May 3, 2025 • 12 mins
Check out this replay of an episode with host Lynn Hoffman and singer-songwriter Jake Banfield. As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month we are proud to present this episode of a man who champions the healing power of music.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Music saved me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Growing up listen to a bunch of different types of
music music killed me, so I knew it was a possibility,
but I had no.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Idea my music was going to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I was really just writing things that I was going
through or my co writers or producers, and we were
just putting it out because it made us feel better,
and we were just hoping people would connect.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
I'm Len Hoffman and welcome to the Music Saved Me Podcast,
the podcast where we talk with musicians and songwriters about
the deeply healing powers of music and discuss their personal
challenges and inspirations. On this episode, we talk with an
artist and singer songwriter Jake Banfield, whose latest country track,
(00:40):
Cadillac Coop, is currently climbing the.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Charts as we speak.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Jake has endured highs and lows throughout his life, and
he's continuously and selflessly dedicated himself to promoting the importance
of overcoming those battles through life altering moments and never
really be afraid to ask for help. And that's exactly
why we wanted Jake Banfield as our next guest on
the Music Save Me Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Jake, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Thank you so much, what a great intro. Thank you
for that, and thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
It's our pleasure.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Let's start off by having you give us a glimpse
of what shaped you in life that made you become
such an advocate for discussing mental health issues. You weren't
supposed to be doing what you're doing right now, were you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
No. Yeah, so actually it came out of nowhere. I
really actually grew up playing sports. I played baseball, football,
and really dedicated a lot of my life to basketball.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I played for about.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Eighteen years, and as an athlete, it just wasn't a
popular thing to speak up about if you were dealing
with mental health.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I was kind of the jocket guy where I'm just
going to not talk about it and then everything's going
to be okay. I'll go get shots up, or I'll
go play a game and we'll figure it out and then.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So that's just how I lived for a lot of
my life.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
And then I got to college and went to got
to play college basketball and ended up having an injury
and that was the first kind of big injury I've
ever had. And then I end up in the dorm
room in my dorm room by myself. My teammates are
at practice and working out, and that was the first
time I was alone, not with family, not with like friends,
(02:20):
and I was just very depressed. And then't it was like,
I really need to speak up because this is an
awful feeling, and that's what I finally did.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
But yeah, I started doing music right then.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
That was my way to kind of cope, and like
that was my therapy session, was writing songs about what
I was going through. And that's when I started speaking
up and it was one of the best decisions I've
ever made.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
How did you know writing songs was going to help you?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I think because I was still a little too
scared to speak up to people, and I knew I
could if I could write a song about what I
was going through.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I grew up listening to a lot of different types
of music.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I didn't know really how to write a song, but
I knew how to like a melody.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I knew melodies and that type of vibe.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So I think that that was my easiest way to
be by myself still and get out what I needed
to say. And then I was able to post it.
And I still wasn't really having the conversation with people yet.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
But I was able to post it and people were
relating to it.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
So yeah, posting a song or putting something out there
that you created is like is like birthing a child,
and you have no choice but to receive whatever you
get back. So was it instant that you got that
immediate response that people were connecting.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It wasn't instant. It was I really and it was scary.
I'm not gonna lie because I I you're right. I
didn't know if people were gonna think it was terrible
or if it was okay. I didn't What I didn't
know is it was real. It was how I was failing.
And that's all pretty much I could do from my side.
The rest was out of my control, and I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It wasn't instant. It was kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
A just a build, a slow build, and then one
really connected and then it brought in other people and
then it started.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It started growing pretty pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
An epiphany from a basketball player to a songwriter, like unbelievable.
There's a song you wrote called Take This Pain. I'd
love for you to share with us a bit about
that song and how it came to be.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, that that's one of my favorite songs we've ever
we've ever done, just because I remember I remember thinking
I could do it my own way, and that's what
that song is about. It's about calling out to like
a higher power something to just take away this. I'm
done trying to do this myself. I'm done trying to
act like I have all the answers. I need someone
(04:41):
to take this pain because it's not going away.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
And I think a lot of people feel that way.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So we wrote that song in like forty five minutes,
and it was really fast, but it kind of just
flowed out.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It was natural, it was real, is what we were feeling.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
And people seemed that one was a quick one when
we when we posted. When I posted that on social media,
I think it's as it's as vulnerable as I could be,
and people were relating to it. So yeah, I love
that song and I'm glad it's been able to reach
people and help people.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
For sure, At what moment in your life did you
realize I mean, obviously you can see there was a
connection with your music and your song and being vulnerable,
but when did you realize the healing power of music?
Was it there?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Epiphany? Or did it happen overnight?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was kind of an overnight.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I had known that growing up listening to a bunch
of different types of music music killed me, so I
knew it was a possibility, but I had no idea
my music was going to be able to do that.
I was really just writing things that I was going
through or my co writers or producers, and we were
just putting it out because it made us feel better
and we were just hoping people would connect. So it
(05:54):
kind of was like a little overnight video that where
I woke up. I went to sleep and I woke
up and a video had went irol and comments were flooding,
and it was all about I'm going through this, I
needed this, this is saving my life. And it was
a it was a lot to take in, and it
was just like, wow, this is uh, this feels really
good that I'm able to help people that are going
(06:16):
through the same thing that I've been going through or worse,
or you know, just just helping through music. It was
it was insane, honestly, to to have music heal me
and then to be able to put out music that
can heal other people.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Wild feeling, you know, you brought something up.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I'm going off script here, but my questions are flowing
with what you're saying. And in my mind as you're talking,
I'm thinking, you're young, you're starting out. You weren't even
supposed to be what you are. You were going to
be this big basketball star and your life changed. You
write all these songs that connect with people. Do you
ever feel that you need to keep that secret sauce
(06:57):
with the songwriting going? I mean, you understand now how
a lot of artists have to stay relevant or keep
connected to their fans, and that could lie in and
of itself, could be a potential pitfall for you as well.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So how do you navigate that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I have I try to be as real as possible
because I do have my ballad side, the mental health
side where I'm going to advocate for it at all times.
I also have a very fun side where I love.
I'm a happy guy. I love happy music. So I
think if you go back and look at my catalog
from the beginning, when I had no idea what I
was doing, there was pop music, there was happy music,
(07:34):
there was sad music. That's kind of my life. It's
just a little bit everywhere. But it's real. So I
like to write in seasons, is how I call it.
So whenever we're in March, like March time, we're going
to be writing for summer because it's a few months away.
At the end of summer, we're going to start writing
the slower ballad type vibes because it's because it's seasons
(07:55):
and it gets cold and people are just they get
bundled up in the house and they want to.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Hear some sadder music.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And then and in the winter time you start getting
ready for the spring break. It's all seasons, and that's
just how I prefer to write.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
I've never heard that before, but what that totally makes sense.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
It's great. Well, yeah, thank you, Jake.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Why is it important for you to talk about such
personal challenges that you've had in your life publicly through
your songwriting.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I think because I know, I know whenever I was
going through things, I was looking for someone to be
as real as possible. And I could kind of tell
when people were just doing it because it might get
a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Of streams, But I always looked for someone that was
going through.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Something I felt like I was going through that I
could relate with and whenever I found music like that
and artists like that that were that were willing to
speak up about their real life stuff, I had a
different connection with them. So whenever I decided I was
going to do music and I was going to go
into that lane, I was like, I remember the feeling
(09:04):
of looking for an artist that would say what I'm
feeling or say something about what like similar, and that's
what I just try to do.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
That's just it's a big deal. I want to just
help people.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And and you know, there's a lot of whenever you
go through that sad there's just a sadness where you
feel alone. And I remember being able to put out
these songs and people would just feel like, this feels
like we know each other like family, Like I can
talk to you like you're my therapist or you're my daughter,
like and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I want people to just know they're not alone.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's probably my biggest saying because I felt so alone
in that dorm room and I had people around me,
it just there was a feeling inside.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So I know a lot of people feel that way,
and I.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Just want my music to let them know that you're
not going through it or You're not the only one
going through it, and you will get through it.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
So yeah, well it's such a giving way to live
your life. And speaking of that, you are not only musician,
a singer, songwriter, performer, all around adorable.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Thank you can help it.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
But you also have a podcast called A Break with
Jake on which Country. I would love to hear what
you talk about on your podcast. Something tells me it's a.
It's a it's very creative. And who do you have
upcoming that we can check out?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, so the podcast, I have a really cool bridge.
I feel like I grew up an athlete, like I said,
now I'm a singer songwriter and that's kind of a
it's a unique kind of path. So I blend both
and so I have artists on there, singer songwriters, producers.
I have athletes on there sometimes at the same time.
(10:46):
But we talk about sports on some we talk about
the music industry, and in all every single episode we
talk about mental health and how you know, I want
I just want to hear what these people have to
say about mental health. I mean, what's your story? As
much as they're willing to share, they don't have to
share much at all.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But I make it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It's every episode we talk about mental health because people
have different stories and maybe they don't speak up right now,
but I'd just like to bring light to that no
matter who it is. And we're on tour right now,
so we don't have the schedule of podcasts, but I
will be posting that whenever we get off a tour,
and we'll start loading episodes and getting them.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Out and you can take a break with Jake. I
love that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You got it, Jakie.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Thank you so much for joining us on the Music
Save Me podcast and for everything that you do to
help in the world. Because when we lift each other up,
then we all win. It's a simple solution and we
all have things to participate and give to that. So
thank you for doing that here with us on Music
Save Me. And good luck with your tour, your podcast
(11:53):
and come back and see us.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, ma'am, thank you so much for having me, and
I'd love to come back if you'll have you always
Music saved me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Growing up listen to a bunch of different types of
music music killed me, so I knew it was a possibility,
but I had no.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Idea my music was going to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I was really just writing things that I was going
through or my co writers or producers, and we were
just putting it out because it made us feel better,
and we were just hoping people would connect.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
I'm Len Hoffman and welcome to the Music Saved Me Podcast,
the podcast where we talk with musicians and songwriters about
the deeply healing powers of music and discuss their personal
challenges and inspirations. On this episode, we talk with an
artist and singer songwriter Jake Banfield, whose latest country track,
(00:40):
Cadillac Coop, is currently climbing the.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Charts as we speak.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Jake has endured highs and lows throughout his life, and
he's continuously and selflessly dedicated himself to promoting the importance
of overcoming those battles through life altering moments and never
really be afraid to ask for help. And that's exactly
why we wanted Jake Banfield as our next guest on
the Music Save Me Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Jake, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Thank you so much, what a great intro. Thank you
for that, and thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
It's our pleasure.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Let's start off by having you give us a glimpse
of what shaped you in life that made you become
such an advocate for discussing mental health issues. You weren't
supposed to be doing what you're doing right now, were you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
No. Yeah, so actually it came out of nowhere. I
really actually grew up playing sports. I played baseball, football,
and really dedicated a lot of my life to basketball.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I played for about.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Eighteen years, and as an athlete, it just wasn't a
popular thing to speak up about if you were dealing
with mental health.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I was kind of the jocket guy where I'm just
going to not talk about it and then everything's going
to be okay. I'll go get shots up, or I'll
go play a game and we'll figure it out and then.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So that's just how I lived for a lot of
my life.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
And then I got to college and went to got
to play college basketball and ended up having an injury
and that was the first kind of big injury I've
ever had. And then I end up in the dorm
room in my dorm room by myself. My teammates are
at practice and working out, and that was the first
time I was alone, not with family, not with like friends,
(02:20):
and I was just very depressed. And then't it was like,
I really need to speak up because this is an
awful feeling, and that's what I finally did.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
But yeah, I started doing music right then.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
That was my way to kind of cope, and like
that was my therapy session, was writing songs about what
I was going through. And that's when I started speaking
up and it was one of the best decisions I've
ever made.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
How did you know writing songs was going to help you?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I think because I was still a little too
scared to speak up to people, and I knew I
could if I could write a song about what I
was going through.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I grew up listening to a lot of different types
of music.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I didn't know really how to write a song, but
I knew how to like a melody.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I knew melodies and that type of vibe.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So I think that that was my easiest way to
be by myself still and get out what I needed
to say. And then I was able to post it.
And I still wasn't really having the conversation with people yet.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
But I was able to post it and people were
relating to it.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
So yeah, posting a song or putting something out there
that you created is like is like birthing a child,
and you have no choice but to receive whatever you
get back. So was it instant that you got that
immediate response that people were connecting.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It wasn't instant. It was I really and it was scary.
I'm not gonna lie because I I you're right. I
didn't know if people were gonna think it was terrible
or if it was okay. I didn't What I didn't
know is it was real. It was how I was failing.
And that's all pretty much I could do from my side.
The rest was out of my control, and I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It wasn't instant. It was kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
A just a build, a slow build, and then one
really connected and then it brought in other people and
then it started.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It started growing pretty pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
An epiphany from a basketball player to a songwriter, like unbelievable.
There's a song you wrote called Take This Pain. I'd
love for you to share with us a bit about
that song and how it came to be.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, that that's one of my favorite songs we've ever
we've ever done, just because I remember I remember thinking
I could do it my own way, and that's what
that song is about. It's about calling out to like
a higher power something to just take away this. I'm
done trying to do this myself. I'm done trying to
act like I have all the answers. I need someone
(04:41):
to take this pain because it's not going away.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
And I think a lot of people feel that way.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So we wrote that song in like forty five minutes,
and it was really fast, but it kind of just
flowed out.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It was natural, it was real, is what we were feeling.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
And people seemed that one was a quick one when
we when we posted. When I posted that on social media,
I think it's as it's as vulnerable as I could be,
and people were relating to it. So yeah, I love
that song and I'm glad it's been able to reach
people and help people.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
For sure, At what moment in your life did you
realize I mean, obviously you can see there was a
connection with your music and your song and being vulnerable,
but when did you realize the healing power of music?
Was it there?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Epiphany? Or did it happen overnight?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was kind of an overnight.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I had known that growing up listening to a bunch
of different types of music music killed me, so I
knew it was a possibility, but I had no idea
my music was going to be able to do that.
I was really just writing things that I was going
through or my co writers or producers, and we were
just putting it out because it made us feel better
and we were just hoping people would connect. So it
(05:54):
kind of was like a little overnight video that where
I woke up. I went to sleep and I woke
up and a video had went irol and comments were flooding,
and it was all about I'm going through this, I
needed this, this is saving my life. And it was
a it was a lot to take in, and it
was just like, wow, this is uh, this feels really
good that I'm able to help people that are going
(06:16):
through the same thing that I've been going through or worse,
or you know, just just helping through music. It was
it was insane, honestly, to to have music heal me
and then to be able to put out music that
can heal other people.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Wild feeling, you know, you brought something up.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I'm going off script here, but my questions are flowing
with what you're saying. And in my mind as you're talking,
I'm thinking, you're young, you're starting out. You weren't even
supposed to be what you are. You were going to
be this big basketball star and your life changed. You
write all these songs that connect with people. Do you
ever feel that you need to keep that secret sauce
(06:57):
with the songwriting going? I mean, you understand now how
a lot of artists have to stay relevant or keep
connected to their fans, and that could lie in and
of itself, could be a potential pitfall for you as well.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So how do you navigate that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I have I try to be as real as possible
because I do have my ballad side, the mental health
side where I'm going to advocate for it at all times.
I also have a very fun side where I love.
I'm a happy guy. I love happy music. So I
think if you go back and look at my catalog
from the beginning, when I had no idea what I
was doing, there was pop music, there was happy music,
(07:34):
there was sad music. That's kind of my life. It's
just a little bit everywhere. But it's real. So I
like to write in seasons, is how I call it.
So whenever we're in March, like March time, we're going
to be writing for summer because it's a few months away.
At the end of summer, we're going to start writing
the slower ballad type vibes because it's because it's seasons
(07:55):
and it gets cold and people are just they get
bundled up in the house and they want to.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Hear some sadder music.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And then and in the winter time you start getting
ready for the spring break. It's all seasons, and that's
just how I prefer to write.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
I've never heard that before, but what that totally makes sense.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
It's great. Well, yeah, thank you, Jake.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Why is it important for you to talk about such
personal challenges that you've had in your life publicly through
your songwriting.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I think because I know, I know whenever I was
going through things, I was looking for someone to be
as real as possible. And I could kind of tell
when people were just doing it because it might get
a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Of streams, But I always looked for someone that was
going through.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Something I felt like I was going through that I
could relate with and whenever I found music like that
and artists like that that were that were willing to
speak up about their real life stuff, I had a
different connection with them. So whenever I decided I was
going to do music and I was going to go
into that lane, I was like, I remember the feeling
(09:04):
of looking for an artist that would say what I'm
feeling or say something about what like similar, and that's
what I just try to do.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
That's just it's a big deal. I want to just
help people.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And and you know, there's a lot of whenever you
go through that sad there's just a sadness where you
feel alone. And I remember being able to put out
these songs and people would just feel like, this feels
like we know each other like family, Like I can
talk to you like you're my therapist or you're my daughter,
like and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I want people to just know they're not alone.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's probably my biggest saying because I felt so alone
in that dorm room and I had people around me,
it just there was a feeling inside.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So I know a lot of people feel that way,
and I.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Just want my music to let them know that you're
not going through it or You're not the only one
going through it, and you will get through it.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
So yeah, well it's such a giving way to live
your life. And speaking of that, you are not only musician,
a singer, songwriter, performer, all around adorable.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Thank you can help it.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
But you also have a podcast called A Break with
Jake on which Country. I would love to hear what
you talk about on your podcast. Something tells me it's a.
It's a it's very creative. And who do you have
upcoming that we can check out?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, so the podcast, I have a really cool bridge.
I feel like I grew up an athlete, like I said,
now I'm a singer songwriter and that's kind of a
it's a unique kind of path. So I blend both
and so I have artists on there, singer songwriters, producers.
I have athletes on there sometimes at the same time.
(10:46):
But we talk about sports on some we talk about
the music industry, and in all every single episode we
talk about mental health and how you know, I want
I just want to hear what these people have to
say about mental health. I mean, what's your story? As
much as they're willing to share, they don't have to
share much at all.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But I make it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It's every episode we talk about mental health because people
have different stories and maybe they don't speak up right now,
but I'd just like to bring light to that no
matter who it is. And we're on tour right now,
so we don't have the schedule of podcasts, but I
will be posting that whenever we get off a tour,
and we'll start loading episodes and getting them.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Out and you can take a break with Jake. I
love that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You got it, Jakie.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Thank you so much for joining us on the Music
Save Me podcast and for everything that you do to
help in the world. Because when we lift each other up,
then we all win. It's a simple solution and we
all have things to participate and give to that. So
thank you for doing that here with us on Music
Save Me. And good luck with your tour, your podcast
(11:53):
and come back and see us.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, ma'am, thank you so much for having me, and
I'd love to come back if you'll have you always
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