Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon has said he would have given up all his talent for a good night’s sleep when his tinnitus was at its worst. Speaking in the new issue of Uncut, dated October 2013 and out now, McAloon said he suffered particularly badly from the hearing problem for around six mon...
Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon has said he would have given up all his talent for a good night’s sleep when his tinnitus was at its worst.
Speaking in the new issue of Uncut, dated October 2013 and out now, McAloon said he suffered particularly badly from the hearing problem for around six months last decade, and still has difficulty hearing bass in his right ear.
“Something happens in my right ear where bass frequencies disappear, so when I work on low-range things I have to shift them to a higher octave so I can hear them,” he says.
“It’s more or less manageable now, but I had a terrible six months when the noises in my head just wouldn’t switch off. There was a point where I would have happily given it all up, any talent I might have, for a night’s sleep.
“And my three daughters had to learn to be quiet around me, which is a terrible thing for children to have to do.”
Prefab Sprout’s new album, Crimson/Red – their first album of genuinely brand new material for more than a decade – is released on October 7.
The new issue of Uncut is out now.
Photo: Kevin Westenberg
