Tova: Sherman – Welcome to Inclusion Revolution, I’m your host, Tova Sherman. Really pleased that you joined us this week for what I believe to be an extremely important and interesting show. Our guest this week is Gerald Wheatley. Welcome Gerald.
Gerald: Hello.
Tova: Gerald is actually, and let me make sure I get this right, is the president of Atmosphere Entertainment. Is that correct?
Gerald: That is correct.
Tova: And Gerald, before we get rolling on today’s subject, I would like you to tell us, what is Atmosphere Entertainment?
Gerald: We’re an entertainment company, obviously we do anything from small shows like weddings, all the way up to 10,000 person shows and production for concerts that sort of thing.
Tova: Right. So of course everyone watching today is wondering, so, OK, you have a DJ on, I know there’s a connection cause this is Inclusion Revolution and what we want to be able to do is connect why you’re here and of course, what the message is today. So Gerald, let me start by congratulating you because I understand you are the DJ, the original DJ for the rhythm DJ program here in Nova Scotia that as I understand it supports all types of high-risk youth in learning to DJ.
Gerald: That’s right
Tova: So you and I believe uh some of the other DJ’s that are I believe, you’re also associated with a radio show or a radio station are you not?
Gerald: Yes, we’re associated we Z103 and the other DJ that does the rhythm DJ school with us is Craig Muse, DJ Trixx.
Tova: DJ Trixx, sounds like fun. So ah let me ask you this, um, and that’s the bounce right?
Gerald: No that is not the bounce.
Tova: Oop, ah, see I don’t know.
Gerald: Z103.5.
Tova: I should really get off CBC Classical right and visit you?
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: It’s all good though, I’m allowed to make mistakes, that’s the fun of the show.
Gerald: Absolutely. He he.
Tova: Now, what I wanted to ask you today was, tell me a little bit about the DJ program cause what you may not realize is last season, we actually did have the co-coordinator of the rhythm DJ program on but it was just starting out and our understanding of the program was that it was designed again to, to attract high risk, young people, between the ages of like 16 and 23.
Gerald: 16 and 23.
Tova: And the only criteria is that they come in, it’s free and you and DJ Trixx run this and the goal here is what?
Gerald: Um, to give students ah self confidence, give them faith in their abilities, team work, working with others, um, we have a lot of youth from really different groups, ah, there might be some with disabilities, there might be some with cognitive disabilities, um, some with ADD, ADHD and uh, it’s a great environment cause everybody kind of works together, um, everybody learns a little bit about each other, it’s great.
Tova: Now you aren’t particularly a disability expert, what you are is a DJ who is now teaching DJ’ing to some of the high risk youth. Can you tell me for you personally if you don’t mind what it means to you and why to be involved in this program?
Gerald: Um for me, sigh, when I first started in the DJ business 20 years ago there was nobody there to teach me, I had to learn this stuff all on my own. I had to go and hang around the clubs, I’d hang around other DJ’s.
Tova: I’m sure you were 18 at the time, it’s OK.
Gerald: I was 18 at the time.
Tova: (Laugh.)
Gerald: And uh there was never a course, there was never anything I could take to learn something like this. This is a great way to introduce and, and give people an introduction into this environment, into this industry, uh it’s an industry to make money, it’s an industry to have lots of fun and a great place to be.
Tova: But again, I guess what I really want to know is what are you seeing from this experience, cause I mean traditionally you are a radio DJ, you’re a club DJ as is Trixx I know. So my question is, coming into an environment where your facing kids who do face different challenges and you know maybe you can share with us some of the examples of how you’ve overcome some of those challenges because the truth is, the majority of the youth you have been dealing with to date are youth with disabilities, although I know this program is not exclusive to youth with disabilities. So I guess what I want to know is for you personally, getting this opportunity, meeting these kids, doing this every week, I know you do a couple a week, um, can you tell me perhaps why for you, you want to keep doing it or is everyone getting on your nerves or is it just too much?
Gerald: Oh yeah.
Tova: Or why do you think this is such a great opportunity for you, and then maybe we can talk a little bit about what’s happening with the client.
Gerald: Um, one of the biggest things is, is even from, from the get go, from the first time we had the students walk through the door from the first week to the next week, we see a huge difference in their demeanor. Um, ah, students that have ADD or are a bit hyperactive and stuff like that, um, they are much calmer. People who are shy and reserved, they’re, they’re outgoing and gregarious, they, you know people who are afraid to touch equipment, by the second or third week they just can’t wait to get their hands on.
Tova: So you are seeing some confidence building and you are really enjoying…
Gerald: Immediately
Tova: Personally, not just as a DJ but as a person, you’re really getting to see what you’re doing and really a quick effect……
Gerald: That’s right, watch this happen……absolutely.
Tova: Really, immediate gratification.
Gerald: Absolutely.
Tova: Now that’s especially good for people with ADHD. Isn’t it?
Gerald: Totally.
Tova: And I know that you were talking to me earlier before we started the show about your own lifetime of living with ADHD and how great it is for you to be working with now youth with ADHD and being able to see and give over those things that weren’t available for you.
Gerald: Absolutely.
Tova: So, can you tell us a little bit about your own experience and why you even got into DJ’ing and why for people, for instance, with ADHD, cause you mentioned this to me earlier, fit really well in that field.
Gerald: When I started this I was 16 years old, um, I was kind of a bit of a lost soul, I really had no direction, I discovered music because my father was a musician but I had no musical talent, but I soon discovered…..
Tova: That you discovered yet……
Gerald: That I’d discovered yet….
Tova: I just said that because you never know.
Gerald: That’s right. And as a DJ I did my first teen dance when I was 16 years old and I was totally hooked. As a youngster I went to school, I had a hard time in school, I ah, I quit school early, I, I didn’t end up finishing high school at that point. I ah got a day job and I went through a whole series of day jobs and nothing could keep me interested. I’d work at a place for a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, um, but one thing that remained steady through everything was DJ’ing so after a few years of working different day jobs, I’ve been everything from a private investigator to a gas jockey, the one thing that remained constant was DJ’ing and I decided to make a business out of it and off it went from there. It’s one of those things that ah every, everything is different. Every night is different, every show is different, um there’s no two days the same and for a guy with ADD it’s perfect.
Tova: Right, so you’re saying for you, that change and diversity is really positive for you, but also you yourself are identifying some of the changes you went through becoming a DJ and how you’re seeing it happening in almost a compact way in over these 8 weeks which I believe your program runs 8 weeks per cycle.
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: So, so for instance, can you give me some stories about some of the kids that have come through you know and what you’ve seen in terms of where they started and where they ended, and perhaps some of the things you need to do to, to bring them to the end, to a positive end, cause what I really want to focus on for all of our listeners is that I don’t think we always appreciate that some of these so called, and I know it’s used to death, but outside the boxes approaches to working with, what we might call youth with disabilities or perhaps youth that have been in some trouble you know and why this kind of program makes sense because I think if a lot of folks are listening are saying, well, yeah, I understand DJ’ing is kind of cool but the truth is why, why is it going to actually help and support my child who either has disabilities or maybe some social skill issues or just is kind of angry and frustrated teen. Can you tell me for you where you can see that helping?
Gerald: Well, first thing is, I mean, our class sizes are so small, there’s 2 instructors and 4 students per class so that (a) gives all the students lots of hands on time and (b) because there’s 2 instructors there, one can be helping the student on the equipment and the other one can keep the others entertained, or you know give them facts or just do all kinds of stuff to keep them interested. We had a young lady come in and when she first came to our class the first week she was extremely nervous, she didn’t want to touch the equipment, she didn’t really want to talk to anybody, she kind of sat away from everybody, by the second and third week, we could barely keep her off the equipment, it was just go, go, go and…….
Tova: Why? Why? I have to say that because it’s happening but can we define why it’s happening, what I mean by that is can we really start to break down? What about this idea of being a DJ, now when we talk about DJ, these kids are scratching with is the term for making noises with the album back and forth (sounds so cool), and all of these other things, it’s real club DJ’ing, not necessarily Bar Mitzvah DJ’ing but although that’s good too, so I guess what I want to do, I want to ask you if you could, what are some of the specific changes that you’ve seen and perhaps why it is you’re seeing them.
Gerald: Um, I think with some of the students, they come and they see the equipment and the first thing is they get to play on something that most people wouldn’t be able to afford, I mean the equipment that we use is really expensive, really high end stuff, some of the students come to us with aspirations of being a DJ, that overcomes the nervousness. They see another student up there doing their thing, they see us up there doing our thing and we draw them in. We do anything we can to keep them interested, draw them up and get them interested in the the program and it doesn’t take very long and they see us doing our thing and they want to do what we do.
Tova: Right.
Gerald: We show them how it’s done and they want to do what we did.
Tova: That’s right, so what I would like to do is take a quick break and when we come back I would like to talk about the specific skill set that you think that even those that aren’t going to be DJ’s are walking out with them, why this is an important program for everyone to hear about. So we’ll be right back here on Eastlink on our Inclusion Revolution in a moment.
Tova: Welcome back to Inclusion Revolution here on Eastlink TV. Again to remind you, Gerald is here from Atmosphere Entertainment and Gerald is a DJ in our community who is actually teaching what we call “high risk youth” or youth with disabilities opportunities to become DJ over an 8 week program that is offered through reachAbility. We will be giving you the contact information later on today to reach reachAbility and to maybe inquire about your 16-23 year old being also part of this program, but let’s get back to Gerald and before we uh broke Gerald it was my memory that, and I don’t have the best memory so correct me, but it was my memory that we were talking a little bit about some of the advantages that are less obvious from taking this DJ program, for instance why reachAbility would choose to do this rather than maybe you yourself doing a DJ camp, and what are some of the things that have evolved that maybe weren’t so obvious as people becoming DJ’s.
Gerald: One of the things is kids with social issues, some of the kids that come to us are socially isolated and maybe socially awkward and socially anxious um, this environment it gives that air of camaraderie and team work, students that come to us that don’t talk to anybody that keep to themselves, very shortly they are talking to everybody, they’re talking to the DJ’s, they’re talking to the other students and it becomes a real group effort and you see an immediate improvement right away.
Tova: So what I’m hearing from you and of course as a person who’s very fascinated by how to deal with challenges like social isolation, anger management and all of these things, what fascinates me and why I really wanted to talk to you today is that we are seeing these kinds of results from the clients that are completing or the students that are completing your DJ school. And why I wanted to address that a little bit is, I have a fascination at the concept of connecting anger management and DJ’ing and I did a little research before you came on because I want to understand it and I guess what I’m hearing and what I’m reading is that the concept is you go home, if you’re angry you can spin, you can get your frustration out, you can express your joy, really whatever you’d like and the most important thing there is giving you a tool to support some of the moods and some of the extreme frustration that comes from being a teenager quite frankly.
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: And then I also really appreciated the social isolation piece because many people are not interested in going into programming or some of these formal things but what an extraordinary opportunity to both express yourself through music which I think truly is the universal language, I’m not sure I invented that though, I don’t own that statement but it really is and also the concept that they get technical skills that ultimately are really highly transferrable.
Gerald: Very so much so.
Tova: So, everything I’ve read has talked so much about all of the less obvious results of the DJ program and I wonder if you can share with me if that’s what you’ve been seeing or if my research is maybe taking me a little too far cause you’re the man on the ground doing this work.
Gerald: No absolutely, what you’ve read is correct. One of the things that we’ve noticed too, um, music tends to be, it’s hypnotic by its very nature in itself and the ability for the students, one of the things that we offer is that part way through the course, um, they have the option to take home DJ software so even if they don’t own equipment of their own, they bring software home and they can utilize the skills that we teach them and they can do it at home on their computer with whatever equipment they have available or even if they don’t have equipment available so that allows them to go home, practice, play which is kind of a form of mediation in a sort of way, I think it works like meditation allows them to focus, it gives them something to deal with other than what thoughts might be racing through their heads, or whatever things that might make them angry.
Tova: Right, so in addition to what we’re hearing which is of course some anger management you know challenges being addressed, obviously some technical and transferrable skills being applied, we’ve touched a little bit even on the socialization but you are actually giving them software in which they can continue their efforts so there is a sustainability factor to the program which I think is awesome.
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: So tell me now some of the success stories because I know you’ve been doing the program about 8 or 9 months now and somewhere around I think you said 30 or 35 people have been through the program?
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: Tell me some of the success stories.
Gerald: We had a young man who came in prior to coming up, he was quite troubled, he’d been living with his sister, he didn’t live with his folks or anything else like that. I don’t know, I’m not sure about his home life but he had no direction whatsoever, he’d quit school. After he completed the course with us, he decided to go get a job, he ended up getting a job, he’s going to school, he’s changed his life around completely and all after 8 weeks of just playing music with us. It’s amazing.
Tova: Wow. Now you know the Inclusion Revolution, I’ve told you before, but just to remind everybody, the Inclusion Revolution is really about outside the box an innovative thinking and programming that makes a difference in the lives not only persons with disabilities but our entire community and the healthiness of our community. So what’s really impressing me is again, it’s one of those unusual, wouldn’t it expect it results coming from something that maybe even doesn’t have the best reputation because of the association with clubs, and after hours, or maybe I’m dating myself, but after hours parties and all of these things so it must be interesting for you also to have the gratification piece and again quite frankly, as a person who lives with a disability to see people with similar disabilities or diverse disabilities getting the kind of support that perhaps as you mentioned earlier, you wouldn’t have minded having when you were in that time so it’s got to be rewarding for both you and DJ Trixx, I believe you were saying to be able to do this. What’s the plan for the future, anything that’s going to be changed or anything you’d like to see in the program?
Gerald: Well, in the future we’ve talked about the possibility of having an advance course cause some of our students have actually gone on to become working DJ’s, I think we have 2 or 3 students now that have actually gone on, they’re working, they’ve actually taken the skills and and gone even above and beyond.
Tova: so you actually have DJ’s which I have to be honest with you is the one thing I didn’t ask you about because I’m not sure I would have thought that would have happened after 8 weeks. So you’ve got working DJ’s?
Gerald: We do.
Tova: OK, keep going, tell me some of the good stuff.
Gerald: so what we’re looking at doing now is we’re going to do an advanced course so some of the students really have an um, they do have an inherent talent, a natural ability. Some of these students before they came to us they didn’t even know they had this ability when they came to us, we started them in the course and it became apparent they were really into what we were doing and they could take this a step further.
Tova: They really had a knack for DJ’ing quite frankly.
Gerald: That’s right, they had a knack for it and because of the way the course is and it’s short and we have to look at the fact that there’s people with varying degrees of disabilities, we have physical disabilities, we have all kinds of different stuff, so in those short 8 weeks, it doesn’t give them enough skills I think to be able to advance them to the next step so what were gonna do is what we’re working on is offering a more advance DJ class that we can do a more in-depth, take those DJ’s that certainly do have the ability to become working DJ’s and taking that step higher, put them out in the work force and be able to do you know far better than man on the street.
Tova: Now you’re still going to have the level 1 though, you’re just saying you’ll add a level 2 because there’s certain people who you feel would benefit at a whole other level, if you don’t mind me saying that in terms of what they could gain from taking that level 2 cause there’s some legitimate music DJ’s in there and in fact some are already doing that.
Gerald: Some great talent.
Tova: It’s very exciting stuff, so we have a very positive future, I understand the program is being funded by the provincial government which is, I have to congratulate the provincial government cause I’m sure it’s not the usual but as you’ve identified so articulately there’s so many great results coming out of it that may not be what one might expect. First of all, I wasn’t expecting DJ jobs so that’s my surprise but the discussion as you mentioned about the anger management and the socialization, that is really, really exciting stuff. So Gerald, tell me if we could just wrap up a little bit about this, what’s the most important message you’d like our viewers to have about this program and why maybe they should pursue it for either themselves, their friends or their children between the ages of 16 and 23.
Gerald: I think one of the most important things I think this has, you know if you’re a student, or ah if you are 16 -23 or you’re a parent of a young person, um, I think this class can benefit anybody. The skills that you walk away with, it gives you a whole new sense of purpose, it gives you a sense of direction, it gives you self confidence, just about anybody can benefit from this.
Tova: I’m so grateful for that information. We’re going to take a short break here on Eastlink TV with Inclusion Revolution, we’ll be right back to thank Gerald and to wrap up with our poll and our news of the day, we’ll be right back.
Tova: Welcome back to Inclusion Revolution, I’m your host Tova Sherman and in this stage in our show, we commonly brought up some breaking news that we think is important to share with you as well as our weekly poll. Now you can respond to the poll as well as hear more about the weekly news piece on our website – inclusionrevolution.com. So let me get right into the news piece because Pediatrics Magazine has reported that researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre found that pre-natal exposure to tobacco smoke and childhood exposure to lead are linked to an increased risk of ADHD in children. And seeing as both Gerald and I live with ADHD we thought this was pretty interesting. Now children who were exposed to both tobacco smoke and lead were actually 8 times more likely to develop ADHD. And again, that’s from Pediatrics Magazine and if you would like to read the whole article, just check out inclusionrevolution.com and follow the links. Further, I wanted to give you our poll of the week in hopes that you are gonna go online and give us your opinion. Would you get a second opinion, and this is our poll, would you get a second opinion if you or your child were diagnosed with ADHD, because I hear a great deal from our viewers about their concerns around diagnosis’ around ADD and ADHD and I always recommend a second opinion and I hope you’ll come onto our poll on inclusionrevolution.com and give us your input as well. Now just before we wrap up for the day, I wanted to just go back to Gerald and ask him if he could provide us with the contact information on how someone can connect up with the Rhythm DJ Program.
Gerald: There’s a couple of ways you can get a hold of us, you can contact Sandy at 902-429-5878 at reachAbility, you can see us on the web at rythmdj.org and you can email us at info@rythmdj.org.
Tova: Wow, that’s fast. Hopefully there’s some card that our friend’s at Eastlink are going to put up in front of that but most importantly is to remember if you want to reach the Rhythm DJ program, start with the website which as you mentioned is rythmdj.org. Right? And I’m sure they can find everyone from there. Gerald, I’m really, really grateful that you were able to join us today, I think that what you’ve added not only as an instructor and a teacher and someone who’s doing something very unusual for the community of high risk youth but also I congratulate you and thank you for talking about your own challenges with ADHD and how it led you to this career. I guess I still I have one big concern I need you to help me with, and that is, are these young people that are coming to the program all expecting to be DJ’s?
Gerald: I think a lot of them when they first come through the door some of them are expecting to be DJ’s at first and I really don’t know and I’m totally lost.
Tova: Yeah? But that’s OK. What you’re telling me is that some of them come in and maybe their expectations might be a little high and that they think they’re going to be 8 weeks a DJ which is why I’m so surprised when you mentioned to me that some of them really are. Now I know that you did a neat little event with the DJ’s and that allowed them an opportunity to try, even if they are not all going to become DJ’s and I understand you had a little bit of a DJ off or something like that?
Gerald: A spin off, that’s right.
Tova: A spin off, excuse me, could you tell me a little bit about that because it sounded so fun.
Gerald: In a spin off you get the DJ’s to put together a set, they compete against each other and may the best man win, I guess at the end of it.
Tova: Right, so how did that go?
Gerald: It went really well.
Tova: Were the kids like…
Gerald: They were really energetic about it. They had a lot of fun with it and it was all in fun, you know the competition is an illusion, you know, it’s illusionary, but they had a lot of fun with it.
Tova: But they are getting to now make their own music because of the software that you are providing them after the program. What does this software allow them to do, if you don’t mind me asking?
Gerald: It allows them to do anything that when we come in, we play with mostly CD players and a mixer whatever the case may be. It gives them virtual CD jacks, it gives them a virtual mixer and almost any function that we can teach them with the hands on they can actually replicate with the software.
Tova: So whether they become professional or they continue to do this as a hobby, they actually have the piece at the end of the program provided to them which is sort of like your completion bonus I suppose, so finish the 8 weeks and the software is part of what you get which is really extraordinary and again no cost right?
Gerald: That’s right, no cost at all.
Tova: OK, so absolutely free, 8 week program for youth between the ages of 8, 16-23, correct me if I get this wrong.
Gerald: That’s right.
Tova: It is through reachAbility Association and partnership with Atmosphere Entertainment so if anyone is looking for a DJ for an event, who should they could call Gerald?
Gerald: Atmosphere Entertainment.
Tova: And what’s that number?
Gerald: 902-499-7111.
Tova: and your website?
Gerald: atmosphere-entertainment.com
Tova: So Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, school things…
Gerald: We do it all.
Tova: You do it all and I know you do it very well and I know that the children, or the young people I should say that have responded to your program and I did get to speak to some of them, I was really amazed most of all really in the confidence, in the confidence that they had after being made to set up your gear, I know you were talking about that and scratch and actually mix songs together and all of these things so this sounds like a great opportunity for anybody between those ages to get involved.
Gerald: Absolutely and we’re always looking for more.
Tova: Always looking for more. So do contact the names and numbers given and again if you have an event coming up, think of Gerald, you’re doing great work Gerald in the community and I have to again really applaud you for taking some of the challenges you faced in your life and turning it around and being able to provide a lot of youth that are not unlike yourself at that time, the opportunity to have a hand and a peer they wouldn’t have had in the past so for that I am extremely grateful. So thank you very much Gerald Wheatley, this is Inclusion Revolution, I’m Tova: Sherman your host, do come visit us on inclusionrevolution.com, or check us out on the Eastlink TV website as well, for this week, I wish you all the very best, so do take care.