Rohan Solomon: AI threatening the livelihood of musicians leads to anxiety

Besides happy tunes and rhythms, music industry comes with its share of turbulence and anxiety as well. And that’s something singer-songwriter-producer Rohan Solomon wants to address, and bring in spotlight through his music. And for that, Solomon has recently released a song, Happy Place, to initiate the dialogue and commemorate World Mental Health Month.

“When it comes to the music industry, the anxiety level is high. This industry is anyway so unstable for most people and with things like AI coming into the picture, and threatening the livelihood of musicians, leads to more anxiety,” he says, adding, “So many musicians are living gig to gig and that often puts them under a lot of stress leading to anxiety. It’s definitely important to address this and deal with it. I hope the ones that need it can find some outlet to express and vent and get the help that they require.”

In fact, the singer has captured the storm of his own anxiety attack to make the song, hence he calls it his “most personal” one till date. He tells us, “This song narrates what I went through during one of my anxiety attacks. But, at the same time, it is a feel-good track that is meant to sound happy, and hopefully get the listeners into a happy and light mood. The happy and positive melodies are meant to transport us to our respective happy places.”

Sharing the process of how he came up with the track, Solomon recalls it was after he got over the initial wave of the attack. “I just felt like sitting on the piano and playing something to calm myself down. I just kept playing the intro piano riff over and over again and kept telling myself to “breathe” and all of sudden the lyrics came into my head. Once that process started, I just went with the flow and kept writing till I finished the song,” elaborates the singer.

Apart from making music, asked how he deals with anxiety, and he confesses that he goes through his ups and downs in life just like anyone else. However, he chooses to tackle his mental health in a positive and healthy way. “I do yoga thrice a week, I meditate every morning, I keep myself active by playing squash and I also go for therapy once a week. It’s a combination of these things that are certainly helping me,” he explains.

While singer stresses on the importance of normalising talks around mental health, he notes that the stigma around such discussions continues. “Having said that, I am happy seeing a shift in people’s mentality, especially in urban areas. People are a lot more accepting and understanding and empathetic when it comes to mental health,” he concludes.