How Ambient Music Supports My Mental Health + Album Release

Music can be a panacea for mental health struggles, but allow me to suggest one genre that stands above all when dealing with anxiety.

I’m a chronically anxious person. Whether it’s work, money, or relationships, I can’t stop worrying to save my life. The passage of time itself freaks me out, like how am I already 22 years old? I remember the first day of middle school like it was yesterday. Couple that with depression. I feel a constant loss of opportunity and progress. I feel worried about not optimizing my time so I don’t feel this way later.

Anxiety is pointed, directed, like a knife to your gut.

Ambient music is shapeless, formless, and largely directionless. So, when I made my first ambient music track, I started playing simple riffs with huge delay and reverb. My amp has a built-in shoegaze template. I didn’t know what I was doing, but the music felt good to play and even better to hear. I was at such a low point that I didn’t enjoy anything, but this felt like a return to something liberating. I played for two minutes, slowed it down by around 30%. Added some lead guitar licks for variation. I put in a Paul-stretched root chord underneath. If none of this music jargon makes sense to you, that’s totally fine. The result was the title track, which I named after the real analog television I used to watch a bootleg Simpsons Movie DVD on.

Behold: analog television

I can’t quite describe the peace this brings me. And I hope it brings peace to you, too.

analog television EP out now: spotify and bandcamp