Artist News Releases

Peace support campaign for more research into young people’s mental health

By | Published on Friday 8 December 2017

Peace

Peace have this morning released a new single, ‘From Under Liquid Glass’, to raise awareness of a new campaign by mental health charity MQ.

MQ’s ‘We Swear’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the need for more research into the mental wellbeing of children. The charity says that research shows that 75% of mental health issues begin before people hit the age of eighteen, while only 30% of research funding goes on studying mental illness in young people. Or, as the strapline of the campaign puts it, “It’s time to give a **** about mental health in young people”.

Peace vocalist Harry Koissier says that the song is written based on his own experience with depression. “It is an honest, personal account of how I was feeling last year”, he says. “Things in my life were rocky and I hit a low point; the song is a form of self-expression, which I found therapeutic. It helped to write my feelings down on paper”.

He goes on: “The origin of the song is to do with the fear that if my peers and our fans got a glimpse of the fact that I wasn’t actually a swirling eruption of positivity and that I was in fact really struggling with my mental health, they would feel somehow like I was a fraud. I think that fear is representative of the pressures on young men to be strong and mentally sound”.

“It’s campaigns like this one that MQ is doing that inspired me to face all my feelings head on and put all the imaginary criticism I was fearing I into a song. If people take comfort in the song that’s only a good thing, and if people can relate to it, that’s a good thing too, and to me is what music is about – and I hope it can help continue to raise awareness around mental health”.

“Before now my approach has been to cover up and not talk about any sort of mental health issues, but I’m lucky in that I have songs to put my feelings into; this is the first time I’ve been this straight forward in a song and this honest”.

Noting the departure this takes from Peace’s other material, he adds: “Peace have always been about an explosion of happiness, but that isn’t reflective of every part of me, and this song says that things can be polarised; you can be a happy person and also feel bad at times. It’s reflective of everyone as most people I know have had, or will have, some degree of mental health issue at some point in their lives”.

Speaking about the charity’s involvement with Peace, campaign manager Nikki Peters says: “We’re delighted that Peace have chosen to support us in raising the profile of mental health and the urgent need for more research. Harry’s honest account of his own experience – and the band’s passionate commitment to championing the issue – are hugely valuable”.

She adds: “If we want to truly transform mental health we need to build a movement – with research at the centre. Working together with artists like Harry and Peace, as well as scientists, politicians, and the public themselves, we can bring about real change for everyone affected by mental illness”.

As well as listening to the song, Peace are encouraging fans to share a ‘We Swear’ selfie on their social media accounts to raise awareness for the campaign. You can do that here. And you can find out more about the campaign as a whole here.

Listen to ‘From Under Liquid Glass’ here:



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