The Vocal Code UNLOCKED The Vocal Code

The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 In The Hot Seat with Steve Anderson Part 2

Music brought the three of us together and we’ve since had the absolute pleasure of working side by side in the industry on some incredible projects for many years. What’s almost as amazing is that we can still unearth stories from our past that we didn’t know about each other. It is true what they say, everyday is a school day.

Adetoun shares her introduction into the music industry as member of girl group ‘Angels in White’ and how it coincided with her first professional backing vocal job with X Factor champion, Leona Lewis. She tells us how she would watch & learn from Leona and hone her skills for adapting her own voice. She talks about the experimentation with vocal arrangements whilst delivering high energy performances with Ellie Goulding, the balance of singing & full choreography with Robbie Williams and then mastering the world of vocal ghosting whilst discovering a whole new side to her voice when joining the well oiled machine that is team Kylie.

We hear about Katie’s baptism of fire of joining the Gnarls Barkley band and the immediate introduction to the industries highs and lows. The subconscious vocal ghosting requirements when audition and working with Lily Allen. The parallels of working as backing vocalist & lead vocalist on the same gig with Rapper Professor Green and how she learned to bespoke her voice to suit a plethora of male and female singers. She shares her experiences of joining team Leona, team Kylie and touring the world with Adele.

This episode covers many of our experiences including our first time in a rehearsal studio, touring and performing in stadiums, arenas, theatres and festivals. How we prepare for learning a whole set in record time and what advice we would you give to anyone wanting to start a career in the music industry as a backing vocalist.

We hope this gives you some valuable insight and helps you in your own preparation. 

Until next time, thank you and stay safe. 

Adetoun & Katie x


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The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 In The Hot Seat with Steve Anderson Part 1

Here we are at episode ten and the final instalment of Season 2. 

For those of you listening and possibly reading this, thank you for your time! If you have been with us since season one, thank you so much for your continued loyalty & support and for any newbies, welcome! 

It’s been almost a year since the birth of our podcast and It seems that all those early trial & errors and discoveries really did teach us a lot and we are proud to report that season 2, was a much slicker process.

In this episode we decided to flip the script and put ourselves in the hot seat. Our wonderful friend and colleague Mr Steve Anderson very kindly offered to host and be the one firing the questions.

As we make our way down memory lane, we talk about our earliest memories in becoming professional session vocalists and share some of the experiences that have brought us this far. We could’ve kept talking until the end of lockdown to be quite honest but instead we thought we’d package it up into a lovely two part finale. (A side note from Katie, please pardon the occasional noisy accompaniment from my builders in the background during recording of this episode.)

We really hope you enjoy it and we look forward to bringing you an even more 'new and improved' season three. You never know, we could finally start talking about life post lockdown!

Adetoun & Katie x


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The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Toni Robinson 

Toni is a professional singer and runs a vocal solutions company. She offers bespoke events for her clients putting together choirs, ad writing, supplying singers for sessions as part of BASSnote Sessions and is one half of a gameshow company called Gospeloke. Gospeloke brings you Sister Act 2 meets karaoke and features Toni as your very own Whoopi leading from the front. With a songbook spanning 120 hits including sing-a-long classics like Joyful joyful, Like a prayer and I Will Follow Him, your event will be unforgettable because those budding singers from the office will be living out their dreams live on stage. 

Toni’s past experience as a community choir leader and session singer has helped her build a huge pool of singers of varied abilities. Learning how to bring out each persons potential and knowing who will be perfect for each job is a great reminder of how she got to where she is now and pay that forward. During lockdown, Toni has been very realistic. She says “I don’t want to short change people. I was aware that there may be limitations with running choirs virtually and I’ve been very careful of not taking on work that could be detrimental to our quality or my singers health & safety” You will have not been able to miss the massive advertising campaign for Just Eat, feat Rapper Snoop Dog. The sultry voice you hear singing the catchy hook line is Toni’s voice and her first ever ad creation. Naturally she is now working heavily in the advertising industry but tells us it’s not just about the completions and getting the ideas released. She is paid to submit the ideas regardless of completion. That is the job. Getting the call to submit ideas is the win. 

We are often focused on the final stage rather than the journey. Regarding her business model, Toni is a stickler for a process and she has a spreadsheet for everything. She lives by the principle that If you do it properly to begin with, you won’t have to go back. Save 20% of all your income because when you make a decision to be self employed, you’re making a decision to be in control. It’s important to understand your business and your money. She adds “You have to be good at what you do. Your motivation needs to be the love and you then put 100% in - which is what people see and THAT is your calling card”


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The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Salena Mastroianni

Salena is a Singer, Songwriter & Artist who after graduating from ICMP in London entered the music industry working in corporate events and providing backing vocals for artists such as Rita Ora & Robbie Williams.

In this episode Salena along with her infectious, funny and beautifully honest personality shares with us her parallels of her journey in music and fitness.

Despite Covid19, 2020 hasn’t been all that bad in Salena’s world. She signed a publishing deal during lockdown, built a home studio and has a beautiful log cabin which houses her gym making everything very accessible and as a result has been able to create at a much faster pace.

Fresh from getting married, Salena looked at finding a focus away from music that maybe more specific than just going to a gym. So with her performing experience and being a huge lover of fitness, in 2018 she decided to take part in her first body building competition.

She say’s “Initially the gain was purely for aesthetic benefits. I was chasing this goal to look amazing for my work on stage because I was always on show. Post competition and after only a few days, I saw my body undo that gruelling 20 week preparation because I hadn't prepared myself properly for what was to come next. I went in blind and the lack of research with the after effects of such training meant I put my body through a lot of distress”

Currently promoting her own music, Salena is also studying to become a PT. She advises anyone to do their research and remember fitness is not a plan, it’s a lifelong journey.
“You need to know what your goal is, do what you enjoy and understand what is achievable within that compromise in order to be happy with your body and the results. For me dieting is temporary, It’s for short term goal setting because life goes fast and life can be taken at anytime so we have to enjoy it"


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The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Motherhood In Music Part 2
Finding the perfect time to start a family as self employed women in the music industry is tough.
Will we lose all our work? Will we be supported? Can we do both?
It’s a real shame that many of us have misconceptions that we have to choose one or the other.
You may think that having a baby during lockdown when work is sparse, is the perfect time. However without the access to a support network of family and friends, that can also bring huge challenges.
Even with a wonderful partner, a healthy home environment and a successful career, it hasn’t always been enough to stop the pressure that many of us put on ourselves when adding motherhood to our roster.
The music industry is always moving rapidly and we often forget to look after ourselves properly.
Whether you’re someone who needs a plan or can happily go with the flow, motherhood most certainly teaches us to take life one day at a time.
We all agree that motherhood has been the best thing we’ve ever done. It has allowed us to take control, be more efficient with our time, take more self care and given us the confidence to just let go.
One thing is for sure, we are not alone. We watch each other navigate through the unknown and witness the positive changes. We will take the pandemic as a gift giving us time. Whether we’re having babies pre, during or post lockdown, we will always be adapting and paving new ways for a stronger and more inclusive industry.

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The Vocal Code Unlocked Season 2 Motherhood In Music Part 1 

We bring to you a gorgeous trio of women who have all had huge success as vocalists in the music industry and are also incredible mothers. Kirsten Joy is a lead vocalist with Clean Bandit and alongside all her other incredible global backing vocal & session work with the likes of Kylie, she is also now mummy to her brand new baby girl Darcy. Wendi Harriott is an extremely experienced singer, songwriter, voice over artist, backing vocalist and confidence coach. Whilst juggling all of her many skills, Wendi is mummy to her beautiful daughter Heaven aged 10. Jess Greenfield is one half of the band The Condors alongside her husband Gavin and over the past few years she has also been touring the world as a vocalist/keyboard player with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. She recently became a mummy to her brand new baby girl Ava. This two part recording was such a special moment for us all involved and we really hope it fills you with reassurance and positivity in the same way it did us.


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