The Vocal Code UNLOCKED

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 In The Hot Seat with Steve Anderson Part 2

Music brought the three of us together and we’ve since had the absolute pleasure of working side by side in the industry on some incredible projects for many years. What’s almost as amazing is that we can still unearth stories from our past that we didn’t know about each other. It is true what they say, everyday is a school day.

Adetoun shares her introduction into the music industry as member of girl group ‘Angels in White’ and how it coincided with her first professional backing vocal job with X Factor champion, Leona Lewis. She tells us how she would watch & learn from Leona and hone her skills for adapting her own voice. She talks about the experimentation with vocal arrangements whilst delivering high energy performances with Ellie Goulding, the balance of singing & full choreography with Robbie Williams and then mastering the world of vocal ghosting whilst discovering a whole new side to her voice when joining the well oiled machine that is team Kylie.

We hear about Katie’s baptism of fire of joining the Gnarls Barkley band and the immediate introduction to the industries highs and lows. The subconscious vocal ghosting requirements when audition and working with Lily Allen. The parallels of working as backing vocalist & lead vocalist on the same gig with Rapper Professor Green and how she learned to bespoke her voice to suit a plethora of male and female singers. She shares her experiences of joining team Leona, team Kylie and touring the world with Adele.

This episode covers many of our experiences including our first time in a rehearsal studio, touring and performing in stadiums, arenas, theatres and festivals. How we prepare for learning a whole set in record time and what advice we would you give to anyone wanting to start a career in the music industry as a backing vocalist.

We hope this gives you some valuable insight and helps you in your own preparation. 

Until next time, thank you and stay safe. 

Adetoun & Katie x

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 In The Hot Seat with Steve Anderson Part 1

Here we are at episode ten and the final instalment of Season 2. 

For those of you listening and possibly reading this, thank you for your time! If you have been with us since season one, thank you so much for your continued loyalty & support and for any newbies, welcome! 

It’s been almost a year since the birth of our podcast and It seems that all those early trial & errors and discoveries really did teach us a lot and we are proud to report that season 2, was a much slicker process.

In this episode we decided to flip the script and put ourselves in the hot seat. Our wonderful friend and colleague Mr Steve Anderson very kindly offered to host and be the one firing the questions.

As we make our way down memory lane, we talk about our earliest memories in becoming professional session vocalists and share some of the experiences that have brought us this far. We could’ve kept talking until the end of lockdown to be quite honest but instead we thought we’d package it up into a lovely two part finale. (A side note from Katie, please pardon the occasional noisy accompaniment from my builders in the background during recording of this episode.)

We really hope you enjoy it and we look forward to bringing you an even more 'new and improved' season three. You never know, we could finally start talking about life post lockdown!

Adetoun & Katie x

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Toni Robinson 

Toni is a professional singer and runs a vocal solutions company. She offers bespoke events for her clients putting together choirs, ad writing, supplying singers for sessions as part of BASSnote Sessions and is one half of a gameshow company called Gospeloke. Gospeloke brings you Sister Act 2 meets karaoke and features Toni as your very own Whoopi leading from the front. With a songbook spanning 120 hits including sing-a-long classics like Joyful joyful, Like a prayer and I Will Follow Him, your event will be unforgettable because those budding singers from the office will be living out their dreams live on stage. 

Toni’s past experience as a community choir leader and session singer has helped her build a huge pool of singers of varied abilities. Learning how to bring out each persons potential and knowing who will be perfect for each job is a great reminder of how she got to where she is now and pay that forward. During lockdown, Toni has been very realistic. She says “I don’t want to short change people. I was aware that there may be limitations with running choirs virtually and I’ve been very careful of not taking on work that could be detrimental to our quality or my singers health & safety” You will have not been able to miss the massive advertising campaign for Just Eat, feat Rapper Snoop Dog. The sultry voice you hear singing the catchy hook line is Toni’s voice and her first ever ad creation. Naturally she is now working heavily in the advertising industry but tells us it’s not just about the completions and getting the ideas released. She is paid to submit the ideas regardless of completion. That is the job. Getting the call to submit ideas is the win. 

We are often focused on the final stage rather than the journey. Regarding her business model, Toni is a stickler for a process and she has a spreadsheet for everything. She lives by the principle that If you do it properly to begin with, you won’t have to go back. Save 20% of all your income because when you make a decision to be self employed, you’re making a decision to be in control. It’s important to understand your business and your money. She adds “You have to be good at what you do. Your motivation needs to be the love and you then put 100% in - which is what people see and THAT is your calling card”

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Salena Mastroianni

Salena is a Singer, Songwriter & Artist who after graduating from ICMP in London entered the music industry working in corporate events and providing backing vocals for artists such as Rita Ora & Robbie Williams.

In this episode Salena along with her infectious, funny and beautifully honest personality shares with us her parallels of her journey in music and fitness.

Despite Covid19, 2020 hasn’t been all that bad in Salena’s world. She signed a publishing deal during lockdown, built a home studio and has a beautiful log cabin which houses her gym making everything very accessible and as a result has been able to create at a much faster pace.

Fresh from getting married, Salena looked at finding a focus away from music that maybe more specific than just going to a gym. So with her performing experience and being a huge lover of fitness, in 2018 she decided to take part in her first body building competition.

She say’s “Initially the gain was purely for aesthetic benefits. I was chasing this goal to look amazing for my work on stage because I was always on show. Post competition and after only a few days, I saw my body undo that gruelling 20 week preparation because I hadn't prepared myself properly for what was to come next. I went in blind and the lack of research with the after effects of such training meant I put my body through a lot of distress”

Currently promoting her own music, Salena is also studying to become a PT. She advises anyone to do their research and remember fitness is not a plan, it’s a lifelong journey.
“You need to know what your goal is, do what you enjoy and understand what is achievable within that compromise in order to be happy with your body and the results. For me dieting is temporary, It’s for short term goal setting because life goes fast and life can be taken at anytime so we have to enjoy it"

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Motherhood In Music Part 1 

We bring to you a gorgeous trio of women who have all had huge success as vocalists in the music industry and are also incredible mothers. Kirsten Joy is a lead vocalist with Clean Bandit and alongside all her other incredible global backing vocal & session work with the likes of Kylie, she is also now mummy to her brand new baby girl Darcy. Wendi Harriott is an extremely experienced singer, songwriter, voice over artist, backing vocalist and confidence coach. Whilst juggling all of her many skills, Wendi is mummy to her beautiful daughter Heaven aged 10. Jess Greenfield is one half of the band The Condors alongside her husband Gavin and over the past few years she has also been touring the world as a vocalist/keyboard player with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. She recently became a mummy to her brand new baby girl Ava. This two part recording was such a special moment for us all involved and we really hope it fills you with reassurance and positivity in the same way it did us.

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Lauren Johnson Reynolds-London Wellness Coach 

Lauren has been working in the music industry as professional session singer for many years. Despite building a very successful music career, Lauren often felt that the touring side of the industry was taking its toll on her physical and mental health by causing a lot of anxiety. So in the quest to find solutions for her own wellbeing, Lauren made the decision to go back to university and study Homeopathy and Nutritional Therapy. The creation of London Wellness Coach was already underway through her own personal journey and education that when the world found itself suddenly facing a pandemic, Lauren knew it was the perfect time to focus on building her new company. ‘I had to make sure I saw a homeopath and do a lot of self-work in order to not be triggered by difficulties my clients might be facing. As a performer I now have a lot more patience because I’ve changed my lifestyle with mindfulness, yoga and meditation. My posture is better, vocally and physically my stamina is much better too.’ 

With many of us now focusing more on our wellness, supermarkets are starting to widen their range of healthy alternatives and we’re finally starting to see Homeopathy get more positive coverage in the press. London Wellness Coach had publications in Glamour, Metro & Women’s Fitness to name a few within the same year of its official release. Lauren says of Homeopathy ‘Meds are life saving but they don’t need to be for everyday’ Lauren credits her resilience from working in the music industry as the key to being prepared in building a brand new company. She says ‘Being a creative has helped me feel very comfortable as a performer when promoting the company on social media and being presentable as the face of my advertising. With both careers now proving very successful, Lauren says ‘We are learning that we can run multiple business. If the pandemic hadn’t happened perhaps we would never have known what else we could create’

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 RED - Social Media   Nicole is a powerhouse vocalist and songwriter who goes by the artist name Red. Growing up in Scotland listening to the vocal greats, Red starting her journey in Theatre and from a very young age, showed such a drive and passion for performing that it was clear she was always destined for the stage. With the creation of YouTube giving the likes of Justin Beiber & Jessie J the platform which catapulted their careers, Red saw this as a perfect opportunity. Having been let down by some industry connections and management, it was time to take matters into her own hands and so started releasing cover versions of the latest pop hits which eventually led to a whooping 100,000 views for her cover of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. Red credits Miley’s video controversy as playing a huge part in the massive growth in views but her raw vocal talent and determination to start understanding the analytical side of these social media platforms was the main goal in order to maintain traction with her now new subscribers.  The progression to latest app Tik Tok has seen Red explode with a huge following. Her dedication to reaching her fans globally and understanding which posts do well at which times means she is equipped to maximise her growth. Now a seasoned pro, you’ll see Red singing filter free into a pair of headphones and belting her heart out covering some of pops most difficult to sing covers. Covers which she insists is just a stepping stone to releasing her own material. Red’s cover of ‘Never Enough’ from The Greatest Showman ending up seeing her duet with the original songs vocalist Lauren Allred on Tik Tok and you guessed it, it went viral.

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Wendi Harriott  

With 24yrs of experience as a Singer, Songwriter, Voice-over artist and now Confidence Coach, Wendi Harriott is certainly one of the most loved singers in our industry. Her positivity and light is undeniable and her natural tendency to give and help others meant that becoming a confidence coach was a profession she had been preparing herself for the entire time. Wendi is a huge advocate for diversifying and up-skilling particularly being a creative person. Renaming the saying ‘Jack of all trades, master of many’ to prove that we can do multiple jobs and be successful in all of them is an example of her infectious positivity. Unfortunately many of us are lacking in confidence, particularly in the arts and mainly because of competition within ourselves. Wendi’s goal with her clients is to identify their inner confidence and establish it by being a facilitator. She reminds us that we are all a work in progress and that it’s so important to give ourselves praise and to acknowledge how far we have all come. ‘Affirming yourself is the key. To be able to say ‘I am enough’ leads to being much more likely to feel the same way inside and give off a positive outlook because Words create worlds. Preparation, consistency and always staying true to yourself gives you a light and we all know that people are drawn to the light’

VC Unlocked Season 2 Izzy & Rachel-And She Rose UK When two professional singers joined forces to create a brand new company in lockdown separate from music and singing, we definitely wanted to find out more. Rachel has been working as a lead vocalist & DJ on the function scene for 10 years since studying music in London and is now releasing her own music as an artist. Izzy has been working as a session singer & band leader for the last 10 years in London working for many artists and most recently joining Dua Lipa as one of her backing vocalists. With the pandemic and the constantly pivoting music industry, they told us how they wanted to keep uplifted and stay focused on their mental health with healing, reading, affirmations and mediation so together they created an online Flower & Wellness company called And She Rose UK. Studies have proved that flowers release serotonin to boost positivity and general wellbeing so Izzy & Rachel started researching the history of Floriography. What are the deeper meanings of certain flowers, what their power properties are and how can they marry them with affirmations in order to bring hope and positivity into other peoples homes. They add that building a business in the music industry from scratch provided them with a thick skin and the constant demand for reinvention gave them invaluable experience which could easily be applied in other industries too. ‘We realised that launching And She Rose UK even before it was perfect was a valuable learning curve. We are such perfectionists but it’s important to just get it off the ground. Creating an online business in lockdown means that going forward, we can work from anywhere at anytime’

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Annie Grace Styles

Annie Grace - Singer / DJ & Stylist

Speaking from her newly self-decorated pink living room, Annie Grace shares some very useful tips for us women to consider when self styling -particularly when working in the music industry.

Having always loved fashion and music, lockdown gave Annie the perfect opportunity to become a qualified personal and professional stylist.

As session vocalists we all know the ‘go to’ uniform is to wear something black to blend in, but in an industry where aesthetics play a huge role, how do we dress to boost our confidence and create some individuality without pulling too much focus?

Annie’s top tips include ‘dress for your body shape’ & ‘stay true to you’. 'Don’t dress to be cool or just wear what’s in fashion right now because if it doesn’t suit you, you’ll look back and regret it’

She adds that we don’t necessarily need a huge wardrobe and whilst we have some time in lockdown, it could be worth experimenting. If in doubt, Annie reckons you can never go far wrong with a good black leather jacket & blazer, some great fitted jeans & tailored trousers and a couple of statement necklaces in your collection.

So whilst gigs are not a plenty right now, lets embrace those dress up days to practice some new styles and make ourselves look great (even if it’s just for that one very fabulous instagram pic) and then we can dive straight back into those elasticated waistband joggers we've all grown to love.

Hi Everyone! We’re back and ready to bring you another season of The Vocal Code Unlocked: The Podcast. We really hope you enjoyed Season One, we most certainly did. Now despite still being in lockdown almost a whole year later, we wanted to share with you you some very relevant conversations we had with our guests of Season 2. They are all top session singers & Artists, they are all female and they have all created an incredible ‘side hustle’ to keep busy & productive….because let’s be honest, we creatives will never stop creating. Hear all about what these amazing women have been up to and how they’re getting on. Thank you for listening, Adetoun & Katie

Episode Ten with yours truly Adetoun Ayoola & Katie Holmes-Smith We actually did it! Our lockdown mission of creating a way of giving back by means of a podcast is finally here and season 1 is full of thought nuggets and great advice. This became therapy for us. Covid 19 stripped our industry in ways no one expected and whilst we’re all trying to make the most of the time off, we haven’t stopped finding ways to learn, be inspired and adapt. We hope you enjoy! Keep a look out for season 2 coming soon.

Episode Three with Musician, Producer & Musical Director Alex Montaque Alex aka (to us) the Batman, giving us loads of thought nuggets particularly with quotes such as, ‘You can’t cheat experience’ His overall approach to life and juggling his career in music is refreshing and very reassuringly realistic. Website: www.alexmontaque.com Twitter: @alexmontaque  Youtube: Alex MontaQue

We have brought this episode forward as we managed to catch up with the incredible Ash & Jen who at the time of recording were in the midst of filming a brand new Netflix film, Jingle Jangle . The American Christmas musical film written and directed by David E. Talbert, starring Forest Whitaker and Madalen Mills is released on Netflix today! We talk all things dance & choreography, their tips of the trade and life pre and post choreographing The Greatest Showman. Instagram: @ashleywallen, @jenny.m.griffin Twitter: @JendogGrif The Dancers Relief Fund are raising awareness and funds to help dance professionals during the pandemic. Donate and get more info here https://uk.gofundme.com/f/dn-relief-for-dancers-fund

Episode One with Artist / Songwriter / Manager & Record Label Owner Kelli-Leigh With 3 top 10 UK hit singles under her belt, the session singer turned artist tells us all about how her career started, some of her ups and downs, life during & post lockdown and that a brand new EP is out now! Website: www.kelli-leigh.com Instagram: @kellileighuk  Facebook: @KelliLeighUK Twitter: @kellileighuk Youtube: kellileighmusic BBC Interview: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52936461 ⁠