Talking Ears

In this episode, we turn the microphone on Talking Ears co-producer and audiologist, Juan Vasquez. Here he shares the story of how he got to hearing conservation and audiology from a background in very loud music, and he gives the best possible answer to how these two passions can be reconciled. Good news: we will be hearing more of Juan's voice in upcoming episodes of Talking Ears! Music in this...

Bassist and producer Eric Heveron-Smith ( Postmodern Jukebox , Einstein's Dreams) joins Frank to talk about his work in jazz and other acoustic music genres. We get into hearing, monitoring, and other health considerations important for professional musicians to ensure career longevity, and get philosophical about the role of music in the world. Music heard in this episode features performances by...

Here is a special bonus episode featuring Music Audiology expert Heather Malyuk, AuD. In her recent episode, there was a lot of conversation around the clinical field of music audiology that didn't belong in the episode so we split it off into a separate conversation. This is equal parts for the Music community to get a peek behind the curtain into the clinical world, and an open invitation to the...

Ben Runyan (City Rain) joins Frank to talk about habituation, identity, and prevention through his own experience developing tinnitus and his path to recovery. This episode features music by Ben Runyan.   In this episode, we discuss mental health and significant distress from audiologic conditions. If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or cont...

Michael Lawrence (co-host of the  Signal To Noise Podcast ), joins us to talk about SPL, loudness, and the audio engineer's responsibility when it comes to exposure risk at live sound events. Expressed through his work as a system engineer and senior instructor at  Rational Acoustics , he brings humanity to the technical aspects and numbers when balancing a concert's perceived loudness and safety...

Dr. Heather Malyuk, a fiddle player, lifelong musician, and celebrated music audiology expert. She is the past clinical director at Sensaphonics and currently the owner of Soundcheck Audiology. Her hearing health curriculum is a unique tool designed for use by music industry professionals. In this episode, Heather shares her musical upbringing and we discuss the emotional and physical demands of a...

This episode features conversation with Joey Di Camillo. He shares how his development of hyperacusis and tinnitus put a yearslong pause on his music career, and what he would pay to get his hearing health back. We also discuss how other traumatic life events often bring perspective to one's own problems. Music featured in this episode is by Joey and his collaborators, including Not Yer Baby . In...

Rickie Mazzotta is the drummer and founding member of the Philadelphia-based indie rock band mewithoutYou, who is embarking on their farewell tour. Rickie checked in about the status of his ears, and offered some sage advice to concert goers and young musicians. The music of mewithoutYou is featured in this episode. In this episode, we discuss mental health and significant distress from audiologic...

Talking Ears is a new show which interviews music creators and lets their ears do the talking. Through stories and guests' own music, we hope to give context to the often overlooked importance of auditory wellness and hearing healthcare for music industry professionals. With so many musicians developing career-threatening hearing injuries, and sparse training for aspiring musicians and engineers,...