Across his growing discography, Mike’s Dead has managed to capture a raw authenticity that explores various themes, including mental health and struggling to find balance within himself. As Mental Health Awareness Month draws to a close, the Hopeless Records artist has shared the five songs across his 2023 REBIRTH (Deluxe EP) that touch on mental health in one way or another.
“WAR”
“WAR” was quite literally written about the “war” in my head. In short it was written about wanting more challenges, more “war” to become the best version of myself I have to offer. Funny enough, there was a meme that inspired this entire concept; something along the lines of “give me a battle within me that will either destroy me or free me” (or something like that).
“GRIP”
“GRIP” is probably the most relatable mental health song I’ve released, mainly about how I could feel myself slipping close to the edge. “GRIP” was one of those songs I know a lot of fans got behind simply for its nature. I talk a lot about the dark sides of mental health in that song and snuck in a lot of personal experiences that people don’t know about. I think almost everyone who struggles with mental health can give this one a listen and know exactly where I’m coming from.
“Puppets”
“Puppets” was more of a fuck you to big pharma. I grew up taking a lot of prescription medications to try to combat my mental health struggles. And 99% of the time, things just got worse. I was around a lot of people that were pushing pills down my throat for years, and I finally got sick of it and called it quits. I know medication works for a lot of people, but it never worked for me. So I wrote something that was more of a “get fucked” anthem to the pill industry and highlighted my experiences.
“Bite Down”
“Bite Down” is just a nonstop chaotic manic banger. This one we wrote from the perspective of giving into the chaos and mania. It was almost embracing the crazy and riding on it. This is one of those “oh hell yeah” high-energy songs that have a mental health underlying message. “I’ll go ballistic, I’m hedonistic, I wanna do what I want, I wanna do what I please.” I was just talking about giving into the demons and going nuts, haha. The music video really highlights the energy we wanted to take into this.
“Welcome To Hell”
Similar to “WAR,” “Welcome To Hell” was originally designed to talk about internal struggles/ “hell” in my head. I tried to keep this one more subtle versus “WAR,” which is very direct. I think Frankie from Emmure did a great job of catching the vibe and bringing the same energy to his verse: “You can call this hell, but I call this home.”