Arts Tutor Profiles

David McCluskey is a music tutor and lead artist at Sense Scotland.

David recalls his creative career starting with the punk rock explosion of the late 70’s, and at 17 he left school to sign a record deal with The Bluebells, a band he had formed with his brother and friends. The Bluebells had some hit singles including ‘Young at Heart’, and went on to tour and perform all around the world. When David and his brother Ken left the group, they set up a small independent record label, releasing their own music as The McCluskey Brothers, continuing to write songs, tour and record.

Years later, David decided that he wanted to find some more sustained work, he did some volunteer work with people with additional support needs, then went on to work at Quarriers as a Support Worker, and also doing music workshops at Youth Music Projects in Maryhill, Glasgow. David says “I loved working with young people who were totally diverse and are all into different things, I still find that you’re constantly learning and evolving what you do, sharing skills and taking part in lots of community projects.”

David started working at Sense Scotland about 20 years ago, working with a diverse range of people with different needs. His started in his role as part of the Sense Scotland Arts Team as a Music Tutor, joining a group of fellow arts tutors using a whole range of art forms.

David currently works as the Lead Artist, managing music projects and the team of four music tutors, who facilitate music in all its diversity. During his development in his role, he has completed arts education diplomas and project-management courses.

“I enjoy engaging with people creatively, looking at access to new experiences, working towards life-long benefits, and individual aspirations – the impact creativity has on people is amazing, transformative! That’s the thing about music – it just is inherently therapeutic. It reaches all of us – we’re all innately musical so we relate and connect profoundly to music, it has so much to do with our identity. It’s got all the spiritual, emotional, communicative and primal elements in there. The skill is to tailor the experience to each individual.”

David also manages the Sensatronic Lab project, run by a group of digital artists and musicians based at Sense Scotland. The project works with marginalised young people across Scotland, from Fort William to Kilmarnock to Dundee, presenting music in an accessible way, exploring technology and digital creativity. As part of the project, the artists design instruments and environments tailored to people’s individual sensory needs and mobility, using DIY and digital components. Sensatronic Lab is about using technology to develop access and independent control; the project support bands of like-minded young people who love to play live, create their own music and write songs, and run CPD training for artists, teachers and parents. The project has been funded by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative, YMI.

David says “providing creative learning opportunities that happen outside of school is vital, because school doesn’t work for every young person.”