Gaz is one half of production duo Congi, and lead mentor/tutor at SEND Project in Nottingham.
What was your journey into a career in music, and what support has been most useful along the way?
I have been creating music since the age of 12 - my journey started as an MC where writing lyrics was my main discipline. I naturally moved into the world of production, recording and engineering which I went to study at university later down the line. During my studies, I heavily focussed on releasing music through the moniker 'Congi' - a production partnership with my friend Alex where we would focus on mixing soul, hip-hop, jazz and grime with dubstep aesthetics.
Our creative community in Nottingham was the most supportive force in our journey. We were embraced by our community and soon became close friends with promoters who would go on to book us and release our music. These establishments include Mimm, Wigflex, Ruberdub & Tumble Audio.
What did you learn from taking part in the Future Bubblers mentorship scheme?
We were exposed to real life music industry advice and support from the off. As we were the first year cohort of this programme, myself, Alex and a group of six up-and-coming artists were invited to London for a three-day trip that focussed on understanding royalties, workshops on collaboration and various masterclasses that explore the use of Ableton Live.
The Future Bubblers scheme has provided us with opportunities and support from the start and we still stay in touch now. We were lucky enough to release a record on Brownswood Recordings, were invited to play numerous shows in Nottingham and London and were even given the opportunity to perform a live version of our song 'Sour Diesel' in the legendary Brownswood Basement. All of these opportunities shaped our understanding of releasing and performing music while giving us the opportunity to showcase what we were about to a wider platform than we did before. We have so much love for the Brownswood Future Bubblers team!
What are you doing now, and where do you hope to go next?
Over the last seven years we have been lucky enough to travel the world with our music and have performed in Canada, USA, various European countries and in the UK. We co-run a record label called 'Chord Marauders' and we work on music daily! I work as a lead music mentor/tutor (focussing on production, recording, engineering and DJing) at SEND Project which is a Nottingham-based organisation that provides creative and holistic support to people up until the age of 25. My day job requires me to have my ear to the streets in terms of what music young people listen to - this gives me a better understanding of the skills I can teach them.
I hope to continue building a comprehensive discography with Congi while sharpening my skills in the studio so I can pass knowledge forward to my students. I have no knowledge of music theory, so I guess learning an instrument would be the next step for me.
What lessons or advice would you pass on to someone who is in the same position you once were?
Study your craft! This is genuinely the most important thing to becoming successful. For me, music production was something that I fundamentally taught myself, but in this day and age, there are so many tutorials on the internet that can solve any questions you may have regarding music production - use the internet to support your learning.
Also, from a music production stand point, understand how stock audio effects and functions work before venturing out into the world of VST instruments - understand how a basic compressor works before buying a hyped-up plugin that is recommended by your favourite Youtuber.
Once you have music that you are happy with, start by pushing this out to your community. Use social media to build relationships with venues, record shops and arts organisations - this way, you’re starting from a place of familiarity rather than posting your music on the world wide web. Explore blogs that feature music that is similar to yours and always upload your music to BBC Introducing. I work with numerous young people who have had their tracks played on the radio through simply submitting through the BBC website.
Always ask for feedback from peers but ultimately, enjoy the process of creating - try not to have too many expectations and never ever compare yourself to others!