This course is the one I wished I had access to when I started out in music. Not because it’s only for beginners, but because it would have prevented some of my darkest moments and saved me from facing my shape-shifting demons time and time again.
Heart palpitations, sweats, shortness of breath, jittery limbs, blurry vision, derealization, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, random peaks of panic, troughs of fatigue, brain fog, over-stimulation, racing thoughts, irrational terrors —the list goes on. These are just a handful of symptoms of stage anxiety. And we’re supposed to step up and perform at our best in this state????
I’ve performed everywhere from the local pub to Madison Square Garden with B.B. King. From busking in front of my mum’s shop to playing for 90,000 people at the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. I’ve shared the stage with my dad and his bricklayer mate Pete, as well as Michael Jackson and Etta James. My first crush watched me from side of stage, but so did Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
I’m not sharing this to name-drop. I’m sharing this to illustrate that the level of anxiety we feel is often not rationally related to the circumstance, making it an unpredictable beast. But there is one thing that revealed the monster of anxiety to be the smoke of dry ice and, at times, an incredible superpower… EDUCATION!
My lack of education on how to handle anxiety turned it into a post-traumatic pattern that rendered me too psychologically and physically unstable to perform. As a kid, I toured while being treated for leukaemia. The stage was my special place, yet as an adult, at a time when life was amazing, I couldn’t even step into a venue without feeling sheer terror. I thought I’d never perform again. Now here I am having the time of my life on the road, performing in all sorts of situations under varying circumstances with my body and mind backing me! I trace all of these issues back to a deficiency of knowledge on how to handle the human aspects of being a performer.
The mental health stats for the music industry are dark, but why are we surprised? The world is not short of vocal trainers, song writing courses, guitar tutors, and music business management degrees. But where’s the education on how to manage our own physiology and psychology throughout our musical journey?
It makes sense that many of us have more than enough capacity to rip on stage but can’t step into the spotlight without being paralyzed by our own emotions and physical sensations!
This course is the one I wished I had access to when I started out in music. Not because it’s only for beginners, but because it would have prevented some of my darkest moments and saved me from facing my shape-shifting demons time and time again.
My aim in this course is to share my stories and the education I’ve received on my relentless quest for self-understanding, along with some words of inspiration from my friends. With this, you’ll get everything you need to not only feel grounded, secure, and strong enough to shine on stage despite the circumstances, but to fully relish and bask in one of life’s most unique highs—performance!