Women Who Rock: Lexi Rodriquez, Hope Through Headphones

#785 Women LIVE Who Rock

Lexi Rodriquez

HOPE THROUGH

HEADPHONES

STRENGTHEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH, THROUGH MUSIC

by Huascar Medina | photo by EJ Drake

R aising awareness of mental illnesses, promoting mental health and using music as a catalyst for opening discussions of personal struggles with mental illness amongst collegeaged students is the beat of Hope Through Headphones, a nonprofit created by Washburn University student Lexi Rodriguez.

The nonprofit hosts varied mental health related events on campus [Washburn University] including educational speakers, music therapists and supporting Washburn Counseling open houses and events. But their unique sound is what makes them worth turning up. "We have our Spotify playlist. Different students can suggest or send in different songs to put on those," explained Lexi. "So some songs make you feel better about yourself. Some are like 'we feel we understand you, we relate;' this is a song that can help you express yourself. It says words that you can’t say."

Spreading the music and message beyond campus, the Hope Through Headphones team host the Mental Music Scene, an annual benefit concert. [April 6 at The Landing Grill + Bar.]

Beyond a concert, Lexi ensures there are educational aspects behind everything they do. "We have different speakers while we are set-changing. A speaker will go up on stage and we will change it around them," said Lexi. 2019 speakers include Hope For The Day who will speak on suicide prevention; Valeo who presents the importance and power of music therapy and Washburn Counseling who will cover topics of substance abuse and addiction as well as sexual and domestic violence. "There's a back-room, off to the side of the concert, kinda separate, and last year it was filled wall-to-wall with local resources. So if anything you heard from a speaker or musician really affected you and you wanted to learn more, you could go back into that room and find more resources. Take more away from the event, actual physical paperwork, pictures and flyers; to take home.”

The idea for a mental health benefit concert was inspired while attending Warped Tour. “We realized there were so many nonprofits around Warped Tour and my friend and I just wanted a break from the music and the crowd. So we went walking around and ran into Hope For The Day and Can You Hear Me and all these other nonprofits [dealing with mental health]. . I ended up in the Can You Hear Me bus just sitting and talking with their founder for half an hour on starting nonprofits. From there, I had another friend at Warped Tour and she was talking about all these musicians that are very forward about what they are thinking and how they are feeling. She was like, ‘It would be cool if we could get these musicians involved.’ And so, I thought of having a concert, but also making sure it was educational and supportive. If we got these musicians in an environment that they could openly talk about it, and even encourage them to do it, just imagine how much more the people would relate to their music than they already do.”

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Oceanside Hotels | photo by Jake Starr

NUTS + BOLTS

THE MENTAL MUSIC SCENE

Saturday, April 6

The Landing TICKETS: $10 Music starts at 2p

FEATURING

Me Like Bees Captiva Oceanside Hotels Keep Flying Kid Computer Lilac Kings Gold Steps Quite Frankly the Band Tiny Kingdoms Miami Over Moon Something and the Whatevers

Exploring into the mental state of the music is of great importance, and this year's Mental Music Scene concert will do just that. "Just about every band this year is planning on taking time out of their set to talk about the story behind their music and how it affected them," said Lexi. "Last year, the headline band took a little bit to just stop and talk about the story behind this song and it had people in tears. We want that this year.”

“I’ve seen how music can affect someone. I’ve seen how music can just, I don’t want say, ‘save lives,’ but gets you an outlet to kind of save your own life. It guides the way when you can’t think of words to express yourself. You can go through lyrics and these lyrics you’re like, ‘yes this is what I’m feeling,’ or that ‘these lyrics are exactly what I needed to hear.’ That’s how you can uplift yourself. That’s how you can express yourself. And music affected me tremendously

photo by Alyssa New

‘‘

I've seen how music can affect someone. It guides the way when you can't think of words to express yourself." - Lexi

in high school and growing up. It helped me through some of my darkest times. So to be able to bring the music closer physically and retrospectively is amazing.”

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s 2018 fact sheet, on average, one person dies of suicide every 17 hours in the state of Kansas. In Kansas, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 15- 44. The importance of an organization like Hope Through Headphones can’t be overstated.

Lexi is rockin' her senior year at Washburn University pursuing a bachelor's in marketing. The Mental Music Scene benefit concert will be held at The Landing Grille + Bar on Saturday, April 6. The concert begins at 2p and will rock until midnight. Tickets are on sale now. More at HopeTheAdPhones.org.

aseveneightfive

Learn more of Lexi's story and her personal mission at KansasYoung.com. KANSAS YOUNG: stories of young creatives living and working in Kansas by Israel Sanchez. Special addition to seveneightfive, read his Women Who Rock features on the next two pages.

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