Becca is a singer-songwriter and community musician based in Newcastle. She released her debut single, Control, a pop and neo-soul track through an intern-run label, Crumpet Records, in May 2019 and hopes to release another single this year with Tipping Point Records 2020.
Where do you hope to go next with your music?
My next plans are to move to London and study for a Commercial Songwriting and Production MA at Tileyard Education. It’s a really big step for me to move away from the North, but I hope to expand my skills to be more self-sufficient in my music creation and to reach my long-term goal of working more sustainably.
I am currently adapting my community music practice for online, so I will continue this and I hope to make new networks to work in community music when life returns to normal.
What struggles or setbacks have you experienced in your efforts to build a career in music?
I would say my main setback has been a combination of being from a working-class background, my health and my levels of self-belief. It’s true that there are real, tangible financial barriers to producing music, as realistically you need some equipment or money for a studio to produce a demo (and the rest!). There are lots of innovative ways around this, for example, using your phone to record, but it does make this process frustrating if you want to access a career on a commercial level.
Equally, these barriers are not insurmountable, and you can work through them. I shifted my mindset into believing I could at least try, and everything changed. The process did not miraculously get easier, I just decided I could be part of the industry even if there were barriers. But my health sometimes means I can’t work or overpack my schedule.
How have you worked through these barriers?
Financially, I worked part-time - initially to be flexible enough to make music and explore community music opportunities - and then went fully self-employed. I applied for funding support and courses to get the training and equipment I needed for my practice. I also started volunteering at and then working at a music studio, which has helped me massively work-wise and to record music.
This approach has been a real process, but it has enabled me to forge my own path and to believe that I can do it. Ideally I’d like more security - bigger income etc - but that’s the trade-off you make to be in music.
I’m really grateful for all the support I have had from various organisations to create and support music (Generator/Community Foundation/Arts Council England). It has shown me the levels and layers to the music and creative industries aside from the commercial world: there are so many music-related jobs out there.
Being a DIY artist is the most exciting and frustrating thing, as you have the creative control, but not necessarily the budget to get momentum or bigger pots of funding.
Health-wise, it can be very difficult to be self-employed and to work all the time; I have accepted that sometimes I can’t work, or sometimes I need a break, so I have to factor that in when I’m booking things in.
What advice would you pass on to someone who is in the same position you once were?
I would advise them to please go for it - it’s going to be hard, but it ISN’T impossible! If you can accept this from the outset, then you will be fine. Whatever barriers you’re facing, your unique voice and practice deserves to be shared with the world. You can chip away and forge a career that suits you bit-by-bit.
And what advice would you give to established music industry players to help others?
I would say having an appreciation of how certain barriers can at times make the process REALLY slow. I’ve found industry advice or comments jarring and unhelpful, particularly when they talk about creating momentum and releasing things all the time. It takes so much investment to make tracks that can actually compete at a high level, so unless they’re willing to invest in an artist, it’s unhelpful to talk this way without proper support and solutions. Also you need to be at a certain level to gain bigger pots of funding, which can leave emerging artists stuck at one level.