As the world continues to communicate their mental health needs, it is beginning to feel as though ‘mental health’ is more of a marketing buzzword than an actual means to support those truly affected. And when it comes to the music industry, why does it feel very taboo to mention? 

According to a 2023 survey by Help Musicians and the Musicians’ Union, three in ten UK musicians report low mental well-being.  Just over half of the respondents also go on to say that mental health services for musicians are lacking. We were recently able to sit down with one young musician to discuss his experience and how he envisions Members’ Fund will lead the charge into change.

Oliver Anderson is one of the most hardworking musicians you’ve probably never heard of—yet. At just 23 years old, Oliver has been continuously releasing music that resonates deeply to anyone listening over the past several years, with his gritty yet poppy sound. Despite its obvious nod to punk and rock, it fits comfortably within the mainstream pop genre, with his soulful delivery, summarised for all who need a label as Soulful Rock.

Hailing from the quaint yet musically rich town of Bromley in South East London—home to legends like David Bowie and the birthplace of punk—Oliver’s journey is as compelling as his music. After travelling the world and returning home post-Covid, he found himself having to take on the big smoke of London town on his own. With no place to call home, Oliver found himself couch surfing from any friend that would take him in, and he had to take to busking the streets of London daily, using his talent to pay his way and pursue his dream of becoming a recording artist.

Oliver’s determination is fueled by his desire to reach the heights of his heroes, Paolo Nutini, Kaleo and Cage the Elephant. He knows that the path to success is paved with relentless writing, releasing, and performing as often as possible, sometimes to any street corner where he can set up for passers by. His music is raw, real, and resonates with authenticity.

His most recent release, “Saviour,” delves into the struggle of losing oneself to the overwhelming voices on social media that claim to have all the answers. The song has garnered support from regional radio stations, including plays on BBC Radio Kent, further cementing his growing reputation.

Oliver is set to release more music in the summer of 2024. Currently, he is in the studio, fine-tuning his upcoming summer anthems, while continuing to busk and gig daily. He is an artist on the rise, and his journey is one you won’t want to miss. For fans of Paolo Nutini, Kaleo, Cage the Elephant and anyone who appreciates music with soul and substance, Oliver Anderson is about to make a lot of noise.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Oliver Anderson. I’m an indie pop rock artist from South London. My music I’d say is kind of like a kind of a mixing pot of genres really, because I listened to everything. I’d say it’s tied together by an overall theme of indie rock. But I like to get a bit experimental with kind of more like Soul folk, even pop kind of elements as well.

Share how your music relates to your experience with mental health.

To be honest, I’d say about 70% of my music is about my mental health. I kind of laid it all on the cards for people. You know, my very first songs were about a toxic relationship that was involved with four, kind of on and off for two years. And then it’s been about kind of my experience with struggling with homelessness, and then kind of addiction and all that kind of stuff. I’ve always spoken about kind of taboo topics in my music. I’d say without the struggles that I’ve had, I’d kind of wouldn’t have any music. To be honest, Some of it is lovely. Some of them are happy. But I’d say a good 70% of it is talking about mental health struggles.

Can you share a moment when your mental health struggles first began to impact your well being.

Yeah, I’d say I’ve always struggled with imposter syndrome. I’d say that’s not something unique to me. That’s very much prevalent in the industry. But I think something that I struggle with now even for the last maybe three years, is having my expression judged. You know, it’s kind of the only way I express myself is through my music and feeling like I need to cater it to an audience. I don’t feel that way anymore. But for a long time, it kind of was a struggle for me to kind of feel like, I’ve got to write a specific way, but it’s how I feel. So how can I, how can I cater it to someone you know, and it was just kind of all getting on top of me. And luckily, I took a break, you know, and now we’re back. And I kind of don’t care, to be honest. Like, I kind of just want to sing what I want to sing. And if you like it, good on you. But yeah, I’d say, as I say, impostor syndrome, and feeling like you’re being judged, you know?

Can you describe a specific song that was particularly really therapeutic for you to write?

This is gonna sound like a big marketing ploy. But actually, it’s more like a song that’s coming out soon. It’s a monster, anyway, is the song. It’s about that toxic relationship that I mentioned earlier. My girlfriend, my ex girlfriend, messaged me five years later. And it just rehashed a lot of old emotions. And I don’t want to put the blame on her. Because it was actually a really cool conversation that we had kind of put to bed, you know, it was closure. But it did hash off a lot of anger and self doubt, and just these feelings that you get, you know, and it was kind of just a stream of consciousness, to be honest, I don’t remember writing it, it just came out. And it was just these five years of pent up emotion that came out all at once, I could finally articulate these ineffable feelings that I’ve had for years, you know, and it just felt great to get it off my chest.

How do you manage the pressure and expectations of the music industry, while prioritising your mental well being?

To be honest, I mean, I could definitely do better at that. But the way I do it at the moment is I have things that I like to do outside of music. You know, for a long time, I was like music is a hobby, and the music’s the passion, I can just kind of the music for now. And thank God, it’s a job for me, you know, so I skate as well. And I play poker. And I play ‘War Hammer’ and I actually just have hobbies that I really enjoy, like Magic, the Gathering just card games, it’s just, you’ve got to do that. And you’ve got to surround yourself with people that love you, you know, and genuinely love you, not people who kind of, I don’t know, want to get something from you. I mean, you know, relationships work both ways. But like your family and your friends, you’re gonna identify those who are going to really be there for you and talk to them. And I felt like that’s something I didn’t do at the start of my career, and it’s something that I’m learning to do. 

What type of support systems have been crucial to you so far?

I’d say my partner, Leila has been a huge, huge help. Over the last four years with my career, she’s, you know, just kind of to bounce ideas off of you know, she’s a very creative, very intelligent woman. And I think having her around in my corner has just really been helpful. Obviously, I’ve got my mum, I’ve got my, my sister, she’s great. My sister’s a musician as well. So it’s cool to just have this chat with her, you know. And, and my friends, I mean, my friends, I don’t I don’t particularly talk to them about, about mental health, but it’s just nice to kind of distract yourself, you know, and just go have a bonfire and a barbecue or go and go skating with him and, and kind of not think about it, because that’s just as helpful, in my opinion, is not bottling it up, but kind of just doing something you enjoy, you know?

How would you advise organisations such as ourselves on the best way to support songwriters and musicians based on your experience so far?

So, as I said earlier, I think you guys are doing a great job, I think, you know, helping people with their rent. I think that’s awesome. I think it’s something that I really wish I’d known about at the time. Because I mean, I think it would have been really cool at a certain time in my life. They help with kind of, you know, therapy, you know, it’s just really cool that you do like health payments as well. I think to be honest, the main thing that you guys can do better is getting the message out there. Because it’s a great message. And it’s a great thing, too. It’s just a great organisation. But it was the first time I’ve heard of it, you know, and just think about all my mates and all the musicians that I know who don’t know about it and who might really need it. I’m sure there are things that we can kind of talk about later on. But for now, I think you do a great job.

Have you ever experienced a creative block due to mental health struggles?

Yeah, multiple times. I mean, I’m probably going to experience another one, to be honest. Every business in the world goes out of stock eventually, and you just have to restock. It’s the same thing. Your creativity, your stock is experience, if you run out of it, go and have experiences, go and live your life, come back to your music. And guess what, you’ve got things to write about all of a sudden, you know, or maybe take some time, and you’ll kind of have things to write about your past as well, and it will come back to you. But I think, yeah, the biggest thing that I do when I have a creative writer’s block, is let myself live. Because that’s our job.  That’s our portfolio. Experiences.

Would you give creators the same advice, then who were in a similar position?

100%. If you can afford to take some time off. Just make sure that you have that support system in place to kind of bounce ideas off of because it’s a collaboration, man, it’s not a competition, you know. I mean, it’s this career, this industry, it works when you work together, you know. I had a little break. I went to Thailand, and I kind of said to myself, I’m gonna give up music. And then thank God, I didn’t give up music. For about two months. I just said, No, I’m not doing any more. And then I was like, ah, but I am a musician. Like, let’s just get on with it, like, what are you doing? So I got back in the studio, and I recorded that song that’s coming out, ‘Monster Anyway.’ 

My manager was just talking about [Monster Anyway] and he said, we got to do something that’s really cool, that kind of is a challenge, you know, and that kind of, to be honest, gets your name out there a bit more, but also pushes you to develop yourself. I think 100 gigs in 100 days, I’m going to learn a lot about my live performance. I’m going to learn a lot of tips and tricks on keeping your voice, you know, from breaking or from getting really tired. I know that every two weeks, I’m going to try and have a throat massage so that I don’t, you know, lose it. But yeah, I think to be honest, I love a challenge. I just love a challenge. And it gives me structure, I find that especially in the creative industries, there’s no structure, you know, like you go from school to work to now you’re doing your kind of music thing, you’re self employed, no one’s telling you do this do that. You’ve got to have something to do. So 100 gigs and 100 days for the next 100 days. You know, they say it takes 90 days to build a behaviour. Hopefully, that’s true. And I can just from that point, just it’s just a mindset, I’ve got to go gig, I’ve got to do this, you know.

How are you keeping your mental well being during this tour?

Well, as I say, it’s good to have these kinds of support systems in place. So my manager for example, he’s there, helping me out with the kind of back end of stuff and that’s taken a lot of mental load off my family, my girlfriend, as I said,coming back to a nice home with like, just where I can kind of bounce ideas and talk about about things there. I think I think I’m good there’s gonna be a lot of coming back to it having a look at the drawing board and going okay, that didn’t work. I need to do better with this support system or with this, you know, method of mental health, maybe meditation or getting out into nature. But that will happen down the line really, I think, at the moment support systems in place and the physical aspects as well keeping you know, keeping your voice in check having like Tea and vocal warm ups, because that will take a lot of the mental strain away if you know you sound good, you know if you think I sound really horrible right now, it’s just gonna add more mental load. So yeah, look after your physical health and I reckon the rest will come.

Thank you, Oliver, for sharing your story with us. If you are interested in learning more about where you can watch Oliver along his ‘100 Gigs in 100 Days Tour’, check out his tour schedule. You can find him on all streaming and social platforms @beingalivewitholiver

To anyone experiencing mental, physical, and/or financial difficulties, never hesitate to get in contact with PRS Members’ Fund. We’re your fund, for you. Always.