Tom is a musician, writer and watchmaker who recently left his investment banking job to live the artist’s dream! Tom talks extensively about men’s mental health, losing friends to suicide, grief, and whether or not you can separate the art from the artist when problematic behaviour is revealed - something all of us have likely had to grapple with, in recent times.

Bonus content: our producer Elizabeth turns up with a fun fact (59:40): the backstory of how Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) came to be made, via a Pulitzer-prize winning writer, a case of mistaken identity, and the birth of the internet...!

Listen along to Tom’s songs at this Spotify playlist. Discussions begin:

The Beatles - Nowhere Man (02:42)

David Gray - The One I Love (07:30)

The Smiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (13:02)

Jimmy Eat World - Always Be (21:25)

Radiohead - Let Down (29:02)

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (34:08)

John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (45:22)

The Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown (52:30)

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (55:49)

The Beatles - I Am The Walrus (1:01:00)

Nirvana - All Apologies (1:03:43)

You can find Tom on Instagram @tomcorneill and on Facebook.

Resources/Links:

• Visit Tom’s website.
• The original Chicago Times column written by Mary Schmich: ‘Advice, like youth, probably wasted on the young’
• Watch the video for 5am on YouTube, buy it on iTunes or stream it on Spotify.
• If you are affected by any of the issues in this episode, please go to the NHS website, and the website of the charity Mind. For emergency support over the phone, you can call The Samaritans free on 116 123.
• For men who want to talk to others in a private and safe space, visit Talk Club - founded by two Music To Survive By guests Ben Akers and Gavin Thorpe, and mentioned by Tom in this episode. Check out their episodes for more info about the initiative for male mental fitness.