Amplifying Accessibility: lessons from a disabled young musician

In this blog post, Keys (she/they), a Welsh musician with a disability, shares three lessons they have learnt on their journey from street busking to playing music at the Green Man Festival. Keys also reflects on how creating music helps their wellbeing and mental health.

My name is Rightkeysonly, the two-handed, one-handed, musician, that’s great at high- fives and terrible at jazz hands. At night, you can find me immersed in the rave scene, bouncing across stages as the bass vibrates through my toes.By day, I head Amplifying Accessibility, a project searching for inclusive ways D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent individuals can progress their career in music.

I’m also a 24-year-old that never saw anyone like them in the music industry.

Having ADHD and Erbs Palsy has often meant that I have had to adapt to a world that felt like it wasn’t designed to have me in it. This can be a heavy weight to carry.

However, there are also many beautiful things that come with being different.

So, I’m going to share a few lessons I have learnt, as a diverse person in music, so that you can enjoy more of those beautiful moments.

Lesson 1: Getting help helps

Even when you’re a rockstar, additional needs don’t just disappear.

I once performed three times on the same day, in two different cities, during the peak of summer, which wasn’t uncommon after I started to produce dance music. However, at the same time, my health deteriorated.

To advocate for myself, I made an Access Rider.

An Access Rider is a document disabled creatives share with colleagues to explain how to support their needs when working together. This is up to you to design how you would like, and I began with the question:

If I could have everything I ever needed, what would that be? 

This helps me to get the correct support in place and prioritise my own wellbeing, without all those pesky burnouts!

Lesson 2: You are human

One of the reasons I chose to pursue music was because I had genuinely been told I was not “able enough” to be a “real musician”. This was infuriating, and fuelled my desire to ensure that less people experienced the discrimination that I, and other artists with a disability, had faced in music.

But take it from someone who is often the tokenistic poster girl for disability, you don’t always have to fight.
There are days where it all feels like too much, and you just want someone to ask you your favourite colour before they ask you to fill out another diversity and inclusion survey.

If your body and brain say it’s time to rest, it’s time to rest.

There is always tomorrow.

Lesson 3: Use your barriers to your advantage

This doesn’t mean skipping the queues at Disneyland, it means turning your disadvantages into your strengths.

When I started in the music scene, my anxiety was soul consuming. I’d learnt how to beatbox, using a loopstation to repeat the sounds back to me, but as soon as I entered a venue the fear would hit, and I would leave without performing.

Here, I needed to mould the music to suit me.

I began to perform off stage, sat on the floor, not making eye contact with a single person, as if I was in my bedroom at home. It was weird and unusual, but it made me feel comfortable and everyone loved it. I even gained the title ‘Floor Girl’ in a few places.

My wellbeing became a part of the performance, a priority over what was deemed “normal” for a musician to do.

If something isn’t working, you have the power to change it, too.

About Keys

Whether you’re able or disabled, I hope this article has helped you somehow, and if you would like to chat more about accessibility in the music industry you can email me (amplifyingaccessibility@gmail.com) or find me on Instagram (@rightkeysonly).

My organisation Amplifying Accessibility also provides free mentoring support to music industry workers who are d/Deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent, and consultation to organisations wishing to learn how to become more inclusive in music industry practice.

Thank you to Keys for sharing their story with us.

Resources:

• You can see Keys Access Rider document, if you would like inspiration to create your own. And this resource by Unlimited will guide you on creating an Access Rider.
• Beacons Cymru is a Wales-wide music industry development organisation supporting the next generation of young people aspiring to work in the music industry.
• Tonic Music is an organisation that aims to establish good mental health within music communities
• Music Production for Women empowers female and non-binary artists to learn to produce in a safe and encouraging community in an accessible way.
• Help Musicians is a charity for professional musicians of all genres, giving people the support they need at the crucial stages that could make or break their career.

Want to write a post for the Wolfson blog?

We are looking for young people interested in sharing their thoughts on the challenges young people face. We would particularly like to share youth voices talking about their experiences with mental health and innovative projects in the field of youth mental health.

Interested in learning more? Email maximom@cardiff.ac.uk with some information about yourself and what topic you would like to write about.

We look forward to hearing from you!