In a 2019 study surveying roughly fifteen hundred musicians, 75 percent reported suffering from some form of mental health difficulty, pulling back the curtain on a harsh reality within the music industry. Further complicating this situation is the industry's darkly romantic association with mental health, regarding diagnoses of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and the like not as mental health concerns but as fuel for the art form—a troublesome but ultimately beneficial fount of creativity.
Containing interviews with sixteen indie music artists, including Shamir, Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World, Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable, Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional, Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, and others, Sound Minds explores mental health in the music industry through the eyes of the musicians themselves, articulating the realities of the industry's mental health crisis. Additionally, Hilleary pens a poignant and honest introduction regarding his own struggles with mental health and detailing what readers will learn from these musicians' perspectives. All told, Hilleary offers an in-depth look at how mental health conditions affect and challenge even our most beloved and seemingly undaunted artistic heroes.