On “A Symptom of Being Human,” Shinedown's sweeping No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay hit, singer Brent Smith sings about the very relatable state of feeling isolated even when surrounded by others: “Sometimes I'm in a room where I don't belong/ And the house is on fire and there's no alarm.”
That vulnerability has been a mainstay of the rock band's career, which has yielded a record 19 No. 1 hits on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart over 18 years. On Tuesday afternoon at Hollywood & Mind's “Minds Matter: Spotlight on Shaping a Healthier Music Industry” conference at West Hollywood's London Hotel, Smith spoke in-depth about musicians and mental health and how communication is key to maintaining of a healthy balance in a creative. often unstable occupation.
Smith's panel was moderated by Ryan Dusick, a founding member of Maroon 5 who is now a therapist. Dusick began the conversation candidly, detailing how in 2006, as Maroon 5's star was on the rise, he suffered a breakdown that effectively ended his music career. “I had to get away from it,” he said. “I nursed that loss for another decade, battling alcoholism and other debilitating effects.” Once in recovery, Dusick realized he had experienced “a breakdown of mind, body and spirit. … I'm one of the lucky ones who survived.”
Through songs like “Get Up” and “Sound of Madness”, Shinedown have dealt with mental health issues. “I've been in a band talking about mental health for the better part of two decades,” Smith said. And while looking after one's mental health is at the forefront of many conversations these days, it wasn't always this way. “Before it was in the mainstream and came to the fore, it was something that was seen as a bit of a weakness. Sometimes people would just say you had a case of Mondays and things of that nature,” Smith said. “It's no longer taboo to talk about your feelings on the street. It doesn't make you weak. it makes you strong.”
Critical to maintaining a stable state of mind is communication. “We're on the road 280 days a year,” Smith said. “You need to talk to each other. In some cases, the bravest thing you can do is pull someone off the street. In some cases, it can save their lives. I want people to live to fight another day.”
As Smith says in the clip above, the key to success in the music business is always having “another mountain” to climb and understanding that life is a series of peaks and valleys. “When it comes to mental health, the most powerful thing is to speak up,” she said.
Speaking up was a theme throughout the day's five one-on-one talks, which also included emerging artist Em Beihold, who spoke about how to maintain habits that foster strong mental health, especially amid pressures from the music industry. as well as radio and television host Matt Pinfield, who suggested that something as simple as promoting artists you like through your social networks can help alleviate the pressure these artists feel to always push their work. Other speakers included Lucas Keller, founder/president of Milk & Honey Music + Sports; Alison Malmon, Founder/CEO of Active Minds. Mary Rahmani, founder of Moon Projects, a joint venture with Republic Records. Jaclyn Ranere, CMO of Sofar Sounds. Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice. Yuli, Grammy-nominated artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer. and Marshai Iverson, managing director of mental health and addiction services at MusiCares. Sponsors were Splice, Active Minds and Sofar Sounds.
Hollywood & Mind was founded in 2023 by veteran journalist (and Advertising sign contributor) Cathy Applefeld Olson to address the intersection of the entertainment industry and the brain health field, working with executives and talent in multiple fields, including music and film, to improve mental health and wellness.
The Jan. 30 event was Hollywood & Mind's third since it began with the Hollywood & Mind Summit held last May, which featured Demi Lovato discussing mental health, among other things. In September, the company hosted an event in partnership with Bumble focused on our loneliness crisis, with speakers including Tiffany Haddish, singer/songwriter Rachel Platten, and California First Associate Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The second annual Hollywood & Minds Summit will take place on May 9 at UTA in Los Angeles.
