CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast & MTV Entertainment Group Partner For First National ‘Mental Health Action Day’ to Drive People to Take Mental Health Action for Themselves or Others

More than a year into COVID-19 and amidst a most dire mental health crisis, the CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast and more than 500 organizations team up to plan inaugural ‘Mental Health Action Day’ on May 20

CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcasttoday announces its participation in the first-ever Mental Health Action Day, to be held on Thursday, May 20 in partnership with more than 500 leading brands, nonprofits, government agencies and cultural leaders.

Over the past two decades, suicide rates have risen, particularly among young adults. And the COVID pandemic has accelerated the already dire crisis, giving way to what many mental health professionals have called the “second pandemic.”

Though more people than ever are comfortable discussing mental health, finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement of brands, organizations and cultural leaders to drive culture from mental health awareness to mental health action.

Partners will encourage people to take mental health action — whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes. Resources and tools will be available for people to seek help in a myriad of ways from starting a meditation practice, learning how to support a friend, or advocating for change.

From CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast:

“Talking openly about and sharing your stories on mental health is only part of the solution,” says Mari Fong, Executive Producer and Host of the CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast. “The second part is taking action which can include taking action for yourself, for a loved one, or for your community.

“The CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast aims to do both by sharing stories and solutions for recovery from your favorite musicians and experts, while checkyourheadpodcast.com provides 100+ solutions to assist you in taking positive action.”

“Good mental health is the feeling of joy, appreciation and contentment with our personal and professional lives. It’s such a delicate balance and one that needs to be an ongoing priority during these uncertain times.”

From MTV:

“From Covid-19 to economic struggles and the continuing fight for racial justice, the other half of the twin pandemic is the rise of our mental health challenges,”said Erika Soto Lamb, Vice President of Social Impact Strategy at MTV Entertainment Group.

“This is a critical moment to shift our culture from mental health awareness to mental health action and MTV is proud to come together with diverse cross-sector leaders on this inaugural day to encourage and empower people to take action — for themselves, for their loved ones or for the systemic changes needed to improve our social and emotional wellbeing.”

Mental Health Action Day is being planned in partnership with TaskForce, a cultural organizing agency that builds capacity for those taking on the most pressing challenges facing our communities, our nation and our world.

Additional participants and more information about how each partner will activate on May 20 will be forthcoming. More on Mental Health Action Day and a current list of partners can be found at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org.

Listen to the CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast onwww.checkyourheadpodcast.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Joe Trohman Of Fall Out Boy Announces New Podcast

Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman has announced he’s launching a new podcast.

Titled as ‘I Hate Myself with Joe Trohman’ and will focus on in-depth and honest conversations about leading a successful career in music whilst suffering daily with depression and anxiety. 

The first episode is set to air next Wednesday (March 17th) and the first guest is going to be Seth Green. 

Here’s a quick synopsis for the show:

“I HATE MYSELF is a podcast hosted by Joe Trohman, co-founder of Fall Out Boy. This unscripted series features in-depth interviews with celebrities, creators, and other “successful-types,” discussing how mental health has impacted their lives, coping mechanisms they’ve learned, and how they’re able to thrive while living with depression and anxiety.

A clinically depressed “man” with over two decades of psychotherapy under his tool-belt, Joe, along with his co-host, comedy writer Wade Randolph, will be just the tool you’ve always needed for every sad and stressful occasion!”

A trailer for the first episode can be heard here.

CHECK YOUR HEAD: Mental Help for Musicians Podcast

CHECK YOUR HEAD is a podcast where notable musicians and experts share their personal stories and real-world solutions for mental health.

Launched in 2019 and Executive Produced and Hosted by Mari Fong, a seasoned music journalist and certified Life Coach for Musicians, CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast, has hosted open, honest and intimate conversations about mental health, wellness and recovery with the likes of Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), Fred Armisen (Portlandia, SNL, Late Night with Seth Meyers), The Bloody Beetroots, Frank Zummo (SUM 41) Emilio Castillo (Tower Of Power), Yesod Williams (Pepper), Sammi Doll (IAMX, Kat Von D), Danny Griego and Shaun Morgan (Seether), Kevin Lyman (Vans Warped Tour) and most recently, the iconic Linda Ronstadt.

Top mental health experts are paired with each episode such as Dr. Dan Reidenberg (SAVE.org), Michael Friedman, Ph.D. (Psychology Today), Dr. Ish Major (Relationship expert, “Marriage Boot Camp”), Johan Svanberg (Record Union, “The 73 Percent Report”) and Tim Ringgold, MT-BC (Music Therapist, Sonic Recovery).

Fong says, “When I first heard the news in 2017 that Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) had lost his life to suicide, the news hit me hard. Then when Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) took his own life and soon after AVICII (Tim Bergling) did the same, I just couldn’t believe it.”

She adds, “Here were artists whose music brought me and many others so much joy, and now they were gone. I knew I had to do something, but something that would actually make a difference.”

That “something” was to become an advocate for musicians and their 
mental health. Fong raised funds by hosting music events and partnering 
with charities to help provide solutions to the increasing crisis of suicides, 
self-medicating addictions, and other mental health challenges faced within 
the music industry.

Now with 19 episodes and counting under her belt, and an ever-growing audience tuning in, Fong and her CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast continue on with the important mission of normalizing the conversations around mental health.

CHECK YOUR HEAD is fiscally sponsored by DBSA San Gabriel Valley, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with all donations tax-deductible.

Listen to the CHECK YOUR HEAD Podcast at checkyourheadpodcast.com , Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Courtney LaPlante (Spiritbox) Launches Good For A Girl Podcast

There’s a new podcast on the horizon! Spiritbox vocalist Courney LaPlante has given us the Good For A Girl podcast!

It will see LaPlante joined by a variety of female and non-binary guests from all factions of the music industry as they discuss their personal experiences of gender inequality that influenced and shaped her them as they navigated their way along their respective career paths.

This is what she had to say about putting the podcast together.

“This is a place for us to let our guard down and relate to one another. There are just as many fascinating people behind the scenes as there are fascinating people under the spotlight, and learning from their experience and expertise can help the rest of us get closer to our own goals within this industry.”

A new episode will air every Wednesday at 5:00PM (UK time), and the first episode with guest Caity Babs of SiriusXM is now available to stream and listen to.

Check out the podcast via Spotify.

The Ghost Inside “Made The Wrong Call” Firing Jim Riley

Back in June, The Ghost Inside has announced they removed Jim Riley from the band following the allegations which had surfaced against him in regards to the use of a racial slur in the past.

In a recent episode of the Defiance podcast, the members of the band discussed Riley’s removal and expressing their regret where they “made the wrong call”.

Here’s an excerpt from the podcast where drummer Andrew Tkaczyk speaks.

“We were just feeling the pressure from fans, people on social media, and even some peers… we felt the pressure and we made a decision against the wishes of our management and label and as soon as we made that initial post about Jim not being in the band anymore… like it went live, and I’m not trying to sound dramatic or ‘feel bad for me’ or anything like that but it’s the first time in my life, I hadn’t eaten for two days straight, and that post went up and I vomited out of straight anxiety. I have never in my life, personally, even with the accident, felt or dealt with anxiety on a level life this, where I didn’t eat or sleep. I think we all just saw something going on that was like a lose/lose and we just felt like that was the call to make at the time, and immediately felt bad and felt wrong. We knew that. We never stopped talking to Jim or anything. We literally have chatted every day since. It’s difficult for me to even talk about. This is such a sensitive subject.”

He later expanded on the sitatuon.

“The outrage makes sense from people. I get it. But when we instantly realized that we made the worst mistake in the band’s career, probably, it felt too soon to correct it or even address it. I think we all, for our own sanity, had to step away from this for a long time and I’m telling you right now it was the worst few months that I can remember in recent history and I think we had to step away and just still talk to each other, but almost ignore all these comments we’re seeing like, ‘you did this to your brother’, and it’s like… mentally, imagine how frustrating it is to not be able to reply to reply to someone and be like, ‘I woke up from a ten-day coma to Jim holding my hand in a hospital. He IS my brother. You don’t know him like I do’. The mental toll that has taken on us, to have to just sit there and take it has been hard, but guess what? I’m sitting here admitting it, and we’re taking it on the chin. We fucked up. We are also just human. We fucked up and that’s it. If people don’t want to support the band and all that, I accept that. That’s everyone’s decision to make but regardless of anything we’ve even just said, the most important thing is that Jim is still our brother.”

Chris Davis (Guitar) also spoke on the podcast. He has also taken on Bass duties for the band following the removal of Riley.

“It felt that incident was going to take away the band again. It just felt so overwhelming that it’s like we have to… all five of us felt like we had to do something. Looking back now, we definitely acted hastily and definitely made the wrong call. It’s so hard to understand all the mental gymnastics you have to do in a situation like that, under pressure, and how hard it is to process everything that’s coming at you all at once. It’s so easy to jump to the wrong decision just based on the pressures of what’s going on on the Internet.”

In addition, Riley offers his own perspective on the matter.

“Hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy today to look back and say we could have handled things a different way, we could have said things a different way, but it just didn’t feel that way in the moment. The five of us talked and I told the guys, ‘the four of you have to make this decision, this is my mess and I have to be the one to deal with the repercussions of this and I have to take accountability for myself’. I felt like it was not fair for the whole band to get dragged down, especially on the day this album is coming out. For the whole band to be taken away again and watching in real-time on your Twitter feed, to watch the band be taken away from you, was unfair and the responsibility for that falls on me. I told the guys I would gladly step away from the band if that was going to be what it took for The Ghost Inside to move forward. In the moment, it did definitely feel like that was the only decision that could be made. If it felt like there was some other way to navigate this, we would have done that instead. It just didn’t feel that way.”

All excepts were transcribed by Lambgoat.

At the time of writing there is no indication if The Ghost Inside will have Riley reinstated as a member of the band.

Be Sure To Listen To Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World) New Podcast

Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins has announced a brand new podcast.

‘Pass-Through Frequencies’ via Fender Guitars will be focussing on the art of songwriting and the creative process that comes with it.

The debut episode is set to be released tomorrow (August 6th 2020) and will be featuring Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus.

More and more guests will be lining up with Fun’s Nate Reuss, Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba and more.

On the podcast, Adkins has said the following:

“When I’m working on a song, it almost feels like I am channeling something. It’s like I am holding the rudder with only a vague clue who might be paddling. I have to find a balanced mindset of being wholly present…and not “there” at all.

The creative process has as much reward and mystery as it did 26 years ago when I started writing songs with Jimmy Eat World. I am still totally fascinated. In this series I chat with music people about their process, preparation and execution. As well as whatever may get thrown in on the side.”

Taylor Momsen Says New Pretty Reckless Record To Be Released In 2021

Previously stated as not knowing when The Pretty Reckless’s long awaited upcoming new record, ‘Death By Rock And Roll’ will be released into the world, don’t be excited if you think you’re getting it in 2020.

Though Momsen promised new music is on the way, when asked on the Daryyl Talks To Bands podcast,

“The album is still coming in 2021, right?” she responds, “It is. It is a very weird thing to be releasing music right now. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking to put music out into the world at any time, but certainly releasing music in these very unprecedented times is a bit scary.”

She continues: “It’s very weird to release music and not be able to back it up with a tour – the circle doesn’t feel complete until you get to play the songs live.

“…I think we’re doing the same thing that a lot of bands are doing – we’re just kind of waiting and observing and trying to see where this is gonna go; these are such unprecedented times. So it’s kind of a little bit of a waiting game right now, so we don’t have a specific release date. But I couldn’t wait forever to put out music, hence the first single. We continued with that plan.”

Excitingly, though, Taylor adds: “And there’s gonna be many more singles before the full album, so there’s gonna be much more music coming your way – just not the full shebang till a little bit later.”

Though we know is so up-in-the-air at the moment, one thing we do already know is that Death By Rock And Roll is set to feature some pretty epic and larger than life guests on the release: Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil on the song Only Love Can Save Me Now, and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello on a track titled And So It Went.

You can listen to Taylor Momsen’s interview below.

New Podcast: She’s A Punk To Drop On February 5th

There’s a new Punk Podcast on the way and it’s coming from Siobhan Woodrow.

It’s going to be a bi-weekly interview series and feature intimate portraits of radical women who are guided by the Punk Ethos.

Every episode will feature a female artist, Musician, Athlete or Activist all of which have one thing in common: a punk attitude.

She’s a punk is going to be all about community, to share art and ideas and to support other punks.

It’s going to start February 5th and to listen, visit shesapunk.com or subscribe on any major podcast provider.

New With Cinfidence Album Coming In 2018

Better Weather was amazing and everybody knows it! But sadly that album cycle is coming to an end as they have confirmed in a Podcast with Rocksound that they’re writing for album number 2 right now.

Here’s a little snippet of what was said!

“I think I’ve written songs that are better with ‘Better Weather’ songs,” said Jayden. “Just being on tour and experiencing music firsthand for a whole year straight makes you a better songwriter, and I think that’s reflected in what we’re doing.”

“I don’t want to get too excited too quickly, but we’ll be in the studio at the end of this year.”

So a 2018 release?

“Yep!”

And if you’d like to listen to the full podcast, it is available via Soundcloud below.