People engaged in making music are at a higher risk for mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, according to researchers at Frankfurt’s Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Results of the study suggest there is an overlap between inherited genetic variants associated with a tendency to make music, and those that increase the risk for mental illness. Van Magazine talked to Laura Wesseldijk, one of the authors of the study, herself a musician too.

"Music, being a focal point of emotion and a basis of connection between people, is an entry point to these conversations and can be used to help direct people to awareness, education and care" - Nick Greto of the Sounds of Saving says in Dada Strain interview. SoS is a music mental health nonprofit organization with a mission to use a connection to music of all genres as a direct path to greater mental wellbeing and to hopefulness during crisis in order to decrease suicide.

"It’s easy to downplay the courage it takes for celebrities to let down their guard and acknowledge their frailties or fallibility, revealing a side of herself the public doesn’t always see. That alone makes the message significant" - CNN writes in a review of Selena Gomez new doc 'My Mind & Me'. Guardian appreciates the singer revealing herself: "'My Mind & Me' captures her terror and ultimate relief in coming forward with her bipolar diagnosis and documents her genuinely remarkable efforts to destigmatize mental illness".

"71% of musicians polled in the Help Musicians survey said they suffered from anxiety, 69% said they battled depression, 57% said they went untreated, and 53% said they had a hard time finding the right treatment.  In response to a rash of suicides by musicians and the pandemic’s crushing blow to many an artist’s livelihood, new organizations and efforts within the music community have begun to step forward" - Please Kill Me steps into the sensitive issue of mental health in punk and metal music.

Sony Music Entertainment has announced a new wellness-focused program called Artist Assistance, which is planned to be a “broad global effort aimed at promoting wellness for our signed talent and providing them with relevant information and key resources for their careers”, Music Business Worldwide reports. Artist Assistance starts with access to “free, confidential counseling services to address stress, anxiety, depression, grief, family and relationship matters and more”. It means that SME’s “active roster artists” worldwide can now connect with a licensed therapist completely confidentially and for free.

"I’m a walker, I love walking. That’s funny" - Steve Gunn says in a Tone Glow interview about his new album 'Other You', which features a few songs about the mundane habit. Why does he like it? - "Partially the walking correlates with being open and exploratory. I do a lot of walking that isn’t to a specific destination. I’m just being receptive to what’s around me, being observational. I’m present in my current space. Particularly with this record, and the fact that it was a very isolated time, walking was really important for me. Being in the park close to where I live was a godsend and it was an important part of my process, an important part of opening myself up a little more".

Ariana Grande has partnered with Better Help, an online portal providing direct mental health support, to give away $1 million worth of free therapy to her fans who can't afford it, NME reports. Her effort will match those interested with a licensed therapist for one free month, which anyone can sign up for at BetterHelp.com/Ariana. After the month is up, people will have the option to renew and continue using Better Help's services while getting 15% off the second month.

"If the pandemic gave the general public an insight into touring life minus the hour onstage – ie, drinking earlier and earlier in the day to alleviate the tedium of being stuck in cramped, largely identical rooms with the same three or four people for months on end – for many musicians it had the opposite effect. By removing the social gigging element of their lives and careers, lockdown starkly exposed dependencies they’d previously been able to disguise as a typical rock’n’roll lifestyle" - music journalist Mark Beaumont wrote in the Independent introducing his piece about musicians who stopped drinking in the pandemic: members of Royal Blood, Deadletter, You Me At Six, Wu LYF and others.

The short documentary 'Field of Vision - We Were There to Be There', by Mike Plante and Jason Willis, on a legendary 1978 show at a California psychiatric hospital by the Cramps and the Mutants, is now online. "Taking place as cuts to crucial social services loom under Ronald Reagan, two legendary punk bands come together to perform a show for patients and staff at a psychiatric facility". It "threads moments from the Napa State Hospital set with commentary from band members and those who witnessed it firsthand, providing a crucial backstory for the recording of one of the most iconic shows in the history of music, at a critical moment in the future of mental health care in the US".

"As increased loneliness and stress have contributed to declining mental health, people have turned to online communities to seek reassurance and companionship" - and some have found Oddly Specific Playlist, a Facebook group with bizarre playlists, such as songs i listen to when the gang of 15 year olds at the train station are intimidating me or looking for songs that make you feel like a misunderstood villain who is just struggling with past trauma. Slate insists it's not just about the music, but also the community - "people wrestling with heartbreak, trauma, nihilism, low self-esteem, and other personal issues find not just song recommendations but also people who empathize with their struggle".

"I no longer have any need for drugs, the Maharishi or the Beatles. I am myself and I know why" - John Lennon has said at the time when his 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' coming out, which was also when he was going through then-fashionable but now-discredited “primal scream” psychotherapy technique. The new technique was the work of psychotherapist Arthur Janov who believed that unlocking repressed childhood pain required a physical release - maybe even screaming. GQ brings the story of the cult-like therapy and its connection to the album (deluxe edition came out last week).

24-year old Grammy-nominated rapper CHIKA has announced her retirement from the music industry due to the impact it was having on her mental health. In a statement, she told fans that “the mental toll being in the industry has taken on me is not something you bounce back from easily”. CHIKA is known for being vocal about political and societal issues and was detained by police at a Los Angeles protest over the police killing of George Floyd last year.

Britney Spears spoke for the first time about the New York Times' documentary 'Framing Britney Spears' saying that she had cried for two weeks after seeing parts of it (she never saw the whole thing), Billboard reports. However, it's the other thing that she has said that speaks volumes about her mental health: "I do what I can in my own spirituality with myself to try and keep my own joy … love … and happiness !!!! Every day dancing brings me joy !!! I'm not here to be perfect … perfect is boring … I'm here to pass on kindness !!!! ... My life has always been very speculated … watched … and judged really my whole life !!! For my sanity I need to dance... every night of my life to feel wild and human and alive !!!".

Demi Lovato had a wellness coach, dietician, nutritionist and therapist to keep her thin, Taylor Swift starved herself and excessively exercised to keep her body shape, Elton John suffered from bulimia, Zayn went for days without eating while feeling a lack of control over his life during his time in One Direction. In general, as Guardian reports, 32% musicians had experienced an eating disorder in their lifetime, while it affects 1.9% to 5.1% of the British population. Pop and R&B singer JoJo goes to the root of the problem - "the music industry is very unpredictable, so I think when you are able to control some aspect of your life – the way you eat, the way you look – then you feel you’re more in control”. Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow echoes this sentiment - “When I can control the outcome of a situation, I feel good. And when I can’t, I feel terrible, and that manifests itself in how I see myself in the mirror”.

A great article in Stuff about Rebecca Black who went through ten years of recovering after her song 'Friday' brought her unwanted attention as "the worst song/video ever" (she was 13 at the time of the song). She says "It's not normal for a person - for a kid, especially - to have the entire world make fun of them and then just laugh along with it... What it did was dehumanise me even more into some version of a spectacle because none of that is real". She was also bullied in school, started with home-schooling, and it took her years before she dared to make music again.

Jesy Nelson left the successful UK girl band Little Mix giving an honest reason - “The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health. I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard”. NME praised her announcement saying she "achieved something hugely important. Backed by the unwavering support of her former bandmates, she and the group have set an important precedent where a person’s wellbeing comes ahead of keeping up appearances just to keep the cash flowing".

Streams of mental health playlists on Spotify have doubled this year, during the coronavirus pandemic, Independent reports. Playlists related to "mindfulness", "calm", and "self-care" have been streamed 57 per cent more in 2020 than they were last year. Podcasts related to self-help and self-care have seen a 122 per cent increase in streams.

"I don’t feel like this currently, but I had never gone through wanting to kill myself, give up on my life until the past few years and I didn’t realize how important it was to embrace the ups n downs of life and enjoy (in joy) taking active steps to better it. it’s the Journey!" - Big Sean wrote in a candid series of tweets about his mental health. "I thought doing what I loved would always make me happy and satisfied, so when I got tired of it, I was confused and it drove me insane. Later I realized I was just growing n had to gain a new mentality and foundation on many levels n re-discover my passion! And try new things".

Playing a musical instrument positively impacts mental health for 89% of adults, particularly by increasing feelings of relaxation and happiness, a new scientific study commissioned by Spotify revealed. Out of 400 adults included in the survey, 56% felt relaxed, 48% felt satisfaction and 43% felt peaceful, and over said that playing music gave them “a sense of purpose in life”.

Kim Kardashian West has publicly addressed her husband Kanye's mental health issues asking for "compassion and empathy" for her family, All Hip Hop reports. KKW came out publicly following a series of West's erratic statements in recent days. She wrote on Instagram: "As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder", adding that west a "brilliant but complicated person" whose "words sometimes do not align with his intentions". "He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder" Kardashian West said, asking for "compassion and empathy that is needed so that we can get through this."

Toronto experimental pop duo Black Dresses have disbanded just weeks after releasing their new album 'Peaceful As Hell', as a result of a pattern of harassment directed at band's member Devi McCallion, Stereogum reports. Her bandmate Ada Rook said in a statement that "entitled fans have been behaving in a very hurtful and frightening way towards Devi including extended invasion of privacy and harassment for some two years now, only going to further and further extremes”. McCallion was much more direct in her statement -"thanks for your support and also your repulsive parasocial stalker rage directed at hurting us”. Black Dresses' profile at Bandcamp is still active.

Death Angel drummer Will Carroll contracted COVID-19 while on a European tour in March, and during a medically induced 12-day coma as a result of his illness, the artist claims he had met Satan. Well, he didn't really like it, as he's told the San Francisco Chronicle - "I'm still going to listen to Satanic metal, and I still love Deicide and bands like that. As for my personal life and my experience of what I went through, I don't think Satan's quite as cool as I used to". He says he'll consume less alcohol and drugs now, too, Exclaim reports.

Lily Cornell Silver, daughter of the late Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, has launched a discussion program called Mind Wide Open to normalize the topic of mental health. She made the announcement this week on her Instagram, three years after her father has died. Cornell Silver said that her goal is to normalize mental health discussions. The new series will take place on Instagram and will feature interviews with mental health professionals, public figures and other notable guests.

GQ has a big story about Jason Isbell - alt-country singer-songwriter talks getting and staying sober, his succession of good albums (three at least), going to the studio, being his own publisher. On rehab: "It's always about the process. You're playing the game; you're not playing an opponent. You're doing the work in order to do the work”. Going to the studio: “The last time was really hard because I was very, very focused on what I was doing and also I was feeling pressure and not admitting to myself that I was feeling that pressure because I thought that admitting to myself that I was feeling the pressure would take away part of my advantage against it. And that took a while to figure out”. It's great to own your record company: “When I sell 59,000 copies of that record, I've recouped, and that means that I start getting paid. Last album, I did it in 10 days"; he sees both the label's share and the artist's share of the royalties: “And those are not the same size. Not by a long shot. It's way more for the label. Because that's who owns the masters. The artists, if all you are is an artist, you don't own shit. You're an employee". His new album 'Reunions' is out in May.

"I moved into this house in 2000, and I’ve always felt like [it] doesn’t want me to go anywhere" - Fiona Apple described to the Vulture how she recorded her new album 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters' in her home-studio. She continued - "So I’m like, 'All right, I’m going to give you what you want, house. I know you deserve to be the record. I’m going to make you the record'. This is where I feel comfortable. My boyfriend at the time, Jamie, really pushed for me to get it set up here so I could record by myself. Once he pushed for that to happen and Amy taught me how to do GarageBand, it was like the universe opened up". She also described how things changed after she withdrew from drugs she’d been prescribed to deal with depression, and after getting sober - "It’s not a constant feeling, and it’s gotten a lot better, again, since I quit drinking - so much better, so much less anxiety".

Swedish company Record Union has shared The Wellness Starter Pack, a new toolkit of resources to help artists manage their mental health. It focuses on five elements to maintaining good health: nutrition, mindfulness, positivity, exercise, and sleep. The company consulted a handful of doctors and other specialists for its articles and videos (below), which are intended as a starting-off point for artists.

“I have adopted the mindset that this is some kind of reset button that needed to happen, not just for me, but for everyone" Born Electric maestro James Zabiela told DJ Tech Tools about spending time in big lockdown. Berlin-based tastemaker Eluize says she jogs to release tension, and rising techno talent BEC meditates to achieve "relaxation and inner-peace". Canada’s BLOND:ISH believes we should try and see the positives to take from the situation - “Behind every closed door is an opportunity. This pause is a time for reflection, to step back and get creative with our freedom of time... Resources are endless to get ahead and learn a new skill, use this time wisely”.

“When you’re young you think old people are a bit stupid. But they’ve done everything we’ve done, plus everything the previous generations did, and the one before that. I think old people almost become Buddhists. They’re like: ‘It ain’t worth me saying shit so I’m going to just sit here and chill’” - Mike Skinner, aka The Streets told in a Guardian interview about his new release 'None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive', a mixtape full of guest spots from young stars. A few more interesting thoughts, like the one on a choice of career - "I’ve got so many incredible stories of people changing their lives with rap. And it’s a nice thing to see. Because nobody wants a life of crime. It’s very hard work. It’s much easier to be a musician than a drug dealer”.

Many DJ are acutely aware of the mental and physical risks of the typical "DJ lifestyle", Mix Magazine says in an interesting article about a change in nightclubs post-Avicii. With a new and welcome transparency around artists’ mental health and addiction, DJs feel more at ease to make a big change. The other big thing is that much of the club scene has changed, in many cases becoming less a place of expression than of consumption: a circuit for DJs and artists, where the emphasis on ever-grander spectacle and production can alienate not only the crowd but the DJs from the music, eating away at the idea of the club as a place of subculture and resistance.

Bassist in a black metal band Vodka Vultures, a 22-year-old Holden Matthews has pleaded guilty to putting fire to three Louisiana Baptist churches last year. At his plea hearing, Matthews admitted to burning the churches "because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a 'Black Metal' musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s". Two points: 1. A fool; 2. This is not what black metal is about.