An Interview with Grade 12 Student Lexa
Tell us why you decided to do a co-op for this year.
I decided to do a co-op because it’s like actual…experience in the workforce rather than just sitting in a classroom and doing regular school. So yeah, I [thought] it would be beneficial to get some actual experience in the workforce.
Going into the co-op, did you have a sense of what you wanted to pursue [as a career]?
I knew that I wanted to go into the music industry, specifically for music production. So my co-op was really good with that cause it fit into that, not necessarily music specifically, but audio production.
How did you come to a decision that you wanted to go into the music industry?
I’ve always liked music and it’s given me a purpose and passion, and I just figured, ‘why not do it if I love to do it?’ I’ve been doing music production on my own, and I know that I can do it and that I like it. So that’s what made me do it.
Great. So tell us where you landed for your co-op.
I went to FaithFM in London. They have different stations in Kitchener and Woodstock, but I went to the London one.
So give us a sense of your first impressions when you first started out in the first few days
The restrictions were more strict for COVID, so I wasn’t able to go into the station at first. So it was a lot of video chatting with people on Microsoft Teams, and emailing back and forth and stuff. In normal times, I guess, you would go face to face and work in a building, so it was kind of weird to [work remotely] at first, but it worked really well with technology.
And once you got a little bit more established, what were some of your responsibilities for your co-op?
Since they knew that I was already familiar with production stuff, I could already navigate pretty easily with audio production software. I did have to get used to using Adobe Audition, because that’s what they use for [the] radio, but yeah, I picked it up pretty quick[ly] because I’m comfortable with that kind of software. So I did a lot of production tasks for them.
Can you say more about those production tasks?
I did different segments; on the radio, there’s a prayer segment where they have a pastor do a short prayer, so I had to pick music to put under it and put the prayer on top of the music and have an intro and outro. I did that kind of stuff, and [for] ‘behind the song’ [segments] where there’s an artist interview, I had to like chop it up and put the music after them talking.
You talked about Adobe Audition; what other new skills did you acquire through this co-op?
Definitely getting more comfortable and well-versed in like software that anyone could use for audio production. So, yeah Adobe Audition and there were different ones specifically for radio, like there’s one called Natural Log, where you schedule the radio and like iMediaTouch production to change the levels and stuff. So I definitely got a lot of experience with different software and stuff…and working, like communication. I gained skill in that too because I had to like email back and forth and figure out what I was supposed to do and how I could help people.
What’s something that you didn’t know about radio that you now know?
I didn’t really know that much about radio. I just knew what I heard when I listened to radio. So I learned a lot of what actually goes on behind the scenes – like all the different jobs that it takes to run the radio and what they have to do to make sure it keeps going on air and to make sure that everything is scheduled out for the day and that it has the right amount of minutes and stuff, and how they go on their talk show and how they time out their hours and stuff. So I learned basically the ins and outs of radio.
What would you say was one of the biggest challenges during your placement?
It wasn’t too challenging. I didn’t have any major issues, but I have to use my laptop to [connect] remote[ly] into the computers there because they have the software on there, and I don’t have it on my computer. So I guess that’s a bit tricky, like sometimes it’s laggy and you can’t like zoom in – it’s not as smooth as you want it to be. So, I guess that’s a bit of a challenge, but it was manageable.
Tell us what happened at the end of your placement.
At the end of my placement, I was actually offered a job and, so yeah, now I’m working part-time as a production coordinator.
And what does that entail?
Basically the same things that I was mostly doing, except for my co-op I was doing a whole bunch of different things, like helping people out with their jobs and stuff. And now, I’m just doing specifically, like the production stuff that I was talking about earlier.
What do you like best about this role?
I always liked the software – like the audio production software, and like cutting and editing different parts of stuff. I like doing that kind of techy stuff *laughs* with audio.
Looking ahead to your future, you said you’re going to do some of this in post-secondary? Can you talk a little more about that?
So I got accepted into Fanshawe’s music industry arts program, and so that’s a two year program. It’s very versatile; I think I’ll learn a lot about the music industry as a whole, but it’s also heavily [focused on] music production kind of stuff. So I’ll learn that, and I’ll be able to work in the studios and stuff, so I’m hoping to – the dream is to be some sort of music producer! So that’s the dream, I guess. *laughs*
While you were here at the school, what, if anything, did you take away from being involved in music at London Christian High?
I think getting the experience of doing stuff like praise teams and stuff with the school – that’s definitely good experience; it’s basically having your own band I guess and having experience with a band and making music, specifically for worship too. I’m taking Music right now, and I think Mrs. Boersma is doing a good job of helping me this year specifically figure out my sound as an artist basically, and I think that will be helpful too. So, I’ll take away a lot of cool stuff from this year as well.
If there were a style of music for which you’d want to be a producer, what would it be?
Hmm. That’s difficult. *laughs* I like a lot of music. There’s so many genres now, but, I guess mainly like some sort of pop. Yeah. I like a bunch of different music, but yeah.
Can you talk a little bit about your perspective on faith and music?
I think that…well music is important to God, I guess with all of the different passages that talk about making music to the Lord and stuff. And it’s a great way to worship and it’s like a language of its own. I think it can be utilized completely to glorify God and not even through the Christian [genre]…like I don’t necessarily love the labelling of like Christian artists because I think a lot of music can glorify God. Even if it’s not played on a Christian radio station, I think it can be used to glorify God and it’s important with our faith.
How has music impacted your faith journey?
I think music, for me, is a way that I can express my emotions and feelings and stuff, even without words too. So, it helps me to kind of connect those feelings to a sound, I guess, and offer it to God. You can even sort of do like a prayer…like you can talk to God through music. I utilize it for that way too, and you can definitely feel God – like worshipping with people at certain times, it just hits you – like you definitely feel like the presence of God through music, and it’s kind of like that connector, I guess.