Yorkshire singer/songwriter Former Hero is no stranger to suffering from mental health. In his debut album ‘footpaths,’ out now on all streaming platforms, the guitarist delves into heavy issues while pairing the lyrics with catchy and danceable tunes. In this interview with Jejune Magazine, Former Hero goes into depth about the impact growing up as a queer man in a sheltered part of the UK has had on both his life and music. Additionally, he explains how he is giving back to the LGBTQA+ community through the online festival MindOut UK, which will be livestreamed on September 25th, 2021. Read on to learn more about the details of this event and Former Hero himself!

Where are you based?
I’m currently living in a small town in Yorkshire called Knaresborough! It’s very pretty, albeit a little dull and isolated.

What got you into producing your own music/ playing the guitar?
Ah great question! So, when I was eight, or so, my twin got a classical guitar for his birthday, which I promptly ended up stealing, like the lil rascal I was. I ended up playing it upside down, as in left-handed with the strings strung like a normal right-handed guitar. I developed this super weird playing style, which confused literally everyone around me, but it worked out fine, in the end — haha. Gradually, I figured out how to play other peoples songs, and once I hit my late teens I was primarily just writing my own. The production side came from trying to make my very janky recording setup at the time sound good, and gradually that became the thing I enjoyed the most about the whole process. Then I discovered the Scary Monsters EP by Skrillex and it was all over for me.

What a name, Former Hero! Can you tell us a bit about what inspired this name?
Thank you! I’m really proud of it. I wish there was a big huge emotional story behind it, but it’s actually just a reference to The Incredibles, one of my favorite movies. I really love the theme of trying to do your best, even when the world feels like it’s given up on you. It just really resonated with me when I was in the early stages of the former hero project.

Congrats on your new album! What is your main inspiration behind your debut album ‘footpaths’ and what message do you want it to send to your fans?
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I’d been working on the album for about 3 years, and it’s surreal to see that it’s out in the world, kinda pinching myself still.

The album’s main focus is proactive introspection, trying to figure out and accept your own flaws and insecurities, and trying to move on, keep progressing down the footpath that life is. It delves a lot into mental health, and grief, in particular, as they’re two things that really controlled me back when I was writing the album. I really hope the album just lets people know they aren’t alone, that the whole world may be completely messed up, but you’re alive. And that’s all that matters.

When asked about your music you are quoted to say that you make “music to make you want to dance through the sadness” Can you please elaborate on this?
Of course! To me, a lot of my music is incredibly melancholic. My music taste has always favored more on the emo side, and I really wanted to take the lyrical power that a lot of those kinda bands have (like Moving Mountains, The Appleseed Cast, The Hotelier), and figure out a way to make that catharsis blend well with EDM. It’s taken years and years of figuring out what works, where my voice actually sits in the grand scheme of it all, but this album felt a lot like I’d finally found my rhythm, and how to finally express all the chaos of my brain in a way that doesn’t stop the songs from being fun.

If you had to choose, what’s your favorite song on ‘footpaths’ and why?
It honestly changes constantly, I’m so proud of every single track. Right now, I’d probably say Helvellyn. It’s the song that was the quickest to figure out. It was one of the most intense concepts on the whole album, but ended up being the most fun song for me to write. It felt like a perfect blend of the emo side and the dance side. And I finally got to vent a bunch of intense feelings of trauma in a way that still meant I could play a cheesy guitar solo in it — haha.

“Foxgloves” is a very interesting song. First, what are foxgloves? Can you tell us a little bit about it and what inspired it?
A Foxglove is a really pretty, but alien-looking plant (you’ll probably recognize it from the Flume “Skin” artwork, but we also have a few in our garden here). Again, very pretty, but also can be very poisonous if misused.

The song itself is about my issues with addiction during the first year of the pandemic. I remember the very vivid summer evening, the one I finally got to meet with people again, where I got way way drunker than everyone around me, and I just refused to talk about it. Luckily there was a bit of an intervention, and I’m infinitely better off now than I was back then. But I really liked the idea of “talking about foxgloves” as a distraction, when everybody knows deep down there’s a problem there.

“Gone Dream'' is a beautiful song. We are really sorry to hear about your mother. Can you tell us a bit about this song and what you hope you fans get from it?
Thank you, I appreciate it. I wrote this song primarily about the dreams that you have about the people in your life that are no longer around you. For me, that was my mum, Katherine. I remember the first few months after losing her were horrible, and the dreams I’d have just sent me down a worse spiral and made it hard to find much peace. Eventually, those dreams started to feel more like she was communicating with me. I’m not religious, but it felt very comforting once that started to be the primary takeaway from it. It’s still sad and will always put me in a bit of a weird headspace, but I’m also kinda thankful for those moments I get to be around them. The last half is meant to feel like waking up from that dream, and I really want this song to feel like a comforting hug to the people in this world who have to experience this weird feeling.

Can we just talk about how beautiful the album art is for “footpaths”. Where did you shoot these stunning images, and what made you decide to go for this look?
Oh thank you so much! I’ve always taken all the photos myself, so it’s always super nice to hear people say they like it. All of the photos are taken around my hometown Knaresborough. I tend to just look around for really pretty spaces and angles that showcase just how lucky we are to be in a world with all these different views, even without having to venture far out of a town or a city. There’s beauty everywhere, and I try not to take it for granted.

Jejune is very excited that you are partnering up with MindOut UK later this month, September 25th, to host an online festival and raise money for mental health for LGBTQ communities. Can you tell us about this experience and how we can get involved?
I’m so so excited too! I’m so glad I got the opportunity to host an event like this, and even more glad that we’re getting to do it in support of an incredible mental health service. The event is called Footpaths Festival, and it’ll be hosted on bitbird’s Twitch channel on Saturday 25th of this month. Feel free to simply join to listen to some absolutely incredible musicians (we’ve got San Holo, Dobi, Rohaan, Paark and myself to name a few!), but we’ll have the option to donate directly to MindOut available during the event, with some fun cool goals we want to try reach during the event.

Can you tell us a bit about why this is so important to you?
As a queer dude in a very isolated part of the UK, nothing means more to me than community and having a good support network, whether that’s friendships or services that are able to help you cope with the unfortunate reality that being LGBTQA+ in the UK is not as easy as a lot of media might make it seem. I’ve been incredibly lucky, and have had a good network of friends who’ve been able to help me through my bad times, but I’m very aware that not everyone is in that situation. The service that MindOut provides is astounding, and it’s particularly amazing that it’s also run by LGBTQA+ people too. The amount of work they put in to make sure that their services are proactively anti-racist, intersectional, and also available for the transgender community is so admirable. It’s incredible how many resources they’re able to provide, and it’s an honor to be able to help them in any way.

Mental health has been a struggle since the pandemic. How have you been staying positive during the lockdowns?
My number one rule is to try and ground yourself whenever possible. We collectively went through this huge, awful trauma, and thing’s aren’t normal; so, it’s unfair to expect yourself to be operating at the same level that you would be, if we weren’t in the pandemic. I just tried to remind myself of that whenever I was having a particularly dark moment. It’s absolutely fine to not be okay. I’m also lucky to be able to catch up with most of my friends online pretty often; so, ultimately it could’ve gone a lot worse. Having the album as a constant thing to work on helped me channel a lot of that negativity into something that eventually ended up being a positive. I'm very thankful for that.

Do you have any advice for anyone, especially LGBTQ individuals, suffering with mental health?
From my experience of being very close to the brink in the past, it’s really hard for what I’m about to say to not sound condescending; so, apologies for that. But please please reach out to the people in your life. People love you, and will be there for you to help. As mentioned above, it’s absolutely worth being kind to yourself whenever possible, you deserve it. I’d highly recommend reaching out to a service such as MindOut or Samaritans, as early as possible too, if you’re worried that things are going south. You don’t have to be at the absolute edge to seek help.

What is your motto in life?
I don’t really have one to be honest! I just try to act with kindness and understanding whenever I can.

To learn more about Former Hero and to watch the MindOut UK Livestream, check out the links below:
MindOut UK- https://mindout.org.uk/
Twitter - @formerhero_
Soundcloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/formerhero
Instagram - @formerhero_

Battling Mental Health Through Guitar and Song with Former Hero