Say hello to Ben from Mentality, who is sharing some thoughts on the music he enjoys to get him through hard and stressful times.
Mentality is OTR’s youth campaigning group, who work to reduce the stigma around mental illness.
Take it away Ben!
How I deal with stress:
These emotions are the reason music is such an effective way, for me and many others, to bust stress. If your stress is derived from something which angers or irritates you, putting on the debut Rage Against The Machine is a way of letting out that anger, in a healthy, fun way.
Similarly, if you’d rather contemplate the source of the stress and find a solution for said source, why not play some more calming, maybe repetitive music. I often find instrumental music such as Jazz, Post-Rock or even Classical is good thinking music.
Another good tip is to experiment. Next time stress compels you to put on some music, why not try something new, or something you have been recommended. I love doing this, because through this method I have found some of my favourite bands, such as Death Grips, Run The Jewels or Nisennenmondai. Finally, don’t feel like you should listen to what is cool. No pleasure should be guilty, if you enjoy listening to something that people would regard as cheesy, go for it! Often, music branded as a “Guilty pleasure” can be that which is fun, happy, and simple, so it is perfect for those times when you just need a ‘pick me up’.
To finish this off, I thought I would do a quick list of some bands and albums that help me through those times of stress, with their genres and a brief description, so you can see if you might like to check them out. Also, I have a blog: star-ad.tumblr.com, where I blog about all kinds of music, and would love if you checked it out. That is also where you can post queries about this, and any of my other “Articles”.
- Death Grips – Exmilitary: A brilliantly weird, abrasive and heavy experimental hip hop album. Not for the faint hearted!
- Nisennenmondai – Destination Tokyo: Incredible, confusing and danceable repetitive post-rock that makes for brilliant concentration music.
- David Bowie – Aladdin Sane: A fantastic, driving glam rock album that has catchy hooks.
- Rage Against The Machine: Simply put, the best Rap-Metal band ever, beautiful anger with one of the best guitarists ever.
- Tool: Simply, music to lose yourself in.
Thank you for reading, there are hundreds of more bands and albums I could have put on the list, but you will most likely get bored!
Thanks Ben!
What music helps de-stress you? Let us know on @otrbristol and check out The Resilience Lab for more stress-busting tips!