“I hope it’s music as mindfulness for people who struggle”: Bressie on returning to the studio and finding stillness in chaos

With a career that’s included spells as a musician, professional sportsman, award-winning author, academic and mental health advocate, Niall Breslin, also known as Bressie, is perhaps just an oil painting or sculpture short of being a modern-day Renaissance man.

Having spent recent years completing a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Based Interventions and launching podcasts on mental health and wellbeing, Breslin is releasing new music for the first time since the Irish number one album Rage and Romance in 2013.

The Place That Has Never Been Wounded, the fruition of three years' work, is Breslin as we’ve never heard him before, through 14 meticulously crafted piano compositions accompanied by strings and atmospheric ambience.

Recorded in just five days, the pieces were performed on two pianos that had to be played simultaneously along with a string quartet to give it a distinct sound in a stylistic departure from the former Blizzards frontman’s previous work.

“It’s challenging in a way because it’s so stripped back, so exposed and everything has to be performed perfectly. Every note is heard on the piano, whereas when you’re in a band, you can hide behind the drummer and guitars and loud music,” he describes.

The record is a merging of sorts between Breslin’s distinct careers in music and advocacy as each track is a deeply intimate reflection on aspects of his life that he struggles to make sense of, something he hopes can help others find some peace on their mental health journey.

“Academically, musically and campaign-wise, I’ve always felt music was the one thing that had an ability to really support people and now there’s this profound level of research coming out on how it does that. It felt like a natural instinct to get in the middle of it,” he says.

“I hope it’s using music as a form of mindfulness for people who struggle. I struggled with my breath and had panic attacks for 15 years so I used to listen to music, that’s how I meditated.”

“I’d just listen to my favourite songs and pretend I was in my room so I think this will be helpful for people who might struggle with being alone and quiet in their inner world,” he adds.

The album aims to provide a setting for listeners to sit with the good and bad aspects of life in an increasingly volatile and isolating world as the range of stirring compositions gives space for true introspection.

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“The last ten years have been utter chaos for everybody through austerity, recessions, cost of living crises, global pandemics, heartbreak and wars. In the middle of it all we’re expected to be perfectly conventional and calm,” Breslin says.

“There’s a Krishnamurti quote that’s also a part of the record that says, “there’s no measure of sanity to be well-adjusted in an insane world,” and this world is insane, and it is chaotic and we need to stop normalising it.”

“It’s interesting how most Irish people have always been so terrified of our inner world, but now our external world has become so terrifying that we’re escaping inwards and trying to find some kind of comfort in there. I hope this album allows people to sit with that stuff and realise, it’s not as scary as you think,” he outlines.

The personal meaning behind each track can be heard in the album’s first single, The Credence Frequency, which explores the intrinsic connection between body and mind and the necessity of tuning out external interruptions to listen to it.

“When I was 22, I retired from professional sport with an utterly broken body. Everything, serious injuries, ruptured muscles, joint problems, back problems and nobody ever asked was there something wrong? And there was, I always say my body broke before my mind did,” he remembers.

“It was a warning shot, I started to punish myself physically all the time. I hated my body. Then I started to learn that I just didn’t listen. There was no conversation between the mind and the body and I think that’s the most important communication we have.”

“Now we have modern wearable phones that tell us how much sleep we get and watches that tell us how fit we are. These are all grand but they should never replace that connection and that’s what I call the credence frequency, because it doesn’t lie, it can’t lie.”

From criticising the Fine Gael and Labour coalition on stage in 2012 to later addressing an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, Breslin has long been outspoken in his belief that the government needs to do more to provide security for its citizens.

His work in pushing for a future that can sustain young people’s mental wellbeing has led him to schools and workplaces all over the country, but there are limits to what mindfulness can do when basic stability is getting further out of reach for many.

“I think our government has a duty of care to offer us something more than a crisis all the time,” he asserts.

“Basic supports, health, housing. It’s very difficult going in and talking about wellness to a school where there’s six homeless children in the classroom. That’s a structural problem that’s been driven by bad policy and it doesn’t need to be like this.”

“Bring some coherence back to the world. We’ve got to look at an entirely different paradigm in how we treat mental health. I’ve studied 200 years of mental health intervention and I can tell you we’re no closer now than we were 200 years ago to really understanding it,” he explains.

The Place That Has Never Been Wounded is a multimedia endeavour with an accompanying book and extended version containing spoken word reflections set to enhance the experience and aid guided meditation to be added in the coming months.

The album will be released on October 24, and Breslin will be launching it with an eight-show tour around Ireland, including one at Kilkenny’s Set Theatre on October 29.

After a successful test performance at Mallow Arts Festival, crowds have resonated with the live experience of the album and Breslin is looking forward to getting back into the swing of concerts.

“The audience just felt lighter and it’s not a preachy thing. If people think it’s me meditating, it’s not. It’s music and it’s me talking very informally about some parts of it. There’s a bit of humour and a bit of emotion.”

“I think Covid made me realise how much I miss performing and how I actually need to do it, it has to be part of my life.”

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