Tell us about your production journey so far – how long have you been producing? And what drew you to it in the first place?

As a kid, I’d gone to music school on weekends, whilst I was learning to be a classically-trained violinist, I also did a music production module which I really enjoyed as I was really into House and Trance music. Wind on a few years, I wanted to take production back up again and before the course, I had been teaching myself electronic music production watching Youtube videos for the last 4 years.

What made you decide to enrol on the Creativity Unlocked programme?

I had hit a rut with my production learning and wasn’t really getting much further, I knew that I wanted to take it to the next level and had heard from others that the Toolroom courses were really good so I decided to sign up to Creativity Unlocked.

I chose this course specifically as it had all the tools and techniques to boost my creativeness.

Since taking the course, my inspiration has increased tenfold, and I’m really excited to share my new music with everyone over the next few months.

What other modules really stood out to you throughout the course?

One of the main areas which I wanted to improve was working with vocals, I was shown a number of techniques over a range of house/tech house sub-genres, including how to record and process our own vocal hooks. All the modules were really helpful but this one in particular for me really stood out as a good vocal hook is the key to a good house track and it showed us ways to do this.

How happy were you with the track you made over the course of the 3 months?

The course is really cool as you are taught how to develop each element of a house track, from the drum groove, vocal hook, melodics to full arrangement, creating a track from scratch to finish. On top of that, you get feedback on your work throughout the course, which is super helpful in developing your track. For my track, I wrote a house track along with original written and recorded vocals and can safely say it’s my best piece of work to date.

What do you think was unique or different about the Creativity Unlocked programme compared to other programmes/schools out there?

With the Creativity Unlocked course and Toolroom courses in general, you are being taught the tips and tricks that are being used by established producers day in day out and that we hear in the records we love. You also get A&R feedback along the way from the Toolroom team which is extremely valuable for your progression. I don’t think there’s anywhere else out there that has this level of extensive hands-on production training straight from the producers and A&R teams themselves.

How would you compare your production ability/knowledge now, compared to when you started the course?

The Creativity Unlocked course has completely revolutionised the way I produce music, from my workflow to creating hooks and grooves. Before I was struggling with writer’s block, now I’ve got a lot of projects that are waiting to be finished so really exciting times.

How would you rate your tutors?

Pete & Dean were amazing and their feedback was invaluable. The combination of their production and A&R backgrounds is really helpful as they teach you production skills whilst having that A&R perspective in mind as well, plus they’re also really sound guys!

Would you recommend the Creativity Unlocked course to other producers?

I would highly recommend Creativity Unlocked to any producer, whether you’re starting out or even to those who are already halfway into their production journey; it will provide you with mind-blowing techniques which will help you produce music which will stand out from the crowd.

As a graduate, what are your thoughts on the Toolroom Academy overall?

The whole academy set up is amazing, you feel part of a family as you are amongst others who are on the same musical journey as yourself. Along with the production courses, you also become part of the Toolroom alumni group which is a great platform to network, and you also get access to additional tutorials and resources along with A&R feedback from artists on the label.