YOU would not realise it if you saw his band play, but teenage drummer Milo Saunders cannot hear.

The 15-year-old has been deaf since birth, but uses an iPod app with the volume turned up high to help him keep in time.

Milo, who uses hearing aids in both ears started the band, Lime Chase, a year ago with his brother Elliot, aged 18, and their friends Seb Meadows and Nat Yates-Hart.

Milo, of Bramley Road, Sharples, said: “I got my first drum kit three years ago. I’ve always been interested in drums, but also I have no problems hearing it like other instruments.

“I feel at one with the drum kit. I have my metronome on my iPod so I can keep in time and if the band needs to communicate, then Elliot signals to me.

“I was diagnosed when I was 18 months old, so I’ve never known any different. I just try to get on with things as normal and lip-read when people talk to me.”

He added: “People are often shocked when they find out I am deaf because I play an instrument. But I think you just need to find your own way around your disability.”

The band plays classic Beatles and Oasis songs as well as original material.

They have already started hitting the right notes after helping to raise £1,000 at a charity gig for Bolton’s Ear 4 Kidz last month. The indie-rock band played at Astley Bridge Conservative Club on May 16 with another band Strictly 4 Kicks.

The charity has helped Milo, a pupil at Thornleigh School, since he was diagnosed. He said: “They have done so much to help me in the past I just wanted to help give a bit back.”