Guest Lecture: Luke Pickering – The Church Studios

In week 3 we were joined by Luke Pickering, in-house engineer, assistant engineer, and mixer at The Church Studios in London. Luke began by giving us some background on his work at The Church as well as some of his production credits such as working with Mumford & Sons and Stormzy. Luke then described his path from graduating from the University of Lincoln to his current role and offered advice on getting into the industry. He explained the hierarchy of a professional studio from runner to assistant engineer to producer and what each role involved. Starting as a runner in his initial placement at The Church, Luke explained that his role was to generally assist, cleaning, making drinks and other tasks. He emphasized that initiative and good work ethic were key to getting noticed and progressing. He explained that when applying for runner and intern roles it is crucial to show an understanding of the role, stating that you are a producer, engineer, etc. and talking about your aspirations to be so show that you do not fully understand what is required from the role and will often result in unsuccessful applications. He explained that it is important to find your place in the team and show yourself to be a useful asset. By showing that you are responsible and can be relied on you will be given more responsibility and opportunities for studio work. As a service-based industry it is crucial to show you are responsible as you will be working along side clients and a high level of professionalism will be expected of you.