My son Finley Scholefield, who has died unexpectedly in his sleep aged 24, was an industrious young man who was always creating, be it music, art, apps, or some random wire contraption only he knew the function of.
His day job was as a technical producer for GDS, a virtual executive events provider in Bristol, having graduated with a degree in sound and music for games from dBs Institute in the city last year.
For his many personal projects he used the alias BÆRFÜT. The music he wrote, recorded and produced is on mainstream music platforms such as Soundcloud, Spotify and Bandcamp under this name. His tracks Sol and Luna were featured on the BBC radio show Introducing in the West. In addition, he created a mobile gaming app, Ball Drop Down, and a 2D exploration game of crafting, magic and combat called In Phrygia. He also made an audio overdrive plug-in, Buzzsaw, to use in any digital audio workstation, which we hope to make available in the future.
Fin was born in Bath, to me, Sarah (nee Usher), a library assistant, and Dylan Scholefield, a bathroom designer and builder, and spent his early years in Bristol. When he was seven his brother, Jakey, was born, and we moved to Frome, where Fin attended St John’s first school. Three years later his sister, Ayla, was born. Fin was a fantastic big brother to his siblings, caring, kind and funny.
He attended Selwood academy before moving on to Frome college for GCSEs. It was there that he discovered his love and aptitude for music. He quickly learned to play the guitar and began writing songs and performing, both in school and in the bands he formed with his close friend Bert. After school, Fin spent a year working at a local cafe before travelling in India. He then moved to Bristol in 2017 to do a foundation year, followed by a degree, at the dBs Institute. He was planning to begin a master’s in audio and music technology at York University later this year.
The dual passion of Fin’s life was gaming, in many formats, from boardgames to PC and Xbox. He had recently bought a Nintendo Switch and was excited to share his love of gaming on yet another platform. Fin had countless friends and his talents were many. He was always keen to collaborate with others, and his sudden death leaves many solo and joint projects unfinished. He will be greatly missed.
Dylan and I survive him, as do Jakey and Ayla.
