Here at BandLab we take the time to get to know our people. In this series of posts we introduce some of our amazing staff. Meet Aqilah. Aqilah is our Community Support Representative for BandLab. We are always looking for good people, so if you are interested in joining our team you can send a CV to hr@bandlab.com
STAYING DOPE WITH AQILAH
If you’re on BandLab, chances are you’ve met or spoken to Aqilah. When she’s not busy working on BandLab support, you’ve probably seen her comments on the platform, or talked to her if you’ve dropped BandLab a message. She’s got a strong love of music (and a real talent for it), but she’s also got some great knowledge on what goes into making it too.
So meet Aqilah, her sound engineering background, her love of the word ‘dope’, and her highlights of working with the BandLab Community every day.
Getting a start in Music Tech
I studied music technology for three years at an arts college in Singapore. I got interested in noise music, and started making visuals and electronic music. I already had experience in engineering and recording for live events and in the studio, and I was performing and active in the music scene.
As I got into my career, I was lucky enough to have great mentors along the way – my university lecturer and then a web audio expert mentored me, and with their encouragement I started a meetup for Music Technology. I wanted to create a space for people in MT in Singapore to showcase their work or share their projects. At one of these meet ups, we were joined by members of BandLab. They did an impromptu introduction to the platform, which was super awesome. It was like everything I’ve ever wanted to work on.
When I was first starting in music, the only tool I had was a super basic DAW. Imagine if I was 14 years old now and had BandLab?! It really is something that can make a difference for the next generation of music makers. So the the day after my meetup, I got in touch with the BandLab team and let them know how much I wanted to work with them – and after an interview I was invited to join the BandLab team!
Loving the buzz at BandLab HQ
I love our working environment. For me, the people in BandLab are like a family. It’s such a nice feeling to know your colleagues in a real way, not just “hi – bye”, but to have real conversations. Everyone is willing to share what they are doing, to jam together in the studio at lunch. We hang out after work, we teach each other instruments, and share what we’re listening to.
My day-to-day at BandLab follows a rhythm, but every day is very different. Each morning I check social and reply to any questions or compliments, then I check the app store reviews and reply to those too. The rest of my day is committed to conversations with users in BandLab and AudioStretch – so I don’t have a lot of time to check my personal BandLab messages ‘till the end of the day!
Music is better together
I listen to a lot of music on BandLab. I love discovering tracks with fantastic production and I love it even more when I see that they have been made through organic collaboration – say between five different users on BandLab. That’s the music I love to feature in our Inspiration collections because it’s made in BandLab by BandLab users – because the essence of BandLab is making music together.
Who is my favourite user? Oh man, I’m gonna start a war with this! There are so many. The people who we have featured in the blog are people who have great commitment, have put huge effort into making music, collaborating and sharing their music. At the end of the day we are building a community of music makers who support each other and work together. That’s not to say that I don’t love individual artists too – but I really love the collaborators.
The BandLab Community
One of the most interesting and rewarding things about this job is the connection that we make with our users. It makes me so happy when our BandLab community take the time to send through feedback. I love it when I can help people with their recording or solve their problems for them. Beyond that, so many people open up to me about what’s going on for them, whether it’s how BandLab has been helping them go to the next level with their music, or how it helps them get through their day. I won’t go into details, but it’s just so amazing to see how BandLab is really changing lives. Everyone needs an outlet to express themselves and I love that BandLab is providing the tools to do that.
It really feels like I’m making a difference.
