Q&A: About You is Crafting Music as a Tether to Reality
Photo By James Kung
CREATING A SANCTUARY THROUGH HIS LATEST TRACK “GOD DON’T LET ME LOSE MY MIND”, ABOUT YOU TAKES AN INTROSPECTIVE DIVE THROUGH THEIR MUSIC. This song serves as a serenity prayer during moments of disassociation and depression, showcasing the incredible power of music to provide solace and connect with listeners facing similar challenges.
"God Don't Let Me Lose My Mind" also plays a vital role in normalizing conversations around mental health, particularly depression. Max Poscente, the artist behind About You, hopes that this song becomes a lifeline for others, offering support and fostering discussions on the often-taboo topic of suicidal ideations. He believes that true strength lies in vulnerability and connecting with others who have faced similar struggles.
About You's upcoming music promises to be a confident, vulnerable, and genre-bending exploration of sound, building on the unique world he has created under the umbrella of About You. With an exciting lineup of upcoming releases and a US tour on the horizon, About You is ready to make their musical mark while continuing to be an advocate for mental health awareness.
We chatted with Poscente to delve into the deeply personal and emotional journey that led to the creation of this powerful track.
LUNA: How has this summer been treating you?
ABOUT YOU: Fantastic. Releasing these singles has been extremely rewarding, and playing festivals is always fun. We had the pleasure of playing a festival called Mile of Music in Appleton, WI and the way they treat their artists/staff is outstanding. Each musician was paid, given healthcare while present at the festival, provided housing, and fed. I hope this is a standard all music festivals come to meet. And everyone really wanted to listen to new original music! Anyways, playing that festival was definitely a highlight of the summer.
LUNA: “God Don't Let Me Lose My Mind" carries a deeply personal and introspective theme. Can you share more about the emotional journey that led to the creation of this song?
ABOUT YOU: After a long stint of disassociation via depression, and looking for a tether to earth, I wrote this song as my own kind of serenity prayer. I was fresh off suicidal ideations, questioning the life ahead of me as a musician, seeing the world through eye holes that felt 10 feet in front of me. Then, a trip to Greece with my girlfriend, Maggie, reminded of life’s pure beauty and frankly, reminded me of reasons to live.
From Greece, I ventured off on my own to London — playing some shows, interviews, and also pursuing adventure. After playing an intimate show in a LUSH Cosmetics break room and giving the strangest interview of my life (so far), I was walking through the streets of Canary Wharf with my big, bulky, acoustic guitar case and I found myself repeating the line “God Don’t Let Me Lose My Mind.” I was singing the line to a different melody each time. Suddenly, in this financial district back-alley, I sang what would end up being the chorus melody. I promptly set down my guitar case, unlatched the mostly broken buckles to strum out the chords which best accompanied my new melody. I then recorded a voice memo of the songs first iteration. The verse lyrics naturally came out reminiscent of the “serenity prayer” and I ran with that.
Being from Texas, I heard the serenity prayer quite often and I’d always wanted to write a hymnal-like song, without any religious ties. I later finished the lyrics on a week long trip to Nashville for pre-production with my friends Nathan Allen and Hal Samples. When my producer, Jeff Saenz, and I came to record the final vocal for this song, it just so happened to be the same day my grandfather passed. This song is riddled in deep emotion and personal pain, evident especially on the vocal take. But more importantly, this song is my way through that pain and crisis. It was only then I realized how strong of a tether to reality “God Don’t Let Me Lose My Mind" was for me.
LUNA: Your description of the track highlights its role as a "serenity prayer" during moments of disassociation and depression. How do you believe music has the power to provide solace and connect with listeners who might be experiencing similar challenges?
ABOUT YOU: Nothing validates greater than art. Some things feel so great, that verbalizing them seems an impossible task. This is where art, not just music but any expression, can resonate deepest. And personify this complex feeling you are experiencing. What’s so amazing to me about music is that the connection, and deep resonance, is instant. It always is.
LUNA: Mental health awareness is an essential conversation to normalize. How do you hope this track contributes to raising awareness and fostering conversations about mental illness, particularly depression?
ABOUT YOU: I hope this song can be the same tether to earth for others facing depression that it was for me. Everything you need to know about “God Don’t Let Me Lose My Mind” is in the title - this song was a cry for help and community in a lot of ways. I think we should normalize discussing suicidal ideations – the topic being taboo creates this giant hurdle for anyone in that space to open up about those dark thoughts. As Gary Gulman put it, suicide is “death by depression” - finding support in one another is so important to prevent this from happening. More people I know have been there than haven’t, so why be so ashamed of it? Working through those feelings, and dissolving this hurt, TOGETHER is the most beautiful part of that journey. I believe that kind of vulnerability is true strength and further connects us all.
LUNA: How have you seen your sound evolve with some upcoming music?
ABOUT YOU: It’s the music I’ve always wanted to make. And it’s all made possible by my incredible producer Jeff Saenz — who’s believed in me from day one. The music we’re making now sounds confident, vulnerable, thoughtful, and new. I want to give something that hits as hard as the feeling does — be it pain, love, angst, etc. I feel we’ve pushed rock n roll forward with this new About You record.
LUNA: Who have you been listening to lately?
ABOUT YOU: Lately a lot of Bon Iver, Andrew Bird's “Echolocations," Fiona Apple, Little Simz, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Dijon, and Ironsides. I’ve also found myself on Spotify mostly listening to house music or solely acoustic instrument music; Listening to very opposing sides of music at the moment.
LUNA: What can you share about any other upcoming music? How does it compare to what we’ve heard from you so far?
ABOUT YOU: Our next single is out Oct 11 and is called “Farewell to Ghosts.” The song is inspired by a story my friend Forest sent in. It’s in a similar vein, but further explores this world of sound we’ve made under the umbrella of About You. You can expect more songs inspired by stories people sent in, more genre exploration, and more pairings on 808’s and old guitars.
LUNA: Do you find yourself often drawn to a common theme or narrative when writing your music?
ABOUT YOU: One of the reasons we are called About You is because people send us stories and we turn them into songs. So although I have a few topics I gravitate towards (truth, vulnerability, love), our theme’s are constantly in flux.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the upcoming months?
ABOUT YOU: After “God Don’t Let Me Lose My Mind,” we’ll continue with one more release for the year: "Farewell to Ghosts" on Oct 11, along with a music video. We have a show in Los Angeles on Oct 19 with We Found New Music at Bar Lubitsch, New York at Sundown in Ridgewood on Oct 4, and possibly some other Californian festivals in our future. Finishing out ’23 strong, and starting ’24 ever stronger… with more singles, music videos, the release of our full length record, and a US Tour Spring ’24 is in the works now.
