Sarah Williams.

What were you doing before you came to Spirit Studios?

I was (and am!) a touring live sound engineer.

How did you get into what you teach?

I love live music. When I was growing up, being a sound engineer was my dream job, but I didn’t get there straight away… I started booking my own gigs when I was 18 and quickly got involved in the sort of splitter van touring where you do ALL the jobs at once.

I tried being a music journo, doing PR for an indie label, selling records, stage managing and getting involved in event production, before deciding to retrain for my dream job as a live sound engineer.

I studied BSc Live Audio Engineering & Music Production at Spirit Studios, and my career took off from there!

Any areas of special interest?

I find PA system design, acoustics and psychoacoustics especially fascinating, and I get a kick out of finding solutions to complex technical challenges.

Outside of work, my specialist subjects are sustainability, books and coffee.

What’s your proudest career achievement?

My proudest career achievement was working ten sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium as part of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour – the current record for most consecutive shows at Wembley.

What do you get up to outside of teaching?

I’m a touring audio technician and live sound engineer.

Tell us something people may not know about you?

I’m also part of a collective that runs Manchester Punk Festival.

Career credits or any notable people you may have worked with?

I recently toured with Wolf Alice and Coldplay.

I worked on the Team GB Olympics Homecoming, the Formula E grand prix, and with artists like Massive Attack and KT Tunstall.

What’s your favourite album/artist? and why?

Civil Disobedients by Capdown is one of my all-time favourite records; the production is pure punk rock energy.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

AC/DC at Download 2010. They brought their own stage, because the Download mainstage just wasn’t big enough for them.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

I’m obsessed with Sabrina Carpenter.

Want to learn from Sarah?

Sarah is a tutor at Spirit Studios who teaches on the Live Sound Engineering Industry Course.