How I Made It: ‘I’m a DJ and songwriter, I’m glad I didn’t get into uni’

Welcome back to How I Made It, Metro.co.uk’s weekly career journey series.

This week we’re chatting with Nick Sheldon, a 33-year-old songwriter and producer.

Though he’s always loved music, it wasn’t something he thought he’d make a career out of at first.

Working his way up from doing the office admin, to DJing at one of London’s top nightclubs, to now writing, he’s glad he didn’t get into university, as it meant he started his career at a younger age.

With a star-studded CV, Nick has worked alongside some of the biggest names in the biz, whether that’s gaining production and engineering credits with Take That, Robbie Williams, Madonna, Shakira and Coldplay, or writing credits for Kelly Rowland, Becky Hill and Disciples.

Oh, and did we mention he’s toured as a DJ supporting Calvin Harris, Avicii, and Swedish House Mafia, to name a few?

Here’s how he made it happen.

Hey Nick. What made you first interested in music?

My parents were such key influences in sparking my interest to music. Subconsciously at first, with my mum into big 90s pop and my dad playing Dire Straits on repeat.

Then when my dad’s friend Robin Hancock kindly took us for a tour of SARM Studios – the recording studio that’s hosted everyone from Madonna to Iron Maiden – I was hooked.

What did you then do to make a career out of it?

From that day forward I started to make beats with Reason software on a second-hand Apple Mac.

I was 15 and taking inspiration from the UK’s garage and grime culture, with influences coming from anything hip hop.

I enrolled in Music GCSE and Music Technology A-Level, I didn’t have a great time at school, but that only made me work harder.

That was just the beginning, I never thought it would become a career until later in life.

Did you do any training?

So, after failing to get into university because of poor A-Level results, I enrolled in a nine-month course in audio engineering at the former Alchemea College in Islington.

It was weirdly a blessing in disguise as by the time I would have been starting second year (at university) I was already working at SARM studios as an assistant.

How did you get into producing and song writing – did it work in other areas of music first or go straight into that?

I worked as an assistant engineer (well I cleaned bins and worked on reception the first year to earn my stripes) for four years from the age of 18, before working as a label manager.

This was where they gratefully recognised my talent and so, I released my first single under my own name.

From there I became a resident DJ at Ministry of Sound for six years. I learnt a lot of life lessons, travelling the world each weekend, but to be honest it was only in the last five years where I really found my feet with songwriting and producing.

Just after my father passed away suddenly, I started to put my thoughts onto paper and melodies came naturally.

I had fallen out of love with production at the time, going through a lot of inner turmoil and it wasn’t until my good friend Chris Avantgarde dropped me in it at a writing camp that I would start again and from that moment I haven’t looked back.

An average day in the working life of Nick Sheldon

8am: Nick is in the studio, as he loves finishing records before a new session starts.

10am: He’s in a writing session, usually working until 11pm, as the work runs all hours across the day.

He always has weekends off now, but this wasn’t the case a few years ago.

How did you go on to work with big names – is it a lot of word of mouth and networking?

I was lucky enough to start my career being amongst artists like Jamiroquai, Take That and The Prodigy to name a few.

But how I took it forward was always the ethos of ‘be nice and work hard’.

As cliche as that sounds it really is true. Networking and putting yourself out there is a must – don’t be afraid to ask questions.

What do you love most about your job?

I’m grateful every day to be doing what I love. If I was to pick one thing it would be writing a song that’s close to the heart and seeing it come to life.

What do you dislike the most?

Tricky one as I don’t dislike a lot in what I do but probably the years of disappointment and broken promises.

You have to be strong and pull through as the music industry is a mental challenge but very easily overcome when surrounding yourself with the right people. I’m grateful that I have now.

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