dBs Institute MA Innovation in Sound graduate Amanda Wall goes public with her immersive music production project FEAR, which tackles insecure housing.
Amanda Wall, an MA Innovation in Sound graduate from dBs Institute’s Bristol campus, has been speaking to ITV and BBC Points West about her project FEAR; an immersive audio-visual experience that highlights homelessness and insecure housing.
FEAR resulted from her recently completed Innovation in Sound Master’s degree, and involved partnerships with Shelter, the UK’s most prominent homeless charity, and Bristol-based accessible music technology company Soundbeam.
Amanda’s journey from homelessness to her dBs Institute Master’s degree
"It was gruelling, demoralising, frustrating. There was no consistency for the kids… They didn't know from one minute the next where they would be living,” said Amanda talking with ITV about her experience of homelessness and insecure housing, “It's the judgement that it was down to drugs, alcohol, any assumption, other than I could have been living in dire straits with a landlord who didn't do anything but nobody really wanted to know."
By going public with her story, engaging with organisations like Shelter and turning her experiences into a brilliant, emotional and innovative project during her music production degree, Amanda has managed to wrestle back control and has a string of shows coming up where she will be presenting her project to the public.
"I'm looking forward to the shows,” she said, “I'm looking forward to making money for homeless families and homeless people and showing them there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Emmanuel Spinelli, a dBs Institute module leader who helped guide Amanda’s project, said, “The journey she's been through and the way the project has grown and the impact it's having is really quite extraordinary.”
How Amanda’s music production Master’s degree prepared her for the music industry
Reflecting on her time at dBs during her postgraduate degree, Amanda said, “The course has prepared me for a career, but it’s also taken me out of an artist management job I didn’t want to do anymore. I’m now going into a completely different area of the music industry. That would never have happened had I not done the course,” adding, “What I like most about dBs is the community spirit, family feel, endless resources and amazing facilities. It’s changed my life.”
Want to follow in Amanda's footsteps and explore the boundaries of your creativity? Check out our MA Innovation in Sound degree and visit us for an Open Day.
