Jay Pocknell

Project Manager, Sound Without Sight

Background: Music Support Officer, RNIB; Freelance Mixing and Mastering Engineer

Other experience in: music production, studio engineering, artist development, A&R, event curation, marketing, video editing, employment and welfare support.

“As a sight-impaired musician, I first considered plans for a project in 2018. I was achieving my dream of working in commercial recording studios but also found that there were significant barriers to accessing the equipment and culture. I became aware that my fully-sighted peers could be more agile within the industry. Rather than becoming frustrated, I wanted to use my experience as motivation to inspire change. I refused to believe that I was the only person to have struggled. 

The pandemic presented an opportunity to define a project that could make a difference. I reached out to the sight-impaired community, conducting interviews with musicians and audio engineers to understand common barriers and collate suggested solutions. I found I became able to offer advice, referring people to support that they were not previously aware of. 

I was introduced to Peter Bosher, who invited me to present my ideas to the ‘Music and Sound with Accessibility’ steering group, which he had assembled. The group were impressed and decided to merge my project with their own mission. They will continue to support through regular steering meetings. Aside from this, the project has already gained support from several music technology companies, artists, and producers.”

“In 2021, 11 tracks that I mixed or produced for independent artists were selected for radio play by BBC Introducing. I also received my first credit on a UK Number 1 album. I am a guitarist.”

Views my own, not RNIB’s.

You can read more about Jay’s background at his GoFundMe page:

Contact Jay by email: