The Great Parts of Boot Camp (it was all great)
And so in the blink of an eye we find ourselves on the last day of bootcamp. This is the definition of a bittersweet moment for me as I was looking forward to this week all summer long. It came and went before I had time to fully process it. As I stare out from the deck of the mess hall at the serenely beautiful mountain view I’m doing my best to put together a highlight reel of sorts in my head. Between the exceedingly informative, the adrenaline-inducing, and the just plain fun this is a very difficult task for me. Although I’m sure to rethink this shortlist as soon as I submit it, here are only a few of the numerous standout moments of the past week (from my point of view):
The Hockey Game
Although in the end team “Mom’s Spaghetti” (the artists) did not emerge victorious, our hockey game versus the faculty was the perfect way to begin this journey. This game gave birth to an undeniable camaraderie (between literally everyone) that only grew deeper as the week progressed.
The Showcases
Getting to perform with “The Wrecking Crew” is a musician’s dream, and getting to watch every single one of the other 11 artists absolutely BRING IT was so cool. In addition, watching Tamara Beatty deliver performance coaching to everyone was insanely informative.
The Recording
One of our challenges was to collaborate with another one of the artists to write a song, and then record it at bootcamp with whichever producer we were paired with. I’m still thanking my lucky stars that I was paired with Mariel Buckley-an incredible songwriter and an even better human. Brad Smith (our producer) was such a great hang and brought our song to life in a way that makes me very happy. Also, a HUGE shoutout to the brilliant Christy, our assistant from Nimbus School of Recording. She’s wicked smart and evidently has a very bright future ahead in this industry.
Vanessa Cito (Reach Social)
Vanessa’s seminar on social media was an absolute kick in the ass in the best way possible. It is equal parts terrifying and inspiring how knowledgeable she is. Also, what an utterly HILARIOUS human.
Nate Wiszniak (Spotify)
Spotify is the new frontier on which the music industry is being built. I had no idea just how much thought and effort is being put in to make it as artist-friendly a platform as possible. This one made me really excited to release new music.
Jonathan Best (Wild 95.3)
I learned so much about radio in this seminar. Jonathan was an excellent presenter and led us in a series of very engaging and informative exercises that made the learning process very enjoyable.
These were only a few of my favourite moments. After a week of hard (but very rewarding) work my brain is feeling a little sluggish, and I’m certain it’s going to take some time for me to even begin to process everything. However I can safely say that every single session, activity, and interaction I was a part of this week left me a better musician and businessperson than I was before. I loved all of it.
Either way, I’m never going to forget this experience, and am so incredibly grateful for the relationships I built this week.
Last night baby, time to celebrate!
