Gimpin'
Wheelchair Sports Camp Rolls Out New Track
By Kyle Eustice
In light of the recent murder of Walter Scott at the hands of a white South Carolina police officer, it's safe to say (again), we live in a sick society. People judge, berate, condemn and consistently hurt other people, but don't judge a book by its cover - especially when meeting Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp. She may be small and confined to a wheelchair, but her personality is larger than life. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle born disease), she's suffered over 100 fractures since she was 9 months old, but nothing has kept her down for long. As the mastermind behind Wheelchair Sports Camp, the Denver-based rapper is on the verge of releasing her first full-length album, produced by the late, great Ikey Owens. After a successful tour run with B. Dolan and a trip to SXSW, Wheelchair Sports Camp is gaining more steam. Heffernan has already graced the cover of Village Voice, been featured in SPIN and several other high-profile publications. Clearly, there’s no stopping her. Her involvement with Youth On Record, a Denver non-profit, makes her even more appealing. Youth On Record teaches music education to underserved youth and all of their classes are led by partner artists (like Wheelchair Sports Camp), who are actively pursuing music in and outside the community. They teach music production, spoken word, social solutions/problems, emcee school, and music fundamentals. The Youth Media Studio was just moved to the west side of Denver, where the graduation rate is only about 12 perecent. If this doesn't entice you then her music will. Please visit https://soundcloud.com/wheelchairsportscamp to check out "Hard Out Here for a Gimp" and the "Justicen't Right" now.
Let's start at ground zero. How did this whole project begin?
It all started in outside of LA, where I lived from six months old until about 8-years-old. After flipping through stations in my dad's car, Power 106 came on and that was it. I made my dad go back and he immediately wanted me to turn it off. I geeked out on my walkman with headphones on and the rest is history. I was only about 5-years-old and I was already hooked hard. My first albums were Michael Jackson's Dangerous, Ooooooohhh...On The TLC Tip, and Salt-N-Pepa's Very Necessary. Between those three albums, I had almost everything I needed. I didn't start writing my own raps until I was about 12 in Denver, and we made some ridiculous rap about Superbowl 33 for a talent show where I beat boxed onto a tape for like three minutes. Then in high school, I started thinking about doing it for real more and more. A childhood friend and I landed on some money for studio time after we rapped in the parking lot of Lollapalooza. We spent all of it on four crappy songs and I quickly realized I couldn't afford to pay for beats, or studio time while I figured this shit out. So I got a job at Elitch Gardens as soon as I got my work permit and bought my first beat machine. Then in college, that same guy from middle/high school and I started Wheelchair Sports Camp (WSC). I was studying music production on the tech side of things so I could learn how to record myself. I used all my studio time and projects for WSC. We started playing with live musicians and DJ's and the band has been evolving ever since.
What initially drew you to hip-hop?
Probably the rhythm. It's hard to say because I was so young, but it was really my first love. I also loved it because it had nothing to do with my parents influence. It was all mine and there was nothing that could separate us. At the time the only music, I like of my parents was the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, REM, and En Vogue, but those all had a heavy electronic hip-hop parallel.
How did it feel to be on the cover of the Village Voice?
I still can hardly believe that happened. It was an incredible experience and really was strange being featured on such a historical publication before I had even released anything I was super proud of. It was shortly after my first SXSW. It was also a little weird because I was in Denver when it dropped so it was hard to imagine seeing myself on every stand in NYC. But I remember seeing the Westword and thinking, 'Oh hey, that's me in New York right now'...the best part about the whole thing though was making a lifelong friend with the writer Camille Dodero. We spent that whole week together and I just love her to pieces.
Why do you think people are so drawn to you?
Well, the easiest catch is my wheelchair and good looks which physically draws everyone [laughs], but I think as soon as I open my foul mouth people are intrigued. I've always been a very loud, outspoken person so I've always had a way of attracting a lot of attention to me.
You exude positivity. How do you keep this state of mind in such a sick world?
You know we're all given a simple choice: either make the best of life or let life get the best of you, but I've really never considered the latter as an option for myself. All the fucked up shit inspires me to do something with my life. My life didn't really have a purpose until I realized how fucked up the world is and now I feel like I have a reason to live and create some kind of difference.
The first impression I got from you was "generous." Tell me a little bit about growing up. What was like in your household?
Hmmmm I don't think I've heard that one before, but maybe it's because I gave you a CD. Neither of my parents are musical, but music was always around. My parents were split up by the time I could remember, but they've both always been around and still are. My dad is a union ironworker, which is a rare breed of men with the shit sense of humor of a boy going through puberty and my mom was more low-income bartender, airline worker. I chose to live with my mom who is one of the craziest person's on the planet, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She really shaped the fighter bitch in me, where my dad has always kept me grounded. My mom did a good deal of partying during my childhood, which also gave me a unique perspective of life and forced me to be more of the responsible figure in the household.
How did you link up with B. Dolan? What was it like to go on tour with him?
B. and I linked up on our first trip to SXSW in 2011. I remember seeing he came through Denver, and was headed to SXSW and we had an official showcase, but that was it. I somehow got ahold of him and asked if we could play with him on the way. He coincidentally had already knew about me through a Colorlines article that the rapper Invincible contributed to, which said I was a queer rapper worth your headphones. So we played Albuquerque and Denton, Texas the night after where I got my whole crew arrested for graffiti and weed. He stayed back to make sure we all were free and good to get to SXSW. It's been a strange love ever since. This was our third trip to SXSW together and I've been to the East Coast to play with him, as well. He really has been the biggest mentor to me. This most recent trip to SXSW was by far my favorite because we spent the entire month - just me and my bitch - nothing but love for that fuck.
It must feel pretty good to be embraced by so many people. You're pretty damn impressive. What do you hope to do this year?
It is pretty humbling to be embraced for doing you. This year, I hope to release our first full-length album - NO BIG DEAL! I can't believe we've made it this far without a real album and it couldn't be a better first album. It was produced by Ikey Owens right before he passed away on tour with Jack White. It was recorded in a real studio and mixed and mastered in long beach by another legend. I'm really excited about it and am just looking for a time, a home and a way to release it. I would also love to get back on tour again even though I've only been home for a couple weeks. Maybe even out of the country again!
What do you like about performing live?
I can be really hard on myself making raps, beats and decisions. Self-doubt is really a motherfucker, but playing live is where it all makes sense and reminds me of why this is the life for me. I play with a really kick ass band, too. That makes playing live so much fun and touring is just the best. It drives some people nuts, but I haven't been gone for long enough to miss being home. It's really such a simpler life for me and something I feel like I could do more and more.
Do you ever have down days? How do you deal with them?
Despite what you may think, I am still human and not just any human, but a woman so yes I have those days - at least once a month. I guess dealing with it can be different every time. Sometimes I write, sometimes I make art like paint or draw, sometimes I read a bunch or learn a bunch, or sometimes I just wallow in self-pity and sleep, but at the end of the tunnel there is always light.
Excuse my ignorance on this one. What is your health situation like at the moment? Do you have any restrictions at all?
That's not ignorant at all and actually is a really good question right now. My disability is osteogenesis imperfecta (aka brittle bones). I've had over 100 fractures and loads of surgeries since I was nine months, but almost since WSC got serious, I've steered clear from breaking or surgeries until this most recent tour when a drunk bitch hit my arm from behind while I had my hands in the atmosphere. That arm was already screwed up and has been unable to heal since I was a kid, but now the rod is broken and I have to have surgery. I finished the tour because it still doesn't hurt and has a tiny bit of mobility, just enough to still get around. But when I have this surgery, I'll be laid out for a while, which drives me nuts. I'm super fortunate to be an independent disabled person so when that is stripped from me, I go nuts. This is something I've been expecting to deal with in my musical career but haven't had to until now. I've never gone this long without breaking so it's def gonna be tough, but that's part of my deal and it's out of my hands so I’ll have no choice but to make the best of it. Who knows? It might make for some dark things I don't usually touch on.
Do you have a full-length coming? If so, when is it due out?
I really hope by this year. I'm working on it. Until then though, I released a mixtape style record titled WheelGrabbers. I recorded it in a weekend (13 tracks in eight hours) and pressed it in a hurry. It's as raw as a shorty could ask for and was produced by my Denver favs the GirlGrabbers (Qknox + Gypdahip). I've been sitting on a lot of these beats for years and there were some I was still writing the weekend I recorded. It's been exclusively on the merch table, but I'm going to release the remaining copies on record store day (4/18). It is unavailable online. I did leak one song from it, which I'm pretty happy with. Visit https://soundcloud.com/wheelchairsportscamp/hard-out-here-for-a-gimp to check it out.
Tell me about your work with Youth On Record.
Our new facility houses a state of the art recording studio, and poetry kiva where students can come access instruments, recording gear, and mainly have a place to come and be creative. I couldn't ask for a better job and still don't even believe I get paid to do what I do. I currently teach music production and recording at a Residential Treatment Center (where students are court ordered to live because of behavioral disorders, family trauma/neglect, "correctional facility," orders, etc.) and with Denver Public Schools. It's the best too, because I get to show videos I care about, talk about music as a vehicle for social change and really talk to my students like I do my friends so it really doesn't even feel like I'm a teacher. Until working for Youth On Record, I really felt like I wasn't doing enough and now I feel like I'm directly impacting my community, which is currently at war with "developers" trying to take the city and sell it off. I'm so inspired by my student's beats, raps, songs, and poems, and feel like Denver is overall going to be OK because the amount of dope shit these teenagers are producing is out of this world. I also spent a month in Haiti last summer where we started two free music production classes also led by Haitian musicians/rappers that I've been collaborating with since the earthquake. The project is called Royalty Free Haiti and it was a dream come true connecting with all the rappers I've been working with for years. Seeing pictures from class just makes my whole life.
Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp: The RAPstation Interview
Gimpin'
Wheelchair Sports Camp Rolls Out New Track
By Kyle Eustice
In light of the recent murder of Walter Scott at the hands of a white South Carolina police officer, it's safe to say (again), we live in a sick society. People judge, berate, condemn and consistently hurt other people, but don't judge a book by its cover - especially when meeting Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp. She may be small and confined to a wheelchair, but her personality is larger than life. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle born disease), she's suffered over 100 fractures since she was 9 months old, but nothing has kept her down for long. As the mastermind behind Wheelchair Sports Camp, the Denver-based rapper is on the verge of releasing her first full-length album, produced by the late, great Ikey Owens. After a successful tour run with B. Dolan and a trip to SXSW, Wheelchair Sports Camp is gaining more steam. Heffernan has already graced the cover of Village Voice, been featured in SPIN and several other high-profile publications. Clearly, there’s no stopping her. Her involvement with Youth On Record, a Denver non-profit, makes her even more appealing. Youth On Record teaches music education to underserved youth and all of their classes are led by partner artists (like Wheelchair Sports Camp), who are actively pursuing music in and outside the community. They teach music production, spoken word, social solutions/problems, emcee school, and music fundamentals. The Youth Media Studio was just moved to the west side of Denver, where the graduation rate is only about 12 perecent. If this doesn't entice you then her music will. Please visit https://soundcloud.com/wheelchairsportscamp to check out "Hard Out Here for a Gimp" and the "Justicen't Right" now.
Let's start at ground zero. How did this whole project begin?
It all started in outside of LA, where I lived from six months old until about 8-years-old. After flipping through stations in my dad's car, Power 106 came on and that was it. I made my dad go back and he immediately wanted me to turn it off. I geeked out on my walkman with headphones on and the rest is history. I was only about 5-years-old and I was already hooked hard. My first albums were Michael Jackson's Dangerous, Ooooooohhh...On The TLC Tip, and Salt-N-Pepa's Very Necessary. Between those three albums, I had almost everything I needed. I didn't start writing my own raps until I was about 12 in Denver, and we made some ridiculous rap about Superbowl 33 for a talent show where I beat boxed onto a tape for like three minutes. Then in high school, I started thinking about doing it for real more and more. A childhood friend and I landed on some money for studio time after we rapped in the parking lot of Lollapalooza. We spent all of it on four crappy songs and I quickly realized I couldn't afford to pay for beats, or studio time while I figured this shit out. So I got a job at Elitch Gardens as soon as I got my work permit and bought my first beat machine. Then in college, that same guy from middle/high school and I started Wheelchair Sports Camp (WSC). I was studying music production on the tech side of things so I could learn how to record myself. I used all my studio time and projects for WSC. We started playing with live musicians and DJ's and the band has been evolving ever since.
What initially drew you to hip-hop?
Probably the rhythm. It's hard to say because I was so young, but it was really my first love. I also loved it because it had nothing to do with my parents influence. It was all mine and there was nothing that could separate us. At the time the only music, I like of my parents was the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, REM, and En Vogue, but those all had a heavy electronic hip-hop parallel.
How did it feel to be on the cover of the Village Voice?
I still can hardly believe that happened. It was an incredible experience and really was strange being featured on such a historical publication before I had even released anything I was super proud of. It was shortly after my first SXSW. It was also a little weird because I was in Denver when it dropped so it was hard to imagine seeing myself on every stand in NYC. But I remember seeing the Westword and thinking, 'Oh hey, that's me in New York right now'...the best part about the whole thing though was making a lifelong friend with the writer Camille Dodero. We spent that whole week together and I just love her to pieces.
Why do you think people are so drawn to you?
Well, the easiest catch is my wheelchair and good looks which physically draws everyone [laughs], but I think as soon as I open my foul mouth people are intrigued. I've always been a very loud, outspoken person so I've always had a way of attracting a lot of attention to me.
You exude positivity. How do you keep this state of mind in such a sick world?
You know we're all given a simple choice: either make the best of life or let life get the best of you, but I've really never considered the latter as an option for myself. All the fucked up shit inspires me to do something with my life. My life didn't really have a purpose until I realized how fucked up the world is and now I feel like I have a reason to live and create some kind of difference.
The first impression I got from you was "generous." Tell me a little bit about growing up. What was like in your household?
Hmmmm I don't think I've heard that one before, but maybe it's because I gave you a CD. Neither of my parents are musical, but music was always around. My parents were split up by the time I could remember, but they've both always been around and still are. My dad is a union ironworker, which is a rare breed of men with the shit sense of humor of a boy going through puberty and my mom was more low-income bartender, airline worker. I chose to live with my mom who is one of the craziest person's on the planet, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She really shaped the fighter bitch in me, where my dad has always kept me grounded. My mom did a good deal of partying during my childhood, which also gave me a unique perspective of life and forced me to be more of the responsible figure in the household.
How did you link up with B. Dolan? What was it like to go on tour with him?
B. and I linked up on our first trip to SXSW in 2011. I remember seeing he came through Denver, and was headed to SXSW and we had an official showcase, but that was it. I somehow got ahold of him and asked if we could play with him on the way. He coincidentally had already knew about me through a Colorlines article that the rapper Invincible contributed to, which said I was a queer rapper worth your headphones. So we played Albuquerque and Denton, Texas the night after where I got my whole crew arrested for graffiti and weed. He stayed back to make sure we all were free and good to get to SXSW. It's been a strange love ever since. This was our third trip to SXSW together and I've been to the East Coast to play with him, as well. He really has been the biggest mentor to me. This most recent trip to SXSW was by far my favorite because we spent the entire month - just me and my bitch - nothing but love for that fuck.
It must feel pretty good to be embraced by so many people. You're pretty damn impressive. What do you hope to do this year?
It is pretty humbling to be embraced for doing you. This year, I hope to release our first full-length album - NO BIG DEAL! I can't believe we've made it this far without a real album and it couldn't be a better first album. It was produced by Ikey Owens right before he passed away on tour with Jack White. It was recorded in a real studio and mixed and mastered in long beach by another legend. I'm really excited about it and am just looking for a time, a home and a way to release it. I would also love to get back on tour again even though I've only been home for a couple weeks. Maybe even out of the country again!
What do you like about performing live?
I can be really hard on myself making raps, beats and decisions. Self-doubt is really a motherfucker, but playing live is where it all makes sense and reminds me of why this is the life for me. I play with a really kick ass band, too. That makes playing live so much fun and touring is just the best. It drives some people nuts, but I haven't been gone for long enough to miss being home. It's really such a simpler life for me and something I feel like I could do more and more.
Do you ever have down days? How do you deal with them?
Despite what you may think, I am still human and not just any human, but a woman so yes I have those days - at least once a month. I guess dealing with it can be different every time. Sometimes I write, sometimes I make art like paint or draw, sometimes I read a bunch or learn a bunch, or sometimes I just wallow in self-pity and sleep, but at the end of the tunnel there is always light.
Excuse my ignorance on this one. What is your health situation like at the moment? Do you have any restrictions at all?
That's not ignorant at all and actually is a really good question right now. My disability is osteogenesis imperfecta (aka brittle bones). I've had over 100 fractures and loads of surgeries since I was nine months, but almost since WSC got serious, I've steered clear from breaking or surgeries until this most recent tour when a drunk bitch hit my arm from behind while I had my hands in the atmosphere. That arm was already screwed up and has been unable to heal since I was a kid, but now the rod is broken and I have to have surgery. I finished the tour because it still doesn't hurt and has a tiny bit of mobility, just enough to still get around. But when I have this surgery, I'll be laid out for a while, which drives me nuts. I'm super fortunate to be an independent disabled person so when that is stripped from me, I go nuts. This is something I've been expecting to deal with in my musical career but haven't had to until now. I've never gone this long without breaking so it's def gonna be tough, but that's part of my deal and it's out of my hands so I’ll have no choice but to make the best of it. Who knows? It might make for some dark things I don't usually touch on.
Do you have a full-length coming? If so, when is it due out?
I really hope by this year. I'm working on it. Until then though, I released a mixtape style record titled WheelGrabbers. I recorded it in a weekend (13 tracks in eight hours) and pressed it in a hurry. It's as raw as a shorty could ask for and was produced by my Denver favs the GirlGrabbers (Qknox + Gypdahip). I've been sitting on a lot of these beats for years and there were some I was still writing the weekend I recorded. It's been exclusively on the merch table, but I'm going to release the remaining copies on record store day (4/18). It is unavailable online. I did leak one song from it, which I'm pretty happy with. Visit https://soundcloud.com/wheelchairsportscamp/hard-out-here-for-a-gimp to check it out.
Tell me about your work with Youth On Record.
Our new facility houses a state of the art recording studio, and poetry kiva where students can come access instruments, recording gear, and mainly have a place to come and be creative. I couldn't ask for a better job and still don't even believe I get paid to do what I do. I currently teach music production and recording at a Residential Treatment Center (where students are court ordered to live because of behavioral disorders, family trauma/neglect, "correctional facility," orders, etc.) and with Denver Public Schools. It's the best too, because I get to show videos I care about, talk about music as a vehicle for social change and really talk to my students like I do my friends so it really doesn't even feel like I'm a teacher. Until working for Youth On Record, I really felt like I wasn't doing enough and now I feel like I'm directly impacting my community, which is currently at war with "developers" trying to take the city and sell it off. I'm so inspired by my student's beats, raps, songs, and poems, and feel like Denver is overall going to be OK because the amount of dope shit these teenagers are producing is out of this world. I also spent a month in Haiti last summer where we started two free music production classes also led by Haitian musicians/rappers that I've been collaborating with since the earthquake. The project is called Royalty Free Haiti and it was a dream come true connecting with all the rappers I've been working with for years. Seeing pictures from class just makes my whole life.
