Musician lends an ear to hearing loss campaign

Renowned Featherston musician Warren Maxwell wants New Zealanders to "hear the world" clearer than he does.
That's why he is joining a prestigious list of international artists using their fame to fight against hearing loss.
After a lifetime surrounded by music the ringing in his ears diagnosed as tinnitus is driving him to control the volume of his environment, and he urges others to do the same.
"I don't want to end up like Beethoven crawling around the floor listening to the vibrations of my ukulele," he said yesterday.
Maxwell has signed on to be an ambassador for Phonak's Hear the World, a global non-profit initiative that puts him in the stellar company of Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams and Annie Lennox, to name but a few.
Phonak is a world leader in the manufacturing of hearing devices and has created the campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of hearing loss.
Maxwell said while he is in no way going deaf, he would rather catch it now and control it.
"I want to keep what hearing I've got. Or what I've got left," he said.
Hear the World asks musicians from all genres to use their celebrity to get the word out to every possible demographic.
Maxwell said yesterday it's great to be involved. "I'm definitely proud to help out any way I can," he said.
"Especially with the kids. That's my thing, getting the message out to them with my industry exposure.
"With technology these days, kids cruising around listening to iPods need to be made aware that (damage to their hearing) is not going to repair itself. Music's my career, you know? I'm almost 40 with a ringing in my ears but you see kids now half my age experiencing the same problem," Maxwell said. "It's happening too early."
"(Hearing's) the kind of thing that gets taken for granted. It's only when it's gone that we realise it was there to lose," he said.
Maxwell admits his latest project, Little Bushman, are a "very loud rock 'n' roll band" but they do take precautions.
"At rehearsals we have blankets over the drums and we're all wearing ear plugs," he said.
Phonak are looking for different Hear the World ambassadors in different genres, marketing manager Avril Hamlin said.
"Little Bushman are an up-and-coming New Zealand band so, with the other work Warren's done, we thought he'd be a good fit," Ms Hamlin said.
"Plus he's a really nice guy."
Little Bushman are performing with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in Auckland on July 13.
"The APO are Hear the World ambassadors too so that was a nice little link in," Ms Hamlin said.
"We also plan to have other New Zealand ambassadors in other genres," she said.
"For example, we'd like to get them in classical as well as younger people's music to get the message of hearing loss out across the board."
Maxwell left the hustle and bustle of Wellington in favour of the peace of Wairarapa, settling in Featherston.
"I had to get out of Wellington," he said. "I'd been living there for 15-odd years. The cost of living in a city is enormous. I can work from home, I've got a studio set up there. Plus, I'm just a country boy at heart."
Maxwell says he loves Wairarapa and it's people. "The people in Wairarapa are beautiful and grounded."
"There isn't that pretentiousness that there is in a city. I'm probably the most pretentious, egotistical bastard out there."
Maxwell says his ambassadorial duties will start on Sunday. "There will be a truck outside doing free ear testing beforehand. I'll be there for a few photos, stuff like that," he said.
Hearing loss is one of the most common of the world's preventable disabilities 400,000 people in New Zealand are hearing impaired with more and more young people being affected by hearing loss.
Phonak are able to support charities and projects with a focus on people with hearing loss by funds collected through the Hear the World Foundation.