moving to UK...

[kalkman]

because i ran out of reasons not to at this stage i'm looking at London (at least to begin with), but i could end up elsewhere - maybe Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast or Berlin. Main thing will be to play music, but i'm also going to get myself setup with a mix studio - ditching most of my so-so gear here and upgrading when i get there.

I'm hoping some TRer's can give me some advice on getting connected there - does anyone know of a UK pro audio forum (i can't find anything)? and there doesn't seem to be much high end gear on UKebay - where do people buy/sell their stuff (besides funky junk)?

any tips would be much appreciated

[ChrisW]

Jeez, everyone's moving (Wagga, Italy, now London).
I don't know of a pro-audio forum for the UK other than Gearslutz.
Sound On Sound has quite an active forum section, but I would guess there's more hobbyists than pros posting on there. Still, SOS is a good mag and both the mag and forum are great information resources.
London is expensive.
When I lived there I bought a lot of stuff on Ebay, mostly from The States (with the UK pound vs US dollar ratio in my favour). There are various trading papers, just like here, plus a lot of professional gear sellers like Funky Junk, Larking's List etc...
I don't know Berlin, but out of the places you mentioned I would advise London.
Manchester has been a hot bed of great music in the past, but if you are fond of the Aussie weather I wouldn't consider Manchester, Glasgow or Belfast.
There's a fairly big music community around Bath. Stunning location. Takes in Real World, Glastonbury etc.....
Also, very close to Bristol, home of Portishead and a very sizable studio community based on the projects of the BBC Natural History Unit.
Don't forget the UK is mired in a huge recession right now

[Pete]

Kalkman! Have the effins seas blown up so big you need to move abroad to keep away from the fans?

Good luck with the move, when are you thinking of going? We have to a meetup before (atom bombs gig thursday hint hint) to farewell you.

[Gian]

It's that stupid show "Escape to the Country" - it makes everyone move!!

[ChrisW]

Yeah, I'm watching that. Reminds me of home.
Funny thing.....
All the shows in the UK are 'New LIfe Abroad', often following families who move Down Under.
-------
In a survey released about a year ago, 2/3rds of Brits wanted to leave the UK, a third of those wanting to head Down Under.

[Ben M]

In a survey released about a year ago, 2/3rds of Brits wanted to leave the UK, a third of those wanting to head Down Under.

Now that's a real refugee issue.

And people make such a big noise about a few hundred people trying to escape the dictators of certain countries to come to Australia. What about the thousand's of brits that are here overstaying their visa's?

They'll need to change the name of the show to 'Escape the country'.

[kalkman]

thanks Chris (was hoping you'd chime in!) yeah not great timing considering GFC blah but it's a now or never type thing. I have a few contacts in London so that seems the logical place to start and see where it takes me.
yeah SOS - totally forgot about that one, loads of good stuff FS - cheers

[Chris H]

I've just finished a move from the Dandenong Ranges to the coast....now living in Blairgowrie, just down the road a mile or two from where Mark had Backbeach. Have also packed up the "home studio".
The purpose built studio i have worked in regularly over the past 10 yrs is now my main place of audio work. I will post details in another thread so I'm not thread hijacking

[kalkman]

Kalkman! Have the effins seas blown up so big you need to move abroad to keep away from the fans?

Good luck with the move, when are you thinking of going? We have to a meetup before (atom bombs gig thursday hint hint) to farewell you.

ha yes we've gone viral. no, no more seas for me - too much like trying to drive a bus with a headful of wizz.
looking at mid-late july at this stage, plenty of time for a beer. probably gonna cruel sea at factory on thurs, where's the bombs gig?

[ChrisW]

Get there before 'Summer' is over (in inverted commas). Winter is loooong. But Christmas in the UK is better than here..... OK, I just prefer it myself.
Although I've left, I do advocate London as a great move for someone into music.
It's easy to get around Europe. Lots of amazing experiences to be had there.
Great music in London too, lot's of innovation, talented musicians.
Great tv (fewer ads), great history and culture.
Of course, with all that comes a lot more competition to get a foot in the door.
Small fish - big pond.

[ChrisW]

PS Forgot -
Lot's of London music pros on Gearslutz (Psycho Monkey for example). Also expat Aussies (Wiggy Neve Slut).

[audioio]

What about the thousand's of brits that are here overstaying their visa's?

OT:
You'd think sending out a couple of regiments to round them up would yield more results and be a hell of lot cheaper than throwing a frigate at the Indian Ocean. But, hey, what do I know? Apparently, it's OK to let thousands of white people hang around too long but the minute a rickety boat with a few darkies (scuse my French) pops over the horizon, it's all on.

Straight out racism, that's what it is, and I'll call a certain Leader of the Opposition out on that any day.

[Ben M]

Hear hear

[mylesgm]

I just spent a few months working with refugees and asylum seekers to create a theatre piece based on their experiences. I cant think of a group of people who better exhibit what a previous 'leader' called australian values than these people. In fact I'm pretty sure that 'boat people' is where most australian values came from. I'm disgusted and disgraced at both our 'leaders' and the way this issue has been handled. These people have been through Hell and back and more than 90% of the asylum seekers are actually proved to be genuine, yet the nation founded on refugees, boat people and the social discards refuses to treat them with dignity or compassion. Oh yeah we're the 'lucky country'.

[rick]

"Also expat Aussies (Wiggy Neve Slut)."

err..? have actually ever met him chris ?

if not i suggest strongly you read my current magazine article ... twice !
i could have use a photo a lot like his

[Linear]

ha that's hilarious and kinda apt.

i literally just finished reading rick's last word. I happen to know both of those guys, and it really does reinforce the article.

Adrian (psycho monkey) worked at Linear, works regularly at various miloco studios in london and really does know his sh!t. his claim to fame (his words) is that he assisted on a radiohead session. great engineer, great guy and makes records for a living.

Rohan (wiggy_neve_slut) - well I know him too. i bought my ampex mm1200 off him some years ago. i asked him to demonstrate the transport for me, and he didn't know how to thread the tape on the machine that apparently was the 'phattest on the planet' and had 'headroom for dayz' (his words).

Chris

[ChrisW]

I've met both Adrian and Rohan a couple of times.
Did I imply Rohan was a music professional? Maybe in my hasty post, but I know he isn't, he works for a bank as far as I know. I think I just said 'ex pat Aussie' - which he seems to truly be.
The point being to supply some usable contacts on the ground in London.

[kalkman]

lol... wiggy's avatar is pretty righteous. but yeah, contacts are contacts are all good - you never know when you're gonna need em.

i thought about the fish & the pond for a while and have come to the conclusion that, for more obscure stuff that i prefer to play, the pond can be so small that there just aren't enough like-minded fish to work with. so i guess i'd rather be a small fish in a big pond full of other interesting fish than a medium sized fish in a small and stagnant pond all by my lonesome

[kalkman]

I just spent a few months working with refugees and asylum seekers to create a theatre piece based on their experiences. I cant think of a group of people who better exhibit what a previous 'leader' called australian values than these people. In fact I'm pretty sure that 'boat people' is where most australian values came from. I'm disgusted and disgraced at both our 'leaders' and the way this issue has been handled. These people have been through Hell and back and more than 90% of the asylum seekers are actually proved to be genuine, yet the nation founded on refugees, boat people and the social discards refuses to treat them with dignity or compassion. Oh yeah we're the 'lucky country'.

myles this sounds interesting, i'd really like to hear it, keep us posted

[mylesgm]

Well we presented it a few weeks back as part of the human rights film festival here in melbourne. 3 packed shows, standing ovations and a re-presentation in Fed Square where the asylum seeker community was welcomed by the indigenous community. Amazing set of experiences with a truly amazing set of people. We'll be attempting to stage it in a variety of festivals and other situations but I guess we'll see how it progresses.

[ChrisW]

so i guess i'd rather be a small fish in a big pond full of other interesting fish than a medium sized fish in a small and stagnant pond all by my lonesome

Yes, so far in my circumstances, small fish in big pond has worked out better for me.
To be clear, despite it's land mass, I'm not calling Oz the big pond. Not enough water for a start.

[rick]

whats that old saying

"if your bored with the world move to london
if your bored with london move to new york
if your bored with new york
you probably broke - so its time to come home "

[Gillian Lee]

Hi Ryan,

I lived in London for 18 months while interning at a studio in Norfolk for around a year. I'd recommend setting up a profile on Music Jobs UK (http://uk.music-jobs.com/) as it's a great job/network tool. Dozens of engineering jobs are put on there weekly (if only it was like that here!) and I made some contacts that way.

PS- London's not that expensive if you're earning pounds. I paid less for rent, food and entertainment than I do in Melbourne.

Cheers,
Gill

[kalkman]

thanks Gill, that's my kind of info-mation signing up right now!
ps. welcome! a stellar first post.

[Gillian Lee]

Cheers Ryan!

Best of luck with the move, I had a ball there as I'm sure you will too.