Thanks to all of you who have entered!

Congratulations goes to…

December 19th Winner: Ally (Chris Humfrey’s Wild Life Volume 1 DVD)
December 20th Winner: Cheyenne (Marvin Priest “Beats and Blips” and Glee Season 2 on DVD)
December 22nd Winner: Maddy (Logitech z305)
December 23rd Winner: Shannon (Honey 2 & Step-up 3 on DVD)
December 25th Winner: Cameron (LG Twin HD Recorder and Blu-Ray Combo, Polaroid Bluetooth printer, Step Up 3 and Glee Season 2 on DVD, Just Dance 2 and a Red Ink ep)

Well done winners! You’ll be contacted via email to arrange the postage of your prize.

Make sure to keep stopping by the Facebook comp every day until Christmas for the next prize. Get your friends to enter too to increase your chances of winning!

ENTER TO WIN HERE >>

Congratulations goes to…

December 6th Winner: Gemmie (Step Up 3 DVD)
December 7th Winner: Josh (Demi Lovato – Unbroken)
December 8th Winner: Darren (Taylor Swift World Tour Live – CD/DVD)
December 9th Winner: Ann (Signed copies of Feeding Edgar’s ‘In Her Eyes)
December 10th Winner: Cherie (NP Set Packs)
December 11th Winner: Matthew (Polaroid 300s)
December 12th Winner: Georgina (Family Passes to see Arrietty)
December 13th Winner: Lauren (Red Ink “Catching a Killer” EP)
December 14th Winner: Elly (Universal Music Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez CD combo pack)
December 15th Winners: Darren, Mungo, LJ (Quiksilver, Quiksilver Women and Roxy Summer bag pack)
December 16th Winner: Lizzie (Finabah “Everyone Jump” Single and “Sugarcoat” EP)
December 17th Winner: Katelyn (Polaroid 300s)
December 18th Winner: Nicholas (Mere Footware)

Well done winners! You’ll be contacted via email to arrange the postage of your prize.

Meet Tim Walker, the Rock the Schools Senior Sound Engineer. Here he shares his tips for making it all the way in the Audio Engineering biz.

In a sentence tell us what a Sound Engineer actually does:
A Sound Engineer’s job is to manage sound signals from an act/band and amplify them for an audience to hear. This is the basic technical explanation. However there are many other aspects to the job.

What made you decide to chase a career in the music industry?
I’ve played music since I was quite young, around 6 or 7 years old. Music has always been a very magical, emotional and exciting part of my life. I had played in many bands, and along the way started to teach myself about sound recording in order to record myself and my bands. (I’d actually begun recording at around 12 years of age with my homemade drums and two tape recorders). I discovered that I had the ability to stay highly focused for extended periods and was absolutely enthralled with the entire recording process. It was this discovery that really led me to chase a career in the music industry. I also discovered you could make MONEY recording and mixing bands!

Where did you get your training and how long did it take to complete?
I studied at The Australian Institute of Music in Surry Hills, Sydney. I undertook a Bachelor of Music, Majoring in Audio Engineering. This was a two year, full time degree. This is where I gained a lot of experience, but also started to network with others and was lucky enough to work under several other Engineers (Drew Bissett, Colin Sands, Greg White) who have taught me so much and given me many fantastic opportunities to learn and grow.

Give us a dose of reality! What is the best and the worst thing about being a Sound Engineer?
The best thing would be mixing a live band. I love getting the band setup, helping them feel comfortable (I like to crack a few jokes, make fun of myself, anything to put the band at ease). I also check all the instruments and make sure everything is sounding great and exciting! It is really a magical thing to feel the power of a great sounding PA system, to see the audience electrified by the sound and the band’s performance!

The worst thing is when something goes wrong! We do a lot of testing, checking and double-checking of all the systems and connections to ensure any bugs have been ironed out, but you can never be 100% prepared for every situation. You need to have a good understanding of how PA systems work and where every cable and connection is going so that if there are problems they can be found and fixed as quickly as possible. When starting out as an Engineer you are going to make mistakes, so it’s important to work out what went wrong and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And hopefully the audience won’t notice!

Since starting out, what has surprised you most about your job? Anything that you weren’t expecting to encounter, but did?
I would have to say the kindness and help that I’ve received from other Engineers. There is a very proud, strong and united family of Sound Engineers out there, and I have been so lucky to work with people like Anatole Day (Cassette Kids, Guy Sebastian, Damien Leith, James Carroll- (The Jezabels, Tegan and Sarah) and Drew Bissett (Engineer at Level 7 studios- Gurrumul Yunupingu). These guys are absolute world-class Sound Engineers who have been so generous to give up their valuable time and knowledge, and also recommend me for other jobs!

What do you think separates a good Sound Engineer from a bad one?
I think a good Engineer understands what their role actually is. It is the Engineer’s job to help the band get the BEST sound and the BEST performance they can. The Engineer works for the band, not the other way around! A good Engineer can approach a situation with a band, solve the situation and keep the band’s spirits high!! If the band is feeling down they won’t play well, and there is nothing you can do as an Engineer to fix the bands playing. There is no ‘talent’ knob on the mixing desk! Also, a good Engineer MUST confront situations with a band that they feel might hinder the sound or performance. If the lead guitarist is blisteringly loud, and the rhythm guitarist is super quiet that’s just not going to work. The bands sound must be balanced before you amplify it. It’s only then can you expect to get the absolute BEST sound for the band. These situations must be approached VERY carefully.

At the same time the Engineer needs to recognise that musicians put a lot of themselves into their performance and sound. If you walk in and start bagging out their sound or their choice of cymbals or their volume then you’re going to have problems. It is only when the band knows they can trust that what you tell them is purely in THEIR best interest and not YOUR best interest that you can start recommending to change things. Most of a Sound Engineer’s job is about working with people. You do need to know about the gear and how it all works, but at the end of the day if you’re nervous, or find it hard to talk to people then you’re not going to be as successful as someone who may not have ALL the knowledge about the technical aspects but can talk to all types of people and make them feel comfortable.

What’s it like going to a concert or listening to an album? Is it hard to turn off your ‘work ears’?
Haha It can be hard. If I go to a concert I’m always judging the sound. It’s the competitive nature in Engineers. I want to see the mixing desk, see the Engineer, especially if the sound is very good (or bad!). I want to know what speakers they’re using, what microphones, what effects processors. Even if I’m at a club or bar I’m always checking out the sound, speakers and listening to how they’re setup, try and guess what frequencies are sticking out and things like that. I think if you’re truly passionate about sound and music it shouldn’t be a part-time thing. I feel very blessed to have a great love for sound and music, so I’m always thinking about sound or trying to learn new things.

If I listen to an album it depends on HOW I want to listen. One of the things I learned during my studies at AIM was how to listen in different ways. You can listen to something as ‘the listener’, experiencing the song as a normal person would hear it. I usually do this for my favourite songs so I don’t ruin the illusion! As ‘the Engineer’ I listen to all the technical aspects of the recording and mixing. What effects they have used, volume changes, little tricks here and there used to push the song along. Listening ‘into’ the recording, focusing on individual elements, as opposed to just ‘experiencing’ the song. As ‘Producer’ I listen to the SONG itself. The construction of the song, lyrics, arrangement, the flow and feel of the song. You can learn so much from other music and other Engineer’s work!

Got a question for Tim? Enter it in the comments section below!

If you don’t see your name below, remember to keep coming back to our Facebook comp every day until Christmas for the next prize. Get your friends to enter too to increase your chances of winning!

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Congratulations goes to…

December 1st Winner: Georgina (Second Season of Glee)
December 2nd Winner: Liam (The Black Eyed Peas Experience on Kinect for XB360)
December 3rd Winner: Nicholas (Just Dance 3 on Kinect for XB360)
December 4th Winner: Mason (Motion Sports on Kinect for XB360)
December 5th Winner: Gemmie (Just Dance 2 for Wii)

Well done winners! You’ll be contacted via email to arrange the postage of your prize.

Starting on December 1st we’re giving away gifts to lucky winners and their friends.

To get in on the action all you need to do is
‘Like’ us on Facebook and send in an answer for each day’s competition question.

There will be new prizes up for grabs every day until Christmas. Plus! You can increase your chances of winning by telling your friends about our Facebook page. If you and your friend agree to give the bonus prizes to each other, you’ll have more than one entry!

Our 25 Days of Christmas Giveaway kicks off on December 1st. Join us on Facebook so you don’t miss out on the goodies!

How old were you when you wrote your first song?
I was about 15 when I wrote my first song… and I’m pretty sure it was terrible. But writing bad songs are all a part of writing good ones.

When you’re creating a new song, do you normally write the music or the lyrics first?
This is a really common question and my answer is always the same – there is never any constant in song writing. Some artists start with their poetry and apply it to music, others work the other way around. For me, it is really a case of whatever comes first. Whether it be a melody, a lyric, or a guitar riff, I use whatever I have as the inspiration for the rest of the song.

So just how awkward is it to share your love song lyrics with the rest of the band for the first time?
At first it was a little scary, sharing thoughts and feelings with the guys so openly, but then it becomes almost liberating. I think generally, creative people use writing, or painting, or whatever it may be, as their outlet and it becomes so important to embrace it to get the best out of your creativity. For me, the most amazing songs are the ones where you really get a feel for what the writer was going through when it was written, so if you feel scared about opening up to your band mates, let alone the rest of the world, you will never get the best out of your writing.

What if I’m really bad at poetry? Does a good song have to rhyme?
I think a song does have to rhyme to some effect. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly rounded limerick full of words that match perfectly, but rhyming and alliteration are two of the most powerful tools a song writer has, so it’s important to use them effectively. The most memorable hooks in songs come from a great lyric, combined with a great melody and a great rhyme, so I think it is really integral to work on it if it’s not a strong point.

Do you have a favourite place to sit down and churn out a new song?
Oddly enough, I write a lot of songs in the shower! But not with a guitar of course! Whenever I am stuck on a song or feeling a bit of writer’s block, a shower clears my mind and for some reason what I’m looking for always seems to come out. Strange I know!

Tough one! Is there a song out there that you wish you had written instead?
I’ve always really wished I wrote Drops of Jupiter by Train. I have a love of space and planets and I have always wanted to incorporate it into a song. Drops of Jupiter uses metaphors of space so so well and I think if anyone ever wrote another song with those sorts of metaphors, it would just be a bad version of that song. “Now she’s back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair” – so good!

Finish these lyrics…
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
They both smell amazing,
But you smell like poo.

…. HAHA!

Last but not least, care to share some advice with the budding songwriters out there?
I think the most important advice I can give, is just to keep writing. It’s something I get told all the time by everyone in the industry, is just to write and write and write. Because it’s one of those things where you can never really reach a limit and your best is never behind you. The more you do it the better you get and you can really see yourself grow with every song. So keep writing and use every experience you have in life to help you.

Stav was kind enough to share the band’s experiences whilst making their new album ‘Company’ and talks about everthing from skipping, to broken legs and what they’re up to this Summer.

Question 1: How did you guys come up with the name Bluejuice?

We’ve been trying for years to invent a better answer to this question. The sad truth is that it was just an unfortunate coupling of some nicknames of Jamie and Ned (our old drummer). It was only when we’d been stuck with the name for a few years did we realise “Bluejuice” was also a clothing label, a racehorse, a kind of anti-bacterial urinal disinfectant, several diving-related businesses and a movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones in it.

Question 2: Big congrats on the new album ‘Company’! What turned out to be your favourite track?

Thanks! We’re really proud of it. We’ve all got different favourites from the album – I like Cheap Trix, Jake prefers On My Own, Jerry likes Do You Will, Jamie Dressed For Success. Basically we’re all egomaniacs and we prefer whichever song we play the most on.

Question 3: Sarah on our Facebook page wants to know if you guys are touring in Sydney soon? But we’re also curious about the rest of the country… anywhere else we can also catch you live?

The next time we’re in Sydney is for Big Day Out in January. Also in January we’re doing our “Sizzling 2012” tour – it’s an east-coast tour that we do every year that basically just goes from beach to beach, and lets us pretend that we’re outdoorsy. Apart from that, we’re probably not doing our own proper national tour until about April.

Question 4: Speaking of live shows, you guys are pretty energetic on stage! Timothy on Facebook wants to know if you train for your gigs or just get an insane cardio work-out whilst performing?

No, no training. Jake will flirt with the gym from time to time, and I play basketball, but generally the gigs themselves are enough of a work-out, particularly on a long tour where we’ll play 5 times a week.

Everyone seems interested in finding out more about your amazing single ‘Broken Leg’. Ready for a few related but totally different questions?…

Question 5: Beccahh on Facebook wants to know about the inspiration behind Broken Leg?

Well, the song developed after Jake literally broke his leg. It was a dancing-related injury after a show in Brisbane, and we all pretty much ignored it until his complaining became too much to bear, so we took him to the hospital in Byron Bay. He played a show that night with his new cast on – what a trooper. Anyway, Jake wrote much of the song in the weeks afterwards, while sitting at home nursing his broken leg and being sad.

Question 6: Alyssa-Jane wants to know how many hours of training did you do for the Broken Leg clip, or are you guys just natural skippers?

I cannot stress this enough – we are TERRIBLE skippers. We trained for 3 hours a day for weeks, and it was pretty full-on training (for us anyway). We were feeling pretty good about it, but when the day of the video shoot finally arrived, we were completely, utterly hopeless. The shoot ended up going for 12 hours – we couldn’t complete any of the moves we’d been training to do, and we just hated everyone and everything by the end of it. Not to mention the fact that it was impossible to walk for days afterwards. So yeah – we’re natural athletes.

Question 7: Lauren wants to know just how hard is it to walk around on a broken leg?

I’m not sure, but we got a good song out of it, so it can’t be all bad.

Question 8: ‘Company’ is the third album for Bluejuice. Was there anything you learned as a band this time around that you didn’t when you were making the previous albums?

We decided we needed to be a lot more prepared than we’d been in the past. We spent months before recording making sure the arrangements were right and talking about particular sounds we wanted to get for particular parts. We’d never really done that before – we’d always pretty much just walked into the studio and played everything live, without thinking too much about it. I think this preparation really helped the album be more cohesive.

Question 9: And finally, we come across loads of high school bands during the Rock the Schools tour. Any wisdom you can share with people hoping to break into the music industry?

Perseverance! If nothing else, our band is evidence that if you stick with it then good things can happen – even if it takes a while. And don’t get bogged down by thinking about what others are doing – weirdness and individuality can be an advantage.

Watch the amazing (yet slightly creepy) clip for the guy’s new song ‘Act Yr Age’ on the official Bluejuice website >>

To celebrate their brand spanking new album ‘Company’, Bluejuice member Stav is ready and raring to answer any of your questions!

Feel free to ask him about the making of ‘Company’, his favourite thing about playing festivals like Big Day Out and Splendour… and what it’s like to watch a band mate kiss a granny

Get creative, enter your question in the comments box below and Stav will publish his answers in response next week.

Don’t forget you can get Company on iTunes now >>

What does being a bass player in a band feel like? Is it fun? I find it really hard to get every note right but I’ve only played for 2 months.

Playing bass in a band is awesome fun – you really have got to use your ears and listen to both the drummer and the guitarist(s) and try and be the guy who connects the rhythm to the harmony (the chords). It’s amazing how many musicians don`t really listen to what the other people are playing (especially guitarists ha ha), I always say the bass player’s job is to make everyone else look good…..

What’s the biggest positive and negative about touring and playing in front of fans?

The positives are pretty obvious – you get to travel and see places you might never have gone to otherwise, AND play your music in front of a different audience every night- it`s a lot of fun. You definitely improve as a band and a player with regular touring. The downside is the long stints in the touring van, driving from gig to gig. Touring can be very draining mentally and physically, and everyone gets really tired which can easily lead to bad moods and disagreements etc….

Who is your music icon and why?

It`s hard to pick one icon but my favourite bass player would be Tim Commerford from Rage Against the Machine – he`s got a great sound, and plays some really cool bass lines under Tom Morello`s big riffs. He also plays with his fingers (not a pick) like myself, and he`s got some pretty cool tats to boot! I met him at the Big Day Out a couple of years ago and I taught him how to play knuckles – he almost broke my hand…..!

What did you use to record Ready 1?

That was a while ago but I`m pretty sure I used a Warwick LX Streamer bass made from a timber called ovangkol. It was the first bass I got from Warwick basses, and it`s still one of my favourites.

I love the song Just Ace! Can you tell me a little bit about the writing of this song?

Well Phil wrote Just Ace and there`s not really a lot to it actually, since it`s the same chord progression all the way through. He brought it into rehearsal one day and showed it to us by playing it on the guitar. Pat added the little guitar melody to it and we made the verses quiet and the chorus loud to give it some dynamics. To keep it interesting over the years we`ve played it lots of different ways, we even once put a reggae type breakdown in the middle – I’m not sure what we were thinking there though….!

We heard you guys have just launched a new iPhone app. What’s your favourite feature?

It`s pretty cool having an App – I didn`t even know we were getting it done till I saw the finished product! My favourite feature is being able to check when and where we are heading off to on our tours….!

We come across loads of high school bands during the Rock the Schools tour. Any wisdom you can share with people hoping to break into the music industry?

Play anywhere and everywhere at first to get as tight and confident in your material as possible. Approach your local booking agent and try to get supports with touring bands – if you impress them or their crew, they might offer you further gigs down the track. Save up money and record a decent sounding demo to use as a calling card and also to put it on Triple J’s unearthed.com. Maybe even stalk your favourite bands by following them on Twitter and hassle them to listen to your tunes!!

Check out Grinspoon’s tour dates, new iPhone app and more on their official website >>

Grinspoon’s bass player, Joe Hansen, has volunteered this round! Feel free to bombard him with questions about touring the country, winning ARIA awards and what it’s like to play festivals like Big Day Out and Splendour in the Grass in front of thousands of fans.

Get creative, enter your question in the comments box below and Joe will publish his answers in response.

Joe has also offered up a couple of Grinspoon CDs to the people that send in the best questions, so good luck!