Eh?

i have submitted this to be published in The Enfield Advertiser, but i thought it too important to wait for publishing

the more people that are aware of tinnitus, the better

and i only hope that my article will persuade people to start wearing hearing protection before it realy is too late




the garage. may 2004

The Futureheads, supported by The Cribs.

gig-going had become a ridulously regular part of my social life and i was here to see two bands touring in support of acclaimed debut albums released earlier that year. the venues would only get bigger from here.

it was a loud place to be, just left of the moshing and right infront of the speaker stack. i left with my ears ringing, and the next morning i woke up with my ears still ringing.

a day and a half later and the ringing finally subsided, but this was my first scare, the first time i realised that maybe i was doing damage to my hearing.

i wish that somebody had told me back then the risks of exposure to loud music.



The British Tinnitus Association recently appointed Xfm DJ Eddy Temple-Morris as an ambassador of their cause, who in turn brought together a number of peers and fellow sufferers to raise awareness with a free event held at Cargo in Shoreditch.

kicking off the night were live band, Burn The Negative, a swaggering cross between Editors and Kasabian being kicked to the curb by Primal Scream that had made the long trip down from Carlisle purely to play a short set in support of a good cause.

and when they were done, the soundclash began.

the plan. to gather more than 20 DJs and musicians to play just one tune each to create a constant two hour mix of music.

London rapper MC Chickaboo was first up, performing a song detailing her own experiences of damaged hearing, before the DJs took over.

Drum n Bass, breakbeat, house, dubstep, electronica and more made up the 2 hour long mix featuring DJs, producers and bands with tunes being dropped by Adam F, Jon Carter, Jagz Kooner, Babyshambles' Adam Ficek, Lottie, Loose Cannons, Xpress-2 and Eddy TM's own Losers among many many more.

as a tinnitus sufferer myslef it was important to me to see such a strong campaign that i can spread the word on myself.

and its also important to me to carry on going to gigs and clubs without damaging my hearing further, as i have been using ear protection of varying costs for the past six years.

my first pair of earplugs cost me £6 online and were delivered in a matter of days, just before the next gig i'd booked tickets for. My next pair of earplugs, a custom fitted pair that cost an awful lot more than my first plugs are now an essential whenever i fill my pockets before heading out.

as Eddy TM explains 'If you're on a tight budget, then you can get decent off-the-peg earplugs for less than a round of drinks, and even those yellow spongy ones are better than nothing. They're not ideal sound-wise because they tend to muffle things, but that's got to be better than getting tinnitus'