The Robb Nash Project – This Is War

By starrymag | June 26, 2022

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) We wanted this album to hit hard with a wall of guitars with some electronic elements… So, it is definitely rock. But with eighteen songs we had the chance to explore a lot of different elements and moods to tell a story from front to back.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) The biggest sound comparisons we probably get are Papa Roach, Bring Me the Horizon and Three Days Grace.  Lyrically, I find that Blue October set the standard for me lyrically as I am constantly blown away by Justin’s [Furstenfeld] vulnerability and openness about his personal struggles with mental illness in his own life. But while writing I was probably most influenced by Twenty One Pilots.  Not that we sound the same…But they are never locked into one sound or genre.  In one song you will hear them with the music hitting so hard that you feel it in your chest….and the next song will be just a vocal and ukulele.  I feel like they broke off the handcuffs I was wearing as a writer for years.

Q) Mental illness is a cause very close to your heart. What makes it so significant for you?

A) When I was seventeen years old, I was in a massive car accident with a semi-truck.  I had the left side of my skull rebuilt with titanium and multiple other surgeries as well.  People were always quick to ask about my skull pain, but nobody asked the important question, “How is the pain inside the skull?”  Because how a traumatic event like that impacted me mentally, emotionally and spiritually was the real issue I was dealing with. During that recovery I went to a very dark place where I was suicidal for two years and became addicted to opioids.

I made it through that dark time, but I wondered how many other people were having those same thoughts and not talking about it. So, I decided I needed to tell my story and I knew music would be the vehicle that would allow me to do that.

Q) You have the names of those lost to suicide tattooed on your arms. Why did you decide to honor those individuals in that way?

A) We had a few songs that hit the Top 10 in Canada, but I was waiting for the opportunity to use that platform to do something more than just be successful…I wanted to do something that felt significant – something that would impact the audience in front of me that mattered.

I was offered a nine-month tour…Just me and my guitar going through schools across Canada telling my story.  That nine months turned into a twelve-year tour and I put a band back together and soon found myself also playing in prisons, youth detention centers and native reserves as well.  I started writing songs about the people I was meeting and before COVID hit we were back playing large theatres and even arenas where we would bring in dozens of schools together to hear the stories and the songs.  We never charged a dollar for what we did and even paid for the school buses and did whatever it took to get in front of as many people as we could.

On the tour we had 917 students actually hand us their suicide notes that they had been carrying with them…waiting for someone to push them over the edge…or for someone to let them know that they were not alone.

We started seeing so many of them tattooing the lyrics of our songs on their arms where they used to cut.  So, I took the names and signatures from the bottom of the suicide notes and tattooed them on my arms.  I wanted to show them that if they felt that I was that connected to them…I wanted them to know that they were connected to me.

And I wanted to be able to show people that not every story of mental illness ends in a suicide….and not every story of addiction ends in an overdose.

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “This is War.”

A) I was about to receive an award for the work that we have been doing. I felt really uncomfortable backstage at the event because the other people getting the award were soldiers…some that were missing limbs.  But before the introduced me they said “the next person is fighting a different kind of war, a war against an invisible enemy called mental illness.:”

That brought me to tears and I knew I had to write about it. The song talks about the fact that we think we have created paradise in the west, especially in North America.  But is it really the promise land we think it is?  If so, why are we so broken?  Why have we lost so many people to suicide and addiction?

So, our new album talks about that war.  There are moments on the album where I describe being on the front lines…moments where you are in triage trying to heal and recover.  And other moments where you have victories, and you start to realize that you are worth fighting for and you have something to offer the world around you

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I tried to write this song and the whole album being as vulnerable as I could. For those who have never been suicidal it’s really hard to explain…but there is a voice in your head that is lying to you and telling you that the world would be better without you in it.  That the most selfless thing you could do is leave and stop being a burden to your friends and family.  And you feel like you are the only one that is feeling that.

So, I wanted the listener to feel like you were reading my diary….and I think people can feel that. There is something magical that happens when you find out that you are not alone with those thoughts.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) This album was unlike anything I had ever done.  In previous albums I would always sit in a room with my producers Steve Smith and Anthony Anderson in Vancouver.  Because of COVID we actually never sat in the same room together through the entire process.  No two songs were a formula where it would be music first, then lyrics, etc.  Sometimes it would be a hook or lyric that kicked things off, sometimes it was a guitar riff and sometimes it was a story about a person we met on tour or something I had personally gone through.

But the majority of the time I would hear a guitar riff in my head. I would either lay down something rough or I would just send a voice memo to Anthony humming a potential guitar riff.  He would take that and send me back an expanded idea where he would explore that piece and send me a track with that riff and where he felt it going (verse, pre-chorus, chorus).  It was almost supernatural because it was like him, and I were feeling the same transitions and the songs were writing themselves. I would then spit out the melodies and chorus and I could barely write down the lyrics as fast as they were coming.

Then, we would send it off to Jon Holiday who would lay down drums. I then did all the vocals in my home studio. Now all the pieces of the puzzle were built, and Steve would be the one to put the puzzle pieces together with his brilliant production and mixing skills.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) My role was mostly lyrics and melodies.  But when you are writing something so personal…I would try to describe the emotion I was feeling while writing and what I was looking for that would allow me to express myself.  But it was Steve and Anthony from SA Trackworks in Vancouver that were able to take what I was describing and make it happen. They are some of the most gifted people i have ever met and through this musical journey they have become my best friends.

Q) Your upcoming album is also called This is War. What tracks on the album challenged you the most creatively?

A) During the writing of this album my dad passed away and I heard a lot of people throwing the cliche at me…telling me, “Don’t worry the pain will go away!”  It is one of the many cliches that I have challenged throughout my tour meeting hundreds of thousands of students that struggle with mental illness.

I know people mean well when they say things like that…but I find it does more damage than good. I have told so many people over the years that the emotional pain of losing someone will never go away….and it shouldn’t because you will never forget that person and there will always be some pain because they are no longer here with you.

But I let people know that if pain doesn’t go away…neither does the strength.  If you get up in the morning and look for pain…you’ll find it. It’s all around us. But if you get up looking for strength, hope and help…you can find that too. And sometimes that’s a daily decision. I found myself having to take my own advice when my dad passed.

So, in the song “Favourite Cliche” I talk about exactly that. And in the lyrics, I state that through my dad’s death I have realized that pain and peace can coexist.

Q) Will you be heading out on tour internationally or through the US to promote your new music?

A) During the twelve years of touring before COVID I wanted to keep things kinda grass roots and underground and not promote what we were doing to the public very much because I never wanted anyone in the audience to feel like this was a publicity stunt.  People can smell bullshit a mile away and they can also feel when it’s genuine.

But since COVID hit, I met with my team and said, “I think it’s time to share the stories we have collected through this tour.” So, I called up a film crew that I really respect, and we followed up with 10 of the students that gave us suicide notes to find out “where are they now”. That journey has been incredible as we went across the country capturing their stories. The film crew also said they wanted to tell my story, so they recreated the accident scene from when I was seventeen years old at the very place that it happened. The entire process was really emotional and had us all in tears.

We turned it into a documentary called From Suicidal to Significant.  It is all done, and we will announce soon on which platform it can be found.  We also put together a team of psychologists, teachers, social workers and counsellors that took the stories of me and the students and turned it into an online school curriculum featuring the stories of hope together with the music.

The response has been incredible as we know that the world is in need of stories of hope more now than ever. That has been our focus over the last two years but hopefully we will be back on the road soon.

Q) For those who are struggling with mental health, what is some advice or tips you would like to offer as a longtime advocate? 

A) You are not cursed, you are gifted.  When I meet someone who lets me know that they are inspired by what we do because they suffer with depression…I look at them at say, “So, you’re like me…You hurt deeply, but you love deeply, don’t you?  You hurt deeply, but you can see when others are hurting, can’t you?”  And you can see a change in their mood as they realize…Yeah, that’s me.

Isn’t it interesting that we get diagnosed with depression not empathy?  Depression is a very real thing, and it has taken way too many people out.  But I always encourage people to channel those emotions…don’t just shut them off.  After talking to hundreds of thousands of people about mental illness I am convinced that there is a connection between the arts and mental illness.  Look how many musicians have died by suicide.  As artists, I feel like we have some extra emotion that we are meant to channel into a song, a painting, a dance, a poem, a diary.

I always thought I was cursed because I watched others go through something tough and they seemed like they could just wipe it off and keep walking like they weren’t affected. But I got overwhelmed and I thought my emotions were a curse. And until I realized that I could channel those emotions into a song it almost took me out.  So, open up….be vulnerable…get help…but do it because you have something to offer this world.  Keep walking because one day you will meet someone, and you will recognize that they have the same pain that you have felt, and you can be someone’s hero one day.

I have never been to a funeral where someone has died by suicide and heard the parents say, “It’s a good thing they are no longer here because they had nothing to offer this world”.  It’s always the opposite.  “She was so gifted!”

I think we are losing some of the most gifted people to mental illness and addiction.  That is why I have dedicated my life to this mission!

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) We have all seen the negative effects social media can have on people.  People can be brutal!  And everyone in our society seems stuck to their phones and they are feeding themselves something.  Much like music…look around and you will see everyone (especially young people) walking around with headphones in their ears.  You’re feeding yourself something.  Be careful what you are consuming…because it affects you.

So, there is a temptation at times just to stay away from it all together…but maybe in the midst of it you can take the time to post something that will feed someone life. That is what we attempt to do.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I went through something traumatic and guess what? All of us our going to see dark days and face tragedy at some point.  Some people say, “EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.” I have never liked that statement.  People told me that I was hit by a semi-truck and that too “happened for a reason”. That is part of what brought me to a dark place.  Because it was like people convinced me that everything was some hidden life lesson and suddenly, I was always looking around the corner because I wondered if lightning was going to strike and I was just a puppet and had no say in what would happen in my life.

I realize now that “THE REASON” i got hit by a semi-truck is because me and my friends were driving too fast down an icy road.  Shit happens. What are you gonna do when it does?

Now, this is what I believe:  “BAD THINGS DON’T HAPPEN FOR A REASON….THEY HAPPEN WITH POTENTIAL”

My accident had the POTENTIAL to leave me angry, bitter and suicidal the rest of my life.   But there was also the POTENTIAL that I could take my story and do something with it.  Tragedy has the POTENTIAL to tear apart an individual, a marriage, a family, a community, a school or even a whole country.  But it also has the POTENTIAL to bring people together.

Make every day count!