SUSTAINING CREATIVE HEALTH - Part 3: Stress, neoliberalism and artist psychology with Samuel Organ

In this Lux Cache essay series, we analyse the foundational elements that lead to efficient creative workflow, testing interdisciplinary approaches to what can be applied to a musician’s arsenal outside of the DAW. In part three of Sustaining Creative Health we invite producer, tutor, & multi-instrumentalist Samuel Organ to explore the systemic hurdles to maintaining health, work and relationships as a portfolio artist.

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It has become increasingly apparent that the nature of the career style that is prevalent in creative portfolio careers is having a considerable impact on both the mental and physical health of artists. The perceptible and uncomfortable link between the epidemic of mental ill-health amongst musicians, and the working conditions within the music industries is becoming ever more ubiquitous, with countless studies showing distressing numbers of artists suffering the effects of a broad range of occupational hazards. Artists forge their careers in a highly fragmented, hypercompetitive, over-supplied and very complex environment. In a world of blurred boundaries, definitions and relationships, it can be hard to identify who is responsible for providing support for issues such as mental health problems. This lack of direction and support is seemingly a large factor which leads musicians to pursue careers in other industries, where there is either more access to support, or less chance of experiencing poor working conditions.

Work-related stress, which has been unofficially embedded in the cultural zeitgeist for years, has been officially recognised by the World Health Organisation through a revision of the International Classification of Diseases. Chronic stress is one of the most common health issues in the workplace, and is linked to a higher risk of depression, anxiety and insomnia. The current industry model and culture produced by the developments of the digital age is characterised by the way it’s become centred around easily numerically quantifiable prosperity. For many artists, instant visual and social reward delivered through ‘likes’, ‘plays’ and growing streaming statistics has become a key career motivator and representation of prestige. This model has allowed many independent musicians to become empowered by watching their art permeate markets on the global stage, however, it has also been recognised as a contributor to poor mental health because of its addictive nature.

The myth of neat quantifiable success

Cognitive neurologist Ofir Turel asks us to ‘imagine a situation in which every time you go to a bank, you get your balance, but you also see the balance of other people’. Turel suggests that it will cause most people to feel annoyed or dissatisfied with what they have’. Music makers' relationship to their work is integral to their sense of self. It is how they define themselves. The nature of the portfolio career style (which incorporates consistently adapting and under-going systematic review) can also require artists to become comfortable with the idea that they ‘the subject’, view themselves as ‘the object’. Objective self-awareness is the theory that suggests that any stimulus causing the self to become the object (instead the subject) of the consciousness will lead to a diminished impression of the self. In the case of the career musician, this stimulus is represented by the necessary social and digital marketing activities required to uphold a perceived engaging and prosperous online presence in order to thrive in the current and future marketplace. The line between being a musician, a businessperson, and a salesperson have become largely blurred, which might suit some with the inclination for it, but proves to be a shortcoming for many musicians.

The ‘VUCA’ Model developed by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, used to describe situational stability.

While it could be argued that musicians have been long conditioned to the current Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) global environment, it appears the recent challenges are testing even the most resilient and adaptable, causing one to question future professional sustainability. Independent project-based work offers emancipatory experiences, moving beyond hierarchical control towards empowering and fulfilling work, however, one could argue that artists are lured by the hype of autonomy and creativity but instead find themselves exploited by low wages, part-time jobs, and an often unglamorous routine work.

Precarity of earnings plays a notable negative role in artists well-being. The difficulties musicians have in acquiring any form of financial stability have a number of consequences, not least that they feel they cannot adequately plan their lives or their futures. This asks the question; how can musicians plan for the future under such pressures? The current industry model demands an individual to possess skills of adaptability, creativity, risk and resilience, collaboration, independence and, above all, foresight within a global and local context. This is on top of the traditional traits of the career musician including networking skills, performance, composition and production. Maintaining these skills to demonstrate the strategic foresight necessary to survive is making artists sick. All this is exhausting right? Hopefully I can offer a few simple things to consider in a relatable and manageable way to help starting to address some of these concerns.

Disrupting the cycles of social media fatigue

This first point might seem pretty obvious, but the key to it is demonstrating it in a well considered way. Most of us can relate to running within the hamster wheel that is social media dopamine cycles, with addiction falling as the severe condition of that. Social Media Addiction is a very real issue, a behavioural addiction and not one to be taken lightly. For some, limiting usage is much more manageable, but for others it’s much more difficult. Sufferers have shown symptoms much like those related to other substance misuse, including withdrawal symptoms, salience and relapse. If you feel like it’s having a damaging effect on your quality of life, the natural reaction is to cut down too much too soon, but it’s likely a relapse is going to emphasise those negative feelings and your relationship with those platforms. Try to consider how much joy you really get from certain platforms. Often as artists we feel it’s better to be as connected as possible to remain in the eyeliner of possible collaborators or peers who may lead us to work opportunities, but should this be at the expense of your health? Is there another way you can establish and maintain connections that isn’t as damaging to you? As always, there’s an abounding amount of articles online aimed at persuading you the best tips to cut down, how much you should be consuming and even apps to help to limit your usage - I’m not going tell you what you should and shouldn’t do…as artists we should just take the opportunity to ask questions, and ask ourselves questions to form honest and true relationships with the tools we use to make art and connect with others. If you’re looking for more information on Social Media Addiction I’d recommend the following articles:

https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/ https://www.healthline.com/health/social-media-addiction#downsides

Quality of relationships

We hear this phrase a lot ‘it’s who you know, not what you know’. I’m sure there’s truth in it, but as a sentiment that seems to serve as the foundation for many artists careers (I couldn’t tell you how many times I heard that babble at music college), it’s lacking an incredibly important sub-text that prioritises the quality of those relationships, and the motivation of the people ‘you know’. You could know loads of people, but if they’re not willing to show you kindness and compassion, support your fundamental needs and consider your well-being at the absolute minimum, then this sentiment is starting to look spread pretty thin. Honest connections are going to help you feel safer and more secure while navigating these volatile environments we’re working in. I’d recommend always keeping this in mind when forming new relationships and taking new opportunities. I want every artist to feel closer to the feeling of longevity with their careers and hate to think of people including myself feeling lonely as a result of poor connections with others.

Bursting the ‘doing what you love’ bubble and the Neoliberal Trap of Freelancing

This section is inspired by an article written by Nana Aizawa titled ‘The Neoliberal Trap of Freelancing’. Often we find ourselves elated at the prospect of earning a living by ‘doing what we love’, whether that’s through personal reflection or by positive reinforcement from others that we’re so lucky we get to do what we love for a job. However it’s important to be mindful of the negative properties associated with sustaining this career style. Aizawa outlines the way in which when we talk about freelancing purely in a lifestyle context, and glorify its flexibility and freedom, we may lose sight of how it functions on a larger societal and economic scale. For example, among other issues, the neoliberal structure that underpins our society has been observed to contribute to maintaining a gender pay-gap, and how the attitude of the salesman has become enmeshed in all modes of self-expression. As well as these concerns on a wider scale, we have to deal with the everyday association to difficult work-life balance, mental and physical health concerns and loneliness. As artists we should never feel under pressure to uphold the belief that if we’re not earning exclusively from our art, then we’re linked to failure. If you have to earn money working in other industries to support making your art, that’s okay. If you chose to work in other industries alongside making art, that’s okay. If you’re able to support yourself exclusively from making your art, that’s okay! A role with a more corporate attachment might just provide you with the support and security you need to continue to make art, and that should be acknowledged and celebrated.

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Samuel Organ is a producer, multi-instrumentalist (The Physics House Band, Slugabed, Peter Talisman) and tutor based in the UK.

You can follow him on Twitter @samuel_organ and Instagram @samuelorgan