“It’s not for the person with depression it’s for the people around the people with depression and really getting them to wake up and realize their friend and neighbor might really be sick and I really need some help… And in that the individual will get help and inspiration from the lyrics.” Smith may have written “Get Up” for Bass, but it's not just about him. That’s not the case I know firsthand I was actually darker when I was taking medication,” Bass said.įacing depression head on, actually talking to someone about it, may be harder to swallow, but Bass says it’s the only way to lift that weight. Create your playlist by logging into Spotify, following Shinedown, their playlist and signing up for email updates By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Shinedown based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. For people to prescribe things to people. “A lot of these kids are given pills and medicated to a point because that’s the simple answer. Something is off,” Smith said.īut Bass says medication isn’t the answer, it’s another problem. “People literally going into Walmart and shooting people. Just look around us, the guys said - mental health issues are everywhere. filming videos for the remaining songs on their album Attention Attention, they hope songs like “Get Up,” remove that weight or at least start to lift it. And if we don’t remove that weight of the problem you could never work on the problem,” Bass said.Īs the band spends time in L.A. Shinedown is also gearing up for the summer leg of their 2019 ATTENTION ATTENTION World Tour which will pick up in The Woodlands, TX on June 21st with support from Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands. That weight is nobody understands me, I’m alone I can’t talk to anyone. The GET UP EP arrives as current rock single MONSTERS breaks into the Top 5 as it continues its quick ascent on the Active Rock Chart. “You got two things: depression and anxiety and then the weight of depression and anxiety. It helped him understand the beast that is depression. It is been probably the best therapy I’ve ever had,” Bass said. “I was thrust into having to talk about my depression and anxiety that I never had to articulate anybody other than my band and my wife. The band says its lyrics about mental illness have never been more relevant to society and have never resonated more with their audience.
“Get Up,” Shinedown’s hit song, is about Bass’s battle with clinical depression.
“I knew exactly what it was about, instantaneously,” Bass said. “I look over my shoulder and I said ‘you know what this is about right now?’ He said ‘yup it’s about me,’” Smith said. It was a song his Shinedown bandmate, Brent Smith, wrote that changed his life. LOS ANGELES – His deepest darkest thoughts turn into lyrics, but songs only come to life when Eric Bass can get up.