Next week sees the start of Tinnitus Awareness Week set to be a UK-wide campaign make people listen up to the problems of Tinnitus, encourage gig-goers to protect their hearing and promote the range of free services the British Tinnitus Association provides.
DJ and presenter Eddy Temple-Morris, himself a tinnitus sufferer, will set the week in motion with a one-off free event in London. named ‘One Tune: One Cause’ Along with a group of more than 25 DJs and musicians, who all suffer from tinnitus, the guys will take it in turns to play one record each to make up a complete DJ set over the course of the night.
Names on the bill range from Eddy himself, to Adam F, Jon Carter, Way Out West, Lottie, Streetlife DJs, Burn The Negative, Wrongtom, Cassette Jam, Losers, Jagz Kooner and manny more. British Tinnitus Association representatives will also be there on the night to offer anyone advice on protecting their hearing, while bespoke earplugs will be available for an amazing discounted price from British earplug manufacturers Musicians Hearing Services.
Writing about his experience of tinnitus Eddy said: “I remember the carefree days of going to a gig, blasting my eardrums with glorious and beautiful music, then getting home with a ringing in my ears. It would last for a few hours, maybe a day. I thought it was just part and parcel of going to a gig. Van Halen at Birmingham Civic Centre Coliseum in Alabama set an unbeaten record of about a week, but it always went away eventually. Then, one day, about a decade ago… it didn’t”.
He continues: “I have a constant high-pitched tone in one or both of my ears, and it’s something I carry with me always, wherever I go. I don’t notice it in the day, there’s too much ambient noise in London, even at night. It’s when I go somewhere really quiet, in the countryside, that it really affects me. I lie down to sleep and, with the absence of planes, trains and automobiles, I realise the awful truth that I cannot hear the silence. That lovely sense of total quiet, of blissful peace, is something I will never experience again”.
He explains: “As long as I have the power to do something about it, I’ll communicate, pressure, evangelise, talk, listen, rant, and anything else I can think of to make sure that you don’t find yourself in the same position as me and all these other huge-hearted artists on the bill at this show, of never hearing silence again”.
You can read Eddy’s full piece on Tinnitus, and his advice for avoiding it at www.theCMUwebsite.com/remixupdate
One Tune: One Cause takes place at Cargo in London on 8 Feb from 8pm to midnight. Entry is free, though donations to the British Tinnitus Association are welcomed.
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