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Andy Richards

fabriq.fm/now

“It’s been a slow process but I’ve learned to let go of my work, and no longer feel the need to keep full control over who can and cannot use it. Not everyone is willing or able to pay to read your writing or listen to your songs. The true enemy of the creator is obscurity.”

Location:

Toulouse, France

Professional title:

Business Unit Manager at Acapela, a Speech Technology company, focusing on Public Transport and Mobility. Founder of Illustrated Indie-Folk band, Uniform Motion. Founder of fabriq.fm, a non-profit record label / sound design / voice over / music consulting company.

What do you do?

By day, I help Public Transport authorities and airports to inform passengers by voice, in realtime, so they know where they’re going, and when they’re going to get there. By night, (and weekends and holidays!) I write and record songs, release music, tour with my band, provide sound design and voice over services and try to document it all to help other DIY / independent artists navigate the music industry.

Why?

I’m passionate about languages and communication and computers and I studied linguistics so working in speech technologies was a perfect fit for me. Luck got me the job but i’ve kept doing it because languages are like a moving target, they just keep evolving. I write songs and play music because the process of making a song from vibrating strings and sounds that come out your mouth and discovering what kind of sounds different combinations of keys on a piano can make is a mentally and physically enjoyable experience to me. And it seems that people enjoy listening to the songs I make, and watching me play them as well.

What should we read?

“Everything is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer