Community Story

Andre

Deaf DJ

“My name is Andre Robinson, aka DJ Deaf Tunez. When I was six years old, that's when I stopped going to go to Deaf school, to learn how to sign, to learn how to talk, and that helped me to figure out who I am. My mom listened to music every day. I would listen to music and the radio when I was at my young age. And, you know, I couldn't live without music because music is how I keep going. When I was younger, we used to go to family reunions, and that's where I'd see my cousin used to be DJ. So that moment I'd be watching, like, it was so cool. I decided to pursue DJing because I met a couple DJs, Deaf DJs from New York and DC. DJ Hear No Evil, DJ Nico DiMarco. And I met those DJs and that's how I learned from them. All the Deaf people love to feel the music and they want to feel comfortable, to feel have a space, to have accessibility. So for me, working with the Deaf community is is one of my favorite things to do. The Tactus vest is, you know, the people want to feel music, to make them feel good, and so people can dance, and just want to be there, and just vibe. You know, to be support, to be close to each other. It creates nothing but positive vibes.”