He spins on the radio, at parties, and at dozens of campus functions. But disc jockey DeafGeoff can’t experience his creations the same way as his fans.

Geoff Herbert, general manager for Syracuse University’s station Z89, employee at area radio station Hot 107.9, and campus DJ extraordinaire, mixes and blends music tracks under the name DJ DeafGeoff, often the only give-away to his disability: being deaf.

‘I was born hard of hearing,’ said Herbert, a junior television, radio and film major. ‘My condition is profound binaural, which means it affects both ears. I have 10 percent of the hearing of an average listener, but with my hearing aide and different context and visual clues, I can hear almost as well as anyone.’

From the age of four to 12, Herbert worked with speech therapists to learn how to read lips and function in the world, and it paid off. With this knowledge, Herbert came to appreciate and enjoy pop culture and he began to get into music at the age of 10.

‘I was into the really cool bands like Michael Jackson and Kriss Kross, very socially acceptable at the time,’ Herbert said.

At the age of 15, Herbert joined his high school radio station and started working as a disc jockey. He was offered and accepted the job as the station’s general manager at the end of his sophomore year. From that job, his passion for radio and disc jockeying grew.

‘I started listening to Fatboy Slim and the music he created, and it was amazing,’ Herbert said. ‘This was the time that Napster was out, and I started downloading every remix I could find, not realizing that a lot of this stuff wasn’t official or real.’

When he attended a Warped Tour concert at age 16, Herbert saw Jurassic 5 perform and was amazed by the two DJs’ 10-minute freestyle.

‘I was blown away,’ Herbert said. ‘I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ To be able to maneuver sounds in a way that you can rock a crowd and get them moving-it’s the biggest thrill.’

While at SU, Herbert was given the chance to mix and blend songs through the on-campus Top 40 radio station, Z89.

‘I use a song that is fun, that’s easy to dance to, sing to, and be blown away by, all at the same time,’ Herbert said. ‘It’s awesome.’

Herbert has what it takes to be a great DJ, said Joe Giordano, a philosophy major and the general manager for the radio station WERW.

‘He has quite the ear to hear what goes together when mixing music, and that’s quite the feat due to his condition,’ Giordano said.

Although Herbert does have some difficulties with his everyday activities, he feels that it only makes him the better disc jockey.

‘People question a deaf DJ, and I love to defeat people’s expectations on what a hard-of-hearing person can and cannot do, and show them exactly what I do,’ Herbert said. ‘And because I listen to music so much more carefully, I feel I appreciate music more than people who can listen to it without any effort.’

Giordano agrees that Herbert can get anything done that he puts his mind to.

‘A lot of people don’t understand how someone in his condition could do what he does, but he’s very industrial,’ Giordano said. ‘He does what needs to get done. I think Geoffrey wants no special treatment and, if you tried to treat him different, he would just work harder to prove he could do it, and would succeed.’

Some of Herbert’s perseverance for going after his current goals may stem from his experiences as a child. Growing up, Herbert experienced some hardships and frustrations through his disability. But this didn’t slow him down.

‘There were various points in time when Geoff was disappointed and disgruntled that things were difficult for him,’ said Milt Herbert, his father. ‘But at the end of the day, the most important thing on the day was that Geoff had a can-do attitude and could pull off anything. He’s treated his loss of hearing like a ‘back of the mind’ thing because everything else is so important to him.’

Herbert is unsure of what projects he’ll tackle next within his last three semesters at SU or in the future.

‘I’ve dabbled in everything, from arranging music, radio work, disc jockeying, mixing, concert promotion, and even entrepreneurship, so I have no idea what I want to do,’ Herbert said. ‘But my overall dream is to do something important and one day be at the Grammy’s, or watching it on TV, and have someone say ‘Thank you Geoff, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

IF YOU LISTEN:

You can catch DeafGeoff in the mornings on Hot 107.9 or listen to his work at www.djdeafgeoff.com.

Published on September 12, 2004 at 12:00 pm