'Mental As Everything', like AA Milne’s 'Winnie The Pooh', is an attempt to convey an understanding of mental illness through art.
Pianist, guitarist and vocalist Damon Smith, like Winnie and Rabbit, is afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; he has calculated that over eight years of his life have been devoted to his compulsions. Having recently been diagnosed with bipolar, he also alternates between the mania of Tigger and the despair of Eeyore. Drummer, guitarist and vocalist Adam Coad, like Piglet and Kanga, is riddled with anxiety. For the duo, music has been the honey, the refuge from their mental illnesses. While their diseases of the mind have come at an immense personal and social cost, their musicality and artistry are the flowers that have emerged from the manure.
In 2017, the pair sold out the Dunstan Playhouse as part of the ensemble in 'Sun Rising – The Songs That Made Memphis'. While this show features a couple of songs by Sun Records artists – Johnny Cash’s Nine Inch Nails cover, Hurt and Jerry Lee Lewis’ 'A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On' – the show is predominately original compositions. Adam laments that his anxiety has caused him to drag his heels and get left behind, while Damon offers a harrowing insight into the white-knuckle ride that is bipolar.
The patter between songs appeared to be largely unscripted, and by deliberate design. Damon and Adam talk candidly, as though it is a sharing circle in a rehab facility. By doing so, by removing the safety net of a rehearsed text, they remove the veil and the reality of their existence is exposed: Adam is visibly nervous, Damon commentates upon his compulsions as they arise. To reveal their torments so starkly is an act of profound bravery. Like any spontaneous conversation, there are lulls and imperfect moments; demanding immaculate perfection from such a show, though would ignore the very point; the demand for perfection is often the cause of anxiety. This show is a healing journey for the performers on stage and for those seated in the audience; an important work for our times.
★★★★☆
