US techno producer Adam Jay is seeking donations to help him finish a four track EP comprising hospital machinery sounds he recorded after he was rushed to hospital suffering from pneumomediastinum (air in the chest cavity).
The Acclaimed Indianapolis star is seeking raise money to pay off medical bllls of over $20,000 incurred after he fell ill the day after performing at Detroit’s Movement Electronic Music Festival, a show he ironically noted was ‘the gig of my life’.
“The evening following my performance, I developed a rather bad and harsh cough which slowly become worse. At some point one of the coughs was so severe and traumatic that it tore a microscopic perforation in my left lung. I didn't know it at the time. Over the next few days my breathing became more labored. I was treating this like many colds I have had in my life. As an asthmatic, I do my best to get ahead of a cold before it develops to pneumonia,” said Adam.
Admitting that ‘like most independent musicians, I am severely underinsured’, he held off going to the doctors for three more days, before taking five home respiratory treatments, none of which worked. Increasingly struggling to breathe, he eventually decided to go to the ER room where he was rushed into intensive care after telling doctors he had already suffered a pulmonary embolism twelve years ago.
“Several x-rays, a CAT scan, and a very uncomfortable sinus endoscopy were performed and it was concluded that a violent cough had acted as trauma on my lung and created the debilitating pneumomediastinum I had been diagnosed with,” Adam recalled.
“After I was released, I spent nearly a month slowly recovering from home. The bills gradually started to come in, totalling over $20,000 (AFTER uninsured discounts).”
Looking on the bright side, however, he made the most of his time in hospital by recording its sounds and is now planning to press up at least 1,000 vinyl copies of the EP, complete with artwork showing his X-ray and music he recorded in the ER room.
“As a producer, I couldn't help but hear the rhythms and harmonies of the various beeps and clicks of the machinery that kept me alive in the hospital. So, I recorded them while I was there. I have been manipulating these sounds in 4 songs that I am in the process of producing for this EP,” he explained.
“For obvious reasons this EP is very special to me,” he added.
“It has the signature of my recovery actually imprinted into it as audio. And I cannot finish it without your help. Being able to at least put a dent in my medical bills will be an added bonus, as they have put me into a debt I hadn't ever imagined before.”
http://www.indiegogo.com/adamjay (Click here to donate)