Hello I'm Dr Sam Murray and I'm looking forward to work with you all as part of the MA Professional Practice Programme. My background is in music as a performer/composer, activist and policy researcher. This first post is really to tell you a bit about me and my background which has brought me to be part of the staff for this programme. 

I have been performing and composing with the group Me & My Friends for over 10 years now and have released 3 albums with this group and have an EP and new album currently on the way, that we are developing at the moment. It has been interesting to compose and work on music through Zoom as all my bandmates are spread across London, Leeds and Bristol so we have massively adapted our group composition techniques. We also have done touring across the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland which has been a fascinating experience to step out of and observe with my researcher brain! 

I have been engaged in cultural activism probably for about 5 years now working on a variety of campaigns around musicians' rights, policy campaigns and campaigns like 'Cardiff without Culture'. I have advised the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee of the Senedd in Wales on key reports about music education and the live industry across Wales. My activism has also led me to run international workshops on the concept of Artivism including workshops in Helsinki and Budapest where I have worked to teaching activists how to use music and other arts forms in campaigning. 

Both these experiences led me into research musical cultures and music policy. My PhD looked at the music scene in Portland, Oregon in the USA where I interviewed over 80 scene members to see how the city works to promote and protect music making. I captured my experience in a Tumblr blog. I also used to work at UK Music as a policy and research officer for a year helping research evidence on a variety of issues from the EU Copyright Directive to helping grassroots music venues get business rate reliefs, as well as research key reports for the organisations on the music cities of Manchester and Sheffield. I also  helped research their annual Music by Numbers report. 

I've also held research posts at Cardiff and Teesside Universities working on creative industry pilot projects connecting academics with practitioners to make new innovations in the creative sector. My favourite project I worked on was connecting a theatre company with computer scientists to explore how to democratise theatre culminating in The Multiverse Arcade project as part of the Great Exhibition of the North. 

It always feels a bit strange to share my career in a post like this but hopefully there will be things in this post you've had similar experiences with and I would love to hear the kinds of work you have been doing in your careers. I often find the creative sector to be an exciting place to work as it is always full of surprises and unexpected turns that make it incredibly vibrant!