'Invisible Wall', my song about stammering

Image

Caption

Victor

Victor Soldatov, aka 'Seven Shores', talks about his love of music and how he hopes his song will help others who stammer.

Hello. My name is Victor, I'm 31 years old and I'm a music producer and musician. As far as I can remember, I've been stammering since I was 6 or 7. My father and younger sister stammer too, but not as much.

I've struggled with it all my life. Sometimes I speak clearly and freely but sometimes speaking is pretty hard. Mostly it depends on the situation and what mood I'm in, but sometimes there is no reason for it.

Music

Music is my passion. I grew up with it and studied music at school, where I played in several rock bands. I've noticed that I don't have any troubles with my stammering when I'm singing! 

Article continues below...

Image

Caption

Victor performing live

Since 2014, I've worked with different musicians, music producers and as a sound engineer in my own recording studio. I've recorded more than 1,000 songs over the years. I'm really happy to help people with their music ideas as well as mixing, mastering and other aspects of music production. It makes me feel so good and I find I generally stammer less when I'm focusing on music.

I hope you'll like Invisible Wall... that it'll help you worry less about your stammer.

A couple of years ago I started my new music project 'Seven Shores' and last month I released the new song 'Invisible Wall'. It's all about my struggle with stammering — how it feels when you can't speak and have to plan ahead to try and change the words. In my head it looks like an invisible wall that I try to break with my words.

• See Get Help for support for stammering

When the song was released I didn't expect a lot of reaction but all my friends and their friends said it is pretty cool. When artists sing from the heart it makes sense and listeners trust them.

I'd be really happy if you listen to my song! You can watch me perform it live in the video below or listen to it at any of these streaming platforms. You can also watch my live videos on YouTube.

I hope you'll like Invisible Wall. I hope it can help and support others who are struggling with stammering, and that it'll help you worry less about your stammer. I used to be shy about my stammer but now I can sing about it because it is a big part of my life and I can't remove it forever. But I've realised it's OK to stammer. If you see it as an imperfection, you don't have to be 'perfect'. You should be yourself first of all.

Have you created something stammering-related that you'd like to share? Or would you like to tell us your story, opinions or write about things that have helped you? See Submit Something Something For The Site or email editor@stamma.org.

Read more Your Voice articles.