That’s all folks, another year has flown by….Please find obligatory review of the year below, including a few sneak peeks of what is to come:
Matt, one of our volunteers, shared his review of being involved with HMT this year:
2023 a year in the life of a Heavy Metal Therapy Roadie. From the Scottish Ambassador, Matt Sweeney.
2023 has been a funny old year. Started off with one of the milestones of HMT and my life. Director of HMT and valued friend Kate sent me a message asking if I’d like to help with something. Always up for a challenge and any excuse to help out with Heavy Metal Therapy business I said yes. Kate informed me our target to be published was a mental health blog entitled Mad In America and sent me over what she’d prepared for me to add my parts to. What came out of this was being published, featuring on the front page of their website and over 9,000 people reading within the first week. A mammoth achievement. Imposter syndrome crept in. Proud to have given part of my story in the words of that blog piece, and to have it published was just incredible. That is but one of the things I was up to as Scottish ambassador of HMT in 2023.
As things go in my life a lot happened in one go, along with the blog being published, I also went along to Primordial Radio’s annual General Mayhem festival where HMT had a stall. I bought a ticket for the sole purpose of coming from Scotland to meet Heavy Metal Therapy. Upon battling the nerves and anxiety walking into the venue and locating the stall. The first thing Ben, director of HMT did was embrace me in a hug welcoming me. Made me feel part of the family and part of the team. I also had the privilege to meet my fellow roadies and representative of HMT. The event was a success. It was an honour to stand at the stall and chat to people coming over to find out a bit more about HMT, as well as to get a hold of one of our awesome t-shirts which at the time we were giving away for free. Being able to represent HMT for the first time at General Mayhem was an honour, it also paved the way for a big milestone achievement for me later in the year.
The third big thing to happen for me in my life as a HMT roadie also happened that week. The Church Of Heavy Metal Therapy; The Book Of Noise featuring me Matt Sweeney and Stuart Mills Of The Noisy Brain also released. A big week for me personally. The logistics of getting that interview to happen was a hard task. Kate, Ben and I in the U.K. Phil over in Australia and Stu in Singapore. We managed to make it happen and had a wonderful chat featuring some great tracks on our interview. I’m incredibly happy with the conversation that was had, it was a friendly and welcoming experience. As a direct result of that interview, Kate remarked I was a metal encyclopedia. Stu then cleverly came up with the Matt-al Encyclopedia. This then birthed Matt-al Encyclopedia Mondays where each Monday I chose a track to be inducted into the Encyclopedia. As 2023 ends I have 42 songs in the playlist which can be found on Apple Music, Spotify and Youtube.
I had a conversation with Ben about going to Bloodstock. Heavy Metal Therapy got into Bloodstock working alongside The Order Of The Black Sheep doing the Welfare, helping to man the Welfare tent in 2022 and would do so again in 2023. Feeling a bit like a deer in the headlights I agreed, not knowing quite what I was agreeing to and I wouldn’t find out until August. It turned into one of the best experiences of my life, giving me what I view as the opportunity of a lifetime, stepping well outside my comfort zone.
I had no idea what I needed having never been to a festival before and not been camping since I was in my early teens. This was uncharted waters. The person that reached out became my adopted Bloodstock mum for the experience, Keeley, who I’m now good friends with. Keeley having experience of going to festivals sent me over a shopping list of things to get and even loaned me a spare tent that was to be home for the five nights at Bloodstock. Incredibly kind to reach out to me privately and guide me through the essentials of festival life to make my experience as comfortable as possible. I remembered everything but a pillow which Keeley kindly loaned me. Very grateful.
Challenging myself to go along to Bloodstock and work Welfare turned into one of my highlights of 2023. It wasn’t without it’s challenges however I overcame them and grew from the experience. On my first shift a couple of people came into the welfare knowing Heavy Metal Therapy were at Bloodstock, wanting to come along and tell us they like and appreciated what we do. Chatting HMT to them got me into the zone and out of my shell. Turns out yes I could do it, being on hand to offer some peer support to festival goers was an absolute privilege. Helping to calm those down who may have been suffering panic attacks and just offering a tea or coffee and quiet safe space to step out of the madness for a moment. Incredibly grateful to the Order Of The Black Sheep for welcoming me with open arms to the Welfare team and treating me as one of their own. Going to Bloodstock also paired up as my celebration for being two years sober.
Coming in at the tail end of 2023 the opportunity to be interviewed by Ricky of Moshville times came up. Ben and I were interviewed by Ricky about Heavy Metal Therapy and what we do. Like I said in the interview, for everything I’ve put into Heavy Metal Therapy, it’s been given back and then some. Knowledge of mental health and how to be a better friend to myself and to others. Encouragement to build on myself and get involved volunteering with other peer support mental health charities. Thanks to the encouragement and support from HMT I began volunteering with online peer support mental health charity My Black Dog which has been an incredible experience.
Last but not least, Ben came up to Edinburgh for a HMT visit. Seizing the opportunity to come to Scotland and go see Bloodywood. Without HMT none of that would have happened for me. I’m excited for what 2024 and the future holds. Thanks for the opportunities and thanks for the memories.
Scottish Ambassador – Matt Sweeney
Heavy Metal Therapy 