( ENSPIRE Music ) The Singer and Producer Teamed Up With 140 Artists To Raise Awareness For World Mental Health Day and Bring Song to Life
ENSPIRE Contributor: Elizabeth Duchan
The celebration of World Mental Health Day this October 10th was brought to new heights with a project spearheaded by two California-based artists, Celleste and Eric, who created the song “Breathe” to raise awareness for the important day. The international community project brought together over 140 artists across North America to participate in a choir-driven song and video that advocates for better mental health and empowers people of all backgrounds through their difficult times.
Celleste and Eric are no strangers to using music to fight for mental health. The two Montreal natives met on a production show years ago and began writing songs together, quickly evolving from friends to a married couple. After starting their own independent record label, Mighty Music, the two moved to Los Angeles in 2017, where they sought to merge singing, songwriting, and producing with social activism. The duo partnered with Habitat for Humanity in 2018 by creating a song and video to raise funds for tackling California wildfires and natural disasters and quickly learned that music was a powerful medium for lifting spirits and spurring change.
Having a history of depression and anxiety, coupled with the unpredictability and emotions of the entertainment industry, has left Celleste and Erice more than familiar with the struggles of mental illness. They are far from alone in this battle; according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by the age of 14, making 1 in 5 adults and 17% of youth victims of mental health disorders. Celleste and Eric aim to destigmatize this issue by spreading awareness and removing the sense of alienation that so often accompanies mental health.
The song “Breathe” is meant to be wielded as a tool to accomplish this. “While we wrote ‘Breathe!’ because we wanted to put out positivity and hope into the world for people dealing with mental health challenges, we also wrote it because we needed that positivity and hope for ourselves… and that was our first step on the road to our own personal recovery,” explains Eric. “The anthem’s lyrics highlight the importance of breathing as a tool to help regulate our feelings of isolation, stress, anxiety, and fear, [and] bring some comfort and relief to all those who are suffering from mental health-related challenges.”
The music video features Celleste as the lead singer, accompanied by hundreds of virtual appearances from the song’s choir members, including Grammy and Juno winners and nominees, musicians, artists, and comedians. Through powerful vocals and even more powerful lyrics, the song has fostered an unmistakable sense of community for the thousands of listeners who face mental health struggles.
“People are sharing their own stories and letting us know how ‘Breathe!’ has been helping them, and bringing positivity into their lives,” says Celleste. “To be able to translate our honest and sincere feelings into a song, and then have people connect and relate to it in the same way… that’s quite a fulfilling accomplishment for a songwriter, and also a beautiful gift.”
To listen to “Breathe” and connect with Celleste and Eric please visit JustStopAndBreathe.org. Profits from the song will be donated to Los Angeles’ Teen Line.
