Despite stepping on stage to perform in front of a sea of fans, musicians are certainly not exempt from the crippling ailment that is anxiety.
There are many high-profile artists that have publicly spoken of their battles with the cruel illness, even the likes of Adele has turned down festival performances due to uncontrollable nerves, and now an Australian rock icon has spoken of his own personal conflict with anxiety.
Tim Rogers, the magnetic and loveable frontman of Aussie garage outfit You Am I, sat down with the ABC in an interesting interview that touched on many facets of his life, including his ongoing war with mental illness.
Rogers has noted that he experienced panic attacks, anxiety and depression in his younger years. He was asked how he pushed through such issues in order to step onstage as a performer, to which he gave a very honest response.
“Being on stage was where you could be surrounded by noise and power. That was the big pay-off. And so that was the way I worked through it,” he said. “I went through all different therapies and a lot of medication. It was all just straight on to anti-psychotics and downers, I guess.”
Just like the countless others that have suffered from these sorts of uncontrollable attacks, Rogers went on to reveal that he has never fully defeated anxiety. “And then it all started coming back a couple of months ago. I was on stage doing a show and they were the type of attacks that were the same as when I was a kid. It was horrifying,” he said.
He then went onto explain how these issues have impacted his songwriting, “I think writing songs is a way of romanticising pain in the way that it can make it palatable for yourself. Because, I mean, pain and sadness, when it becomes sort of unfathomable, the fear of just getting lost in that is kind of terrifying.”
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of joy in me and why I haven’t been able to – to transpose that into lyrics and music, I’m not quite sure. But the You Am I songs, even the aggressive ones, that’s an aggression come out of joy,” Rogers detailed.
Such issues like mental disorders are not the easiest for a sufferer to speak of. It’s fantastic to see a revered and an unsuspecting character like Tim Rogers open up about his private difficulties, as well as taking a proactive approach in explaining how he has addressed such problems through music.
Tim Rogers and The Bamboos just released their collaborative record, The Rules of Attraction, and are embarking on a national tour for the month of June to celebrate its arrival.
TIM ROGERS & THE BAMBOOS 2015 TOUR DATES
Thursday 18 June – Triffid, Brisbane – Tickets
Friday 19 June – The Metro, Sydney – Tickets
Thursday 25 June – Corner Hotel, Melbourne – Tickets
Friday 3 July – The Gov, Adelaide – Tickets
Saturday 4 July – Rosemount Hotel, Perth – Tickets
