![]() And her mom was intent on still exposing her to the art, through drum class, dance school, music theory lessons, going to concerts and symphonies.ĭecker-Wright says she would bring a balloon, or a cup, to feel the vibrations. She uses sign language to communicate, so for an interview with Aspen Public Radio over Zoom, Neuroth offered to interpret, translating simultaneously as throughout our interview.ĭecker-Wright became deaf when she was two, but she came from a musical family. Pamela Decker-Wright, a deaf professor at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. “And my work is to - my objective is always to do the very best job that I can do to offer access to them based on sort of the appropriation that I've done of their language and culture to some extent.” “I borrowed a language from a Deaf community who I cherish,” Neuroth said. ![]() Billy Idol had played earlier that day, and Grohl joked that he wanted to see what the interpreters would do during a, er, sensual song like “Flesh for Fantasy.”īut Neuroth and Janda are very clear about their mission, which is not to be the star of the show. It even got a shout-out from Dave Grohl during the Foo Fighters’ set. And so it catches people’s attention, whether they know ASL or not. It involves a lot of movement, right next to the band. Interpretation for live music is, by its nature, a highly visible job. “Whereas, if you meet someone that’s making a request, you can assess their language and interpret accordingly.” “The language of deaf people in the deaf community, it can be varied, … so if you don't know who's there, it creates sort of a tricky dynamic to hope that you're anchoring your language output to something that's accessible to someone,” Neuroth says. “And the hope, then, is that deaf people have that same access, that same possibility of just showing up and having access,” he says.īut it’s also complicated, according to Neuroth, because different people have different interpretation needs. Neuroth says that’s a plus, in some ways, because “open access” can make the experience feel more like “equal access.” People who aren’t deaf or hard of hearing don’t have to ask if the band is going to play, or if the mics will be turned on, when they show up to a concert - they get to just show up and enjoy the show. It’s already provided, for anyone who wants it. This JAS Labor Day Experience venue is open access, which means people don’t have to request ASL interpretation. “It's not just a kind of verbatim word-for-word transcription, but there is a lot of processing for meaning - and also then thinking about ways to convey things artistically versus just an equivalent content, right?” Neuroth says. For example, if someone sings that they’re feeling “blue,” the interpreters might use the sign for “depressed,” rather than the color. There are metaphors, broader themes, that require deeper thought. It turns out a few are covers, which means a little extra research for Neuroth before showtime, since interpreting music is different than interpreting a conversation, he said. The Brothers Osborne’s setlist includes several songs Neuroth can’t find anywhere in their discography. There’s always curveballs, though: “Like, I don't know what two, three, four of the songs are, yet, … so we’ll get to work.” Neuroth says. They’ve already spent months preparing, looking at other sets the bands have performed on tour and practicing 30 or 40 tracks for each group, hoping that the dozen or so songs each band plays at the Labor Day Experience are ones they’ve already studied (and printed out). ![]() Neuroth and Janda have just received the first two setlists of the day, for James Bay and The Brothers Osborne. Neuroth evaluates: “You need to go to the printer, I need to go to the printer.” About an hour before showtime, on day two of this year’s festival, interpreters Kirk Neuroth and Kali Janda are partly thinking about lyrics and musical motifs, and partly thinking about getting to a makeshift office backstage with time to spare before the band plays. The music festival also hires American Sign Language interpreters, located at stage left, to sign the songs for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.īut the job is about far more than just translation, and it sometimes revolves around logistics. At the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day experience, headlining bands aren’t the only people perched above the crowd.
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