Collective Deaf Rave are the subject of a new documentary on Netflix
‘Turn Up The Bass’ celebrates 20 years of the Deaf rave scene, and explores the prejudice faced by the community from the mainstream electronic scene
DJ collective Deaf Rave are the subject of a new documentary film on Netflix, Turn Up The Bass.
The film follows the group's founder Deaf DJ Troi Lee, as well as a team of producers, DJs, MCs, sign singers and dancers from within the UK's Deaf raving community.
Running for 20 years, the history of the collective is retold in Turn Up The Bass — celebrating key moments for Deaf Rave, including its time at Glastonbury Festival, and its anniversary event.
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Troi Lee shares insight on how he founded the collective as well as how he has created opportunities for Deaf artists whilst fighting against prejudice.
Directed by Ted Evans and Executive Produced by Caroline Williamson, the short documentary was made through the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund and is available to watch on YouTube now.
Troi tells Mixmag: “Not many people know about Deaf Rave and therefore we wanted to elevate our culture to the mainstream, to inspire and teach the younger, Deaf generation.
"It's vital to show them if we can do it, they can definitely do it and encourage more deaf creatives to come forward. Put it out there to the public that Deaf people can perform and enjoy music.”
He adds: “In my wildest dreams I didn't think, 20 years later we would have all of these wonderful deaf people involved in Deaf Rave and doing great things with positivity.”
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“Oh man, this is giving me goosebumps!” shares Troi speaking on the release of the short film.
“The way they edited it, directed it, everything about it! Watching it last night when the films premiered, I had the biggest goosebumps of my life, a few tears watching myself and the team on the big screen. It was emotional but such an honour for Netflix to give me this wonderful, unique opportunity, I knew it would be impactful, inspiring and motivating... I'm lost for words right now!”
He continues: “I hope the mainstream hearing viewers can learn something about deaf music and I hope it inspires them to give our community more opportunity to perform. I really thank Netflix for giving me this opportunity for Deaf and disabled people, I want to see more of that coming!”
Watch Turn Up The Bass below and find out more about Deaf Rave here.
Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter