Mental Health & Sexism on Tour with Miyoko Esco

 

TW: SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

It’s every music fans dream to one day get to go on tour, but did you know that over seventy percent of all musicians battle with mental health issues? On top of that only twenty-three percent of professionals in the music industry identify as female or nonbinary. So this week we’re joined by Miyoko Esco who is a touring crew member with over seven years of experience under her belt to unpack all this. We discuss what’s in place to help those struggling while out on the road, and what she feels could be changed to help out with the mental health burden that comes with being on the road for most of the year. We discuss in detail the added hardships of being a female on the road, from feeling the need to nurture fellow crew members, to unwanted sexual advancements and what it’s like when there is actually wanted sexual tension between two members of a touring party. Learn about all this and more on this week’s episode of Name 3 Songs.

!!! As always this podcast is largely opinion-based. Nothing we say is anything out than our personal thoughts and feelings based on pre-existing knowledge or facts we’ve picked up and sited kindly for you over at Name3Songs.com 

If you’d like to discuss anything we talked about today in grater detail with us, you can find us on Twitter @Name3Songs or @sara_feigin & @jenna_million

You can find Miyoko on Twitter and Instagram

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‘We Can’t Have All Our Artists Die’: How the Music Industry Is Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis (Rolling Stone, 2020)

Music’s Road Crews Are Overwhelmingly White and Male. Meet the People Trying to Change That (Rolling Stone, 2020)

‘You’re left to rot if you speak up’: the abuse faced by female roadies (The Guardian, 2020)

‘This Would Have Changed My Career:’ music industry finally acts on mental health (Guardian, 2020)

A CONVERSATION ON MENTAL HEALTH IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS WITH THRIV’S DR. CHAYIM NEWMAN (MusicBiz.org)

ORGANISATIONS: Backline, TourSupport, MusiCares,