Occupy The Void with Xtina and Tim Christina Rowatt and Tim Charles

In this week's bonus episode, hosts Christina Rowatt and Tim Charles share their personal stories of grieving loved ones and how we coped with vastly different situations. As Nick Cave says, grief is the constant companion of love - if we love, we will grieve.

Stephen Brodsky of Cave In talks about the magic of Kurt Cobain and his long journey of grief and recovery six years after the death of his talented bassist and friend, Caleb Scofield. In the second half of the show, hosts Tim and Christina delve deep into their own experiences of grief, lost loved ones and finding solace in the aftermath.

Musician Devin Townsend reflects on mental health, mental illness, emphathy, trauma, the musical creative process, creating a meditation practice and the life-changing impact of psychedelics. Devin has created over 30 albums of music that defies the simplistic "heavy" tag and operates in its own sonic realm of emotional expresssion and experimentation - a truly unique sound.

Rou Reynolds of UK band Enter Shikari reflects on why capitalist society couldn't be a worse system for our mental health and how we could break the system to save the planet and our minds. He also reflects on what being open about his struggles did for his connection with his fans. As Rou says, "society's push for self interest, for competition, our thirst for more (of everything) completely disregards our need for community, for connection, our ability to empathise, to help each other, for altruism." After the interview, your co-hosts Tim and Christina do a deep dive on the themes raised during the thought-provoking conversation.

Lzzy Hale and Arejay Hale of Halestorm discuss overcoming depression and anxiety, connecting with the magic within, accepting yourself, the merits of therapy and medication, changing your inner voice and being the mental health “cycle breakers” in their family.

Nergal, the singer/guitarist from Polish extreme metal band Behemoth, shares his story of life after recovering from leukemia, the Behemoth musical renaissance that followed his experiences with his own mortality, why he moves on stage the way he does, some sure-fire strategies to lift your mood wherever you are in the world and if dance is something the frontman of one of the world's premier extreme metal bands has ever considered incorporating into his life. This interview was filmed in December 2023 backstage at Good Things Festival in Sydney, Australia.
Listen to OTV co-host Tim Charles' Body Scan Meditation on YouTube here.