Sure. So, like I said, on 2010 I was still very much recovering from my band experiences which weren't ideal in terms of how they all fell apart. I was going through a real emotional time and I was fairly convinced that was probably going to be the last album I that I would ever make. It was very experimental, it was very,very wierd.
I played everything just live off the floor and I decided that all the proceeds I raised from the sale that I wanted to put into somethong good because I wanted to be able to give back and show my appreciation for all the great successes that I've had. Even though it didn't end that great with my band I'm still very proud of what we were able to accomplish. So, I was thinking about all my different experiences and things that really resonated with me the most.
What really, really inspired me the most when I was a teenager to write seriously and pick up a guitar for the first time and everything. I will use music as a form of cathartist to deal with my own personal struggles in my life. So, even though I started writing really, really young I would say I didn't start seriously songwriting until I was in my 1st band.
I struggled with a lot of things like depression and an eating disorder. I was kind of, let's say, the loser at my high school. I got picked on a lot and bullied a lot. So, when you're a teenager trying to find your own way, your feeling self conscious.
You don't necessarily have the right coping mechanisms in place to know how to deal with all those stresses. You need some sort of outlet to turn to so that you don't take it out on yourself or others or turn to something terrible. So, songwriting was that for me and I acknowledged how important songwriting had been in my life in terms of overcoming these things.
So, MusicSaves was born because I wanted to be able to impart on to other kids who had gone through similar things or going through similar things how music really, really is a beautiful and wonderful way to connect with others. And a really positive way to express yourself and express those feelings that are often gone unspoken and you feel like nobody else gets you. It's a good way to be able to channel those energies to prevent you from doing something destructive. The goal is to raise enough proceeds so that I can do a tour across campuses, like high schools across Canada both doing a seminar talking about my story and how music helped me and saved me in that capacity as well as performing songs.
I'm still trying to raise enough proceeds to do that because, obviously, touring is extremely expensive. I will say with my first album, 'Off The Pages', I did sell out all the copies and all the proceeds went into a fund. I'm still waiting on that fund. It's a work in progress. It's difficult in today's era to be able to sell any form of music because people just kind of steal it.
Even if you're trying to do something really good and give it back, it's an expensive endeavor. So, it's something that I'm working on, something that I hope will come into fruition. But in the meantime what I've tried to do in order to honor the cause is I've donated my time as an emcee to a lot of non-for-profits.
I've spoken openly about my own struggles with depression at a variety of special events as well as written articles on it as a way of still trying to honor the cause. I'm hopeful I'll be able to raise enough funds to actually, you know, to bring the MusicSaves to the world to save lives.
You're also the official Emcee for London, Ontario's Walk and Talk for mental health?
Absolutely. That's one of the causes I've been involved in from the ground up. They started a couple of years ago and I signed on as the Emcee and I've done it now since it started. It's a realy, realy, realy terrific cause because it's all about creating dialogue and breaking down the stigma of mental health and creating a safe place for people to be able to share their stories without judgement.
Without fear of repercussion. Just knowing that other people on the room connect and understand with what they are going through or what they have experienced. Were all there to help support each other. I've been the Emcee, as I said, in that capacity since the beginning. This past year I actually got up on stage and shared my own personal story too. Which was realy an emotional experience for me and I was glad I was able to do that and relate to people on a more significant way as well.