TAZ
I'm a recording artist, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate. I was privately battling with depression & anxiety over the last few years after losing 3 friends to suicide. I was embarrassed to talk about what I was going through because I always felt like I had to be strong for everyone else, but I neglected to take care of myself.
After experiencing so many breakdowns, I realized I was really breaking through! In 2018 after releasing 2 EP's Hampton & Seven Five, I was brainstorming different titles for my next EP; however I wasn't sure what I really wanted to talk about. One day the title Mentally iLL popped up, and it felt like the perfect double entendre to describe me. The term "ill" can be used as slang for cool and "Mentally iLL" also address my mental health condition.
I had so many unanswered questions as to why my friends took their own lives; and I wondered - were they too embarrassed to speak publicly or seek out help? Knowing that I could never bring my friends back, I decided to turn my tragedies into triumphs by being totally vulnerable and transparent in my music. My goal was to use my voice to end the silence and HEAL the iLL. I used music as my outlet and it in turn has become therapy for so many people! I've been traveling and performing across the country and doing presentations on mental health awareness & suicide prevention.
I'm curating an event entitled as PAIN-tings Art Gala x Mentally iLL listening party March 22nd, 2019. Our mission is to Heal the iLL while turning our PAIN into PAIN-tings! PAIN-tings will feature canvas painters, make up artists, vendors, body painters and more. We're curating this event to end the silence and help erase the mental health stigmas. We are providing a safe creative space where people will feel comfortable discussing their mental health struggles, through art, music, & networking.
To learn more about Taz, follow @tazmaniashow or visit https://www.thecasagency.com/tazmusic/
