Theresa Jarvis from Brighton rock band Yonaka has said that people in the music industry are “falling apart” due to mental health issues.
Band members Jarvis, Alex Crosby and George Werbrouck-Edwards spoke ahead of their performance on the Festival Republic stage at Leeds Festival 2023 and talked about health and wellbeing in the music industry.
Jarvis told the PA news agency that their Reading set had been “so much fun”, and revealed that this year’s appearance marks the band’s fourth time playing at Reading and Leeds Festival.
Jarvis also spoke about how difficult it is as a music artist realising when you need to take a step back for your mental health.
She said: “It’s really hard and I think that’s why people are f****** falling apart.
“You get to a point and you’re like… ‘If I just keep going then maybe things will get better.’ I think everyone just thinks like that don’t they.”
Werbrouck-Edwards agreed and said: “There’s pockets of pressure from every part of the industry, yourself as well cause you’ve got your own goals and then you’ll do the comparison thing and whatever and I feel like it’s definitely important to address because people will just burn out and lose love for music and just disappear.”
He added: “Fans are a lot more understanding of that world now…
“If you were to cancel a show maybe five, six years ago because ‘I’m just really not in the best way, I feel like this might be detrimental to my health, my mental health’, whatever, people would be f****** pissed off. But now everyone’s like you know what, they’re f****** people too.”