Musicians with disability share the stories of how they discovered their art, and how they navigate an inaccessible industry

For hip hop artist MC Wheels, it was speaking engagements that made him realise he could turn his passion for hip hop into a career.

"Once I started getting a lot more [speaking opportunities] at events in the disability sector, where I was basically doing motivational talks, I used that as a way to showcase my music and my story of how I've overcome challenges and limitations," he says.

But this positive outlook was not something the Gold Coast local, whose real name is Nathan Tessman, always had. In fact, music itself helped him curate this attitude.

Tessman lives with spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress.

"It's a rare muscular condition where the muscles and the nerves don't necessarily work well together, in a sense of firing signals to muscles around the body, which then obviously leads to them wasting away as you get older and get weaker," Tessman explains.

"Once I found music, it gave me that identity. Because I lived in a world where everything I wanted to do was all physical, like playing sports.

"But once the acceptance and the realisation sunk in that I haven't been given a physical body, I've been given a body with verbal skills and creativity, I was like, 'I guess this is where my skills may lie if I can harness this and take it on board'."

And harness it he did.

The 30-year-old has three albums to his name and has performed countless gigs, including most recently starring in the new ABC Series, Headliners.

Tessman got to showcase the craft of MC'ing in front of a crowd of 14,000 people.

He says it's a lot more intricate than meets the eye, but some assumptions about hip hop make it harder for people to appreciate the artistry behind being an MC.

Tessman combats those misconceptions by being raw and honest in his rhymes, allowing people to understand his experience while resonating with their own.

"I try and keep it as positive as I possibly can. Basically, talking about the barriers that everyone faces and whatever limitations that you have, [and how] everyone can get over it with the right determination in life."

He's just one of many working hard to not only perfect their craft, but to make people see that having a disability doesn't have to stop them from being an artist.

Jordz

DJ and songwriter Jordz starts off every set trying to take listeners on a journey.

Despite her nerves when she first gets on stage, the Melbourne local says it's hard not to get into it once the music starts.

"I'll start by setting the mood to create an initial feeling for the audience that would be chiller. And then I'll bring the tension and the energy up and up," she says.

She's shared the stage with Peking Duk, Ocean Alley, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and performed multiple shows at Ability Fest.

Her DJing journey first started in 2017, after her teacher encouraged her to submit a song she produced using GarageBand into Monash's' Emerging Producer of the Year competition – which she won.

Jordz says she wants to make music with a positive impact after seeing how effective music has been in her own life.

Recently diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, Jordz says she has also noticed how prone she is to burnout.

To balance out producing her own music and DJing at gigs, she says rest is now one of her priorities.

"If I'm burnt out then it affects everything," she said.

"[Rest] is just a quiet time where there aren't as many demands required of me. But I also really like to exercise to decompress, so I'll go skating or bouldering. Even though it uses energy, it also replenishes it."

Malaika Mfalme

Rest is just as important for folk soul artist Malaika Mfalme, who has just wrapped up touring NSW with Australia singer and actor Ben Lee.

Malaika says he takes half the day off before playing a show, to make sure he can get through a gig.

"I'll take Nurofen, drink plenty of water and essentially be lying down until about an hour or two before the show and then I start moving around."

Malaika was born with congenital venous sinus malfunction, which means instead of having two separate veins in his left leg, the veins have morphed together to become one.

"All the blood pools down and makes it swell and quite painful," he says.

The singer-songwriter says while many Australian venues aren't accessible, it hasn't deterred him from a career in music.

"Music truly is the love of my life. I think it's so beautiful to have something that's grounding and gives me permission to feel more outwardly, talk about things that I feel inwardly and be listened to by thousands of people."

Malaika started doing gigs at 14, but his journey with music started at age five in East and South African choral singing groups, before transitioning from poetry writing into songwriting.

It's been almost 16 years since his first gig, with Malaika releasing his own album titled Yasmin in 2023.

He says so much has changed in that space of time.

"I think it's become a lot more exciting and pleasurable, the more that I've done it because the gigs are getting better, the money's better, I can pay band mates and so the sound is bigger, and all of that feels really exciting," he says.

"But … emotionally, it still feels the same as when I was 14."

Sonnet Cure

For Sonnet Cure, performing and singing is an out-of-body experience.

Sonnet was born with a deformed cochlear, which means she's deaf in one ear. But she says when she sings, it doesn't have much to do with her hearing.

"The good news is it's very much about the internal, like, how it feels inside of you, and the muscles that are at play and feeling it throughout your whole body," she says.

"You know when you hit a tuning fork? And it's so warm, full and it feels very physical and bigger than just this tiny little like fork? That's what [singing] feels like within your body."

The 21-year-old lead singer of the band Sonnet and the Bread Boys says she finds music otherworldly and divine.

"[Music] is so human and important to us, to our growth and our emotions to express ourselves this way."

Sonnet also featured in the new ABC series Headliners, alongside MC Wheels, and says it was a unique experience.

"Even though we all [have] very different disabilities, it was invaluable to be able to talk to these guys about things they've struggled with, and I feel like it translates very well across all of our disabilities," she says.

"It just felt like I belonged."

For more on Sonnet and MC Wheels's journeys, stream Headliners on ABC iview now.