So you've done your QA stuff, now you're starting your first audio job in the industry. What was that like?

I think that's less important, because by that time you've arrived. I think the work you do before you get your first job is as important a story as any. Like I say, I was working at a bar. I was trying to get some sort of a show reel together to apply for jobs. I was doing online game jams with strangers. I started working on, and I've got to thank my brother for this, a Metal Gear Solid remake game. Metal Gear Solid was my favourite franchise growing up, because it was something me and my brother shared together. So I started working on that. Obviously, it's a fan remake of a beloved property, so it got cease-and-desisted by Konami, the publisher. But I met a really cool guy, Jay Bo, who used to be the head of communications at Konami. He got us down to Konami's HQ in Windsor and said, right, you've got to stop what you're doing, but have a nice day here, here's a goodie bag. And then we thought that was going to be the last we heard. And then we got a phone call a couple of weeks later saying, do you want to come to Tokyo, to come to the HQ? Which, they didn't need to do that. And we were some of the first public people to try out the MGS5 DLC. We got a tour of the offices, which for me was amazing. And I met the sound designer for my favourite game franchise, which was what made me really think, right, I need to have a go at this now. Because it was the classic Japanese businessman at large for everyone else in the building, all black suits, standing up straight. And then this sound designer came out in a string vest and shorts and socks. And he was a crazy guy. He took us into his room where he had all his shoes lined up for his foley work. He had a nice pair of high heels there. And I was just like, this guy's insane, I want to do this. So that gave me an extra push, and that's when I thought, yeah, I want to get into QA. And just through meeting people at that company, I met a friend of the senior sound designers there who, when they needed sound design help, really helped me get into that position with what was probably an inadequate show reel at that point. So at that point it was a combination of gaining skills in game engines and doing show reel things with strangers on the internet, to going out and speaking to higher-up developers and making friends with them, and then I ended up as a junior there for a couple of months. So it was really at the kindness of others, largely, and me being really eager to get into the industry as well. I worked really hard. There were a lot of 12-hour shifts and hard work in between.

Your journey into the industry started with a bootleg remake and a cease and desist letter.

It didn't get as far as being a remake. The designs, there was art there. It was cool to do some stuff for it, and then it got shot down before it was even off the ground.

So a cease and desist isn't always the worst thing.

It was great for me.