Breaking Barriers: Deaf-Owned BRAINWORM Pioneers Music Industry

In a first for the media industry, a music label has been founded in Portland, OR to promote the creativity and representation of artists within the Deaf and disabled communities. Owned and operated by a profoundly-Deaf and multiply-disabled musician and producer, BRAINWORM seeks to break through barriers and expand the presence of those who have traditionally been sidelined in the music and visual arts industries.

The label's founder, John Robinson aka tonedamage, has a background of over 20 years in music performance, production, and technology. After a near-fatal brain injury in 2019 that left John comatose in a hospital in Costa Rica, he acquired several permanent disabilities, including profound deafness. The drastic changes to his abilities affected his identity, relationships, community, and career, and throughout his recovery over the next few years he struggled with depression and addiction. With intense and ongoing physical, psychological, and occupational rehab, he retrained his brain and formed a new, deeper relationship with language and music through multi-sensory expressions and perceptions of sound and light. His passion fueled experimentation in various modes of artistry, building instruments and devices that combine audible, visible, and tactile modes.

BRAINWORM formalizes and extends this experimentation to a broader audience. Integrating new songwriting and production techniques based on the lived experiences of being Deaf and disabled, BRAINWORM is not only breaking creative barriers but also establishing an outlet for a diverse community of artists. Starting with a select roster of emerging talent, BRAINWORM provides a public and commercial platform for individuals that have largely been ignored and oppressed due to systemic ableism and audism.

Misconceptions of Deaf people are prevalent, particularly with respect to the consumption and production of music. Likewise, the perception of disability within entertainment has largely been shaped by outdated and ableist representations in film and television. However, within each of these communities - and particularly at their cross-section - are talented and creative humans with a unique story to tell. BRAINWORM hopes to unite these artists under an umbrella of equitable creative output and elevate their presence within a predominantly ableist industry.

Catchy music is neither restricted to nor defined by an experience of the ear. Creativity, memory, and perception are all functions and experiences of the brain. Shifting the paradigm of an earworm to an inclusive, genre-bending experience, BRAINWORM is determined to expose the world to heretofore unknown experiences of music.