100 Voices: Jim O'Donoghue-Martin- On Dealing With Anxiety Through Music: #NowWereTalking

My song ‘Reviver’ was made in response to my own dealings with anxiety and panic attacks. When overwhelmed, listening to and creating sound helps. I wanted to create something that could be used in mindfulness –practice, meditation or as a discreet backdrop to something more physical.

Something you could sleep to, run to, or write to. A piece designed for introspection in a world like ours. There was a plant on our living room table, called a calathea ornata (that’s the image on the artwork). I watched it in different states, moving upwards, fighting for light as a response to the onset of darkness; and then in a relaxed state as it bathed in sun in the morning.

I learned this was called nyctinasty, and it seemed like a good metaphor for the swings in mental well-being a day can offer. This recording takes that journey; an experience with darkness but ultimately offering uplifting catharsis. This was a reviving thing to make – hopefully it can benefit others.

One is never alone.

100 Voices was published in the Hot Press Mental Health Special in conjunction with Lyons Tea and Pieta House as part of the Now We're Talking Campaign. For more please visit hotpress.com/now-were-talking/