Larry Heard has announced that he is to quit playing club gigs.
The Chicago legend, who has Mr Fingers has produced several of the most seminal house music tracks of all time, has blamed the decision on issues with his hearing, and damage caused after performing live shows and DJ sets.
“I just lost the high frequency, and for me that's a problem because I like to use the hi-hats to synchronize what I'm doing between the records,” he told Resident Advisor.
“So a lot of times when I'm in a club playing, I'm thinking something's wrong with the monitor speaker, and it was actually my ear trying to defend itself against sound pressure.
“So there's that, in addition to some more physical effects due to the amount of traveling I have been doing—it's been like 27 years of consistent traveling, you know, internationally, not sleeping and things like that. It's taken its toll, it all starts to kinda mount up, and it's become a downright hell of a risk now. So we've just got to make the right decision if it's in my best interest, health-wise.
“I mean it's not like I pursued DJing,” he added. “I'm a musician first and foremost, so for me preserving the ability to do that part of it is the most important thing. To lose it all would be devastating, and of course that's what losing my hearing would mean.
Now I can focus on more getting back to my roots and actually composing and doing all that kind of stuff. It allows me more time to really focus at it.”
