Mid West Music Fest goes virtual to shine spotlight on mental health

For a long time now, musician Jillian Rae has been wrapped up in the whirlwind life of an artist - running from one performance to the next, hopping on flights, managing when the next merch shipment comes in. So when the coronavirus response shut down shows, she was forced to take an abrupt step back.

“I felt like I kind of ran into a brick wall going 200 miles an hour. It was a lot of anxiety,” Rae said.

Rae is one of the performers for the annual Mid West Music Fest (MWMF), an event sponsored by The Current featuring over 50 acts that organizers reinvented as a virtual event hosted on two streaming sites May 8 and 9. This year, the festival is partnering with MPR’s Call to Mind initiative in a push to make mental health a primary focus for the festival, a collaboration that started before well-being became a timely topic in the current circumstances.

Creative Director of MWMF, Parker Forsell, says after spending a year planning the festival, he felt like the carpet had been pulled out from underneath him. Seeing how quickly musicians adapted to performing live shows virtually, however, meant he could too.

“It was bolstering my esteem and feeling like, ‘Of course the musicians are just gonna pick right up where they left off,’” Forsell said. “Partially maybe out of necessity financially, but I also think emotionally for a lot of us the music is a lifeline, so it was inspiring to see them picking up on it right away.”

The transition certainly hasn’t been easy for all artists. Charlie Parr, another musician performing at MWMF, says it took him a while to catch up with the idea of a virtual outlet and learn to use new technology -- all on top of adjusting to performing in front of an online audience.

“Getting into the performance mindset has been more challenging for me now, but I’m happy for it, I really am,” he said. “I would like to see myself being able to go a little slower, being able to be a little more mindful of my surroundings and my community who I feel like maybe I’ve taken for granted. And now I understand that because they’re not here and I miss them.”

Fellow musician Jillian Rae agrees the unique circumstances have brought about some welcome changes in perspective.

“Not hearing any sort of applause or any sort of reaction to the music is a little weird, so I tend to just take a deep breath after a song and just reflect on what it felt like to play it,” Rae said.

Sarah Souder Johnson, co-founder and board chair of a non-profit mental health and music organization called Dissonance, says these moments of reflection and ‘just being’ are exactly the kind of practices artists should be adding to their daily quarantined routines. 

“This forced slowdown is having a lot of people evaluating their mental health and how they’re taking care of themselves rather than always putting out things for other people. So it’s a time of reflection and I think a lot of really amazing art will come out of this time, but hopefully without too much pressure to do so,” she said.

Souder Johnson and her team were planning to be an on-site resource for MWMF attendees, but will now be providing those same services via their Facebook page direct messages and website sign-up throughout the weekend performances. The Dissonance website also includes a Get Help Directory, which features a comprehensive list of therapists and treatment providers that have experience working with artists or have programs tied into the arts.

Souder Johnson says the innovative online solutions make performances, “more accessible from a mental health standpoint.”

“All of that would really benefit artists in general because it takes some of the weight off of artists always having to be out performing and chasing gigs,” she said.

But what can artists do right now to manage their mental health? Souder Johnson shared two tips she says can help anyone: follow your breath and check your movement.

Notice how you’re breathing -- does air move easily in and out or does it feel stuck? If it feels difficult to breathe, Souder Johnson says don’t try to change it, simply follow where your breath goes and take note of how it feels.

“It helps us get in our bodies more, which is very helpful for lowering anxiety,” she said. “If you're trying to really pay attention to your breath, it's hard to notice all the other things that are out there around you in your environment… It’s really just a way to focus and become mindful.”

With many people working from home at the kitchen table, on the couch, or even in bed, Souder Johnson encourages people to stand up and stretch every so often; even small movements, like clenching and relaxing your hands, can help reconnect the mind and body.

“We often think about our brain and body being disconnected like they're two separate things and therefore we separate out our physical and mental health,” she said. “When we move, our brains move.”

Souder Johnson says she’s excited by how much this years’ Mid West Music Fest aligns with her organizations’ mission of “wellness in and through the arts,” and hopes this focus continues for years to come.

“I would like to see mental health become more of a focal point within the arts community so that we appreciate the intersection of creativity and mental health,” she said. “Art can be a defining part of people's wellness -- not just a part of illness.”

If you need immediate mental health help, check out these resources. Learn more about MPR’s initiative to foster new conversations about mental health at www.calltomindnow.org.