Bernal Heights neighbor and rockstar next door Matt Nathanson has had a very busy year. A new album, a big tour, lots of travel… you know, rockstar stuff.  Somehow, however, he managed to squeeze in some pro bono work with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, an organization that provides assistance to hearing-impaired people around the world.

So when Neighbor Matt went to Peru recently, it was all about lending a hand with the Starkey Foundation. On his own website, Matt writes:

i joined a trip to huancayo, peru with some folks from starkey hearing foundation. our job was to fit people with hearing aids if they needed them. the company provided the devices and their service for free. they do this all around the world. i was one of the many volunteers.

i’ve been trying to write a short piece about my experience for weeks now. it’s been really hard. words kinda fail it.

if i didn’t have my hearing, i wouldn’t have music. and if i didn’t have music, i definitely wouldn’t have survived my childhood. listening to albums and seeing bands and being connected to songs was EVERYTHING to me. it still is. it makes me feel not alone. it helps me transcend my broken brain. in fact, the only reason i play music is because i love it so much. i couldn’t stay on the sidelines, i HAVE to be a part of it.

going to peru was super heavy. the people were incredible. to be in service to them, to assist in connecting them to their kids laughter, to their parents voices, to MUSIC!… it was completely humbling. and overwhelming. i felt love and gratitude towards other human beings on a level i’ve never experienced.

see? it’s really hard to put into words… so i’m glad we shot footage and made a video while we were there. it does a WAY better job explaining than i ever could.

Matt’s newest song and video are all about his time in Peru. And when you see it, it’s easy to understand why the experience was so powerful, and so difficult to put into words. Because here’s what Neighbor Matt did during his recent visit to Peru:

Matt adds:

100% of artist and label proceeds from this video are being donated to Starkey Hearing Foundation. For more information on how you can help, go to headphones.starkeyhearingfoundation.org