Sound Mind Music Festival For Mental Health Returns to Brooklyn on Saturday, May 18th

MisterWives, Kevin Morby, Bailen, SHAED, and DJ White Shadow To Perform Live

Day Long Event Includes DJ Sets at House Of Yes, Food By Smorgasburg, Yoga & Sound Bath Sessions, Panels And More

Thursday, March 14th (New York, NY): Today, Sound Mind Live announces its sixth annual Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health, a free, all day street festival on Jefferson Street between Irving Ave and Wyckoff Ave in Bushwick, Brooklyn on Saturday, May 18th. Starting at 12pm, the festival will feature full sets from singer-songwriter Kevin Morby, pop band MisterWives, alt band Bailen, and pop trio SHAED.

Get free tickets to the exciting and purpose-driven event here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sound-mind-music-festival-for-mental-health-street-fest-more-tickets-859599283597?aff=erelexpmlt

In addition to the performances, there will be a dance party & DJ sets at House of Yes throughout the day, as well as Sound Sessions – holistic mental health programming experiences including movement and yoga, mindfulness and breathwork sessions. Food & drinks will be provided by iconic New York institution Smorgasburg. DJ White Shadow, who produced Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and “Artpop” and worked on the film “A Star is Born," will perform at the official Sound Mind Live Music Festival for Mental Health benefit afterparty at Elsewhere directly following the event. Tickets to afterparty can be found here.

The festival will also host a series of panels on mental health, including Mental Health in Communities of Color, Mental Health in the Music Industry, Mental Health in the LGBTQ+ Community and The Importance of the Lived Experience. Panelists to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health is helping to raise funding for Sound Mind Center - a pioneering music and wellness center dedicated to crafting transformative healing experiences through music and sound. By day, the center will host programming and workshops including sound meditations and breathwork, fostering deeper connection with oneself. In the evening, the space will transform into a vibrant hub with music showcases, concerts, and open mics encouraging community connection. Operating on a hybrid for-profit/non-profit model, Sound Mind Center ensures equitable access to all. Interested investors, donors, and partners can learn more HERE.

One in four youth have contemplated suicide since the pandemic and PTSD symptoms have by increased 53%. The post-pandemic mental health crisis is real and experts anticipate these mental health impacts to last 3-5 years on top of the existing struggles we all face in our own mental health journeys.

Executive Director of Sound Mind Live Chris Bullard says: “Sound Mind Fest isn't just an event – it's a movement. We’re bringing together a coalition of artists, influential organizations, and people from all walks of life to celebrate our shared humanity and foster community support. It's a rallying point where our mental and emotional challenges aren't obstacles but rather the glue that binds us and the fuel propelling us to new heights together. Music, the universal language, takes the lead in driving this movement forward like it has so many other movements throughout history.”

In addition to the free elements of the festival, attendees will have the opportunity to make a donation to enjoy an elevated VIP experience including a swag bag filled with special gifts. Donations of $150 or more will receive an invitation to the official afterparty at Elsewhere with a performance from DJ White Shadow.

The event is in partnership with over 10 music artists, 4 local venues, and over 20 mental health organizations including National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, TransLifeline and more. The event is made possible with support from AbbVie, National Endowment of the Arts, New York Council of the Arts, Society of Valued Minds (an initiative of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.), Alkermes, and G4D Productions.

ABOUT SOUND MIND LIVE

Sound Mind Live is a non-profit organization that brings together musicians, music lovers, and forward-thinking organizations to foster community, open dialogue, and action around mental health through the power of music. Sound Mind events and programs create safe spaces where music and open conversations about mental health coexist through collaboration between artists, audiences, and organizations that provide direct mental health support. Sound Mind Live's work includes live concert events, podcast and video programming, and the annual Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health in New York City each May. Their programming also provides on-site and digital mental health resources in partnership with artist tours and venues around the country.

ABOUT KEVIN MORBY

Kevin Morby is a Kansas City based singer/songwriter. With his seven acclaimed solo albums and myriad records of various collaborations, Morby has become a true musical auteur. His singular vision, evocative lyrics, and aptitude for catchy, dense songwriting has placed him firmly among the ranks of modern icons. Each Morby record possesses its own unique persona and explores intriguing themes and fertile terrain through shifting, focused textures and dexterous, dedicated skill.

Kevin Morby // photo credit: Chantal Anderson

ABOUT MISTERWIVES:

The platinum-certified Los Angeles-based quintet—Mandy Lee [vocals], Etienne Bowler [drums, production], Marc Campbell [guitar], Mike Murphy [keyboards], and William Hehir [bass]—absorb life’s ups and downs and recalibrate them in the form of snappy alternative rock anthems underlined by unexpectedly hip-shaking rhythms and identifiable tattoo-worthy lyrics.

MisterWives // photo credit: Matty Vogel

ABOUT DJ WHITE SHADOW:

Grammy-winning Producer Paul Blair (Dj White Shadow) has disrupted the music industry. Always remaining true to himself and his hard-working Midwestern roots, Paul catapulted to the upper echelon of music producers, writers, publishers and brand ambassadors. It has also earned him a spot as the right hand man of many of the world’s leading talents, including but not limited to Lady Gaga. Paul's path, like his music, has never been a straight line. Coming from the farmlands of the Midwest, he was influenced heavily by the underground techno and house music scenes of Detroit and Chicago. At the tender age of 19 his indelible ear and skills landed him a residency in Japan. From there, he earned the confidence and the credibility to perform all over the world including residencies in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Barcelona and London.

DJ White Shadow

ABOUT BAILEN:

Tired Hearts, the new album from rising indie-pop power trio, BAILEN, delivers a dazzling set of songs that navigates the space between the heart’s expectation and the head’s sober reality. New York based siblings, Daniel, David, and Julia’s second full-length album for Fantasy beats with empathy, vulnerability, and resolve. At times intricate and playful, measured and elaborate, the 12 original songs on Tired Hearts wrestle with an uncertain future where ethics and morality—both communal and personal—seem to be constantly shifting. Locating one’s compass amidst the chaos—a world-wide pandemic, toxic social media culture, economic insecurity and political turbulence—is at the LP’s core.

Bailen // photo credit: Dery Keretic

ABOUT SHAED:

SHAED weren’t immune to spinning out. The trio of Chelsea Lee and twin brothers Max and Spencer Ernst had been living in a whirlwind for a long time — a long, circuitous, sometimes stop-start arc that included meeting as teenagers playing around D.C., living and writing at home together, and a surprise breakout hit in 2018’s “Trampoline.” The runaway ascension of “Trampoline” led the band through an array of dream scenario milestones — soundtracking a MacBook Air commercial, two billion streams, and accolades from pop culture monoliths like iHeart and Billboard. But SHAED also experienced the pitfalls of following that unexpected success. Seeking a reset, the trio emerged from tumultuous times equally defined by existential crises and beautiful life changes to craft a sophomore album that was as true a statement of their identity as anything they had made thus far. There was only one name for it: Spinning Out. Spinning Out is the sound of SHAED’s core ethos, their connection as family and musicians. Inspired by new love and parenthood, the album cohered as a collection of snapshots and vignettes, reflecting on belonging and connection from all different angles. While aided by collaborators like POWERS’ Mike Del Rio, the bulk of Spinning Out was built on SHAED, as always, writing and recording at home together, chasing a more organic and lived-in atmosphere. Across moving ballads and graceful bops alike — including the emotionally bare title track, the soaring “Rocket in the Sky,” and the hazy earworm of lead single “Everybody Knows I’m High” (debuted in SHAED’s February Kimmel performance) — the band catalogs all the trials, euphoria, confusion, and hope that ran through a messy few years. Once upon a time Spinning Out might’ve been born from fragmentation, but it became the story of SHAED doing what they’ve always done best — getting in a room and chasing the answer together.

SHAED // photo credit: Cody Ackors

SOUND MIND ON THE WEB:

https://www.soundmindlive.org/

https://www.instagram.com/soundmind_live/?hl=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@soundmindlive

https://www.facebook.com/soundmindlive.org/

https://twitter.com/soundmind_live

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Mikaela Duhs | mduhs@shorefire.com

Rebecca Shapiro | rshapiro@shorefire.com