Lisa’s Long As Walk - for MusicHelps and Girls Rock!

I'm an live audio engineer who has been affected by Covid-19.

Born in 1979 the tech interest was there from a young age. Playing with the home stereo or sitting really close in front of the tube television to watch the colour pixels...

Never shy to repair my own bike, build a shelf or climb a tree it was still not easy to get into it - as a girl.

First time behind a mixing desk, almost 20 years ago, was love at first sight. About 2 years later i quit my social work studies and started an apprenticeship to become an event technology specialist.

Live events are my passion. Over the years i did most things in the audio world, mixing FOH or monitors, setting up speaker systems, flying big Line Arrays, patching any stage, large scale radio frequency coordination. I ran parts of warehouses, helped implementing barcode tracking systems, did enough stock takes to last me for the rest of my life, and even had a short stint at running a small full service provider. Coiling cables, pushing cases, loading and tipping trucks, maintenance, it’s all part of it. I worked in Germany and Switzerland before immigrating to New Zealand.

Oh and the events i’ve been involved with... The 2011 Rugby Worldcup opening ceremony was my first event as a fresh immigrant. I became a regular at Coca Cola Christmas in the Park that same year. X-Factor, Dancing with the stars, NZ Music Awards, Splore, WOMAD, Cricket Worldcup Opening Ceremony, Westfest with a broken foot, the last Big Day Out, Auckland City Limits, Laneways, Parachute, Festival One, Friday Jams, Andrea Bocelli, Eminem and even Queen with Adam Lambert. Local crew for countless other national and international touring acts, corporate shows, conferences, and some theater and musical. And - of course - Girls Rock! Camp Tamaki Makaurau 2018!

It was going really well in the last couple of years, so good i finally made the jump from fulltime to contractor.

Then Covid hit.

Right around my last day as a fulltimer.

Hiking Te Araroa has been a dream for many years. To walk the length of this beautiful country, to engulf in nature, to embrace the hard days, when it’s cold and wet, to enjoy the good days when it’s clear, sunny, and the views make you cry...

But because i love my job i always thought i’d do it when i retire. Suddenly though, all the work was gone. High insecurity. Deciding to not fret and take the time to do the trail helped me stay sane. It gave me focus in a time when all safety seemed to slowly disappear. I researched. The trail. Gear. Gadgets. I took my summer’s savings to purchase what i needed. During lockdown we cycled and walked a lot, i ran, too. Then as we were allowed out i started doing training hikes. Waitakere, Coromandel, Auckland. A cold campnight at the pinnacles to test my sleep system.

Fundraising for kind of ties the two worlds together. If i do this i might as well try to have a charity benefit from my efforts.

I ended up wanting to fundraise for two charities and they are a great combination.

Why MusicHelps? Because they help Music workers. Musicians, and crew. They had several rounds of emergency grants during the crisis. They give practical and financial helps to musicians and crew in need, for example when they’re hit with unforseeae events. They provide mental health support. This is close to home. I could be a client. Friends and workmates of mine could be. They help us - and now i try to help them.

Why Girls Rock!? They are a holiday program for young women and gender diverse youth. They have now run two camps in Auckland and one in Wellington. Women and gender fiverse people are very much under represented in the music industry, and as a woman in audio i notice it every day. Being the only female on the crew is normal, and watching only two women in a line-up of 6 bands is also, unfortunately, normal.

There are hardly enough role models for young women, and even less for gender diverse youth to consider a career in music, on- or offstage. Girls Rock! are tackling this and i support their ideas and their work.