“I won’t open the door,
volunteer to the dark,
where the demons wait patient to make me their mark.”
These lyrics might be something the dinner crowd hears Kev G Mor sing on Thursdays at The Corner Bar or every fourth Friday at Zuzu Restaurant. Mor plays in the 5-8 p.m. time slot at the outposts of the Middle East, in the same calm acoustic vein of many of the performers accompanying dinner service. But Mor’s music goes beyond ambience, because his songs focus almost exclusively on his experience with mental health recovery.
His song writing is the main way he copes. “A lot of my songs I write to get through an episode,” he said. “It’s very hard for someone with schizophrenia or bipolar to really explain what it’s like to go through it and so I try to show the audience a little glimpse of what it’s like inside the brain of people who have this disorder.”
Mor — whose given name is Kevin Moore — started out less than glamorously, playing street corners and coffee shops around New England beginning at 15. He had been in and out of psychiatric units and group homes since he was 10 for what would later be diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar one depression.
Now 53 and in mental health recovery, Mor recently landed a music residency at the Middle East through the end of the year, which also happens to be the venue he dreamed of playing when he was a homeless youth busking in Cambridge.
“On his initial outreach he gave me plenty of info on who he was and what he was looking to try and do,” explained Max Kozol, the talent buyer who booked Mor at the Middle East. After searching Mor up and listening to his samples, she said to herself, “This is perfect, It fits our vibe and what we’re looking for.”
Soon after his initial booking and a bit of background listening done by Kozol, Mor got great news: the Middle East wanted to give him a longer-term opportunity, a twice-a-month residency at Zuzu.
Although the Middle East does not directly sponsor a residency program for mental health advocates, Kozol said the club is interested in connecting with as many groups in the community as possible.
“We do want to be the space for anybody to say anything as long as it’s with the value of good,” said Kozol. “Keeping everybody open, honest, and safe with Kev providing the space to talk about any mental health stuff like anxiety, depression, ADHD, is amazing … we should be having more discussions about it, and having it in a musical format is amazing.”
Mor has brought discussions on mental health recovery to several different stages over the past four decades, from lectures and performances at Harvard University and the Grammy Museum to sponsored gigs for local non-profit organizations. Last month, Mor performed in a benefit concert at The Burren in Somerville for the Home for Little Wanderers, a non-profit that provides access to family services and community programs for disadvantaged kids.
Not only has Mor brought mental health conversation to several different stages across the country, he has also brought his music and message to the internet. On Mor’s Youtube channel he posts his music, videos explaining what it’s like to experience psychosis, as well as vlogs about the daily struggles of recovery. “I focus on music and mental health, ” he said. “I have a daily vlog about how I cope with my mental illnesses.” Through his daily uploads over the past year, Mor’s audience has grown enough for him to receive payments from Youtube.
With the help of advocates like Mor, community spaces for musically driven mental health recovery are becoming prominent across Cambridge beyond just traditional music venues. Tunefoolery, a Boston based non-profit designed for musicians in mental health recovery, is one of the only community spaces dedicated to fostering a safe space for mentally ill musicians with programs ranging from open mic nights to performances at hospital dementia units and other facilities. Mor has been one of its sponsored musicians for over a decade and serves as its social media coordinator. Musicians involved in Tunefoolery’s programs are invited to perform shows with the organization at several different types of venues from hospitals to bars in order to provide spaces for healing through music.
Tunefoolery’s co-executive director, Jeff Fisher, described Mor as a longtime “mental health troubadour,” one who seems to particularly enjoy the Tunefoolery community’s offering of “a camaraderie or a space to bind with people” over shared experiences.
As Mor continues his residency and groups like Tunefoolery work to expand their community reach, Mor and Fisher emphasize the importance of spreading awareness and resources for mental health recovery.
Moving forward, Mor explained that he wants to offer others in recovery hope that there is a future for them to not only survive, but also thrive. “My whole mission in life is to show that people with these disorders can achieve more than just stability,” he said. “A lot of the mental health system focuses on getting people stable and there’s nothing beyond that … so I go out and I try to do things and achieve things that go beyond stability, and this residency is proof of that.”
Brianna Earle is reporting this summer for Cambridge Day as part of a partnership with the Brandeis journalism program.
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