By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Aspiring singer Tusi Matia, of Keysborough, is a man of many voices.
Country, rock, funk, reggae, metal, blues – he revels in the nuances of each and every variety.
“With country, you get into a nice groove. Rock and metal, I extend and project my voice so eventually it becomes natural.
“With the others, I learn techniques like when to stop and pause.
“In the end, I integrate all that I learn into one.”
He is one of a handful of students taking classes in all six music genres at his Diploma of Music Industry studies at Kangan Institute.
Singing was a passion that he only recently discovered, as he pondered on what to do after Year 11 and a short-lived try at a gaming course.
“I found myself listening to a lot of music. I’d have my headphones on and getting lost.
“I thought to myself it could be an option.”
He’d never sang, never played a musical instrument. Yet, Mr Muti successfully auditioned for the Kangan Institute Course.
From birth, Mr Matia was afflicted with hearing and vision loss due to Crouzon Syndrome.
But from an early age, he enjoyed the smorgasboard of musical tastes delivered by his mother (a fan of the 1950s and 1960s “old school”, and classical music) and his uncle (rap).
Recently, Mr Matia was awarded an $8000 Vision Australia bursary. It has allowed him to buy cutting-edge technology for his studies.
He’s replaced his desktop with a laptop, so he can now work on the long train to Broadmeadows.
He uses an ingenious reading-camera that captures snap shots of writing on the whiteboard. It then converts it into text on his laptop.
It has essentially meant Mr Matia no longer depends on a note-taker in class.
Mr Matia has written several songs, and is preparing to perform and record an album with his class late this year.
After that, the aim is to go out and do gigs, he says.
“I want to branch out. I know it will take a while to get where I want to be.
“Start small and dream big.”
