Austin Chapman has been deaf his whole 23-years of existence. In a new interview with Noisey, he said while he's had hearing aids, the majority of them have sounded like crap until about a year ago when he received a pair that essentially made the old ones look silly. Can you imagine hearing sounds for the first time in your life with such clarity? Chapman certainly seemed ecstatic, and during the interview was asked what his music preferences were and how he enjoyed hearing music for the first time in his life.
Chapman talks about what it's like going from terrible hearing aids to ones that provided clarity for him:
"What were the hearing aids like before?
Garbled trash. They only allowed me to hear the low tones and also had zero clarity. Before I could see some shapes and colors, but now I'm seeing every detail and layer. It’s like I’m going from one or two colors to this fully 3D world.Did some sounds surprise you when you first heard them?
Yeah, the first thing to surprise me was the sound of my friends voices.What were they like?
My friend has a voice deeper than the earth itself, even after watching various TV shows and movies he still has the deepest. His voice belongs to a mountain man but he doesn't look like one. For the bad sounds, I really hate the toilet flush and always turn my aids off beforehand. Also, I've felt motorcycles pass by me before, but I didn't know how damn loud they are. Once at a party a girl had a laugh that was like a hyena that had just inhaled helium. I had to turn my hearing aid off for the whole party."
Amazing, though I had to laugh at the part where he talks about party girl's voice annoying him so much he had to turn the hearing aid off. If only the rest of us had that option! Chapman also talks about the first song he ever heard, Mozart's "Lacrimosa."
"The first song that you heard after having your hearings aids put in was Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” right? How would you describe it?
I was carried away by the first half and thought about how beautiful the weaved notes sounded. But then I realized that I’d never been able to hear sounds like that before and I felt a numbing sensation wash over the top of my head and down my spine. It was exactly like the Bob Marley quote, "When it hits you, you feel no pain.” The experience was sort of like my first kiss, surreal, but exciting at the same time. The realization and beauty of the song made me break down and I tried to hide my tears but I saw that everyone else in the car was crying too."
After hearing something like that, Chapman took to Reddit to ask for more recommendations. After sifting through a ton of music, he quickly decided that he didn't like Justin Bieber or that popular Ylvis song "What Does the Fox Say?."
Chapman also discusses the matter of musical taste:
"What do you feel makes certain tracks good and certain tracks bad?
It’s personal taste but for the ones I like they're really harmonious and melodic. The bad ones are loud and over exposed. It's not entirely their fault but I stopped listening to radio a long time ago because of repeated songs. I love originality. Nothing sounds like “Bohemian Rhapsody.”How would you describe the evolution of music? You're in a pretty unique position to comment on it.
I wouldn't call it evolution. It's easier to find good songs pre-digital age. They end up sounding more authentic. Modern music is so much louder. But there are a few modern bands pushing music to the next level. I just didn't expect to love classical more than any genre. So, from my point of view, music has been in a confused and downward spiral ever since classical ended. Some got close but no one has touched on Mozart’s requiem. I rank classical 99/100, the blues 91/100 and Reggae 85/100."
I guess his lack of interest in loud and overexposed music means he's not going to blast Meshuggah anytime soon.
Huge thanks to both Noisey for conducting the interview and MetalSucks for bringing it to my attention. This is an amazing story and I hope Chapman truly enjoys every waking moment with music.
