Emily Burns' crash course in kicking off a music career whilst working full-time

I was 18 when I moved to London. It was probably quite a foolish decision, considering I didn’t have a job to move to, nor any real solid means of income. However, I knew I wanted to have a career in music and I knew I wanted to be in the heart of the industry... London was a no brainer. Risk-taking was key.

Fortunately at this point, I already had some musical connections in the city. When I was 16, I had been invited to a BBC Introducing Masterclass at Abbey Road Studios as a result of my local radio station playing some of my demos on their show. At the masterclass, I busily handed out my demo EPs (packaged beautifully in beaten-up white envelopes) to everyone I possibly could, quite probably making a bit of a nuisance of myself. By chance, one ended up in the hands of Rob Cass, who worked out of one of the production suites at the studios. We subsequently began working together and developing my music whilst I completed my A Levels back in Rugby, so I was already spending one or two days a week in London whilst I finished up my studies.

When I made the move to London, I wanted to get straight into full-time writing and recording with Rob and his right hand man, Franklin. I was so excited to be creating music in such an incredible environment, but of course, was making approximately £0 a month doing it. Living in the South East of the city, out in Woolwich, I was fortunate enough to pick up some work with a catering agency fairly quickly after my move. This meant that I could sleep knowing my rent was being covered! During this time, I continued to tell everyone I could about my music. I think it’s important not to be shy – you never know who might be listening!

Soon afterwards, a job on the front desk at Abbey Road became available and I immediately applied and was given the role. I was ecstatic to have bagged a job in the industry... maybe not doing exactly what I wanted to be doing but, still, it was a job in music! Working as the receptionist at Abbey Road Studios played a fundamental role in kicking off my career in music. It allowed me to expand my professional network vastly and also taught me a lot about the industry. I'd say I was pretty clueless before! One huge bit of advice from me is would be that whilst you need extra income alongside making music, find a job that is in someway – any way at all – connected to music. It really was an invaluable experience.

When I first started working on the front desk at Abbey Road, I was working five days a week. This meant that I had to very carefully schedule time into my diary for me to be writing music and performing in order to keep progressing in my career. Every morning before work, I'd pick up my guitar and voice note some ideas. I'd then come home after work and pick up where I’d left off, constantly being creative and trying to write as much as I possibly could. Some evenings I'd end up recording with Rob and Franklin after my shift was done. We got some tracks into a place we were really happy with, so started releasing them onto SoundCloud. It was then that I started to receive a degree of interest from record labels and publishers. From then on, I expanded my musical network even further, writing with some amazing talents and getting in the room with more incredible producers. It felt like the ball was really rolling and I was steadily able to drop shifts on the front desk and pick up shifts in the vocal booth.

Balancing work whilst pursuing my career has been tricky, but I feel like sometimes in life you just have to grab the bull by the horns and think, "I’m gonna make this happen." If you want it enough, you will make it happen. The most important thing to remember is that it will take time. I vividly remember a specific part of my interview for Abbey Road with my boss, Ian:

"So Emily, I know you're pursuing a career in music very seriously. How long do you think you’ll be able to stay with us here as the receptionist?"

"Hmm, I’d like to think I can at least do six months."

I was there for four-and-a-half years.