Oscar’s story

Oscar

The power of music has helped to transform the life of a Derby musician – who now wants to raise awareness of the award-winning programme. Oscar, 22, said his experience of Noise Solution has changed his life and led to him thriving in the music scene and finding his purpose.

Oscar said he struggled while growing up – acting out at school and not attending classes. He now knows this was down to not having been diagnosed with autism, but at the time he couldn’t understand why he found life so challenging. As a teenager, this led to him moving out of his family home, and into a hostel.

“I tried to go to college to study music, but it didn’t work,” he said. “I was depressed and struggling, I did the occasional gig but I was feeling low and had put on weight…it was a really difficult time for me.” He was referred to Noise Solution after hearing about it at college, and worked with musician Simon Glenister, who is also its founder and CEO.

“Simon taught me how to make music using a computer,” said Oscar. “I created some music that I was really proud of, and Simon was really knowledgeable and nurturing during the sessions, so I started to feel more confident. The studio was really cool and I was enjoying the sessions. I went from playing bass guitar to writing my own music, which was a great feeling.”

Oscar went back to college and successfully applied to university – and has recently graduated with a first class degree from the University of Derby. He has a popular alternative music blog called ‘Needs More Cowbell’ and continues to work on his own tracks.

“It’s thanks to my work with Simon at Noise Solution that I ever even attempted to pursue a career in music,” he said.

“Simon taught me the building blocks of writing music and lyrics, and gave me the opportunity to work in a professional music studio. I quickly fell in love with the process and many years later, I have a degree, a small but growing following, a debut album just weeks away and the knowledge that I will be successful. That’s no small feat.”

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