Heavy metal fundraiser Beyond Black returns for fifth edition

The gig, to be held at Volta on Friday, March 25, has raised more than $10,000 for Beyond Blue since its inception and will be headlined by Ballarat's Fall and Resist.

They will be joined by Melbourne acts Demonhead and Drova, as well as local Ballarat bands Bush Wizard and Distorta.

After running the event for six years, with a year off due to the COVID pandemic, organiser Liam Frost-Camilleri said the awareness focus had shifted from what we do when we feel well, not just what we do when we feel unwell.

"To begin with, we very much talked about if you're not doing well, speaking up and those sorts of things, but it has been six years since we did the first one and I think we're moving more towards this idea that taking care of yourself is what you do when you feel okay, not when you're feeling like crap," he said.

"I think that's the message that we're really hitting on now, is what are you doing to look after yourself when you're well, not what are you doing when the wheels fall off and you can't function anymore. We've been having a lot of conversations around that with a lot of the bands that I normally deal with and they're all on board with that idea and we just keep trying to make a bit of a difference, I guess."

Heavy music is almost intrinsically linked to mental health, with many bands writing music about their own mental health battles or openly discussing mental health publicly to raise awareness.

Mr Frost-Camilleri said it was a common misnomer that heavy music was a causal factor in mental health issues, with the category acting more as source or catharsis.

"The original research that they did on heavy metal years ago sort of indicated that heavy metal causes you to have mental health problems or causes you to be angry or causes you to be all these sorts of things. They've since revised that to be if you are a person who suffers from mental health problems or if you are a person who has unresolved emotions or anger issues or anything like that, then you are more likely to listen to heavy metal. It's not really a causal factor, it's more of a pull towards sort of more extreme or fringe music," he said.

"I think jazz gets a similar write-up in terms of mental health issues, they say that people with mental health issues will gravitate towards things like jazz as well. Heavy metal, in particular, was always a different sort of path for a lot of people, a different identity. It was anti-establishment, it was 'you don't understand me or you don't know who I am'.

"Heavy metal is still seen as quite a misfit sort of area or an area that's not really accepted, it's not played on the radio as such, so I think we find a bit of solace there and we find a cathartic understanding of another person gets how I'm feeling, this person understands me and I feel like crap and I can't seem to get in control of this and my emotions are running wild and I don't want to do, but you know what's great? I can put this music on and this guy is saying what I've been thinking over the last 20 years."

While Beyond Black is normally a two-night event which raises between $2000 and $3000 for Beyond Blue each year this year's one-night event is hoped to raise about $1500.

Mr Frost-Camilleri, who is also a lecturer at Federation University, said he was a big believer in Beyond Blue's role as a researcher in the mental health space, along with its counselling services.

"While there are counselling services and whatnot Beyond Blue provides, that's not its primary role. Its primary role is to research, to provide up to date information, and to basically break down the stigma. That's why, for me, Beyond Blue is one of the organisations we need to support the most," he said.

"I think Beyond Blue works really hard to try to support us in ways that other organisations don't. I think offering counselling is a great initiative and I think it needs to continue, but I also think it's a band-aid solution to a wider problem that we're having.

"It's the things we do in between the times when depression hits or anxiety hits and I think that's what Beyond Blue tries to do, it tries to approach that side of things, not just have 'what's depression? Have you asked your mate if he's okay?', which is a lovely sentiment, but I think we're past that now."

Beyond Black V will take place at Volta on Friday at 7.30pm. Tickets are $20 and are available at voltaballarat.com.au. Donations can also be made at fundraise.beyondblue.org.au/beyondblackv.

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