NYS Music 202​1

Tag: Mari Fong

  • Check Your Head: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast Announces ‘Mental Health Action Day’

    CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast in partnership with MTV Entertainment Group announces first National ‘Mental Health Action Day’ to help drive people to take mental health action for themselves or others. Mental Health Action Day is taking place on May 20, 2021. 

    Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement of brands, organizations and cultural leaders to drive culture from mental health awareness to mental health action. It’s mission is to encourage and empower people to take mental health action — whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes, because mental health is health. 

    The CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast launched back in 2019 and Executive Produced and Hosted by Mari Fong who is a seasoned music journalist and certified Life Coach for Musicians. The podcast hosts open, honest, and intimate conversations about mental health, wellness and recovery.  It has featured many different personalities like Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), Fred Armisen (Portlandia, SNL, Late Night with Seth Meyers), The Bloody Beetroots, Frank Zummo (SUM 41) Emilio Castillo (Tower Of Power), Yesod Williams (Pepper), Sammi Doll (IAMX, Kat Von D), Danny Griego and Shaun Morgan (Seether), Kevin Lyman (Vans Warped Tour) and most recently, the iconic Linda Ronstadt. In each episode top mental health experts are featured such as Dr. Dan Reidenberg (SAVE.org) on suicide prevention, Dr. Ish Major (Relationship expert, “Marriage Boot Camp”) on toxic relationship recovery, Johan Svanberg (Record Union, “The 73 Percent Report”) and Tim Ringgold, MT-BC (Music Therapist, Sonic Recovery) on mood disorder and addiction recovery using music therapy.

    The ‘Mental Health Action Day’ is being put on in partnership with more than 500 leading brands, nonprofits, government agencies and cultural leaders. Partners will encourage people to take mental health action — whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes. Resources and tools will be available for people to seek help in a myriad of ways from starting a meditation practice, learning how to support a friend, or advocating for change.

    Mari Fong spoke on the podcast and the ‘Mental Health Action Day’ saying, “Talking openly about and sharing your stories on mental health is only part of the solution. The second part is taking action which can include taking action for yourself, for a loved one, or for your community.” 

    In the past two decades, suicide rates have risen, particularly among young adults. And the COVID pandemic has accelerated the already dire crisis, giving way to what many mental health professionals have called the “second pandemic.” The feelings of extreme isolation on top of the preexisting anxiety and fear caused by the pandemic has left people in more dire mental states than pre pandemic times. 

    For more information on CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast and the ‘Mental Health Action Day’ visit their website here.

  • Check Your Head with Mari Fong’s Podcast

    Music journalist and life coach, Mari Fong, advocates for artists’ mental health through the podcast Check Your Head.

    The podcast aired in 2019 and is hosted by Fong who worked within the industry for years. Her fuel for starting the podcast was the news of Chris Cornell of the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave and Linkin Park’s vocalist Chester Bennington’s suicides in 2017. Fong felt like she had to do something which led her to executive produce and present Check Your Head. It features candid and transparent conversations about mental health, wellbeing and recovery with musicians and experts. 

    While musicians tend to express their emotions through the lyrics of their songs, most times there are no further actions to help them. “Musicians can often find it easier to express their emotions through music, with lyrics and melodies guiding the way. Therefore, one-on-one conversations about their feelings may be more difficult for them, making ‘going to therapy’ not a natural first choice when experiencing a mood disorder,” said Fong. She noticed that with the deaths of Cornell and Bennington that while they sang about their emotional turmoil, people perceived that they were happy due to their success. Their internal battles with depression were overlooked by the perceptions of their external appearance.

    We’ve been losing artists for decades to mood disorders (which can include addiction) like Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse. The focus of the industry has been more toward profits than the welfare of musicians causing mental health to be overlooked. To improve this, wellness should be prioritized to include regular visits with therapists, psychiatrists, life coaches and doctors.

    Mari Fong

    The taboo of artist’s mental health pushed Fong to create a platform for artists to speak openly about their mental health. Each episode consists of a conversation paired with mental health experts and a musician. The goal is to find solutions for these issues through discussion. Some of the notable musician guests include Gilby Clarke, Emilio Castillo, Fred Armisen and most recently, Linda Ronstadt. Some of the top experts that have visited the show are Dr. Dan Reidenberg, Michael Friedman Ph.D., Dr. Ish Major and more.

    Check Your Head currently has 19 episodes out and is continuing to raise awareness each time it airs. The podcast streams on its self-titled website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.