George Pinnegar
Sound Engineer
There’s more to being a sound engineer than shouting at DJs to stay out of The Red. Before the pandemic, their work was in the club almost seven days a week: fine-tuning the venue’s sound system between events, building new rigs, tidying reams of cables in a secret side room off the booth, ordering various bits of gear and following the same kind of upside-down sleeping pattern as the headliners whom almost always went into The Red every weekend.
George Pinnegar was a freelance sound engineer in the midst of a chaotic schedule working among the generous pool of clubs in London. The Cause, Egg, fabric, Printworks, Peckham Gallery, GROW Tottenham, The Glove That Fits and many more made up his client book while his agency London Sound Engineering facilitated a team of 80 freelancers, each of whom had their own specialism in sound depending on the project.
Now based in Berlin and getting used to a new life of sleeping at relatively normal hours, George has had to adapt his skills elsewhere and leave London behind for now. He shares a memory from Bangface below - possibly the UK’s most infamous festival to exist - and talks about what has kept him going this year so far…
Where was this photo taken and why did you choose it?
This was taken at Bangface 2019, on a project about Brexit, rave culture and fashion. The creative director Faye Heran managed to snap me in this moment of calm in the party, after we did a stage invasion protest with Billy Nasty. For me it symbolises the beautiful chain of synchronicities that lead through life and music; sometimes you step back and take a reality check; and that is often a point of clarity. More to come on the project when it’s released...
How have you been over the last few months and how was London-life before you left?
London has been terrible. A lot of people getting angry, frustrated due to their version of the future not materialising. Let's face it, London without music is pretty terrible. Are we seeing it for what it truly is, a grimy, overpopulated capitalistic super-organism; one that only the arts can make it bearable. A lot of people moved away when they realised work would change to be about either working from home, or that the government is at best ambivalent to supporting them through restrictions.
As a sound engineer, what are you currently doing for work at the moment, if any?
I was in the fortunate position that after a month of living with my parents again, a friend came to me and asked me to help him start a tech company; I've been working on the backend of that, making sure the company is developing in the right way. Currently in Berlin for the foreseeable to investigate setting up a version of what we are doing. It’s till lockdown in Berlin, but everyone seems to be approaching it a lot more rationally than the UK for some reason.
What about tunes, have you been listening to anything inspiring over the last while or have you detached yourself from music in that way?
I REALLY MISS RAVES. Particularly bass. Been listening to a lot of Prospa (Rave Science) and Headflux (Psybreaks). Working every week in clubs is great, but you don't hear a lot of breaks anymore. Somehow a genre that dwindled past its mid 2000s glory of Stanton Warriors, but these new strains of breaks are very impressive from a production perspective and very danceable.
If it was up to you, how would you go about making working in music more sustainable during a pandemic?
Taking the long term, pure economic view is correct; a lot of our jobs at the moment will be done by algorithms and automation. Probably DJing very soon to be honest. Sound Engineering. Mastering is already now just a plugin for Soundcloud...
Of course there will be the human analogue experience that maintains its place, and we see that through the resurgence of vinyl. If the government was taking a true long term view, they would regard the retraining of the adult population as the most important Keynesian investment into the future of the UK, and would maintain our leading role in the global design industry. However because they are only looking ahead to the next election, they will have to implement this reactively.
How are you feeling about the future at the moment?
I'm feeling I have to embrace the chaos, and make sense of it where I am meant to, and then try and do as many positive things I can with/for people with that as possible. Whilst I don't know what that looks like, that is the one process that never fails.
What has been a source of calm/comfort for you throughout 2020 so far?
Honestly, my faith. When God started speaking to me and changed my life around, I realised my identity was not in the result of my work. It's in the ‘being rather than the doing’ if you like. One of the names of God is ‘The comforter’ (name for the holy spirit/spirit of Christ in the new testament). Every morning I get up and check in with God, asking and listening to any guidance needed for the day. I've learnt that if I follow that, amazing things happen in my life, and that gives me a sense of hope that no matter what the chaos, I am always doing the right thing.
Listening to music for me is a reflection of that process, and I just put on music. So long as I’m surrounded by good music, it keeps me in a state of thankfulness. In times of uncertainty, hope is the most important thing; it's like an icebreaker into the seemingly frozen future.
Follow George on IG here.