What made you want to get into sound mixing/recording?

I had failed my A-levels and had to get a job, so, I took up full time work at UCI cinema, which was one of my Saturday jobs. It was awful; all my friends were off to university and I felt stuck.

I was cleaning up a screening of the movie Event Horizon - and as the credits rolled it dawned on me that these (credits) were jobs. Something clicked and I went down the library (remember those) and researched. The role that stood out to me was Production Sound Mixer. I was playing in bands at the time and had already started to experiment with recordings, so it wasn't a huge leap in my mind.

I threw myself into this pursuit and managed to get into Film school - and with a lot of luck, serendipity and sacrifice, 25 years later I'm still here mixing sound for picture.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There is no typical day, that's what I love about what we do, but the nub of it is this; supporting the team in whatever way is needed to meet the demands of the day. And that's different depending on the genre I am working on. For narrative it's much more of a team leader and objective role, while with documentaries it's more all hands-on deck, whatever it takes to get the filming day done. I love both equally.

Where is the strangest place that sound recording has taken you?

I have recorded sound in some very eccentric places. Some highlights include recording Iain Stewart as he walked through a raging fire while delivering a piece to camera, but place wise… Qeshm, a tiny island to the south of Iran. We undertook an expedition deep into a cave to look at the ancient layers of the seabed. The whole experience was magical and given the cave has since been flooded, I can say I'm one of few people in the world to have set foot inside it.

Is there a particular project you’ve worked on that stands out or was your favourite?

It's a tough question; they all have their merits and stories… I couldn't choose a favourite. What I do know is that I feel extremely lucky my work has enabled me to travel the world, have some very unique experiences and meet some incredible people; rock stars to scientists or just normal people living their lives. There is the formal education I have had and then the education I received out in the world.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Get yourself a proper job ;-)