Mental Health
Bear Grillz Explores the Duality of Mental Health On Two-Sided Album, “Prismata”
In the midst of announcing a massive tour and headlining Red Rocks performance, Bear Grillz has finally unveiled his highly anticipated album, Prismata. Out via his own Rude Service imprint, the brilliant two-sided LP is an illuminating glimpse into the duality of mental health, exploring the highs and lows experienced by those coping with anxiety. While one moment someone may be thriving in their recovery, the next they very well could be back to square one. Both sides of Prismata delve into that theme, embracing the concept of weathering internal battles. Prismata (Light) is rooted in motifs of love, support and hope. The opening track “Up In Flames” (with Crankdat and Dia Frampton) is a timely exemplar of that message, featuring lyricism about providing unwavering suppo...
Building LGBTQ+ Communities with The Aces on Going There with Dr. Mike
Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Stitcher | Google | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS The Aces close out Pride Month on the Going There podcast by joining host Dr. Mike in a discussion about building community to battle anti-LGBTQ+ bias and discrimination. Advertisement The indie pop quartet — Cristal and Alisa Ramirez, Katie Henderson, and McKenna Petty — talk about their own experiences coming out as gay in an industry that met them with powerful and damaging bias and discrimination. In order to cope, they needed to live a “double life in their head.” One part understood that they were gay, and the other had to be careful not to let those natural feelings come through for fear of damaging their ca...
Bloom Vol 20: Dating Me
Nails on a chalkboard. A semi-truck skidding to a halt on the interstate as its back jack-knifes, sending sparks cascading across rows of cars like the Fourth of July. A never-ending vacuum on a Saturday morning outside of your apartment door. What do these three things have in common? They are all analogous to how I used to treat me when I was alone. Emotional intelligence ultimately falls to us: our ability to regulate our emotions, and perceive our emotions. I had never lived on my own until last year. Be it parents, roommates, or a significant other, I had always had someone around. As a socialite and a former serial monogamous, my adult years have teemed with staggering levels of distraction. Equating external human interactions and connections to distractions might sound harsh. What ...
UMG Partners With Music Wellness App Vera to Help People With Dementia
Universal Music Group has been named the exclusive launch partner for Vera, a mobile application created by music wellness and technology company Music Health. Vera is an AI-driven music app designed specifically for people suffering with dementia. The technology used in the Vera application “allows Vera to curate the perfect song at the right time for every individual listener.” According to UMG, the venture took Music Health three years of rigorous research and development. The research included more than 20,000 hours of observation and analysis to effectively conclude that Vera had a positive impact on the quality of life of people with BPSD, or the Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia. “We’ve built Vera to know and find the music that mea...
Bloom Vol 19: Smile
I often received remarks on my seemingly perpetual state of happiness in elementary school – a smile that would never leave my face. One time, I happened to eat something most unagreeable with myself, resulting in me spending some time in the main office – my teacher, Ms. Gould, passed through and remarked, “Alex, see, even after throwing up, you’re still smiling – nothing will take that smile from you.” Eventually, time would lessen its presence. As partially defined last week, a significant component of emotional intelligence is our ability to understand, perceive, and control our emotional states. I had forgotten just how powerful a consistent smile could be and how it ties to my well-being. Growing in my understanding and means to observe the nuances within my behavio...
Bloom Vol 19: Smile
I often received remarks on my seemingly perpetual state of happiness in elementary school – a smile that would never leave my face. One time, I happened to eat something most unagreeable with myself, resulting in me spending some time in the main office – my teacher, Ms. Gould, passed through and remarked, “Alex, see, even after throwing up, you’re still smiling – nothing will take that smile from you.” Eventually, time would lessen its presence. As partially defined last week, a significant component of emotional intelligence is our ability to understand, perceive, and control our emotional states. I had forgotten just how powerful a consistent smile could be and how it ties to my well-being. Growing in my understanding and means to observe the nuances within my behavio...
Bloom Vol 19: Smile
In this ongoing series, DJ and mental-health advocate Alex Wagner shares stories and inspiration to create awareness. I often received remarks on my seemingly perpetual state of happiness in elementary school – a smile that would never leave my face. One time, I happened to eat something most unagreeable with myself, resulting in me spending some time in the main office – my teacher, Ms. Gould, passed through and remarked, “Alex, see, even after throwing up, you’re still smiling – nothing will take that smile from you.” Eventually, time would lessen its presence. As partially defined last week, a significant component of emotional intelligence is our ability to understand, perceive, and control our emotional states. I had forgotten just how powerful a consistent smile could be and how it t...
Bloom Vol 19: Smile
In this ongoing series, DJ and mental-health advocate Alex Wagner shares stories and inspiration to create awareness. I often received remarks on my seemingly perpetual state of happiness in elementary school – a smile that would never leave my face. One time, I happened to eat something most unagreeable with myself, resulting in me spending some time in the main office – my teacher, Ms. Gould, passed through and remarked, “Alex, see, even after throwing up, you’re still smiling – nothing will take that smile from you.” Eventually, time would lessen its presence. As partially defined last week, a significant component of emotional intelligence is our ability to understand, perceive, and control our emotional states. I had forgotten just how powerful a consistent smile could be and how it t...
Bloom Vol 18: Emotional Intelligence
Music is a powerful key to pieces of our minds and hearts that might succumb to cobwebs and rotting wood otherwise. Music threads thought and understanding into the fabric of emotional comprehension, allowing us to feel magnified to limitless degrees, potentially, everything. It is wondrous to allow abstraction to help us articulate emotion, perceive it, and even evaluate it. We developed these forms of communication through music and the arts that can unpack the heaviest of loads. Pink Floyd’s “Time” plays in the background as I make my way through these lines. I hear the ringing clocks, the clops that fane a helicopter’s whirling blades, and timpanis that roll panned dramatically left and right, verberating in the distance. The guitar comes in low. I am a student of my library, re-readin...
The Used’s Bert McCracken Seeks Mental Health Treatment, Band Cancels Festival Gigs
The Used singer Bert McCracken has announced that he will seek professional treatment for mental health struggles. As a result, the band has canceled its scheduled gigs at the Slam Dunk festival slated for this coming weekend (June 3rd and 4th) in the UK. McCracken revealed his current “struggle with mental health” via the band’s social pages on Tuesday (May 31st), apologizing for skipping the high-profile festival performances while asserting that it’s the best decision for his personal well-being. The singer’s full statement reads as follows: “I have always been open about my struggle with mental health and have recently found myself facing new and overwhelming challenges. For this reason, I won’t be able to play the upcoming shows at Slam Dunk. I am so sorry but needed to make this deci...
Bloom Vol 17: Just a Thought
It was mid-50s out in the crisp Pacific Northwest air. Discolored hands carrying bags of groceries in the cold, a washed, dull look splashed onto my face. Between point A and point B, I felt alone. It’s challenging to fit into much of anything when you walk on a tightrope wearing neon blue and sequin, I murmured to myself. As Broadway crested its peak, I wondered if I had plateaued. I had a myriad of tiny conspirators passing through clamoring for the captain’s seat to my day. I sighed, hoping to myself that a deranged criminal would come to shoot me, making my desire to die not my fault, merely my beneficial coincidence. For all of the solutions in the world, for all that we are capable of, we are still human and can have thoughts like these. More passive, with no plan, no timeframe. A fe...
Celebrate World Meditation Day with Eric Sharp’s Exclusive EDM.com Playlist
Balance isn’t something you find; it’s something you create. In honor of World Meditation Day, we’re reflecting on different ways the electronic dance music scene can adopt healthier habits. While loads of fun, our industry generally isn’t the healthiest. Ask any touring artist and most will tell you that all of the late nights, extensive travel, sleep deprivation, and partying can do a number on one’s mental and physical wellbeing. From the outside looking in, it may seem as if the EDM world is run by revelers. This, however, is not always the case. There are a number of dance music artists who live very mindful and healthy lifestyles, even while on the road and in the thick of the nightlife. One such artist is the house maestro, Eric Sharp. Having channeled his sober, he...
