Graduate engineers a career at the heart of Southampton's live music scene

Darius Oloro studied BA (Hons) Music Performance and Production at Solent, graduating after a course that began in 2019. Born and raised in Southampton, he chose Solent to stay close to home, keeping costs down and laying the foundations for a career in his home city.

Now working as a freelance sound engineer across a string of Southampton venues, including The Hobbit, Suburbia, Heartbreakers, Papillion, and Joiners.

Darius is also the bassist in Ma.Da.Sa, a band formed with fellow Solent graduates Samuel Sanchez, who studied Music Performance and Production, and Matt Clark, who studied Music Business Management.

"We wish we'd been in a band at university, because if we did, we would have been unstoppable," he says. "But the best thing about coming from the same university is that we know the same work mindset. We understand how each other work and where we've both come from."

For Darius, some of his strongest memories from his time at the University centre on the facilities available to him. Studio time, rehearsal rooms, camera equipment, microphones, and industry-standard software were all on hand.

Beyond the facilities, it was the professional standards embedded into everyday teaching that have shaped how he operates in the industry today.

"You'd be surprised how many people can't stay on a microphone while singing," he says. "A lot of people within the music industry don't understand how important time can be. When you're at university, you get that professional mindset. You shouldn't be wasting time because you're eating into other people's time. The best thing I got from my degree would be the professionalism."

While still a student at Solent, he was at The Hobbit when staff asked if anyone present was studying music production. He raised his hand, and the rest followed naturally, a chance moment that grew into a career.

"The more work you can put in at university, the more you will get back," he says. "If the only thing you're doing is going to lectures, but you're not using the music studios, the rehearsal rooms, you're not going to gigs, you're not meeting musicians, then you're not grabbing any of the resources or the community that you can get."

Looking ahead, Darius has clear goals. He is actively working towards full independence through music. The bigger goal is his own studio space, somewhere people come to him, being part of the creative scene in Southampton.

"Southampton is where you want to do music," he says.