We recently covered Toronto musician Alex Southey and are speaking with him again in regards to his #DayLikeItsNightTour for mental health, a music tour that will see all profits go to CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, to help fund mental health initiatives. Alex gave us a little bit more info about the tour in an interview.
Describe your charity/non-profit in a few sentences
This tour, the #DayLikeItsNightTour for Mental Health, is contributing all of its profits to CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, one of Canada’s top institutes for research on Mental Illness.
What problem does it aim to solve?
It aims to solve a funding crisis many mental health institutes have faced in Ontario in the last year or so, due to the governments reallocation of its funds.
When did you start/join it?
I started it approximately a month ago, and the tour will begin January 30th, 2020, at The Painted Lady on Ossington.
What made you want to get involved?
I decided to start the tour for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because feels good to give back to a community that’s already providing me weekly with so much mental health support. If I can give back by doing something I love, such as making and playing music, I want to do that.
What was the situation like when you started?
The situation for mental health institutes was bad and it’s still pretty bad. I know it won’t change for a long time but if there’s a way I can help, I’m going to.
How can our readers help?
Your readers can follow me on Instagram @AlexSoutheyMusic and follow me on Spotify at Alex Southey. This will keep you in-the-know about the upcoming tour, and provide you with the earliest opportunity to purchase tickets, and-or donate to CAMH directly. In addition, please check this page: https://alexsoutheymusic.wordpress.com/. It will become the defacto tour page.
Do you have any events coming up?
We have multiple shows booked between January and March, across Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.
Where can we follow you?
Please follow me @AlexSoutheyMusic on Instagram, and follow me on Spotify. All news central to the tour will be there.
Thank you very much to the Toronto Guardian for your time, and your willingness to spread awareness about this tour, and about the community struggle for better mental health resources in general.
You can also follow the #DayLikeItsNightTour playlist. It can be found on Spotify. Download and share it! It contains some of the artists playing, and other big names such as Aimee Mann and City & Colour, who of course are not participating on the tour but make music relevant to the topic.
