Author Archives: Robert Gillies

Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School (4)

The sky is falling on Santa Cruz today. The first decent rain in months is coming down and drenching everything in sight. I’ve just now managed to find a moment to finish up my report of the weekend as yesterday proved too hectic to do anything remotely related to blogging or preparing for my mid-terms.

At the back of my mind was the nagging feeling that I needed to find time to prepare for the coming exams (the first of which I have a mere three hours after arriving back in Boston), but I knew that all the work that I was doing was, in a way, a great deal more important than the coming week. Continue reading →

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Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School (3)

The first full day at MIW draws to a close and I’m already considering hitting the hay at 10pm. It’s been an incredibly full day, worthy of a good rest at the end of it.

The day kicked off with an interactive session geared not towards our achievements as musicians, but towards our experiences from the past year. Continue reading →

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Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School (2)

It’s amazing how much a three hour time difference can knock you out if you’ve been travelling all day. I left for the MIW at around 8:30am EST and, after having flown to Dulles and then San Jose, I arrived at Bosch at around 6pm PST. The first order of the day was dinner which was so, so welcome after the journey.

I was introduced to at least half of the participants at the MIW, meeting musicians from all backgrounds – amateurs, professionals – and learning about their backgrounds. The atmosphere at Bosch is incredibly relaxed, with a focus on participation and learning, no matter what your experience. Couple that with the wooded and secluded surroundings, and you have a recipe for a magical, magical time.

The event kicks off in earnest tomorrow, when I’ll be leading a panel on ‘Songs and Social Conscience’ along with Chris Ruhe and, a little later on, giving my first workshop on ‘Inexpensive But Effective Vlogging’. My first mission, though, is to get a good night’s sleep and enjoy sleeping in silence – much more news tomorrow!

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Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School (1)

Today I’ll be leaving Boston on a 4 day trip to Santa Cruz, CA, where I’ll be representing Berklee at the Music Industry Weekend (MIW), a small but energetic & inspiring conference aimed at providing an opportunity for musicians, recording engineers and producers (whether they be a part of the Baháí community or not) to work together, learn from one another, and foster a collaborative learning environment.

I was asked by the director of the event, Darrell Rodgers, if I would be willing to give a series of workshops on cheap, but effective, video logging, and participate in a panel to discuss songwriting and social change. Though I had my doubts as to whether I could afford the trip, Berklee kindly offered me the opportunity to travel under their sponsorship provided I report daily on the event and help foster a relationship between the two institutions. I would like to thank Rob Hayes in particular for his help in securing my grant, and Magen Tracy for her assistance in getting this blog up and running.

I leave very shortly, and I’ll be reporting regularly on the event, the goings on, and my observations as I set out into new territory as a musician, performer and writer.

Read about the rest of Robert’s trip:

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