than to just do it wrong. Thanks for reading n stuff x Find me here: linktr.ee/ lilyameliasb Photography by Olivia Ferrara
