As we face ~uncertain times~, it feels like discussion surrounding mental health has become more common than ever. Mental health is becoming ubiquitous - be that with various campaigns and quasi-holidays like Are You Okay? Day, or the constant flow of people now asking ‘have you tried meditation???!!’ (yes). But despite this, it still feels like we have a way to go before we can fully breakdown the assumptions and stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness.

Enter; The Be Good Project.

Being well-versed in the tribulations of mental health and living as a human, Robot Jaw Records founder Josh Hicks was motivated to create The Be Good Project after becoming frustrated with a lack of understanding in how mental health is discussed and dealt with. Consisting of a 14-track record and a 13-piece art book, The Be Good Project acts as a conversation in itself - with a number of talented artists and musicians asked to contribute. The project features a range of voices and perspectives, all of which uniquely address their own experiences with mental health, and all profits are donated to Beyond Blue.

The manifestation of this is a serious treat for the ears and eyes. The project is a fabulously well-curated display of skill and creativity spanning across musical genres and artistic styles. What’s more is that it reflects how different everyone’s experiences are when it comes to mental health, and provides a welcoming and avant-garde way of opening the dialogue, through a compilation of music and art. Talking to some of the artists about their work and experiences, it becomes clear how fundamentally human the challenges of mental health are, and the power of collaboration in making sense of what can be a truly isolating experience.

Kelsie Rimmer is no stranger to exploring mental health in her work. Talking about her track, ‘In My Head’, she explains that her band Damaged Goods Club is dedicated to “really openly discussing topics of mental health, and the trains of thought that kind of go on in your head during the day to day life”. According to Kelsie, ‘In My Head’ is “about being in your own head, about overthinking things, and kind of creating a reality for yourself that isn’t really there”, the ultimate message from the track being “that just because it might be in our head doesn't mean it's not real”.

The question of How we can overcome the challenges mental health presents is the sort of question that makes you want to throw your arms up at the air and yell at the sky like you’re in The Sims. Kelsie says, drawing from her experience “it's been really helpful to differentiate what is me and what is a symptom”. That is the age old question, according to Nic Georgiou - “you can’t just will yourself to be happy, but I think you can find a place where you can understand that the things that are making you sad are part of you. That's when you can accept that as part of you as a whole, and allow yourself to go and join the world’

Music and art is an effective way of tapping into the more personal, and darker side of the human psyche. But the dark side to this is that amongst artists and musicians, issues surrounding mental health often is made to seem like part of the deal.

Dan Wright, the lead singer and songwriter for the Rollercanes offers an interesting insight into this. Swapping the usual indie-rock sensibilities for a more stripped back approach, his track ‘Blissed Out’ explores the struggle of trying to be ‘Blissed Out’ when it feels like nothing is really working.

We discuss the changes that are happening in the way that mental health is approached in music, and how writing songs about everyday struggles with mental health, particularly in a local music scene, can have a positive influence on those around you. “I think that when you hear other people on your level singing about it, it makes you feel like you can talk about it,” he shares, “and also when you’re hearing other Melbourne artists singing about it like you don’t feel weird wanting to talk to someone“.

Along with the benefits about being open about our suffering in our music, we also discuss the pervasive notion amongst artists, that you have to be unwell to make good art. Dan notes the perils of trying to profit from mental ill-health in order to write songs - “I think that's an important lesson for songwriters who romanticise feeling like shit and being troubled. I definitely had those sorts of thoughts, I feel shit, so I should keep feeling shit, because I'm writing and I’m a lot more productive - but it's not viable at all”.

The Be Good Project really shows how music and art from a range of perspectives can play a huge role in making people feel less alone. A lot of the artists contributed works that they would need or think someone else would need. Particularly Kelsie, who says “I think the whole point of talking about how you're feeling or talking about your issues is to find some form of connection and feel like you’re not alone in it”

While we have taken steps in the right direction when it comes to being more open about how we’re feeling, visual artist Liz Lea believes “we definitely have a long way to go before we sort of feel comfortable around the whole sort of nitty-gritty” of mental illness. Her piece ‘Robyn’, an eponymous portrait of her mother, comes accompanied by an artist statement in which she talks about her mother’s experience with mental illness and the impact that it has had on her life.

Robyn had been a nurse, and when she called the hospital at the beginning of COVID-19 to see if she could go back to work, she was met with the response: “oh, were you the one who went to the clinic?” Talking about it, Liz says “well, yeah of course that’s the first thing that you remember of this person. Robyn was an experienced and accomplished nurse who had endured hardship, but all of that goes out the window when people are so fast to judge her and make these accusations about who she is as a person”.

We know the importance of having connection and a sense of purpose for mental health, but people who experience mental illness often miss out on opportunities due to the stigma they face. The Be Good Project reminds us that there is still stigma and shadows surrounding mental health that need to be addressed.

The power of exploring mental health in a multi-faceted way in this compilation is, just as art can be used to explore the dark times, it can also provide hope. There are so many empowering messages and lessons from this work.

Kell Kitsch speaks frankly about her experiences with mental ill-health and her recovery process after having an eating disorder - ‘“In order to break the stigma around mental health we need to open ourselves up to sharing our own experiences, and that you are not alone. It's so important to have people who have gone through this because they can be role models for people who are still stuck on the other side of the river”. For her, art has been a major part of her healing, and her goal in her piece ‘Serenity in the Woods’ was to create something that she thought she needed “but also that other people needed”. “It is a reminder that there’s hope, and although it can seem like it’s dreary and there’s no way out, there is hope - whether that be through people who want to help you, or hope in you getting better, there's a way out."

And when it comes to managing these sorts of things, Shan Primrose’s piece is a much needed reminder that all feelings are normal, and there are things that you can do when you are struggling. In our chat, Shan’s commitment to affecting positive change shines through almost everything she does, and she fittingly submitted two pieces to the project. When talking about her first piece ‘Black Lives Matter’, she acknowledges that “mental health and racism are linked both locally and globally”. Her second piece ‘Be Kind to Your Mind’, was originally created to be handed out at events she hosts with her business, Flo Creative, and she explains it is made up of “tips of what I do in order to help my own mental health, in order to help other people with theirs - by being open about mental health from the get go, it sets a positive and inclusive vibe”.

All in all, The Be Good Project really drives home the fact that conversation around mental health should not be reserved for when one is in crisis.