Voices For Mental Health: The Murder Capital's James McGovern

When someone decides to take their own life, it’s because they’re innately unwell. I went from knowing someone who was happy, talented and caring, to seeing them in a position where they thought that they’d rather not live anymore. If help had been more openly available to them, or if they’d known where to turn, they wouldn’t have died. That’s where the name The Murder Capital comes from: these unnecessary deaths that take place.

When I was younger, I don’t remember mental health being a topic of conversation. Growing up is such a minefield – you’re in constant confrontation with everything around you, and trying to understand it all can be quite difficult. I was confused a lot.

In school, there were no discussions or classes about mental health. And because men don’t have a history of talking about it, there’s this feeling that you’re the only one experiencing the feelings of depression or despair.

It needs to be talked about more openly. More options need to be put in place for people of different incomes. Looking at the suicide rates in this country, it is clear that now’s the time for action.

A big issue for artists is limiting the party to when it’s supposed to be a party. Learning to deal with the adrenaline after you get off the stage every night is something that takes a bit of time. You see so many people in bands getting into trouble with their mental health through substance misuse. But we shouldn’t just be saying, “They shouldn’t do that.” We should ask, “Why does that person feel the need to drink and take drugs so often?”

Thankfully, in The Murder Capital, we were never a band who got drunk before we went on stage – that’s just not what we’re into. When you’re touring and playing different shows all the time, you have to keep working at keeping your head on some kind of even keel. The less I party on tour, the easier it is for me.

Music is the purest form of freedom in my life. When I’m on stage or writing with the boys, I feel like I’ve thrown off any chains I have mentally. Anyone with a great passion in life will tell you that’s when they feel most free. Finding that kind of purpose in life can bring you some light, even in the middle of darkness.

With our new album, When I Have Fears, we were exploring the true inner darkness of our lives, so it would have been dishonest not to explore the light as well. One doesn’t exist without the other. The record is capturing this place that’s completely in darkness – but somehow, you find that you can see. It’s like a wash of light in a pitch-black room.

Obviously mental health issues affect everyone, but the statistics are harshest on young men like us. After losing friends to mental health issues, we were spurred on to talk about it. We have a totally open dialogue – we’ll talk about anything. We’re not experts in this field,. We don’t have exact solutions. But we are looking at ways to open the dialogue further and to change the stigma around mental health. We don’t want the next generation to grow up with the struggles we’ve had.

Now We're Talking 2019
A partnership between Lyons Tea, Pieta House & Hot Press.
Let’s break the stigma and take the dialogue about mental health issues onto a new level
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