Toowoomba NDIS participant, musician Max Fitz leads free music classes for people with disabilities at Dream Cafe and Bar

After struggling with his mental health for years, NDIS participant Max Fitz is using his music to help others with disabilities find their voices.

The power of music helped Max Fitz get back on his feet after years battling mental health – to the point where he’s now a regular performer in Toowoomba’s pubs.

“(I did it) with the help of (disability provider) Campbell’s (Care and Support), they put me under their wing — they helped take me to open mic nights and I worked up to doing shows at the pubs,” he said.

Now the experienced singer and guitarist is giving back by running a free music class and jam session aimed at NDIS participants every week.

Mr Fitz’ Thursday morning classes now fill the Dream Cafe and Bar on Bell St in Toowoomba City, with participants and members of the public joining in on guitar, with a variety of percussive instruments or just their voices.

Enjoying the weekly music sessions at the Dream Cafe and Bar on Bell Street are (from left) NDIS participants Amos Spaim, Max Fitz, Jess Porter and Neil Prince.

Covering classic tunes by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mr Fitz said he want to give people with a disability an engaged and interactive musical outlet.

“I thought we should get them in here, do a little jam and throw some percussion instruments on the tables and let them pick them up — there’s a spare guitar and we’ve had a few participants get up and sing,” he said.

“I just want to give back to the community because I’ve been supported really well by Toowoomba.

“I think music brings people together and crosses all languages and backgrounds.

“They wander off with a smile on their face, and that keeps me motivated.”

Mr Fitz insisted the jam was open to everyone, even members of the public.

“We want everybody to come in, you don’t have to be an NDIS participant, just anyone in the community,” he said.

Campbell’s Care and Support owner Amal Doukari said the idea of Mr Fitz running his own music classes a few years ago would’ve been incomprehensible.

“We supported him on shift so he could go to all different events — he’d had so many different agencies but they wouldn’t take him to open-mic nights,” she said.

“(With our help) he was able to get back into the music scene and focus on his craft.

“We then supported him through the daytime to drop his business card around and he really showed his own strengths of what he needed.

“What Max is doing, the music group, there’s nothing like it in Toowoomba — he leads it, he handles it all on his own.”

The Dream Cafe, which is another venture run by Campbell’s Care and Support, is itself another outlet designed to empower people with disabilities.

The venue, which acts as a hangout spot for NDIS participants while offering them affordable meals, is staffed by participants who are paid at award rates while also learning new skills as part of their community access funding within their NDIS packages.

Ms Doukari said she hoped Mr Fitz’s classes drew more attention to work the Dream Cafe was doing.

“Everybody in here works here, they all get paid, they get their certificates and they are paid an award wage,” she said.

“They nearly all have their own agencies, we just support them while they’re on site.

“They’re also learning a job, getting employment and developing real life skills.”

Max Fitz’s jam sessions run from 10am every Thursday at the Dream Cafe and Bar. He can also be seen playing there on Friday and Saturday nights from 7pm.