Jemma Roberts

I am currently a Masters student in Electronic Music Production at dBs Institute Bristol (University of Falmouth) and have a background as a gigging singer songwriter with very little formal musical education. After training in occupational therapy and taking a career break, I decided to learn music production during the covid lockdowns to try to expand my songwriting capabilities. In 2020 despite being part of many supportive online production environments I found I was having different issues from my producer peers but often the same recurring issues (such as not finishing tracks, replying to emails, or sending back my part in collaborative tracks on time);  all of which made me feel like and seem like I was unable/uninterested in progressing in my career. I received a diagnosis of ADHD in 2022 for the first time as an adult which explained a lot of my issues in regards to music career progression and otherwise. Despite being motivated to learn, I had found learning music production incredibly difficult and began to look into what issues might be related to my neurodivergence and what resources were available for neurodivergent music producers. I found some coaches but not many resources or spaces (apart from reddit!) for music creators like me. I began to try to identify firstly what I might need and decided this might look like resources tailored towards my neurodivergence- for example networking when you find it difficult, community (to feel accepted and belong) and accountability sessions (like body doubling) to do tasks I found difficult like filling in PRS forms, accounting or replying to emails. From there I began to ask a wider community what might be useful in terms of learning or as a new platform and I am in the process of developing this both as a viable business idea but also for my masters dissertation due for completion by September 2023.