The PA Collective
Sound engineering at the 1in12 club is not an exalted position occupied
by mullet haired coke snorting pillocks in white trainers, who treat
the musicians like idiots and bore the arse off everyone with their
tales of working as third assistant t-shirt donkey on the Roger Waters
tour before last.
Though, frankly, we're desperate and if you need a job mate we'll
overlook the dodgy CV.
Having said which, it's not a job really. Like almost everything that
happens at the 1in12 club there's a large voluntary element. At present
there's guidance to bands and promoters to pay the engineer
£25.00 for a 6.30 to 11.30 shift, but the relationship is
between
the promoter and the engineer and if a promoter wants to ask the
engineer to work for free (say, for a charity gig) or pay them extra
(for a longer shift, perhaps), that's not unheard of.
Notionally the engineers are organised into a collective which meets to
discuss the repair and replacement requirements of the PA (and peer
despairingly into the cash pot to see how all this will be paid for)
and report annually to the AGM of the 1in12 club.
In practice there tends to be a small knot of exhausted people who
share out the gigs by email and rarely meet one another.
These web pages are, in part, an attempt to improve communications
between the engineers and promoters.
There's been talk in the past of organising training for would-be
engineers but difficulties have arisen (a) finding the time (b) finding
the students (c) addressing the widely differing base knowledge of the
candidates (few as they are). Watch this space though; this is always
under review.
Meanwhile, if you are a potential engineer (i.e. capable of running a
rig, keeping the fire exits clear, mopping up puke and repairing the
occasional lead) then please get in touch.
PA@1in12.com
