Tell us about yourself and your creative background
When I was young, I didn’t really do anything creative. I grew up on a working-class council estate and I wasn’t expected to go into anything other than industry as that was the norm. I started working as an apprentice but decided quite quickly that I didn’t like it. It was when I left my role as an apprentice that I started writing poetry and little songs to myself, and I decided to move to London to work as an assistant in the music industry.
After coming back to Wales, my creative pursuits were put on hold for 20 years because I was not able to make a living out of them. Not that you can’t do both, but at the time it didn’t work for me. When I got back to it, I started writing and going to creative writing classes, culminating in an MA in Creative Writing. During the time of my MA, I published a book of short stories, to which everyone on the course contributed. Since then, I’ve done a lot of writing, even some acting, podcasting and producing.
So, what’s your Creative First?
I’ve been playing around on the edges of the music industry for many years. When I lived in London, a lot of my friends were musicians so, over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of bands and music professionals. Recently, as I was looking at what I wanted to do in the future, I decided that I wanted to develop a media production company. I shared these plans with a friend, Nick Thomas Lynch, and he suggested I make a music video for him, which is my Creative First.
Nick sent me some of the songs he’d recently recorded at Kings Road Studio in Pontcanna, and we chose the song Never Be The Same to focus on for a music video. The first thing I did was to formulate a rough draft, a storyboard and come up with a storytelling and filming approach. I pitched ideas to him based on the chosen song, and he picked the one he liked best. Since then, I’ve developed and written the script and we’re moving into pre-production at the minute. I want to make it a proper, professional production, so I’m also looking to bring people in to work with me.
What was the biggest challenge you faced?
Although I’ve done a lot of different things, like acting, scriptwriting, and being involved in all kinds of projects at various levels, doing a music video was completely new to me, and I was a bit afraid of how it was going to turn out. I love music, but I’m not someone who knows much about music, and I was quite nervous about doing it properly. I just told myself, ‘I’ve got to put my head down, and just do a professional job’ and sometimes when you do that, it just clicks.
I initially thought that working out the camera angles was a daunting prospect, but after a lot of research, I came across a spreadsheet-based script format, which tells you exactly which shots are happening when, and which lyric they correspond to. Every second is a row on the spreadsheet, with a column for visuals and lyrics. It took me a bit of time, but I took that format and adapted it, so it now works for me.
Can you share tips for others who are working on a music video for the first time?
- Don’t overthink your first ideas – The Beatles used to make up nonsense words just to get started- and that worked for them! If you’re staring at a blank page, remember that your first ideas don’t need to be perfect, they just need to exist. These things take time.
- Work out exactly what format works for you – I initially tried writing it as a traditional script format, but soon realised that wasn’t going to work for a music video. Do your research, find an approach that works and adapt it for you.
- Always create a storyboard – If you spend enough time developing that storyboard- everything else will fall into place.
Why choose Cardiff for your creative first?
I first lived in Cardiff in the early 70s, and we couldn’t stay for family reasons so we ended up moving home to Llanelli, but I always wanted to come back one day. When our children had all left to go to university, we decided to move back and I’ve loved it since. Cardiff’s got a particular energy, it’s creative and there’s just room for everyone. I’m not a sports fan but I love seeing the city come alive for the rugby, and there’s room for all that, but there’s also still room for me. I love the different cultures, communities, and diversity of the city. There are so many different voices and stories, it’s a lovely place to live, and it's Welsh.
Creative Firsts feature
Want to be featured? Email us at creativecardiff@cardiff.ac.uk if you have a Creative First (first time industry experience) to share with our community.
