Deaf drummer Joab Pelling: βI feel the music within meβ
16 October 2019
Joab Pelling has found his calling.
Though he is deaf in one ear, Joab plays the drums and his deafness has given him a different perception of music...
Joab the drummer
14 year old Joab reveals how he has overcome personal difficulties to pursue his passion.
“I’ve always felt, and my family’s felt, I was slightly different. We suspected that it was autism. They said I’ve got Asperger syndrome,” he says.
Thereβs no grey areas, no colourβ¦ no βotherβ
“I sort of see the world black and white. There’s no grey areas, no colour. It’s all this or that - no ‘other’.
“I was diagnosed with no hearing in my right ear. I could have done any other instrument but I think drums is for me.”
But why the drums? Joab explained his instrument of choice.
“I generally feel the vibrations and that’s why I enjoy drumming on acoustic kits because I can really feel the music as if it’s echoing throughout me,” he says.
“This is due to my deafness but it’s also allowed me to experience something that not many people do get to experience when it comes to music ‘cause they listen - I feel the music within me.”
Joab is continually learning and developing his talent, and believes having the confidence to grow is something we should all aim for.
“I’ve got this big motto which I’ve stuck to in life: a missed opportunity is a missed growth in personality,” he says.
“Everyone still has a place in which they can still grow. You never reach the top, there’s always somewhere still to go.
“One word which has always grown with me as a person throughout my life is the word confidence.
“In every opportunity you see, in everything that you can do, you just need to have that confidence to go do it. Whether you’ve got difficulties that stop you from doing it, have that confidence to break through them.”
