Diandra Interviews Together Pangea: Music Is Anti-Anxiety
Everyone has anxiety, but there are degrees. For some, anxiety is clinical and crippling, of which the arts have proven to be incredibly medicinal in soothing it. This is understandable as music can put into song what, at times, we cannot put into speech. After seeing Together Pangea, this seems clear. For them emotions clash with our mind, but, in that battle, lies music as the most artful expression in not only reflecting humanity but furthering it. In our interview, with William Keegan, they discuss how their new music has been like a breather fresh air to their live performance.
Diandra: How did your own experiences with anxiety influence Non Stop Paranoia and Dispassionate? Were there any songs written from you personal battle with it?
Keegan: Yes. Actually, anxiety has been a lyrical theme for me as long as I’ve been writing songs. I was diagnosed with depression and general anxiety disorder when I was 16 ,but I never took any of the medication they gave me. Maybe, I should have given it a shot because I still have anxiety problems.
Diandra: Your most recent music has invited change into your sound, how do you think it has invited change into your live performance?
Keegan: We play the more laid back stuff in the middle of the set now. I fell like people who come to see us are down to hear the more mellow stuff but are mostly waiting for the faster more aggressive stuff. I don’t think that we had the confidence or patience to play those kinds of songs live even just a couple of years ago but now I love playing those kinds of songs.
Together Pangea – “Dispassionate” (Official Music Video)
Diandra: Having been together for so long, has it become easier to maneuver the business side of music and to not overthink the creative side?
Keegan: Yeah, we have a more relaxed attitude towards business these days. We worry a lot less about things which helps us focus on the music we want to make.
Diandra: How do you think time has made you grow in creativity and care for your music?
Keegan: I’ve been able to reflect on things a lot: business decisions we’ve made and musical choices that we’ve made. Our last album, Bulls and Roosters was written after those kinds of self reflections. We made that record just for ourselves. That was the first record we really made without thinking about how people would react to it. Getting older gave us that kind of confidence to do what we felt like doing.
Together Pangea – “Bet You Wish I Would Call”
Diandra: You sing about the darkness of misinformation, but do you believe it births people’s anxieties or simply feeds them?
Keegan: I think that uncertainty and anxiety create misinformation and conspiracy theories. Not to say that conspiracies don’t exist but when you’re worried about something you can start seeing patterns that aren’t there.
Diandra: Do you see music as a way of reconciling people’s lightness and darkness or the tool that separates it?
Keegan: I don’t know. I think maybe music is just a way to express both of those sides. Like me, I’ve had some anger problems. The problem is that I don’t know how to express it, I’ll just get really quiet and depressed but when I’m onstage I get to rage and scream and get that stuff out in a way that’s healthy.
Diandra: You have said people should not look to entertainers for answers, but do you think that is possible if people look to art for reflection?
Keegan: Yeah of course, art is just ideas. I’ve learned a lot from art and music. I was saying that just because you enjoy something that someone makes it doesn’t mean that they have some expertise in other things. I bet that you like music or movies or something made by Donald Trump supporters and you’ll continue to like it as long as they never talk about it.
Diandra: How do you feel music can be like an anti-anxiety medicine?
Keegan: I remember listening to the band Little Wings when I was younger and hearing Kyle Field sing about his thoughts made me feel less alone in the world.
Together Pangea – “Spend The Night”
Diandra: You have said you feel people are de-evolving and are not getting more enlightened. What do you think pushes a person to choose to evolve and enlighten?
Keegan: Hey, I never claimed that I’m not also de-evolving. Getting away from all the noise and clatter of media and entertainment probably wouldn’t hurt. Working on memorizing things that are important instead of relying on the internet. Reading is always a good idea. You can read something written a hundred yours ago that is just as true today as it was then. I don’t know, we’re all pretty f*cked.
I, actually, enjoyed how concise and subtly profound William Keegan’s responses were in showing the power of music. It is not easy to be smart in this world (lol!). You may laugh but the “stay woke” culture is not, necessarily, new or as trivial as hashtag trend. Throughout life so many people have seen that there is something off about how human being treat each other and themselves, of which anxiety can be born from the valid fear that such treatment will not get kinder. Together Pangea may sing to rage, but their shows are like communal healing for anger. People shove and mosh, but they have a trust when doing so that, in the end, results in laughter and friendship. For More Information On Together Pangea Click Here.
