NYS Music 202​1

Tag: mental health

  • 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.

  • Backline Presents Livestream Event for Mental Health Awareness

    From New York, NY, Backline will host “Set Break” on April 10th. This will be their first-ever livestream fundraiser on The Relix Channel, exclusively on Twitch. The event will feature live performances worldwide, public service announcements from music professionals, and immersive wellness experiences also.

    Backline dedicates their time to connecting music industry professionals and their families with mental health and wellness resources as a nonprofit organization. Backline seeks to provide a safe, private, and immediate place to go for help with the difficulties that life in this industry brings.

    Set Break intends to bring the music industry together to break the stigma surrounding mental health in the community. During the event, money will be raised to expand Backline’s programs and services in a time when they are needed most. In addition, Set Break will incorporate wellness experiences from Wanderlust, Breathwrk, The Big Quiet, and Meditation Studio by Muse to promote collective healing for those greatly affected by the closures within the last year.

    Backline has provided a safe place to land for industry workers during this time, and the event will bring together fans, artists, and organizations who all believe in the cause and want to create a safer and more supported environment for music to thrive.

    Backline’s Executive Director Hilary Gleason

    The lineup for Set Break expands across an array of genres. The event will have performances by Alanis Morissette, Leon Bridges, Dawes, Black Pumas, Sara Bareilles, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros, Ben Folds, Oteil Burbridge, Los Lobos, Michael Franti, K. Flay, Galactic, American Authors, Larkin Poe, Deer Tick, DJ Millie, and more. Many musicians are coming together to raise mental health awareness and show support.

    Join this Movement Through Livestream

    Set Break will feature conversations with the Black Mental Health Alliance to represent the music industry’s diverse experiences. Also, there will debut findings conducted by the Tour Health Research Initiative (THRIV). The free event will have opportunities to donate and support the mental health of the music industry. In addition to supporting Backline, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Crew Nation and Sweet Relief’s Mental Health Fund. Fans even have the opportunity to turn their physical activity into charitable donations by signing up for the wellness app Sweatcoin before the event. Make sure to tune in to Set Break on April 10th to support the cause!

  • NYC Native Mae Krell Opens Up in New Single

    NYC Indie singer Mae Krell peels off layers of their personal story as they release their newest single “are you sure?” on March 5.

    Mae Krell
    Mae Krell by Sarah Midkiff

    Krell is more than a singer, they entered the music industry through photography and traveled around the nation capturing pictures. They wrote poems and aspired to become a performing artist one day and found the courage to do so. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, they find ways to connect that with her artistry. Krell is also an advocate for mental health and incorporates messages surrounding the topic within their music.

    Before this new release, they created and dropped their singles “Monsters” and “Scars” when they were just a teenager. Their debut EP Anabasis released in 2018, resulted in a nationwide tour at the age of 19. They took a two-year hiatus from music and returned in March 2020 releasing four new folk-pop singles and receiving about 500,000 streams on all of them.

    At the time, it helped me take a step back and learn about myself and why I was really doing all of this. I was so worried about what other people thought for so long that I forgot to enjoy making music- I was so overcome with anxiety all the time. I write songs to figure things out, get closure on situations, or just to express how I’m feeling. Releasing those songs is scary, but I’ve learned that I can’t be too much of a perfectionist or else I’ll never put anything out.

    Mae Krell

    These new releases start a new era for the artist as they confront past hardships, self-love, self-truth and reflection. Some of their influences are Bob Dylan, Phoebe Bridgers and Gregory Alan Isakov. When the 21-year-old returned from their hiatus they came back with a more mature and understanding approach.

    “are you sure?” is their first single of 2021 and it was written on the two-year anniversary of their sobriety. The song explores cognitive dissonance and feeling stuck even though they made a lot of progress. It dives deep into the low moments that make you forget how far you’ve come. Krell pours their emotions into the song singing over a guitar loop with pain in their voice. The lyrics honest, raw and intimate. Although spreading awareness wasn’t their initial thought about the track, they hope releasing this “personal and intensely emotional” song will bring discussions about it to normalcy.

    More so than raise awareness I want to normalize talking about feelings. Why don’t we share how we feel when someone asks? What’s wrong with being honest and open? I think the world would be a much kinder place if we all had an open mind when we asked someone how they’re doing.

    Mae Krell

  • 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.