Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Focusrite Awards Tileyard Education MA Student With Bursary

04/05/2020

Focusrite Awards Tileyard Education MA Student With Bursary Tileyard Education is a postgraduate and professional training facility that houses a world-class recording studio, tech lab, production and songwriting rooms and a lecture space. Located at Tileyard London, it forms part of a creative hub in the heart of the city, with a diverse community of artists, independent creatives, entrepreneurs and businesses.

Abi aka VNRBL, winner of the Focusrite 2020 music education bursary, has been studying a Commercial Music Producer MA course at Tileyard over the past year. Awarded with one of our Clarett 4Pre USBs, and an SL MkIII, Launchpad X, and a Bass Station II from Novation, we caught up with Abi to find out what's next for her as an artist, her route into music production and how she works through her creative process.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and why you wanted to study the commercial music producer masters at Tileyard Education?

I'm a producer, singer-songwriter and drummer from a friendly beach town in Western Australia called Perth. A few years ago, I moved to London to pursue a career in music and decided to take my production to a more professional level - I knew I could do that at Tileyard. I realised that being around likeminded and ambitious music producers would help keep me motivated and achieve my goals.

How long have you been making music?

Back in Perth I had been experimenting making demos in Logic, so I was familiar with using a DAW and working with loops. I've been producing full length tracks for around four years now. I've been lucky to have some amazing producers as friends to help mentor and encourage me along the way. I've always kept this mindset of if I work on this every day, I'm going to improve'. It's nice to hear the progress I've made when I listen back to some of my first tracks.

What was it that first made you want to produce music?

I grew up being musical. I used to get hold of my older teenage sister's CDs to listen to. At the age of nine, my music teacher told me I had talent and suggested to my parents that I should start taking drum lessons. Soon after, I naturally picked up bass, piano, guitar - if there was an instrument around, I would find it and start jamming. Learning instruments at a young age gave me a strong foundation for music which I'm really grateful for.

As a singer/songwriter in London, I spent a lot of time with producers and asking lots of questions. I came to the point where I thought, I could do this. The producers encouraged me to start and gave me loads of tips and feedback on my tracks. They also thought it was great that I was an aspiring female producer who was enthusiastic as they were.

What challenges do you face in your creative process and how do you overcome them?

My greatest challenge is also my greatest strength: managing my emotions. I seem to feel everything so deeply whether it's positive or negative. It feels overwhelming sometimes and, like a lot of artists, I can find it hard to keep motivated. I'm getting better at separating the technical side of me from the creative side. Having a daily routine that I always stick to really helps. I use my emotions when it's time to do the creative stuff where it's useful, like songwriting. I also try to live a healthy lifestyle and eat well. I also love boxing and want to get back into that. It's great because it's a full-on work out and teaches you how to control your emotions by staying calm.

Who are your greatest inspirations?

Peter Gabriel immediately comes to mind. I have many musical inspirations, but he's someone I've looked up to a lot over the past five years. He not only inspires me from an artist and a producer perspective, but also I'm drawn to his character and integrity. Not many people would believe this but I'm really shy and he is too. He often talks about how he uses masks and costumes on stage to help him perform as he naturally quite introverted. He's a seriously empowering guy and I really hope to meet him some time soon. In terms of my current producers that I really like are DJ Snake, Clean Bandit, Zedd and of course Max Martin.

Talk us through your creative and recording process.

Whenever I feel a strong emotion, I grab it and then work with that feeling. I'll usually get a hook line in my head first, and just start singing it around and playing with a melody. From there anything could happen. Sometimes I'll find one sample or sound that inspires me and work a song around it. Other times I'll look towards the piano or guitar and find the chords first. It largely depends on how I feel and what kind of mood I'm in. I don't have one way of doing anything, I'd get too bored.

How would you describe your current sound?

My influences are wide and diverse, but my current sound draws from tropical house and afro beat. Its groove based with energy but also has a laid-back feel at the same time. I love London and consider it home now, but Australia is still close to my heart. Memories of hanging out with my friends at the beach, swimming with our clothes on and coming home covered in sand is influencing the way I'm producing at moment, I want to recreate those memories in my music.

Why Tileyard Education?

I had heard about Tileyard from my producer friends and I could see it had a magical kind of buzz. I was drawn into Tileyard's community of artists and creatives, all working together to achieve the same goal. It's the first time I've found somewhere that I felt I could get behind the vision and that's what makes Tileyard special: you get to be part of something bigger than you.

What do you hope to be doing in three years' time?

I want to be performing my songs at festivals all over the world. I
LINK: https://focusrite.com/en/news/focusrite-tileyard-education-bursary...
See more stories from focusrite

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

29/07/2026

Grass Valley Op-Ed Series: Seven Paradoxes Shaping the Next Era of Media Production

In this series, Grass Valley explores the seven paradoxes shaping the next era o...

29/07/2026

SVG Students to Watch: A Look Back at a Year of Spotlighting the Emerging Talent in Live Sports Production

Thats a wrap on Season 1 of SVG Students to Watch! Across the country, these stu...

29/07/2026

DAZN to Become Exclusive DTC In-Market Streaming Home of YES Network, MSG Networks; Gotham App to Shut Down

The agreement will move Gotham Sports App subscribers to DAZN during the 2026-27...

29/07/2026

Big South Promotes Emily Dassel to Associate Commissioner for Brand and Creative Strategy

Longtime digital-media leader expands role overseeing conference branding, video...

29/07/2026

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Gregg Araki, the Director of I Want Your Sex

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...

29/07/2026

TiME UK announce transatlantic partnership

Organisation team up with TI:ME USA Founded in 2019 with the aim of helping educators to embrace new music technology, Technology in Music Education (TiME U...

29/07/2026

Multiply 2: Free plug-in from Acon Digital

Doubling & chorus processor gets an overhaul Acon Digital have just launched the latest version of their free voice-doubling and chorus plug-in. Multiply 2 ...

29/07/2026

Origin Effects launch the EQDeluxe

New Pultec-inspired pedal revealed The latest addition to the Origin Effects line-up brings the legendary Pultec EQ into pedal format. Based on the EQP-1A, ...

29/07/2026

SBS Appoints Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Marketing and Audiences

SBS Appoints Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Marketing and Audiences 29 July, 2026 Media releases SBS is pleased to announce the appointment of Ni...

29/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz showcases unified next-generation broadcasting ecosystem at SET Expo 2026 in Brazil

Rohde & Schwarz showcases unified next-generation broadcasting ecosystem at SET ...

29/07/2026

Central Christian Church Connects Remote Production Teams with Clear-Com's Gen-IC...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

29/07/2026

Streaming Embarks on Annual Summer Ascent in Nielsen's May 2026 Gauge Reports

Streaming Hits 48.6% of Total TV Usage in May YouTube Leads in Media Distributo...

29/07/2026

WVIT's Joseph DiMaggio Named SBE Flanders Engineer of the Year

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

Amagi Appoints Martin Wacker to Lead Sales for DACH -- St...

Industry veteran joins Amagi to drive growth in Europe's leading broadcast market and advance cloud-native broadcast, FAST, and AI-driven operations. LONDO...

29/07/2026

WebTransport opens new route for broadcast-quality media...

Work is ongoing to specify how to run RIST over WebTransport. This will deliver secure, stable, broadcast quality video playback and origination to any platform...

29/07/2026

Offline Files Makes the Drive Shelf Searchable on Mac

Offline Files Makes the Drive Shelf Searchable on Mac Brie Clayton July 29, 2026 0 Comments A local Mac app for finding files, photos, and footage acr...

29/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Mini 12G

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Mini 12G Brie Clayton July 29, 2026 0 Comments New extremely portable Thunderbolt 4 capture and playback ...

29/07/2026

Brightline Lighting Introduces the MOD1

Brightline Lighting, a premier manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting systems for broadcast, videoconferencing, government, education and corporate applicati...

29/07/2026

Applications open for IFFI/WAVES Film Bazaar in Goa - Producer Delegation

Applications open for IFFI/WAVES Film Bazaar in Goa - Producer Delegation 28 July 2026 Image credit: Four Years Later Screen Australia has opened applications...

29/07/2026

Brightline Unveils Compact, Suspended MOD1 LED Light

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

NAB Meets With Trusty on Ownership Caps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

QuickLink To Feature New StudioPro AnywhereTally At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

HBO Max Launches Vertical Shorts to Improve Content Discovery

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

New Tool Identifies Sources Of Fake Videos

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

DNEG Migrates Editorial Workflows to Foundrys Hiero

Foundry today announced that Academy Award-winning creative studio DNEG has implemented Hiero to support its editorial workflows. Part of the Nuke product famil...

29/07/2026

QuickLink Unveils New StudioPro AnywhereTally Remote Tall...

The Latest Addition to the Brand's StudioPro Ecosystem Combines Simple Deployment, Cloud Control and Professional Grade Wireless Reliability QuickLink, a l...

29/07/2026

The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects

The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects Graham Quince July 28, 2026 0 Comments Trish Meyer (who literally beta-tested the original Af...

29/07/2026

Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK

Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK Brie Clayton July 28, 2026 0 Comments Cannes Indie International Film Fe...

29/07/2026

Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department

Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department The Berklee alumna, who previously served on the Songwriting faculty, will begin her new role on ...

29/07/2026

Hayu is coming to Sky, bringing fan-favourite franchises The Real Housewives, Below Deck and more to customers, at no extra cost

Wednesday 29 July 2026 Hayu is coming to Sky, bringing fan-favourite franchises...

29/07/2026

New RT true crime podcast launches today

RT launches Unsolved, a true crime podcast, presented by crime journalist Barry Cummins and presenter Katja Mia. Unsolved is a weekly podcast exploring unsol...

28/07/2026

LiveUs World Cup Record: 1,700 Units Support Wide Range of Transmission Needs

LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today detailed its historic performance records set during the 2026 FIFA World Cu...

28/07/2026

Case Study: How the Dallas Cowboys Removed Bottlenecks in Off-site Content Production

The NFL franchise rebuilt their off-site content operation for an era when teams...

28/07/2026

A New Way To Watch': How Formula 1 and Sky Sports Are Pushing Race Coverage Into a New Era

Longtime partners expand viewer choice, data-driven analysis, access, immersive ...

28/07/2026

Grass Valley Op Ed: Seven Paradoxes Shaping the Next Era of Media Production

There is a unique moment before every major production. The audience never sees it. The cameras are ready. The talent is preparing. Directors review the final...

28/07/2026

The CW Network, ESPN Ink Streaming Agreement With Launch on Aug. 4

The CW Network and ESPN have announced their highly anticipated streaming agreement to bring CW Sports' live events to the ESPN App will officially launch o...

28/07/2026

Lawo Delivers Audio Excellence for Europes Largest Classical Open-Air Concert on Bastille Day

As more than tens of thousands of spectators filled Paris' Champ de Mars and...

28/07/2026

Appear Assists Chile's First Large-Scale 4K FIFA World Cup Viewing Experience

Appear's X Platform played a central role in Chile's first large-scale c...

28/07/2026

IBC 2026: Solid State Logic Highlights Transition to Software-Defined Production

Responding to the broadcast industry's shift to embrace more flexible production platforms, Solid State Logic (SSL) is evolving its comprehensive System T p...

28/07/2026

TNT Sports Goes to Greater Heights With New DUNKMAN League

Production leverages innovative camera technologies, AI, and data to capture the action in four-week inaugural competition The first-ever professional dunking ...

28/07/2026

Rogers, Prime Video Ink 12-Year Sublicensing Deal for NHL Rights in Canada

Prime Video to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night national NHL regular-season games in Canada...

28/07/2026

CBS Sports Snags U.S. English-Language Rights for CONCACAF Champions Cup

Every match will stream live on Paramount+ beginning in February,...

28/07/2026

TK Audio unveil the TK-Lizer 3

Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ overhauled TK Audio's Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ unit has just made a return, bringing the popular unit back into the...

28/07/2026

Asparion reveal the D700 Rack

D700 system gains new live-focused rackmount surface Asparion have just announced an expansion of their D700 control surface range, introducing a new model ...

28/07/2026

Six NFVF Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP)-Funded Films Selected for the 47th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF)

27 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

28/07/2026

Nielsen Launches Ad Intel AI: the Only Product of its Kind that Transforms Fragmented Ad Data into Actionable Intelligence

Ad Intel AI is Nielsen's first in a new generation of AI products built to t...