A DJ who uses an electric wheelchair to get around has said that more funding is needed to make venues more accessible.
Sanjeev Mann has Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, which causes rapid degeneration of muscles, and requires a wheelchair in his day-to-day life.
The 26-year-old regularly performs in Glasgow as a DJ and producer under the name Supermann On Tha Beat and runs a music collective, Hip Hop Scotland, promoting underground Scottish artists, and hosts events and DJ sets across Glasgow.
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As Sanjeev started making music during lockdown, he was shocked to find that smaller venues in the city aren't accessible to him as a customer or as a DJ.
He told Glasgow Live: "When I started making music in lockdown, making beats, it wasn't a big issue not being able to play in venues. Before lockdown I'd only ever gone to see gigs at big venues like the Hydro and SWG3 where they're a lot bigger and newer so access was never an issue. But I started collaborating with local artists who would play at smaller more independent venues and that's when I started to realise it was quite a big problem.
"It's a problem both in terms of general access to venues in wheelchairs and, as a DJ, access to the stage. At Audio, I had a warm-up gig booked and had told the venue two or three months in advance that I would need wheelchair access to the stage. They said that was fine - then on the day said they didn't have a ramp.
"There wasn't any way up on to the stage so I just had to perform in front of it, which wasn't really ideal. But the other performers that were there said they would perform at the ground level with me, which was a nice bit of solidarity.
"We had another gig at Audio a week and a half later for Hip Hop Scotland and asked for the ramp to be sorted. They said again it was fine, then said they were trying to hire one and asked me to pay for it. I shouldn't have to pay for a ramp to get on the stage."
While some of Glasgow's most-loved venues aren't able to be adapted due to their listed status - like King Tut's and the Barrowlands - Sanjeev is campaigning for the UK Government to provide funding to help with accessibility.
But more than anything, he just wants the issue of disability and accessibility in music to be spoken about more widely.
He added: "A lot of the problems I face are to do with attitudes, the attitudes towards disabled people and disabled musicians. It's like venues think there aren't many disabled artists out there so they don't need to bother accommodating us but we do exist. At Nice and Sleazy's we have a monthly residency and they wanted to make it work. The downstairs area isn't accessible but we do it in the bar upstairs instead. They figured out a way to make it work.
"A lot of venues aren't wheelchair accessible as a viewer, like King Tut's and the Barrowlands, and a lot of others just aren't accessible for performers needing access to the stage. Because a lot of older venues are in listed buildings they don't need to change to be accessible for electric wheelchairs.
"I get why some venues aren't more accessible - they don't have money and some barely made it through covid. That's why I've angled my petition towards the Government. And I want any new venues to think about how they can support disabled viewers and performers. I hope in the future that disabled access is something that new venues just do. It makes things much easier for disabled musicians.
"It isn't that there aren't any disabled musicians - people just don't know about them. I want to raise awareness right now among people that maybe hadn't thought about the issue before. The more we do the more chance down the line something gets done. We're starting a conversation and getting people talking about it in the mainstream. People expect equality in 2023 but how can we talk about that when people can't get on the stage like [able-bodied people] can?"
The campaign has been backed by Pam Duncan-Glacy MSP who also uses a wheelchair to get around.
She told Glasgow Live: "Disabled people want to be able to go out and enjoy us just like everyone else, and we want to be part of the music industry too. It’s long passed the time to make more venues accessible, we really need to get on top of this.
"I fully support the campaign to make music and the arts in general more accessible for all – both for the disabled people who work in the sector and those who want to go out and enjoy it.”
Audio have been approached for comment.
To support Sanjeev's petition click here.
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