Where are they now?

What are your memories of MSCW?

Friendships, caring staff. I remember performing music at assemblies and events.

How do you think your experiences at MSCW helped you become the person you are today?

The school helped provide me with a well-rounded education and was supportive of ambitions that were outside of standard curriculum but also didn’t necessarily fit into VCAL. Quite a lot of staff and teachers tolerated and helped me when I was less than a cooperative or complaint student, but they still saw that I had something to give and persisted in providing opportunities.

Was there anyone at MSCW who had a positive impact and on reflection, influenced you to follow the pathway you have chosen?

No one person in particular, but lots of small opportunities and support provided along the way helped me to firstly persist at my high school education (I struggled with motivation many times at school and often I thought I would not complete VCE). Ultimately with support of family and the school I stuck at it and set myself up to pursue my passion of music and a job in the arts industry.

What did you do after leaving MSCW and where are you or what is your role now?

After VCE I went straight into a sound engineering diploma through a private provider - JMC academy. I was lucky to have financial support to afford the 2 year course, and I committed to it fully. It provided me with a platform to become a technical professional in the arts industry. I became a studio recording engineer, a touring live sound engineer/mixer, a theatre technician, a business owner in production equipment rental and services, and it ultimately enabled me to do postgraduate study in my late 20’s and become an architectural acoustician and design engineer.

Greatest accomplishments and/or defining moments?

I’ve been lucky to have many, many fantastic experiences in music and the arts industries with amazingly talented people in different parts of the world. I’ve been lucky enough to play in some great bands and also to mix audio at large events to many thousands of people with amazing artists. I’ve met artists who I idolised as a kid and been immersed in an industry where contribution, skill and performance are the markers of success, not just money. More recently I’ve been very lucky to run a company that designs and installs technical systems for amazing venues. Seeing each of these venues come to life is a great buzz. 

One of my most affirming times came later on when I decided to tackle the challenge of postgraduate study without an under-grad degree. I had 10 years of experience working with sound and audio and was doing some awesome things, but I really felt I needed to study further to fully explore the field of sound. The course (grad dip. in audio and acoustics @ the University of Sydney) reshaped a lot of my professional career afterwards and provided me with opportunities to design and build the type of venues that I had previously worked in or played music in. It became very clear to me that If I hadn’t stuck at it and completed VCE more than a decade earlier I would not have been able later on to study acoustics and have even half of the opportunities and experiences that I have had!

What advice would you like to give any of our current MSCW students, especially those considering an engineering pathway?

Be yourself, you are awesome! Apply yourself fully to your passions and dreams, with application they will take you far. Equally stick at and work on the parts of school and life that you maybe dislike or are not in the slightest passionate about, they provide opportunities that you take for granted and will keep doors open for you your entire life.

Anything else you would like to include (eg. future pathways plans)?

I plan to continue to grow our company (DCAP http://www.dcap.com.au/ ), to tackle great projects and venues and to continue learning and being passionate about my work.