Burn Out

"I'm doing what I need to do and that's it. I never want to have another episode again. I need to be kind to myself. Get six to eight hours of sleep a night. Never do an all-nighter. Bodies and equipment in a van, driving 13 hours to the next city. Why would I do that again?" - Ladan Hussein I have a lot of respect for Ladan Hussein's vulnerability. The singer-songwriter truly forged her own path from a young age: diverging from her immigrant family's expectations, leaving Toronto for London, creating her own melancholy sound, and eventually speaking about how the pressures of the industry led to a mental breakdown. Now that she's feeling healthy, Ladan's making music again and taken control of her creative direction and schedule — it's her way of caring for herself, and it marks a new phase in her career. We talked about her diagnosis, how living with her family again has been healing, and what it means to emerge once again. CW: This episode contains mention of depression and schizophrenia. Cold Specks: inst