The Inside Word with Byron from The Herd: Part 1
When Byron Williams (Toe-Fu) isn’t on stage as guitarist & singer for The Herd, he works for at the Hunter Headspace to assist young people with mental health issues. I sat down to have a chat with him about Headspace, The Herd and the great city of Newcastle.
How did you come to work for Headspace?
Well it’s a very round about journey I suppose. I started working in music. I studied industrial furniture design at university, but then decided I didn’t want to do that. So I started doing music workshops with young people and ended up in Darwin doing hip hop workshops with Aboriginal communities. That then sort of turned into doing workshops for kids with mental health issues and then that turned into Headspace. So it all happened through music. I just really enjoyed doing music and art workshops in hospitals and mental health wards with young people. I was living in Sydney but then decided to move to Newcastle so I tracked down Headspace and got a job.
What inspires you to want to make a difference in young people’s lives?
Just knowing what a tough time it can be I suppose. I had a really easy time in a sense transitionally; school was good and everything like that. But I realise some people have a really crap time between like 12 and 25 and some of it you can control and other stuff you can’t. Some of its good decisions, some of its bad decisions. I just want to make a difference in that tough time and help people to use art and music to express themselves. If you have a bad day you can write a bad song and if you have a good day you can write a good song. A major chord turns to a minor one quite easily (laughs).
What would be your message for someone who possibly needs help but is too afraid to seek it?
I suppose that’s the biggest hurdle in many issues young people face. It’s actually seeking help, but once you do it’s like the problems nearly half solved. It’s the hardest bit especially with stuff like mental health, but somewhere like Headspace isn’t a hospital or a doctor’s surgery. People walk in and see the pool tables, jukebox and the computers and you just see them sigh a breath of relief. They realise there’s not people walking around in lab coats with big syringes or anything like that. Headspace is just a really easy place to come into, so in terms of people getting help I’d encourage them to find their local Headspace whether it be Maitland or somewhere else around the country. They are really accessible and you meet up with really nice people that work there. You could also bring a friend along. We have like three or four people coming along just to support one person who’s possibly a bit apprehensive about accessing Headspace.
It’s pretty casual.
Yeah definitely and if a young person is a bit apprehensive about seeing a counsellor or something like that they’ll often meet up with me before their appointment. I’ll play a game of pool with them or sit down and have a chat and a cup of coffee or something like that. We make it as easy as possible for a young person to come to Headspace.
What is your favourite part of your job?
Seeing a young person become empowered. We were just talking about a person being apprehensive about coming into Headspace and then when you see them come out the other side with a whole heap of strengths saying “That wasn’t that bad!” and really wanting to get into life. That’s the main thing, seeing young people empowered.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
That’s an interesting one. The challenging part is hearing lots and lots of stories of the hardships that people find themselves in and not of their own choice. You don’t choose your family, you don’t choose to be bullied, you know there are a lot of things that people don’t choose that are just dealt to them. That’s a part of life. Seeing young people struggle through that is challenging. There is a lot of people in the Hunter that go through that and hearing it day after day can sometimes make you a little bit overwhelmed. The tough stories are balanced though by seeing people overcome their problems. Seeing situations that young people are put in not through there choice is the main challenge.
Headspace can be contacted on (02) 4931 1000 if you think you need to speak to someone. It’s open Monday – Friday 9am-5pm.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this interview that focuses on Byron Williams and his involvement with The Herd.
That was a good interview. Looking forward to part 2.
Make sure to check back in tomorrow, Laure! 🙂