The sea shanty star opens up about his mental health struggles and why he is backing the Daily Record’s Save Young Lives campaign to tackle youth suicide.
Nathan Evans(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Sea shanty singer Nathan Evans has shared a powerful voice note he sent himself in his “lowest” moment. The star, who shot to fame after his Wellerman hit went viral on TikTok, is opening up on his mental health struggle to support a Daily Record campaign to tackle youth suicide.
Nathan, now 31, recalled his crippling battle with anxiety when he was younger in a bid to help other young people to speak out too. The chart-topper, from Airdrie, told the Record: “Before I was doing this job, I reached a point where I was really struggling.
“I was worried about a lot of things, but I was bottling it all up and I wasn’t dealing with it. That stuff has to come out somehow and one day, when I was away from home and working on a building site, I had a huge panic attack.
“It was the lowest I’ve ever felt and it was really scary. So I got my phone out and recorded what I was feeling.”
Nathan Evans and the Saint PHNX Band (Stevie and Johnny)(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
In the recording, which he later used as a sample in his single Paper planes, Evans can be heard saying: “18th August 2020. I am just done, man. If there weren’t people nearby I could start crying, easily.
“There’s tears right there, man. Ready to go. I feel mentally and emotionally drained and holding it in is taking its toll.”
The musician said that documenting feelings can be life-changing as he hopes to inspire youngsters in crisis to find similar ways to understand their emotions. He continued: “When you’re in that bad place, you’re not thinking straight.
“You don’t see that it’s just a moment in time and that you can get through it with help. Understanding your feelings and knowing when to ask for help is really important.
“Because a bad moment doesn’t mean things are bad forever. Now I can listen to that recording and be really grateful for all the good things that have happened since.”
Nathan Evans(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Nathan also hopes that sharing his experience will help dispel the myth of “perfect lives” online. He said: “Kids see celebrities and influencers and think they have perfect lives. The truth is, everyone has their own struggles.”
Nathan also called on other adults and people with platforms to do their bit to help support young people who are battling with their mental health to halt the tide of youth suicide. He added: “All of us, including people in the public eye, should do our bit.
“You can’t talk about the importance of this too much because every time someone catches a problem before it gets worse, it could be a life saved.”
The Daily Record’s launched its Save Young Lives campaign in November in response to a growing mental health crisis among kids.
As part of the campaign, the Record revealed that 26 per cent of deaths among young Scots are by probable suicide, while long waits for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services is leaving left thousands of children without support.
We are calling for suicide prevention education in every Scottish secondary school and a reduction waiting times for children to get vital help. We have previously reported the plight of multiple bereaved families who lost loved ones to suicide.
They all told us they believe their kids would still be alive with better measures in place.
Nathan Evans and the Saint PHNX Band celebrating chart success(Image: HANDOUT)
Nathan said: “I’m 100 per cent behind the Save Young Lives campaign because I know how important it is to help young people deal with the lowest points in their lives when they are struggling on their own.
“It’s hard enough for us, as adults, to recognise how to handle this stuff, so we can’t expect kids to just know how to do it. We should be giving teachers in schools across the country the tools to do more to tackle this every day.
“If we can get the right messages across, then maybe we can stop another family suffering the awful heartache the Record’s campaign has already highlighted. That would be something really special.”
First Minister John Swinney(Image: Ken Jack)
First Minister John Swinney has backed our campaign, pledging that the SNP will do “everything in its power” to protect children and young people.
Save Young Lives has also won rare cross-party backing at Holyrood, with every major opposition party promising to make youth mental health a key priority in their election manifestos.
Nathan’s Evan new album Angels’ Share – a collaboration with Saint Phnx – is currently number 1 in the Scottish charts.
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