During a recent chat with Audacy, Zedd opened up about the lifestyle changes he made while making his latest album, that he views as useful tools to help him maintain his mental health.

“I honestly think I would have never finished this album if it wasn’t for me finding a lifestyle and routine that keeps me sane," Zedd revealed. Sharing that "making this album was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I have not felt this burnt out in a long time.”

Talking about his routine, Zedd shared it started with “taking care of my physical health.” Noting that he “stopped drinking,” before amending that he drinks “occasionally,” as opposed to his past habit of drinking “at every show.” Another part of Zedd’s new routine includes getting “at least 9 hours of sleep every night,” writing down “every calorie I drank or ate into a spreadsheet and made sure to stay in a caloric deficit when I needed to, and in a surplus when I needed to.”

"Then one of the most important things… especially when you’re in a time crunch to finish something, is to not work to much," Zedd said. Admitting "this sounds a little bit counter intuitive and some people think you just gotta grind through it." In his opinion, "when you do anything that is creative you’re mental state is so crucial, it will feed everything else. So I made my studio chunks short enough every day, to where I could actually be excited to continue working on the thing that I didn’t get to finish yesterday.”

“After dinner, no more music,” Zedd said of the studio time boundaries he set for himself, noting “of course it happens sometimes, but after dinner I would stop making music and I would play video games with the boys.” Adding, “We get into Discord and we start gaming, or just talking for a few hours before bed, and that’s sort of my wind down.”

Zedd went on to say, “I think having lots of sleep, lots of workout,” noting the latter as “another crucial thing,” along with “ice baths every morning”… “Starting my days with that and just getting healthy improved my mental state a lot. And being well rested and inspired is what contributed to me making the most honest album that I’ve ever made, it’s because I felt like myself.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Mike Adam

During a recent chat with Audacy, Katy Perry shared how the use of transcendental meditation has changed her life and bettered her mental health.

"My biggest life hack is transcendental meditation," Katy shared, "it’s this specific type of meditation that you learn. Anyone can learn it, it’s available to everyone, you can go to transcendentalmeditation.org, there [are] people, and places, and centers that teach everyone."

Sharing she learned the practice “about 15 years ago,” Katy admitted it has since “changed my life,” revealing, “It is the biggest hack for me, for my anxiety, depression, mood swings, jet lag, hangover, and it’s where I get some of my best creative ideas.”

She also notes that while it is suggested to do twice a day, “once you really lock into it," that shouldn’t be something that you stress over trying to fit into your daily routine.

“It’s really helped me with my mental health," Katy added. “It just flips a switch, and it’s a hack because you do it for 20 minutes, they suggest twice a day, once in the morning once in the evening. I do it supplementary… I do it once every couple of days. Like after I finish these interviews, right before I go to rehearsal for all these big shows I have coming up, I’m gonna go do a TM for 20 minutes, and it will feel like I had a two-hour nap.”

“Last night I only had 4 hours of sleep on the clock, but I do this thing, I meditate myself to sleep, and literally I go into the deepest sleep cycle. Anyone looking for a tool, a life tool, it’s such a hack… and for everything I’ve been through, it is the CTRL ALT Delete to this program.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Maia Kedem

During a recent chat with Audacy Atlanta V-103’s Big Tigger, Coco Jones opened up about tools and best practices she uses to help maintain her mental health.

Listing off therapy, journaling, and expressing that “music can also set a peaceful environment,” Coco went on to share, “Sometimes I listen to lo-fi music, sometimes classical jazz. If I just need peace of mind, my environment really can be changed by music as well.”

“I definitely use music to care for my mental health,” Coco reiterated. Adding, “being a songwriter is such a cathartic experience to really get out all of those emotions that you have pent up. And even if you're not a songwriter, sometimes just journaling and listening to music while you journal is helpful for me too.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Big Tigger

Nearing 20 years in Country music, Chris Young is no stranger to balancing a busy schedule.

During a recent interview in solidarity with I’m Listening, Audacy’s mental health initiative, the 39-year-old shared some of his best practices for keeping a positive mental health space.

“Definitely spending time with my dog,” he said with a smile. “And then also, going to the gym.”

Family and friends also play a big role for Young, who says he makes a conscious effort not to get lost in the hustle of everything. “Making sure that even though I am all over the world, traveling constantly — which is not normal — [I’m] making time for friends and family.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Monica Rivera

Hip Hop pioneer MC Lyte joined us amid the release of brand new music after a lengthy break and shared with us what she has found helpful in managing her mental health both personally and professionally.

“It's so interesting that now we have -- and have had before but never used it to the fullest as we do now -- the term ‘mental health,’" she explains. “Before it was just ‘OK, something's not right,’ or ‘I feel overwhelmed,’ or ‘I feel consumed…’ We use these other words, not really understanding that it all fit under the realm of mental health and what does it mean to feel at ease?”

Which, in essence, is really what we all truly want, MC Lyte continues, “To feel like everything is in a flow -- and life doesn't work that way. There's ebbs and flows, there's bumps in the roads, things of that nature. So for me, what I do first off is, I have a higher source, you know. God is who I look to in times that are good and bad.”

“It's great to have this career,” she says. “I'm showing the highlight moments that this is great, but there are also other points where it's like, ‘OK, I'm unclear.’ The certainty that I'd love to have isn't there, and then I just got to lean on Him. Like, ‘God, you know what? I've done all that I can do to get it up to this point. You showed me the vision, now you make the provision because this is the only way that I know how.”

“For me, it's about taking that time to breathe, to relax, to do something that's not work-related, whether it's reading or just going out in nature," she adds. "I think it’s really important -- self-care -- for what it is, not only that I do as an occupation, but I'm sure all of us -- it can get stressful.”

Host DJ Scratch from 94.7 The Block in NYC agrees adding, “I never used the words ‘mental health’ until the pandemic started and that was the first time I actually recognized it. Just me as being a Black man in America, we're taught to just deal with it quietly, don't shed a tear, just man up, deal with it. And during the pandemic… we never seen anything like that before. Our humanity was on trial and you just seen so many different things going on… like people needed Clorox, and Clorox was going for $75 a bottle. It was crazy. Everything that was going on with the presidency at the time… the police, everything that was going on at the time, that's when I really recognized what mental health really was and what I was dealing with.”

Keeping open conversations around mental health “should be one of the priorities within our communities. We gather up for town halls about other things, I think this is just as important,” Lyte says. “Along with that, also being able to have younger people get together for an open, candid conversation between young men and young women because sometimes we're all speaking different languages, so to speak. I think even that could help us as a community.”

Scratch, still in touch with many of the same friends from childhood says what they used to do when they were young was hold bi-annual “therapy” sessions having honest and open conversations about what they didn’t like about each other. “Nobody had an issue,” he says. “Sometimes people did, and we fix it. We were basically doing our own therapy sessions back then as kids… but what I did notice that growing up as an adult, everybody doesn't do that. Everybody holds stuff in, so I would seem like I'm aggressive when if I see somebody have a problem, but I'm like, ‘No, this is just how we used to do.’ You have to approach people differently when there's an issue with stuff like that.”

“Most people are taught to hold what it is they feel,” Lyte agrees. “One, it doesn't matter… that's what people believe, like what they have to offer doesn't matter and then therefore they begin to believe what others have to offer doesn't matter. But I think anything can be had with love -- if you're delivering a message that you may not like, whatever that thing is if it's done in a careful way -- with care, and not just to break someone down, which a lot of people do.”

Listen to DJ Scratch’s full conversation with MC Lyte above, and stay tuned for more mental health conversations on Audacy’s I’m Listening.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by DJ Scratch

Thomas Rhett is one of the most successful Country artists of this generation, but it hasn’t been an easy path to get there. During a recent interview with Audacy’s Katie Neal, Rhett opened up about one of his biggest career struggles in solidarity with I’m Listening, Audacy’s mental health initiative aiming to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health conversations.

“One of the biggest battles I’ve ever been through [as an artist]…[is when] I put my second album out,” he reflected. “It was really when I was kind of venturing into a new space, being very progressive sonically, adding a little more Pop and R&B into my music and it was not received well by the public.”

He continued, “Looking back, it was one of the biggest records I ever made, It had ‘Die A Happy Man,’ ‘Crash and Burn,’ — all these songs on there, but I think when you’re living in that moment and you’re watching people just bash you social media wise [it’s hard.]”

TR credits lots of work in therapy and his supportive wife, Lauren, for helping him through the tough time and says he’s been able to come out stronger on the other side. “Going through that with my wife and a therapist really helped to get me back to just like, ‘This is who I am, this is the kind of music that I make, this is what brings me joy, and I’m sorry that if some people don’t like that, that’s OK, but I’m doing what fills my cup up.’”

Relating his experience to what kids and adults alike today might experience as they explore their own passions, Thomas wants to remind everyone to stay true to their own identity and stand firm when the haters come.

“I think there’s a lot of kids out there that don’t know what their identity is because they believe that whatever someone says about them is who they are,” he shared. “I think, at the end of the day, you have got to go find yourself somehow — for me, it’s being in a quiet place and getting back to what the truth about me is. That way, I’ve got a better shield when the arrows come.”

Hear more around Thomas’ experience and how prioritizing his mental heath set him up for success by listening above.

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal

During a recent chat backstage at Lollapalooza with Audacy’s Rachel Passer, Hozier shared a memorable experience of being surprised by Joan Baez onstage, and opened up about how writing music is therapeutic no matter his headspace, what he does when inspiration is lacking, and how he takes care of his mental health on the road.

After congratulating Hozier over the success of “Too Sweet,” Rachel asked the Irish musician to share the most memorable moment he's experienced since the major hit had been released.

“We had a really memorable thing happened like last week where I was performing at the Newport Folk Festival, and that was a really special day,” Hozier began. “We were celebrating these incredible artists, Mavis Staples was joining us later on and Joan Baez was going to join us later on. But in the middle of ‘Too Sweet,’ Joan Baez came out onto the stage. I had no idea she was going to do this… it was never a conversation.”

He continued, “I’d only met Joan Baez that day for the first time. So it's not like, you know, I mean love her dearly and her work. She just came out and started busting a groove… She's a better dancer than me. So I was trying to hold my place in the song, remember to sing while also trying to make sense of what's happening.”

Referring to previous comments he’s made about how songwriting can be therapeutic for him, Rachel asked Hozier if he finds it difficult to write music when he’s in a really good headspace. After noting, “that’s an interesting question,” Hozier answered, “I think no is the answer,” sounding not so terribly sure. “There is the phenomenon that like, if you’re in a period of like difficulty, you can escape into music. And I think that's why a lot of people after breakups have a lot to process… They also maybe benefit from having the escapism of busying themselves at work. When you're happy and you're in a great relationship or whatever, you just want to enjoy yourself. You don't necessarily want to escape out of that.”

Adding, “But I will say I, I've felt perfectly balanced and then I'll write a song, I'll sit down and if I have time and space to write a song, you can still access all the stuff that's good, bad, and in between.” And going on to share how sometimes performing those song can bring you back into that headspace of when it was written.

For her next question or rather questions, Rachel inquired — “What do you like to do when you're feeling uninspired? And how do you like to take care of your mental health when you're on tour?”

“So lack of inspiration is harder," Hozier expressed, “I think honestly it can be burnout or something is causing, that could just be exhaustion that's causing that. I think this idea that if you're depressed, you're going to make work…that’s not the case. So being in a good headspace is I think really, really important for being able to make work, like to regulate yourself and be healthy and feel good to actually sit down and start to work.”

“Lack of inspiration could be anything… If you enter into it without the intention of, I must write something I think you're going to sit in a space of playfulness that can take or leave the idea of having to come away with something. If you go into it, saying I must create now the most beautiful thing, you are setting your up for failure.”

As for how he manages his mental health when on tour, “I try to meditate a lot, that’s really, really important. I do a lot of stuff before and after the show to sort of clear my head and clear my central nervous system.”

“So it's that sort of somatic thing of your whole central nervous system is bound up in adrenaline and stress. There's sort of things you can do where you sort of purge your nervous system of like so much cortisol and stuff,” the musician expressed, calling the process “intense.” Adding, “I don't realize how stressed out I get until I'm doing that work. But these things are helpful.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Rachel Passer

Mother: A woman who’s iconic and constantly serves, or so says Urban Dictionary. A term of endearment if you will, that many have started using to refer to Kesha. So, during a recent chat backstage at Lollapalooza with Audacy’s Rachel Passer, Kesha offered up some motherly advice to her fans.

“I would just say, don't ever let somebody else's judgment deter you from being who you are,” Kesha advised. “And only surround yourself with people who you feel safe being the most you version of yourself you can be, because it's a beautiful thing… I just think you should be around people that celebrate who you are… find your people.”

As Kesha spent almost a decade dealing with a series of lawsuits with her former producer, Dr. Luke, accusing him of multiple abuses, Kesha’s sentiments carry a deeper meaning.

After a lengthy legal battle beginning in 2014, Kesha and Dr. Luke ultimately settled out of court in June of 2023, officially breaking ties that began when an 18-year-old Kesha signed to Dr. Luke’s record label.

Since then, the singer has been following her own advice by surrounding herself with her type of people, celebrating her freedom, and declaring her independence with the release of her new single, “JOYRIDE.”

Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Rachel Passer