DJ Stefan
History in the making
by Claron Mazzarello
Stefan Sergei happened to make history at this fourth edition of 4ALL fest. Not only was he the first handicapped person on a heavy electronic wheelchair could enter Epplehaus (since it has not yet been made accessible for handicapped people), but he was also our DJ for this very night. And he played music from Russia and Ukraine. “Yes, I was born in Russia. This was where I first deejay-ed on cassettes, somewhere around 2002 or 2003. I came to Deutschland in 2004”, Stefan answers in his radio interview for the “Wüste Welle”. For this particular night, Stefan was our superstar, so to speak. As he entered with assistance on a ramp that was a pure effort from the heart by Frederick Hruza and Thomas Reichle from the Epplehaus, his face lit up with a smile. Furthermore, he was prepared with a set of music in his laptop. There were songs chosen by him to play, categorised carefully into the ones with a fast tempo and those with slower rhythms. He was our filler for all pauses in between bands that happened throughout the night. With only positive support from our technician Carlo, who was a pleasure to work with, DJ Stefan filled in the gaps of silence at this event with his music.
He was not very happy or rather comfortable about the last time that the ladies from Lebenshilfe tried to carry his wheelchair down the stairs at Epplehaus, simply due to the effort. “I simply would not come again if this was a way to enter this building,” he mentions while also making it a point to mention, “that the cinemas of this city are also almost not accessible for handicapped people”, considering that they do not have a ramp to get in. “Do handicapped people not feel the urge to go to the cinema like us all? Apparently there already are plans for making the Epplehaus more accessible. Because it is important that the accessibility of such buildings is a priority – 4ALL.
Stefan is quite a modest person when it comes to his own talent as the radio interview may suggest. However, he does have an opinion with his keen eye for observation. Often one will see him roaming around the city in his electronic wheelchair, that he humorously calls a jeep. And our dear Tübingen is big and small enough for Stefan to go all over from radio “Wüste Welle” where he is doing a few workshops to possibly have his own show to Lustnau where he resides. He prefers his own wheels instead of the bus. Travelling at its maximum speed of 6.5 kms per hour, the best feature you may find may be the number plate behind saying: “Und Tschüss!”.
