Graduate Spotlight – Toby Chevis

 

Toby Chevis, Class of 2016

Hometown:

Swindon

Current location:

Swindon

Current job + employer:

Director, The Patch Group LTD

What did you do/study prior to coming to Derby?

I had been a musician in bands, got into recording my band’s songs, worked out I like working out how to make things work. This led me to take on Music Technology, Production Arts (Technical Theatre) Maths and Physics at college. During this time I was freelancing for a local production company.

Why did you choose to go to the University of Derby?

I was keen to get a more in depth understanding of why things worked. The company’s I was working for to be honest wasn’t great, so I was left to my own devices quite a lot. Through trial and error I was able to problem solve, but didn’t always understand why it fixed it. My interests were more live sound focused, other places I looked to study had a heavy lighting emphasis, or audio recording. Derby seemed to have a good balance of practical and the science.

Did you start the course with a specific focus or were you undecided?

I don’t think I had specific intentions, I was keen to be a sound engineer, but perhaps was hoping to would steer me more towards a more ‘stable’ career in R&D or manufacturing or some sort of application engineer for a manufacturer.

Did that focus change on the course? If so, how?

It did change yes. I understood about half way through the 2nd year that I didn’t do as well at the really in depth research. Once I understood something to the point that I could use it in the field, I really struggled to go any deeper, which obviously isn’t that useful for R&D or manufacturing. I think this stems from the problem solving that is so ingrained in me. I was more and more keen to get out and get as much as experience as I could.

Has that focus changed after graduating? If so, how?

After I graduated, I spent a good few years freelancing my socks off, I loved it, I feel I became quite good, I had a good reputation. I find myself now being ready to go a bit deeper now that I have that experience. Though as my production business itself has grown, my focus has shifted more towards building stability and a place for others to excel rather than myself.

What was the most useful thing you learned on the course?

The most useful thing… that’s a tough one. The things I find myself using from uni most often are from the acoustics lectures: noise transmission, reflections, summation and cancellation, etc. Soldering from David Wilson. WYSIWYG and AutoCad with Kit have come in very useful. And probably 100s of things that are now so ingrained that I don’t even remember they came from uni. I often come out with these tiny little nuggets of something even if I don’t totally understand, I remember enough to know where to look for the rest of the information.

What did you learn on the course that you thought you’d never use, but that has come in handy during your career?

The legalities of driving business vehicles was one I didn’t think much about at the time that I have had to call upon in the last few years. I was also asked to recreate a bowling alley by a client and I never thought I would need to do that again! Lastly we did some work on creating shapes using code, I never thought I would use that but it is something I have since had to use quite a lot.

What did you do on the course that you never thought you would enjoy?

I didn’t think I would enjoy the independent engineering project, I was absolutely dreading it, but when it came to it, I really enjoyed it. Once I got started the next steps seemed to become obvious and I was pleased with the results I gathered. I look back now and realise that it has influenced how I research things these days.

What was your favourite establishment in Derby (pub, bar, club, restaurant, etc.)?

Walkabout (pretty sure it’s gone now, unfortunately)

What is your most memorable moment from Derby?

I’m not sure I have just one. I have some fantastic memories of the show control assignment. Memorable for some many reasons, perhaps most of all is sending alumni James Coglan in who rather embarrassed himself. Or the content that the lecturers kindly let us film to use.

Another firm memory for some reason is going into some late night drinking establishment with some coursemates and finding a live IEC cable dangling at drink height.

Lastly an event at the students union with the event society when I finally got to mix a band on a Midas Pro 2. It didn’t go that well, I decided I hated the desk, I questioned everything about what I was doing. Doesn’t sound like it but it was quite a low moment for me, it was something I was looking forward to. I’d been wanting to mix on a ‘proper’ desk for ages and it didn’t go well. I remember that day rather vividly and use it as a reminder of how far things have come. Funnily enough the Midas Pro1 was the first ‘proper’ desk I purchased, I wasn’t going to let it beat me 😉

What/who at Derby most influenced your life, and how/why?

I often look back at uni, I think I had a bit of journey there as a lot of people do. I certainly wasn’t a model student. I struggled with motivation to learn things I didn’t think were relevant, but seemingly always at the perfect moment, Simon Lewis would end his lecture with a encouraging, riling talk that somehow made you want to be a part of it. I look back on my time at Derby with respect, mostly for the lecturers. It sounds cheesy to say now but it was never a case of spouting knowledge at you, they made it engaging, with real life scenarios and experiences. Whenever people ask me about uni, it’s something I always say, the lecturers were fantastic.

What would you say to a Derby first year student, knowing what you know now?

Engage as much as you can! Even if you feel like its not relevant to what you want to do, it will probably be important one day, and there aren’t many people in my experience who have that little bit extra knowledge, even if its not complete knowledge, it will likely steer your decision making. I’m sure it’s cliche all alumni say: “get involved, embrace it all, even when you don’t feel like it”, but they are genuine thoughts.

What have you done professionally since graduating?

I wear two hats, really. I run my own business, Patch Productions, which is a sound and lighting supplier in Swindon. Patch supplies for clients including Cheltenham Festivals (literature, music and science festivals), Superdry, VW, The Fulltone Orchestra, Royal International Air Tattoo, various event agencies as well as festivals up to about 5000 people including Library Stage at Tramlines Festival Most recently (and locally). A real variety. Utilising d&b PA, and Allen and Heath dLive and Digico consoles. And for a time we held the ‘title’ for largest hire stock of Black Coloured DPA 6066 headsets in the country.

I am also a freelance sound engineer, mostly in the corporate sector (though my passion is mixing music) and have been responsible for the sound for some of the largest scale conferences and award shows in the country. Too many to name. I’m probably most known for (if at all) mixing the TPI and AV awards at Battersea evolution as that’s a show that the production industry actually attend.

What is your most memorable moment from your career so far?

Providing sound for Bono at one of the Cheltenham Festivals has to be a highlight, other than that, the highlights haven’t been massive shows, they are really challenging shows that I feel I did a good job on, the AV Awards last year springing to mind.

What are your future career plans/ambitions?

The plan is to grow the business to include more staff, and train the next generation of event experts!