Marcus King Sheds Light On Mental Health Awareness [Interview]

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Marcus King. Photo: JM Collective

As a widely-respected musician in multiple genres, one may not expect Marcus King to struggle much with negative emotions or mental health issues.

The South Carolina-born singer-songwriter garnered a Grammy nomination for his 2020 solo debut album El Dorado, and in addition to packing venues on his own, he’s performed alongside Chris Stapleton, Greta Van Fleet and Nathanial Rateliff.

This spring, King released another album Mood Swings, produced by the iconic Rick Rubin, which explored some of the singer’s darkest moments. The album earned instant critical acclaim with its sonic landscape of the soul, country, blues, rock and Americana sounds, as well as its raw subject matter about times King was truly on the brink and considering taking his own life.

“You’ve either got to let it do something positive or it’s just gonna destroy you from the inside out,” he tells MusicRow. “It’s just like anything else, like childhood traumas, bad memories or heartbreak—all these things that all of us who write music use, subconsciously or not, to write music. I’ve learned to allow my mental health to be a more or less a writing partner for me.”

King shares that as he’s progressed in his career, and life, he’s learned to leave the sharp edges of truth in his songwriting when it comes to darkness instead of filtering it with ambiguity.

“I’ve always written about it, but I’ve been a little more cryptic with it. I’ve always been more inclined to use metaphor and not speak about it directly. With my latest record, I spoke about it more directly.”

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King is in a new place now, having put into place life changes to help support his mental health. Like a lot musicians and touring personnel, King knows all too well the darker colors that life on the road can paint in a person’s psyche. He’s chosen to be vocal about his experience, which has led to profound mental health awareness for his fans and peers.

“Some days you wake up in the bunk and the bunk is completely blacked out. You don’t know what time it is. It’s really easy to fall into a depressive state,” King shares. “I’m touring right now, the winter is coming and I’m fighting off a cold—it’s real easy just to stay in bed and to let that depression get you in a headlock. But it’s important to get up and do something.”

To support himself on the road, King likes to explore the cities he’s in, check out local restaurants and learn about the culture of the places he gets to perform in. He also says that exercise has been critical to his routine.

Photo: Fletcher Moore

“These are all the things that everybody talks about, I guess. Really, having your boys out here, having good community and finding joy in the simpler things in life is what makes me happy,” King shares. “I really enjoy coming off the gig and watching a slasher film with my band on the bus. I used to go out and really get tore up, but not anymore.”

Another life change that King has made has been sobriety, which can prove extremely difficult in a live music setting. A study by Tulane University estimates that 56% of industry professionals struggle with substance use.

“I’ve never had a hard time not starting. I’ve just had a hard time not stopping,” King says when asked how he maintains a sober environment for himself. “I don’t mind having it around. I kind of watch [people drinking] inquisitively, as a matter of fact. To watch somebody enjoy a few drinks responsibly—I can’t even fathom that concept. It’s just not part of my journey right now. I get along better without it.”

To help facilitate spaces for fans and crew struggling to be around alcohol and substances, King has partnered with Stand Together to bring 1 Million Strong on his “Mood Swings The World Tour.” The partnership has brought to life 1 Million Strong lounges—a space for fans in recovery, those who are sober and their allies to connect and find community before and during the show—in select cities, as well as mocktails options to enhance the sober party experience.

“It’s been really touching to meet people who tell me [my show was] their first sober concert experience. Having a sober space where it’s not an exclusive thing—there’s nothing really crazy going on, we’re just not drinking over here—it’s great. It’s like smoking or non-smoking section at Pizza Hut.”

Marcus King. Photo: Fletcher Moore

While sobriety is important to King’s mental health, he never wants to come across as judgemental about it.

“I’ve always enjoyed the idea of just being quietly sober. I don’t need to push my ideas on anybody, but it works for me and it might work for you,” he says. “I don’t want to tell people how to live when they come to my shows, I want people to have as much freedom and openness to do whatever they want, but I just know what I like to do and what I don’t like to do anymore. Having space like [1 Million Strong creates] is paramount.”

In addition to working with 1 Million Strong, King also recently launched the Curfew Fellowship Fund alongside his friend Charles Hedgepath to support musicians who are battling challenges with mental health and addiction.

“The Curfew Foundation is named after our buddy that took his own life. His nickname was Curfew, and he’s actually the person I wrote ‘Goodbye Carolina’ for,” King says. “We wanted to create an open space for artists to be able to speak with one another openly about their mental health journeys in an effort to de-stigmatize it as it relates to our business.”

While still in development, the foundation raises funds for various causes close to King’s heart and will develop a support system for musicians from all walks of life who are battling challenges with mental health and addiction.

As a very respected musician, often a special guests that the best of the best bring out to impress crowds with his virtuoso guitar-slinging and one-of-one voice, King is doing commendable work shedding light on his struggles. His status as a “cool kid” who speaks about and supports his mental health has undoubtedly impacted many.

“I definitely never thought of myself as one of the ‘cool kids,'” King sums with a laugh. “But it’s nice to be doing something that I would actually want people to model themselves after. I’ve never felt that before.”

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