Grumpy Old Deafies

MC GEEZER – Yo, my name is MC Geezer.

TBC – I’m TBC, Deaf music producer.

CHINAMAN - Yo, my name is Chinaman. Peace and love.

TBC - A lot of hearing people see the deaf world in a polarised way. They don’t think for a minute that somebody who is deaf can make music. They sort of say, like, “That’s not possible.”

MC GEEZER – People don’t realise that deaf people can feel music. They don’t actually have to hear it, they can feel it.

CHINAMAN – In the Deaf community there were very few places you could go. When I was raving from a very early age, from about 17, I never really went into the Deaf community at that time, I went to to raving, man, like, with my hearing friends. Music when Deaf people did go about it... we like to play music! We wanna feel vibrations! We wanna tell the nation that we are vibrating, man!

CHINAMAN – Every party I play, in any deaf community, people dancing like fuck man. We try to make vibration as strong and as smooth as possible.

MC GEEZER – My brain’s gone and my body just wants to drop. It’s from feeling the vibrations pounding you and pounding you. You feel so happy. You feel excited. You feel your heat beating. The rate is like, going so fast you’re like, “Woah!!” Your mind is out of control and that feeling, it’s like, “I’m gonna have an orgasm”.

TBC – You alright Aaron? How you doing?

AARON – Not bad. Chinaman. Yes!

AARON – If you want, I can run it through the tube tech, which will give it a lot.., which will make the bass pretty phat, basically.

AARON – Cos people are feeling the bass nowadays. It’s not a pop tune based around a lyrical content, they’re rapping along with the beat and the bass. It’s a big issue, so you want them to be, like, the primary focus. Cos that’s what people are gonna be hearing; or feeling. So keep it up there in both mixes. People will appreciate it.

CHINAMAN – Once it’s mastered, we’re gonna go to all the Deaf events and we’re just gonna roll out with the sample.

MC GEEZER – In different ways I think music and Deaf people don’t really get there. But now we wanna change that. There’s a ship, yeah, and we’re on that ship, all three of us. And once we get to that island that we want to do, that’s our ambition.

CHINAMAN – I just want to inspire and motivate people. That’s what I’ve always been good at. I try to encourage Deaf people to go on to better things, you know? Keep practising and keep learning and you’ll get there; you’ll get better and that’s the way forward.

CHINAMAN – By the time of the Deaf Festival in two years time I want to bring the ultimate show in London. And I’m telling you it’s going to be about 1000 Deaf people in one place, watching and I’m telling you, my vision will be happy.

MC GEEZER – Music is with me for my life. If there’s no music, there’s no MC; if there’s no MC, there’s no music maker. If there’s no people wanting to listen to music, there’s no Deaf Rave. But that can’t happen. Loads of people love music. Loads of people want to create it. And we want the project to go and reach the top.