Sound & Vision's mini-series, Behind the Console, highlights the stories of women and nonbinary audio engineers who are navigating what is still a very male-dominated field.

Today we meet two front of house audio engineers who both have had to pivot their careers. The first is Dana Wachs, who has worked with Yvyes Tumor, Perfume Genius, MGMT, Grizzly Bear, Cat Power, St. Vincent, Deerhunter and more. Dana talks about losing work during the pandemic when tours got cancelled. She was living off her savings and spending 7 hours a day on the phone with the Department of Labor to stay afloat. She eventually pivoted from doing sound for touring acts to finding a salaried job engineering live audio streams.

We then meet Seattle-based Alicia Blake who took a few-years hiatus from music to become a baker. In the past she’s worked with Head and the Heart, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Destroyer and more. She’s now back on the road, tour managing for Sylvan Esso.

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