Pass the time in your room alone: On music and mental health
In seventh grade, I was enrolled in a music composition class. Every Friday, students were allowed to bring in a CD and lyric sheets to share with the rest of the room to discuss and analyze a chosen song. Because my favorite band was Blink-182 shortly before it was my turn, I opted to showcase “Adam’s Song” to my fellow classmates. I never had the chance to actually do so, however, because after printing 20 copies of the lyrics, which tell a tale of suicide and depression, an administrator ushered me into their office and asked me if my decision to bring this track into my very small, very sheltered middle school was an attempt to express my own struggles with mental health.
I hadn’t really considered the definition of “mental health” before this incident, perhaps because I was more concerned with my own physical health at that point trying countless physical therapy methods to combat cerebral palsy. As I grew older and my love of music became more important to me, I came to understand that one’s mental health and one’s favorite songs could work together as a coping mechanism or loudspeaker for one’s own personal battles. I’m not alone in this mindset, even though those that share my viewpoint realize that the music industry needs to adapt if fans are ever going to talk about mental health openly.
“There's a constant dialogue of mental health in my lyrics. Since I started writing songs, I've used it as a cathartic release for my anger, depression and, rarely, joy,” Antarctigo Vespucci co-frontman Chris Farren explains. “I'm grateful to be able to do it for a living because I'm constantly forced to face my own faults and not become complacent in my emotions.”
Before founding his current project with former Bomb the Music Industry! founder Jeff Rosenstock, he turned a band name he came up with at 16, Fake Problems, into a celebrated, if underrated, rock outfit. “At the time, I felt misunderstood and like an outcast. I had all of these songs about my feelings and I felt ashamed of that, so in a self-deprecating precautionary move I labeled the project Fake Problems. In my head it kind of took away the power from anyone who wanted to make fun of me for expressing myself.”
While that group seems to be on an extended break, the Florida-based songwriter still continues his mission to articulate his own mental health, through therapy or a musical outlet. Last holiday season, proceeds from his digital-only Christmas album Like A Gift From God Or Whatever were forwarded to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), The decision to transform a ridiculous solo endeavor into a charitable venture came from the desire to expand his understanding of the larger world he teases in his songwriting. As he elaborates, “I've struggled with anxiety and depression for a few years now…but I wanted to know more beyond my own experience. I wanted to align myself with an organization that would help me do that, or force me to do that, really.”
The nationwide touring cycles and constant buzz surrounding Boston indie quartet Somos forced vocalist and bassist Michael Fiorentino to confront mental health in a way that alerted fans and media outlets alike. Earlier this year, he revealed his struggles with depression and anxiety and announced Somos would cancel a series of dates supporting the emo-rock band Dads. “The break of several months between our first national tour with Modern Baseball [in winter 2014] and [this spring’s] Tigers Jaw tour provided us with much-needed time to recharge. In a very basic sense, I used that time to start seeking treatment. If we had gone on the Dads tour, I think the band would have imploded by the end of it.” For someone who ended the explosive Temple Of Plenty with a rallying cry (“Repair, it’s what urgently needed, young man”), it’s a far more resounding statement to follow through on one’s own advice.
For acts anticipating loaded show schedules, Christian Holden, vocalist and bassist of the Hotelier, believes in the importance of self-care. “Touring kind of destroys your body, so exercising and not eating $500 worth of Taco Bell is a good start. Taking care of your body is like good practice of self-care in general. But also, forgiving yourself for not taking care of your body works, too.” This steady balance of learning to put one’s self first––and understanding when snags occur in that routine––are part of a larger reminder, to “make sure [someone is] being self-determined and empowered” whenever that seems possible and safe.
The issue of safety can be applied to musical situations which call for physical comfort (see my last column on accessibility at Warped Tour), but also those which require emotional and mental well-being. For Judy Hong, operating Quiet Year Records in a localized, DIY-minded hub in central Virginia has underlined the need for safe spaces which respect the entire spectrum of personal pathways which intersect in any growing arts community. “Imagine you’re in a climate where you feel unsafe, or that you’re not going to be heard or that you’re alone. There’s no foundation, support or care there. We create the scene that we want to be a part of, which means that confronting things like low self-esteem, self-hatred, body image issues and even race, class and privilege needs to happen; they’re part of the wider world we live in. When people come together and make things more equal…they’re changing the way that things can be talked about when you do things compassionately and out of love.” While mental health and maintaining self-care is by definition an individual journey, Hong believes better understanding of this human experience needs to be achieved in these larger, music-driven groups. “It’s weird … because no one likes to talk to one another about their feelings or confront their friends or have to experience negative emotions because there’s no script for it … I feel like those that need to scrape by with their music need to scrape hard, so everyone just needs to look out for each other.” The upstart label owner also hints at a concept that, even as a person with a fair deal of knowledge about disability culture, I was unfamiliar with: structural disability. Buildings that tend to have features which can be overwhelming for those with physical disabilities, such as a doorway that isn’t wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, are structurally disabled...
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http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/tomorrow_holds_such_better_days_on_music_and_mental_health
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