When I was 13 my Mum bought me my first Walkman. Actually it wasn’t a real Sony Walkman (they were far too expensive), it was a Personal Stereo Cassette Player. It was red and black, the size of a hardback autobiography and had a strap so you could carry it like a handbag. It also came with a pair of classic Alice Band-style headphones complete bright orange foam cuffs. At this time music moved out of the living room and into my own personal world. I waved good bye to Mum’s Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and Barbara Dixon recitals and embraced an exciting new world of Madonna, Madness, The Thompson Twins and Tears for Fears.
In the mid 1980’s the personal stereo had in interesting quality, you could turn the volume up to full blast and still hear a pin drop over the other side of the room – truly terrible fidelity listening. Conversely, whilst you were struggling to hear Duran Duran against the noise of a passing bus, anyone within 100 yards could hear the approach of a tinny, distorted drum beat and hiss. I’m not sure if I did the damage then or when I moved on to the in-ear headphones that basically provided the same poor audio service but deeper into the ear.
I followed this up with a love of going out to nightclubs and pubs where music was played at levels so high you needed to be an expert lip reader or signer just to order a drink. Now, it’s this observation that makes me suspect I had already damaged my hearing by the age of 16 (like most teenagers I was 2 years early into an adult social life). For as long as I can remember going out to pubs and clubs I have not been able to involve myself in conversations. Rather I would just stand there and smile, nod and pretend I knew what was going on. No one else seemed to have a problem. Only years later when I began to discover about hearing loss did it ring a bell with me however, this was typically a problem for older people – it made no sense.
Whilst at University (three years dominated by loud music venues) I discovered a natural aptitude for radio. After leaving university I began writing radio scripts professionally and worked closely in recording studios, directing producers and voice-overs. From early on many people commented that my work had a more rounded and natural sound to it. I realised that through my love of sound I was able to translate that into a written form and then back into sound that everyone else could understand. In the radio industry we called this “painting pictures in the mind”.
So here I am a few years later. I joined the hearing aid industry because it seemed like a natural progression as I am still able to bring the joy of sound and hearing to people. In fact, if anything, I can bring it to more. I am determined to get more people wearing hearing aids and if sharing my experiences helps you make that leap earlier then so much the better. By all means write to me and ask anything you like. I am here to help.
