Music seems to be a recurring theme in a lot of the blog posts. I’ve made no secret that it’s often my go to place to relax or even unleash some frustration. This could be by listening to one of the many genres I have on my Spotify account or via my record player.
The same goes for going to a live concert. For me there’s nothing like just going to a venue and singing along to your favourite tunes in a music venue. It’s pretty much the only place where I don’t feel self conscious about singing either!
Sadly, for nearly a year now the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the music industry massively. Artists haven’t been able to tour and apart from live streaming gigs, they haven’t been able to showcase their talents in a live setting.
The person who I’ve spoken to for this week’s blog is one of those who’ve been effected by this. Sarah Brown is a singer songwriter from Cardiff who I came across when I saw her perform a few years ago.
In this chat, Sarah opens up on how the lockdown and lack of gigs have effected her professionally and mentally. Plus she tells me how much music means to her and how what helps her through a difficult time.
How important is music to you, especially in difficult situations?
It’s everything to me. Of course it’s what I do for a living and something I’ve always wanted to do in life.
For me, songwriting is a way of therapy and if there’s something frustrating me or I need to express, putting it into a song is a great way of getting through a difficult situation.
It gives me an opportunity to really process everything going on in my mind and really express myself in a creative outlet. In general, music is the soundtrack to your life. It’s like a film and without a really good soundtrack you very rarely have a good film.
I still remember summers as a child based on what was number one in the charts back then. It really shows that music can give you an opportunity to link a song, album or artist to a certain memory or period of your life.
They say you can smell something which can invoke memories and things you see remind you of certain things. Music in a way is like a sixth sense as there’s weddings I went to as a child which I remember dancing to songs back then.
It gives me a sense of calmness but also nostalgia and for me there’s nothing else quite like it.
On your social media bios, it says that you use songwriting as a defence mechanism. What exactly do you mean by that?
It all stems from my love of the classic TV sitcom ‘Friends’. One of the characters, Chandler says that he uses humour and sarcasm as a defence mechanism. So it’s a play on that really but it most definitely has a deeper meaning as well.
For me, if I find something difficult or need to express myself, I’ll put it in a song. It’s most definitely therapeutic for me and by writing it down feels like a defence strategy.
Especially if I haven’t spoken up about something or something is bottled up, it’s a way of where I can take that burden off my shoulders. Seeing Chandler’s example is a way of showing we all have a defence mechanism.
If I write a song I instantly feel better about it. You see Taylor Swift as an example as her music is so personal and especially lately as she’s been in a battle with the rights over her material and her ways of fighting this negativity is making more music and that’s so much to take from.
I just know I can pick myself up from a bad place by song writing. Music is my safe haven and like I said it’s everything to me. By expressing my feelings through it is a huge example of that.
The pandemic has massively effected the music industry on all levels. How has it effected you?
It’s effected me financially because at the end of the day it’s my job, my livelihood, what I love and what gets me out of bed in the morning. From March, over a week long period I just watched all my work just disappear from cancellation after cancellation.
I think the first two months of lockdown I just didn’t want to sing. I didn’t even sing in the shower, write any songs or play any instruments. It hit me so hard that I just didn’t want to do anything and wanted to step away from all. It actually felt painful and traumatising in a way.
I know there’s so much bigger things going on in the world but this is something I’ve built for over the last 4 years and all of a sudden it’s taken away.
That was really hard to deal with at the beginning of the lockdown period. I just felt that the best option was to just step away from it all for a period.
The weather was beautiful so I sunbathed every day and was lovely to feel relaxed. After I while I started getting the itch to start writing and playing music again. Eventually I climbed back on the horse and started being creative again.
I think it’s fair to say that the experience in some ways was positive for me. It put in a position where I had to think to myself on what I was going to do. I needed a period of rest which recharged the batteries but what do I do with this time I have?
My love for music was rediscovered and is stronger than ever before. I practiced my instruments more and am so much better at them now and just knew the experience would give me time to focus and improve on what I was already doing.
It also helped me realise that my whole identity was pretty much involved with music. I was so proud of myself for doing that and I was shocked as to just how much I was working before the lockdown. I was doing 10 gigs a week at some points and I work really hard to get to where I am.
I realise now that I can fill my life with other things so it’s been a massive learning experience for me. Some people have podcasts or other projects to fall back on whilst I didn’t. It’s definitely a time to self reflect as well as grow on things you’re already doing.
What is most misunderstood about being a singer/songwriter?
There’s such a misconception, especially for females who’s trying to break into the music industry. Growing up in the 2000’s was tough.
If you wanted to get into the business as pop music was predominantly pop princesses or girl bands. If you didn’t fit into that category, the majority of the time you wouldn’t get signed or whatever.
There were some examples of artists who didn’t fit into that category like Avril Lavigne or Gwen Stefani but for a pop singer it was mainly the mainstream view that you’d have to be a pop princess. It got to the point at the age of 22 that I was told that I was too old to audition by one of my teachers at a college in London.
As a result, that was a stigma which still stays with me to this very day. It felt like I left it too late so that dream seemed shattered to me at that point. I got to the age of 32 and had an epiphany of sorts. I just flipped and realised that maybe it isn’t too late.
Who can tell me that I can’t do it and it’s too late? I could still sing so I decided to go for it and became a full time covers singer within a year and now I’m doing my own material as well.
There does come a point every now and then where I do think “am I too old for this?”. Pretty much instantly I reassure myself by saying “it doesn’t matter” because I’m doing something I love. Age used to be a massive factor and I don’t think it is anymore.
I think that if I had the opportunities which I have now back when I was 22/23, I wouldn’t have coped as well as I do now. I’m so much more assured and confident now and back then I hadn’t grown as a person, so I’m all the better for it and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Social media wasn’t as prominent when I was 23 and probably wouldn’t have coped with the negative side of it. I was quite naive and impressionable before. It’s an either or situation and there is no perfect scenario either. However age is for sure less of a factor.
Especially at gigs I’d get people surprised that I hadn’t settled down with kids at 32 and was still doing this. That’s all down to perceptions and it’s down to the classic society view that you should settle down and have kids. I like to break from the rule book a bit by doing what I do. It shows strength as well as ambition.
There’s a quote I love which puts things in perspective. “It’s never too late to be what you could have been”, and that speaks in volumes to me. I full believe that and one of my friends is seriously considering a career change and I referred that quote to her as you don’t know unless you try it. Don’t live in regret, if you have a goal, go for it.
Don’t settle in something you’re not happy with. There’s so many more opportunities out there, especially for music. Like before, the only main exposure you’d have was being signed to a record deal.
Now you have streaming, social media, You Tube. It’s definitely a better climate for musicians to get their stuff out than ever before.
It’s a competitive market but it does present so many opportunities. More people can access it and it gives you the opportunity to promote your gigs on a public platform and everyone can see it.
Aside from music, what do you find helpful in getting through difficult situations?
People. The right people of course and my family, friends and especially my boyfriend are massive for me. If there’s something we’ve leaned from 2020 it’s that we crave on human connection and that the interactions being taken from us was a massive hit to our every day life.
There’s been times in my life where I didn’t really have a good support network so now I really can appreciate what I have around me. I’m lucky to have these people in my life and I don’t know where I’d be without them.
I also believe that self care is massively important along with compassion.
Just being kinder even to yourself if you’re not feeling productive is a huge thing. By having a bath, or fake tanning is a huge way to take the load off of your mind. It helps me de-stress so I can start again in a positive mindset the following day.
I love watching TV shows as well. I’ve mentioned ‘Friends’ and it puts me in a great mood. Finding things which helps feel joyous or happy is massive. It helps you feel better in difficult situations and aids you to switch off when you need to from bad points or a stressful day.
Just like how a takeaway or ice cream is comfort food, ‘Friends’ is comfort TV for me and I could honestly watch it all day long.
Why do you think there is such a stigma surround mental health?
I think it’s a historical thing. Our parents and their parents generations didn’t have the means of support that we have today. It’s something I’ve learned from watching TV shows like ‘The Crown’. Back then you weren’t supposed to talk about your feelings and had to live with the “stiff upper lip” kind of mentality.
I don’t know if it came from the war but after the horrific experiences that came from it, was that generation so grateful to not complain about the so called “little things” in comparison to a world wide impact of a war. It might be down to that, I don’t know but little things are big in certain ways.
In the last 15 to 20 years, the stigma does seem to get less and less prominent. I think it’s much more acceptable to talk about your problems. I listen to a fantastic podcast by Fearne Cotton called ‘Happy Place’ and I love it. The guests she has are incredible as is she and it helps me feel like I’m not alone.
It also shows that no matter what way of life you’re from, we all have our struggles at the end of the day. When you hear someone else talk about something they’re going through that is also being experienced by yourself is refreshing but also gives you a boost. You’re not alone and proves we’re in this together.
It’s a part of your soul that you have to bear by being open. Like you with the blog or me with music, it’s a big thing to open up like that. There’s some songs I really struggle to share with my guitarist that I work with.
One of my values is to make sure all the men in my life are ok. I know it’s not up to me to fix everybody but I still want to people feel that somebody cares. I will check in on them every now and then because it’s widely known that men don’t open up a lot about their issues.
There’s that classic stereotype which of course you touch on with the name of your blog that boys don’t cry when in reality they do. It’s all about normalising it instead of creating this stigma. I know that guys find it harder to talk about things when it’s perfectly fine to do so.
From my experiences of talking my male friends, I find they do find it easier in opening up to a female which I’m not sure if it’s the same for you or other men but it’s most definitely something I notice with my friends.
If you open up about it once, that weight is lifted and you’ll keep on talking. You’re benefitting those who care because they’re there and offering help but most importantly you’re helping yourself. Getting through the bad times are important. By doing it via an honest way is a tough but essential way of doing so.
The more people I talk to about it, the more I realise that we all our battles. That could be anxiety, depression or any other factor. I’ve had my struggles from a young age and it took time to accept that I did, but a huge part of doing that will aid you in moving forward. It’s brave to be open, even on a public platform.
By going public like a blog will help and educate so many other people. It’s a learning and growing experience which will be beneficial to so many other people as well as yourself.
What would you say to someone who is struggling and doesn’t know if talking about it is the right thing to do?
I don’t like telling people what they should and shouldn’t do but I feel that talking is a huge part and a beginning of a massive journey of self discovery and acceptance. Helping yourself to get out of that rut can be aided by talking.
It’s helped me in my personal experiences. The thing that people struggle with is who to tell. Our generation struggles with talking to parents as it’s not something they would be used to from their generations.
Someone who’s not a family member like a friend or a colleague is massive. Even if it’s someone you don’t know like a counsellor or a helpline can be so beneficial as well.
Talking about it the best way for sure and you’ll thank yourself for doing it.
Like everyone else I’ve spoken to for the blog, this didn’t feel like an “interview”. After a few minutes it felt like a chat with someone I hadn’t seen in a while.
This of course was my first interaction with Sarah but by what was covered in her answers you’d swear I’d known her for a lot longer. She deserves a lot of credit for being open, especially about her struggles.
There’s a lot of people like Sarah in the music industry who’s been hit by the pandemic and although material can still be released, the touring and performing aspect is a massive past both creatively and financially to any artist.
I really do hope that a time comes soon where it’s ok to return to venues and Sarah as well as any other artist can go back to a packed pub, club, arena or stadium and perform the songs they love to play.
Sarah also touched on many other aspects such as perceptions in the music industry. You see a lot more honesty in that area in the modern climate and although she had her struggles, I’m sure Sarah feels all the better for being true to herself, ignoring the unnecessary criticism and following her dream.
Thank you as always for taking time to have a read of the blog. Massive thanks goes to Sarah for taking the time to have a chat as well. I wish her nothing but the very best and I’m sure when it’s safe to do, she’ll be wowing crowds just like she was before.
If anyone would like to follow Sarah on social media or music sites, I’ve posted some links below. Her current single ‘Salvation’ is out now and has been picked up by BBC Introducing which is massive.
Congratulations to Sarah and may the good times continue!
Hope you’re all safe, take care and until next time I guess this isn’t a goodbye, it’s more of a see you later!
Social Media – @sarahbrownworld (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
Website – sarahbrownworld.com
Streaming/Download – Search Sarah Brown on all music streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music)
MIND OVER NOISE 