Plenty of music festivals have a benevolent component, from direct environmentalist actions or a well-intended, but vaguely-worded community initiative. Sound Mind Live, the concert branch of the nonprofit organization devoted to bolstering awareness around mental health and providing resources through music, puts doing good at the top of the marquee.
The 2024 iteration of Sound Mind will be held on May 18 in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. The day-long event will feature performances by Kevin Morby, Misterwives, SHAED, and Bailen, as well as an afterparty featuring Lady Gaga collaborator DJ White Shadow. There will also be an array of mental health-centric panels and workshops. Tickets can be reserved for free with a "Donate what you can" option, though there are some VIP perks for those who give more than $150. Proceeds will support the opening of a music and wellness center.
"A lot of the artists we work with are [participating] intentionality around creating impact beyond just performing at an event," says Chris Bullard, Sound Mind’s Executive Director and a former touring musician. "It’s [not] like a benefit concert gala, which sometimes for artists or musicians can feel a little stuffy. It’s a music festival vibe, but then it still has that intentionality built around it."
The festival falls during Mental Health Awareness Month and highlights that, while there are folks working to improve awareness and access, there's still a way to go. Although there have been significant strides in recognizing the frequency with which artists face mental health issues (Sound Mind’s puts this figure at 73 percent of musicians), the industry can be inherently detrimental to people prone to mental health issues. Grueling tour schedules, economic uncertainty, and more can lead to stress, depression, and anxiety — all of which make working in music far from a dream.
Sound Mind’s namesake festival began in 2019, bringing Langhorne Slim, Torres, Rage Almighty, and comedians Aparna Nancherla and Gary Gulman to Brooklyn’s since-relocated Rough Trade venue. The org's "artist ambassadors" — which include My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, Julien Baker, Alessia Cara, Serpentwithfeet, and Open Mike Eagle — span genres and experience, lending the credulity to an important cause.
Bullard and the team kept their infant festival going during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting a Los Angeles event in 2021 that featured All Time Low, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Ian Sweet playing intimate sets at a drive-in. In the years since Sound Mind has returned to Brooklyn; artists such as Iron & Wine, Pom Pom Squad, Big Boi, Cold War Kids, and Allison Russell have all taken the stage.
Of course, booking talent for a mission-driven event is different from more traditional talent buying. Bullard says Sound Mind wants to work with artists who, ideally, want to be involved with the organization in the long term.
"There's this other layer that we always take of who are the advocates for mental health, who really want to speak out, who are artists who have lived experience around this," he says. "Kevin Morby played one of our first events, and since we've stayed in touch with him and his team and just, he's been like, ‘Let me know when there's an opening where I can use my voice again and contribute to this.'"
That 2019 performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg made an impact on Morby, who says he was impressed with the group’s mission. He also felt that their efforts were sorely needed. "That was the first time I've heard of them," the singer/songwriter recalls. "I was really sort of excited to see an organization that was having this crossover of mental health and music, because I felt like that was something that was sort of a long-time coming."
Morby has lived a dozen lives in the music industry. He began his career as part of indie darling Woods in the late 2000s, and became a critical favorite in recent years as a solo artist. In 2022, he performed at the GRAMMY Museum and discussed his most recent album,This Is A Photograph.
Speaking to GRAMMY.com, Morby discussed how grueling touring can be, especially because touring has become an ever-larger portion of many artist’s income."People hit the road three times as hard as they used to," he says. The taxing nature of life on the road can make musicians uniquely susceptible to issues like substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.
"[Music has] been so romanticized and glamorized throughout the years. All of these things are the tropes of just being a rock and roller and heavy drinker and doing drugs," Morby says.
These are all topics that Sound Mind seeks to tackle at the festival and in its ongoing programming. Beyond what’s on the main stage, Sound Mind Live will offer attendees restorative sound session experiences, panels including "Mental Health in the LGBTQ+ Community" and "Mental Health in the Music Industry," several of which feature the festival acts. Bullard notes that both SHAED and Bailen have been involved with Sound Mind previously, the former as part of a video series about the anxiety COVID-19 brought to the music industry, and the latter as guests on Sound Mind’s Untangling the Chords podcast.
"So many people listen to music as a way to cope with mental health struggles. Sound Mind amplifies this by highlighting musicians’ own journeys," SHAED writes. Adds Bailen, "Mental health is such an important topic to us, and a lot of our music focuses on it. We think it’s so important to connect with fans and listeners honestly about the subject, and we’re lucky to be able to do it at this amazing festival alongside these other incredible artists we look up to." Bailen adds.
Once the festival has concluded, Sound Mind wants to further its positive impact on artists, industry folks, and fans through the establishment of the Sound Mind Center, which is scheduled to open in October.
"A goal for us is using the festival as this hopefully celebratory moment around our humanity, our shared humanity. I think that's a lot of what mental health and vulnerability is all about," Bullard says. "The fact that we are all perfect in imperfection, whatever that is."
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