Education Focus: SAE

Breaking into the music industry is an intimidating task for any young creative, and having the skills and experience to wow prospective employees and clients is a must. Luke Cincotta graduated from SAE Melbourne with a Bachelor of Audio under his belt, and has since worked with some of the country's leading artists, from The Amity Affliction, Dead Letter Circus and Karnivool to Matt Corby, Katie Noonan and even Tina Arena, as well as alongside some of the world's best producers from Mike Fraser (Metallica, AC/DC, Slipknot) to Bob Marlette. He is currently loving his position as a producer and engineer at Sing Sing Studios, and he reflects on the learning curve that led to his current role.

"As I grew older, I became more aware of the cultural and social influences music could have, and the way different approaches to music production could influence listeners in different ways," he explains. "I was constantly experimenting with different ideas in my spare time, so the course seemed like a great way to satisfy that curiosity and get some hands on studio experience at the same time. Initially, my intent was to simply learn, but from early on I had become hooked on the whole studio experience, and I quickly shifted my focus from 'This is something I'm interested in' to 'This is absolutely what I want to do,'" he enthuses.

Cincotta "really enjoyed" the open and creative environment at SAE. "The opportunity to openly discuss ideas, and concepts with lecturers who are active in the industry and have real world experience - not to mention are also more than willing to devote their personal time to help out - is absolutely invaluable. Having such a large pool of creative people, staff and students alike meant there was always something to learn from any given conversation, and having multiple perspectives to draw from is such a useful resource when studying an industry in which there really is no 'right' way to do anything."

From enrolling "out of curiosity" to becoming hooked on the culture, Cincotta remembers the defining moment during his studies that set him on his current path. He met one of his long-time favourite producers face to face following a guest lecture, which led to a work experience opportunity. "That opportunity led to an Assistant Engineer position at his studio, and then onto a position at Sing Sing, and ultimately to where I am today," Cincotta reveals. "Having real-world industry professionals come and give guest lectures, advice, answer questions and generally give aspiring students an idea of what to expect of the industry was extremely valuable to me."

Deciding whether or not to continue study after leaving school is a difficult choice, but for Cincotta his experience at SAE was "an incredibly important resource of not only valuable information, but hands on experience and time to experiment in studios that featured the same equipment I'd be later using in professional studios. This practical experience combined with the theoretical studies within the course meant that when I was able to get real-world studio experience, I was immediately familiar with many of the practices, equipment and, perhaps most importantly, concepts being used and was therefore far more useful to those I was working for, and essentially allowed me to progress faster and which more confidence than if I had not had that background knowledge and experience."

For the next generation of students, he leaves us with some words of advice: "You make your own opportunities, so work hard, make the most of every situation and just never give up. Reach out to people who inspire you, use any and all of the resources available to you, set some goals and spend every spare minute working towards them. It's certainly not easy, and nobody will hand you anything, but hard work, commitment and a good attitude can take you a long way!"