SelfMade

Irish organisation SelfMade will be running the Mind YourSelf: Mental Health and Music event on Saturday 25th May 2019, sponsored by IMRO.

Taking place at The Tara Building, Dublin, the two-part event will look at mental health in the Irish music scene and the challenges affecting developing musicians in their professional and personal lives. Founders Joanna Bain and Julie Hawk elaborate, “there has been a huge step-up in the level of conversation on mental health in recent years and we’re proud to use our next event to encourage conversation, break the stigma, and facilitate a route to a healthier music industry.”

The event will start with an interactive workshop focusing on how musicians can work with their inner critic – the internal voice that can often hold us back, tell us we’re not good enough, or make us anxious about putting ourselves out there. Instead of silencing or fighting off the inner critic, this workshop will seek to get to know it by exploring the origins of self- criticism and how it impacts musicians and creatives in their life and work. The workshop will be led by psychotherapist, musician, researcher and BIMM lecturer, Aoife Ruth, in collaboration with Wyvern Lingo’s Caoimhe Barry.

The evening panel features a line-up of Irish artists, including Maria Kelly, Michael Pope (Le Galaxie) and Paddy Hanna, who have all used their creative work and social platforms to highlight career-related mental health and anxiety, and have been open about the more challenging and hands-on aspects of developing a music career. The Mind YourSelf panel will look at the factors affecting the mental health of artists and how these manifest, as well as the importance of open discussion and self-care, access to support (as well as ways artists can support each other), and the need for positive cultural and industry change. Discussion and Q&A will be led by music journalist and activist, Louise Bruton, and the panel will be opened and closed with live performances.

SelfMade is a platform that explores the unseen sides of the music industry through discussion, performance, art and zines. With a strong focus on women in music, their goal is to celebrate the work of DIY musicians and to create a supportive space to explore the realities of getting a music project or career off the ground. SelfMade is organised independently by artist, Joanna Bain, and musician/label co-founder Julie Hawk (HAVVK) in collaboration with a collective of Irish musicians.