Rickie Mazzotta - talking drums, whiplash, and tinnitus
Rickie Mazzotta joins us to discuss his career as the drummer and founding member of the Philadelphia-based indie rock band mewithoutYou. As the band embarks on their farewell tour after over 20 years making music together, Rickie generously gave his time to check in about the status of his ears and offer some sage advice to concert goers and young musicians.
Content Warning: this episode contains discussion of mental health and suicide.
Rickie is, by any measure, a loud and energetic drummer, and his approach to the drum set is one of the driving forces behind mewithoutYou’s exciting albums and live shows. In 2019, Rickie experienced what he refers to as “the bomb”. This is when he was first diagnosed with whiplash, which was attributed to his stage movements and the energy he puts into his performances. Did we mention he is an energetic drummer? As it turns out, energy and loudness go hand-in-hand, and his “bomb” was also characterized by onset of debilitating chronic tinnitus, which he described most uniquely:
“Its just like a fairy screaming… a tiny fairy but with this massive weird magical power screaming.”
Coming off tour, he took a full pause on his music career and tried everything to improve his situation and resolve the spiral of tinnitus and anxiety. As it turns out, it was the strategic use of isolating in-ear monitors, awareness of exposure levels, and the careful and intentional return to the stage that did the most good.
Now, Rickie shares his general optimism, and knowledge that he can continue his music career safely while still having the capacity to continue performing with same energy:
“I got a hearing test fairly recently, and its almost line for line the test we did two years ago. So just that alone gives me incredible peace of mind - I can do this thing without further doing more damage to my ears.”
After listening, you can read more of Rickie’s thoughts in our January, 2020 Sound Profiles interview.
Feel free to reach out talkingears@earmarkhc.com to discuss this episode and hearing wellness in general. We look forward to hearing from you. And stay tuned for future episodes, with a hopeful release every couple weeks.
Thanks for listening!
- Frank
Special Thanks
Additionally, I would like to acknowledge everyone who helped with the development of Talking Ears: Scott Hallam, Mary Kim, Juan Vasquez, Brian Heveron-Smith, and Meaghan Strickland - thank you for your time, thoughtful notes, and most of all your patience with me. This wouldn’t be anything without each of you.