Monday 16 May 2016

Mental Health Awareness Week // Stereo Brain

For more information on Mental Health Awareness Week, go HERE
From the 16th to the 22nd of May 2016 it's Mental Health Awareness week and It's something I want to talk about. I know this is primarily a music blog but in my experience the two things go hand in hand.

Many of you who read this blog will be unaware of the origins of 'Stereo Brain'. The name, in fact, comes from the idea that there is a link between mental health and music and for me that's true. In my darkest moments and toughest days I've always turned to music for comfort and that's where 'Stereo Brain' began. 

Escaping from the world and losing myself in an album, a gig or even writing a piece became a primary way of coping with the things inside my head about 3/4 years ago and to this day partly fuels my passion for music. There's something about being able to switch yourself off and lose yourself in music that appeals to me and many other people that suffer from mental health issues which makes it an important topic to discuss.

Many people who suffer from mental illnesses turn to music as not only an escape but an outlet for their feelings. Brendan Lukens from Modern Baseball, for example, suffers from bipolar disorder and it's something which he covers in his songwriting in their new album. Frank Turner, also, is known for discussing coping with self harm and depression in his work and these are not isolated examples.

I'll talk more about this later this week in a series of articles we're writing to raise awareness of mental health and it's connections with music. In the meanwhile I want to talk about '#PickCardiffUp'.

This was an idea we launched last week in which people send us their 'pick me up' playlist/song/albums to spread the word about mental health and hopefully but a smile on people's faces at the same time. If you wish to contribute tweet us (@stereo_brain) with a link to your song or playlist and we'll add it to the playlist! So far we've had contributions from Team Up Cardiff, The Young Promoters Network and Cardiff based bands; The Broadcasts, Chroma and The Fused - check out the full playlist below.

Mental Health Awareness Week Site - HERE

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