MUSIC FOR THE SOUL AND THE ROAD.

Music is the highway for self-discovery and exploration, much like a trail experience. My love for Canadian music and music in general, got me started with interviewing my favourite musicians. These musicians are undeniably talented, super-friendly and genuine, and their stories about life are inspiring. There’s AARYS who struggles with her anxiety and depression but finds a way to heal herself through her singing. She’s an advocate for mental health – helping to breakdown the stigma associated with it, and even released a beautiful song called “Talk” on one of Bell’s Let’s Talk Days. Then there’s Al Capo of Stuck on Planet Earth – not caring what people think about him, knowing that he must pursue his music. And Frank Kadillac of Neon Dreams, talking about “building a sanctuary for all the misfit toys that were lost like me.” And Eric Nguyen of The Moon & I, rocking his piano while paving the path for Asian representation in the music industry. And Andrew Ford of Inner Pieces chatting about his personal journey with Scoliosis, hearing loss and Tinnitus. Putting the pieces of himself together, pushed him in a new musical direction – the creation of meditation and yoga music. Each of the artists that I interviewed have their unique story to tell. Read their interviews below.

NATURE AND MUSIC.

Similar to being surrounded by nature, listening to music is therapeutic and has healing properties. According to an article on the Canadian Geographic website titled, “This is your brain on music” by Steven Fick and Elizabeth Shilts, “When you get the “chills” from a piece of music, the “reward” structures in your inner brain… such as the ventral tegmental area…are stimulated. These are the same areas that are activated when a hungry person eats, when an aroused person has sex, or when a drug addict snorts cocaine. If you are listening to a song you find pleasant, activity in the amygdala…is inhibited. This is the part of the brain that is typically associated with negative emotion, such as fear.”

So get your ventral tegmental area stimulated…crank up your tunes and get driving!