Oscar Goodwin is living his best life as he trains for a career in music, building on his early start in the industry. Having always been into music and already established himself as a DJ in his home town of Wanaka during his secondary school years, the decision to study it was easy for Oscar. “I play about eight instruments, but my [main] background is with drums and guitar. I love it. Music’s pretty much my whole life,” he says.
Initially planning to study in Wellington, Oscar took a chance on an opportunity which popped up through his friends, when he got a place in a flat with mates who’d gone to MAINZ the previous year. Enrolling in the MAINZ Audio Engineering and Production Level 5 programme, Oscar headed to Christchurch instead.
Entering the MAINZ course without many expectations, Oscar says it has fulfilled the desire he had to study music for a year. “It’s been a great excuse to do music full-time... it’s what I’ve wanted out of it, for sure.”
The course content has also delivered; it’s both engaging and enjoyable. “The physics of sound was awesome... It’s probably the class I’ve learnt the most in and applies the most to the career I want to go into.”
The MAINZ campus “is cool” and there’s a broad mix of people. At 18, Oscar’s the youngest in his class. “The age range is interesting ... there are 40-year-olds in class. It‘s an interesting dynamic ...” Using the campus mainly to learn, Oscar usually goes home after classes as all of his production gear is at his flat, but he has taken advantage of having access to the MAINZ studios to make some of his own music.
Studying at MAINZ has helped develop Oscar’s approach to his future career in music. Ultimately, the learning is valuable because it’s focused him more on the ‘how to apply’ the knowledge he’s gained in practical, real-life situations.
“It has, in a sense, [influenced me] in the way I think about music and the way I think more practically in getting things done, but also some of this could be living away from home. I think it could be a mixture of the two environments.” Oscar also wanted to get the qualification this year so he has the piece of paper to show “I know what I know.”
Most weekends, Oscar can be found gigging in Wanaka, Queenstown and sometimes Dunedin, most recently sound teching for Magnetic Low. “I travel around quite a lot ... [which] I feel very fortunate to be able to do.” As a Sound Tech, Oscar sets up speakers and gets them sounding “as good as possible”. He’s also been involved with up-and-coming Wanaka band, Powder Chutes, “I’ve been mixing for them since about age 14”.
Oscar says he’s benefited from really good mentoring, explaining it’s a feature of our music industry, which is relatively small. “Everyone likes to help everyone else in the NZ music industry.”
Having recently picked up part-time work through Bounce as a Sound Engineer, Oscar’s “doing the load-in and load-outs, lugging big cases around. I’m fairly low in the pecking order.” But every gig is another stepping stone in raising his profile. “I am finding some bands to sound for; they like how I do it,” he adds. A highlight from last summer was working Front of House on the Fidelity sound system at The Burning Horse Festival in Northern Southland.
The biggest challenge Oscar’s faced this year has been “trying to figure out how to do life”. Coming from a small town ... and being an only child who’s living away from home for the first time, he admits it’s definitely proven to have “had it’s ups and downs”, but the steep learning curve has improved with time, and he acknowledges it’s all part of the stage in life he’s at, forging his own path.
For the future, “I want to be able to sustain myself in doing sound, ideally not having to work ridiculous hours... I would like to tour New Zealand, and maybe one day, the world. That would be awesome,” he says. However, in the short-term, once the MAINZ programme is completed, Oscar’s returning to his home town, Wanaka, to “gig with mates over the summer”, then he’s thinking about a move to Dunedin to follow some opportunities there.
And Oscar’s advice to prospective MAINZ students: “Just be open to learning; there’s always more to learn. Even if you think you know what’s going on, there’s always more.”