Country music star Nathan Carter has opened up about his “nightmare” year admitting pandemic restrictions left him battling the booze and depression.
The singer is urging men to open up about their mental health struggles after he hit rock bottom when his gigs were axed due to Covid-19.
The Liverpool-born star, who lives in Co Fermanagh, revealed he was inspired by Imelda May to ask for help and he’s now determined to tackle the stigma around it.
Nathan, 31, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Music was my therapy and it was taken away from me.
“I was listening to Bressie’s podcast and heard the likes of Imelda May coming on chatting about speaking to a therapist.
“For me there has always been a bit of a stigma about it. Listening in, it gave me the boost to go and talk.”
The Wagon Wheel singer said meeting with his therapist was cathartic and he joked that she barely got a word in.
He said: “I had a good few sessions with her, she hardly said anything over the session but I never shut up.
“I find especially in men they don’t want to open up on mental health struggles.
“I found I wasn’t fixed after one therapy session so I’d say to anyone going give it time.
“At the end of the day, if you’re feeling down you need to talk to people and don’t keep it in.
“The old way was to brush all our problems under the carpet.”
Many musicians fell foul to overdrinking and smoking during the pandemic and Nathan admits he sought solace in the bottle.
He said: “Loads of my musician friends ended up drinking and smoking too much, they’re not used to having nothing to do.
“I was drinking more than I ever did, I was drinking Friday, Saturday and Sunday and feeling like s**t then for days afterwards.
“I’m not a wine drinker, so it wasn’t like I was drinking a bottle of wine every night, but it took its toll.
“I’d nothing to get up for, no gigs, no interviews so it’s like ‘let’s get smashed’.
“Music is a healer so if you can do it, you need to be allowed to do the thing that makes you feel good. I’m sure if you told people who listen to music regularly that they can’t listen to any music for six months it would impact their mental health.”
Opening up on his “nightmare” year, he added: “We’ve had to manage disappointment constantly.
“I was concerned about the lads who work for me, musicians, sound guys, the lads who drive the trucks.
“It had a knock-on effect on so many industries involved. I totally understood the Government was doing it for the right reasons.”
But he revealed: “It’s coming up to two years, all the lads I know are double jobbing now.
“It’s a shame, they’re skilled lads who have had their career taken away from them.
“It’s a couple of grand lost for anyone involved in the music industry.
“Thankfully I’m in a better place than I was this time last year.
“There was no end in sight last year, I was like, ‘What the hell am I going to do?’.
“Your mind is in a bad place when you can’t perform. It’s what you love to do.”
As for love, poster boy Nathan prefers the old-fashioned route and shuns dating websites. Last year he told how men were using his photos to catfish women on dating apps like Tinder.
He revealed: “I’ve had a few dates over the last while but nothing permanent at the minute. But I’m officially not on any dating websites.
“I keep getting sent photos of my face, some lad in Cork is using it on Tinder. It’s been happening for a while now.
“I’d be wary of trying it [internet dating]. I’m old-fashioned. I’d rather meet someone naturally in a bar.” With his new album Little Old Town released and a string of new tour dates, Nathan feels like he is finally getting his life back.
But memories of the months when he had nothing to look forward to are not far from the surface.
He said: “Whenever I finish a gym session the feeling I get... when I wasn’t allowed to do that too, it was just a double negative.
“No music, no gym and nothing to look forward to.
“I’m usually thinking of the next thing, Thank God we have gigs now.
“I work at 100 miles an hour so when that was all taken away it affects your mental health. It took its toll and I hope now we’re in a better place.”
The country favourite revealed he is carving out a career as a presenter too. He said: “I’ve done a couple of radio shows, one for BBC Radio Ulster, one for BBC Radio Merseyside back in Liverpool where I grew up.
“I’ve done a country music radio show and two specials that will be on the BBC iPlayer.
“There’s a couple of talks with different TV companies, but we are only in the early stages.”
Nathan recently hosted the first in a series for RTE – Shoulders of Giants – which celebrated the life of his hero Joe Dolan. He said: “I never met him but he was considered a legend in our house growing up.”
And he paid tribute to his good pal Daniel O’Donnell, who he said has always been supportive of his career.
He said: “Wherever I was in America and he was performing in one of the big venues, he’d ask me how my tickets were going.
“Whenever I said the venue was only half full, he’d say come down to my show today, sing a couple of songs and we’ll plug your gig tonight.
“That doesn’t happen generally unless you are a really, really good person. He is not a fake, he’s one of life’s gentlemen.”
