Gumboot Friday concert: Singer-songwriter Jason Kerrison gets behind concert for mental health

Kaitāia-based singer-songwriter and producer Jason Kerrison is playing at the Gumboot Friday [on a Saturday] concert in Hamilton on November 25. Photo / White Locket Photography

Award-winning singer-songwriter and producer Jason Kerrison has a personal reason for getting behind a concert to raise funds for Gumboot Friday.

The former Opshop frontman, who lives in Kaitāia, is playing at Mike King’s Gumboot Friday (on a Saturday) gig on November 25 at Globox Arena in Hamilton.

The concert, with The Feelers, Hamilton DJ Dujon Cullingford, and Cambridge band Pineja, is raising funds for I Am Hope initiative Gumboot Friday, founded by mental health advocate King.

Kerrison said his first brush with suicide was as a young teen.

“I found out one of my best friends had been found dead.

“I didn’t quite understand the how and why, I’m not entirely sure I ever did get my head around it.

“From the outside everything seemed to be not only okay, but privileged.

“He was a wonderful person; a talented, gifted thinker, a great sportsman, and a generous spirit who had achieved so much in his short time.

“We all wanted him to soar in life.”

Gumboot Friday, on November 3, is an initiative created by I Am Hope to raise funds and awareness of depression and mental health challenges. Funds raised go toward providing free counselling to any New Zealander aged under 25.

Jason Kerrison said he’s always admired I Am Hope founder Mike King and what he’s achieved regarding Gumboot Friday.

Kerrison said he was proud to be involved in the November 25 concert which he anticipated would be full of “good vibes and a feeling we can take with us into our lives after the show”.

“I’ve always admired what Mike King has done in terms of what Gumboot Friday achieves and am proud to be involved this time around.”

Kerrison referred to an opinion piece King wrote before the general election, “reminding us... that these are not simply faceless statistics … these are our precious children”.

“These are our kids, not just disembodied numbers on a spreadsheet,” Kerrison said.

“We all, the people, the government of New Zealand, need to protect our children urgently.

“Mike and his team have created a pathway, we all need to acknowledge it, get on it and support it.”

Event co-ordinator and educator Alwyn Poole said putting on a concert for King was “a privilege”.

His Gumboot Friday counselling services were vital because it was “a lot of money” to visit a psychologist or psychiatrist in New Zealand, Poole said.

The Gumboot Friday concert is raising funds for the initiative and counselling service founded by mental health advocate Mike King.

“We need a service in New Zealand which Mike King and Gumboot Friday counsellors provide, but they’re not funded by government.

“When anyone knows, at a moment of crisis, they can get on a phone and talk to someone and be cared for by someone and get through to the next day, it’s a big deal.”

Kerrison said music, whether listening, writing or performing songs, had been “a good way for me to work through my feelings”.

“Writing down my thoughts, while creating a song, has helped me build the non-sequiturs and often confusing thoughts that fall onto the page into a cohesive sense of where I’m at personally. It helps me process my own ups and downs and find a centre.

“If anyone wants to talk to me about how they or their kids can do that, if they think it might help them, please feel free to contact me personally at my Facebook page JasonKerrisonMusic.

“I’d be more than happy to make time and help.”

Another community event called Gumboot Friday Sossie Slammer, is also raising funds for Gumboot Friday.

The November 17 event features food stalls, hāngī, market stalls, rides, games and a sausage-eating competition at Paparoa Showgrounds from 5-8.30pm. Check out Facebook.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering health, food, lifestyle, business and animal welfare issues.