
Above & Beyond's Paavo Siljamäki
Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Above & Beyond's Paavo Siljamäki Talks Burnout And Staying "Mentally Fit" At Miami Winter Music Conference
A musician's lifestyle certainly sounds romantic: constantly on the road, meeting new people every night, playing shows to sold-out crowds. But the touring life isn't all glitz and glam. Navigating music industry success can actually result in neglect of one's mental health. This is exactly the topic MusiCares and the Recording Academy explored in a panel called Survive the Madness: Music and Mental Health at Miami Winter Conference in late March of this year.
Featuring Paavo Siljamäki from GRAMMY-nominated British trance group Above & Beyond, the panel explored the performer's journey, which he spoke about with MusiCares senior director Jennifer Leff.
"What is mental health to you," she asked?
"I made the wrong choice internalizing my stress," said Siljamäki. "About a year and a half ago, I was ready to leave music. I saw music as the source of all of my pain, so for me the solution was for me, to quit the band."
"Quite quickly I realized that that's not the way I could keep going," he continued. "The way for me to go forward is to look at what led to this point, how can I actually learn from this, how can I go on? And I ended up going to doing this thing called the Hoffman Process in the U.K. They actually helped me in a group therapy setting to find the reasons why I burned out. And I realized that a lot of other people burn out too. I'm not unique in any way... I've been able to really look at what causes me stress and I've refound my love for music."
Watch the entire interview with Siljamäki above.
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