The Blues, Agoraphobia and Anxiety – Seeing Dom Martin Live in Edinburgh

by Mandy Jane Steel Collins

Maybe not quite metal this but….we were pleased to have this blog, review and interview with Dom Martin shared with us by Mandy, about the power of live music as therapy. Mandy writes:

By the time the Covid 19 pandemic hit, I had been living with anxiety disorder and agoraphobia for 18 years. Once the restrictions were lifted, the rest of the world moved forward. I remained stuck, having been more or less left housebound, with the addition of increased social anxiety as a result of the lockdowns. There wasn’t much that could motivate me outside, and when I did leave the house, it was a decidedly unpleasant experience. Then Dom Martin, a blues guitarist from Belfast, announced his A Savage Life Tour, and I had something of a change of heart. Music is one of the most potent forces in my life, and Dom is a firm favourite – it was a no-brainer that I would be going, so I bought two tickets for myself and my brother.

In the run up to the date, at The Caves in Edinburgh on 13 November 2022, I had the usual ‘what iffery’ of anxiety. There was the leaving Glasgow for Edinburgh. Parking in Edinburgh is notoriously a nightmare – how would I deal with having to walk any distance? What about food? What about…the list was considerable. At the same time, underlying that was the understanding that when it came to the music, all those concerns would fade. But as is the case with anxiety, they still did frequent circuits of my brain. As a writer, it was suggested to me that interviewing Dom about his views on mental health and the benefits of music would be a good idea. So an interview was arranged – if we backtrack to the first paragraph, I mention that I have also been left with heightened social anxiety. So an interview, followed by a live show was quite a big thing for me.

Another side effect of lockdown life is that I have learned how to ‘unmask’ my anxiety – to explain, I used to hide it if I had the symptoms flare up – from hyperventilation, tension, feeling overwhelmed and even a full-blown panic attack, because it had been dinned into me from various sources that this was something that upset people and had to be ‘covered’ – despite the fact it plays hell with my head. I literally can’t hide it anymore when the anxiety kicks and it has led to some interesting ‘looks’, which also doesn’t help my already anxious state. But meeting Dom was a refreshing experience. I was nervous about it for the reasons already outlined, but he, unlike many people didn’t react negatively, and I felt comfortable talking with him. We had a good chat about music and mental health.

On the topic of the expectation of men in Celtic families to maintain ‘a strong silence’ when it came to emotion and mental health, Dom answered it from the perspective of coming from Northern Ireland: “Yeah, there is a lot of, you know, ‘maintain your strength’ and stuff like that. But I come from a family that, you know, expressing yourself is fine. It was outside the house that you had to keep that going. My family was a very expressive family, but you got beat up for playing guitar where I come from. It was seen as a weakness, but it didn’t bother me – I took many a beating for it. You know, I haven’t let it define me as a person.”

He also places strong emphasis on the healing qualities of music: “I’ve always played music as a form of therapy. I say it at all my gigs, you need to find an instrument that you’re interested in and start playing it because it’s a prescription, it is. And it will help you. So I try and encourage that as much as possible. And it’s not a competition. You’re not trying to be – I’m not trying to be the best guitar player and singer. I know I’m not – far from it… …I think there should be a more widespread light shone on how music can be a therapy, instead of saying, ‘Here, take these pills’, or you know, ‘They can help you with this’. It’s almost better than talking about it.”

And as for picking up an instrument, despite The FEAR – something I have a lot of anxiety about when it comes to playing guitar myself: “Just dive in. Just dive in with both feet, right in the deep end. And again, it’s not a competition, you can’t go into it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m no good at this,’ you just pick it up.” When I mentioned my own issues with guitar, he replied, “It’s very frustrating. It can be extremely frustrating. But stick with it and eventually you’ll start to feel something. You might even feel something bad, but it could be very progressively good.”

Then there was the moment I told Dom that I find his music helps with my anxiety, to the point it got me to leave the house because I wanted to see him play live: “It means the world to me, it really does. You just saying that has made my day, it really has. I mean, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I get a lot of that, people messaging ‘Thank you for the music’ and stuff. I honestly wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for that. I don’t do this for any monetary gain. I haven’t made a penny. I’m in so much debt, you’ve no idea. And it’s a labour of love, it really is. It’s about approaching people with music and saying, ‘I hope this helps you’ and when people buy the LPs and stuff, I’m like ‘I hope you enjoy this, and I hope it helps you’ because it does. It’s incredibly difficult because a lot of people don’t, like you’re labelled as blues or whatever, they don’t really want to hear that. Until they go to a show, and they’re like, ‘That was good!’ That really affected me deeply. When that does come along, it’s few and far between, I have to be honest, it’s the most beautiful thing. It means a hell of a lot to me.”

And then it was time to let Dom get ready for the gig.

The first set of the show was acoustic. It was mesmerising. Dom is an amazing acoustic guitarist. Then there was also the honesty that Dom brought to the stage. To use that well-worn chestnut, he laid his emotions bare. My own fears of my anxiety were subsumed within the music, and it was overwhelming, but in a positive way. Watching him play took me outside of the mental cage I had found myself in for several months. It wasn’t just me who felt it. During the break, I found my brother stunned and shaking, puffing on a cig and pondering the universe.

The second part of the gig was electric, and I think the ghosts reputed to haunt the centuries old South Bridge vaults that The Caves is located inside were blasted out the door. It was a frenetic experience. The Edinburgh audience looked somewhat gobsmacked, while the Dom Martin Scottish fan contingent were dancing in their seats. I lost my anxiety induced inhibitions and joined in, singing so much, I nearly blew my throat out. Come the end of the gig, my brother had foresworn Slash as his favourite and very enthusiastically declared Dom to be ‘The Man’ – and from what I hear, is now driving our mum spare constantly talking about him.

Going to see Dom, despite what the anxiety was telling me, was something I needed to do. I seem to suddenly have a better handle on it. The brain gremlins are still there, but the power of seeing a brilliant musician play live was enough to knock it for six and turn it on its head. And as for my own guitar playing – well, let’s just say I got an early Christmas present from my partner and our daughter – a brand new guitar to replace the ancient hard to play one I was using. I’m reaping the benefits.