TORONTO, CANADA – Many people who suffer from mental illnesses are adept at putting on masks. Santyna knows all about that. The introspective artist from Toronto, Canada had been hiding her depression for more years than most people realize. She has a great job and supportive friends and family, and yet she still struggled with her mental health. She had been battling persistent major depression, generalized anxiety and PTSD while writing and recording her EP, and has since made immense progress with her mental health. She now wishes to help crush the normative ideas surrounding the topic of mental health and those who suffer from mental illnesses. She wants her fans to know that they are not alone and that like her, they can also accomplish their dreams.
“I used to put on a mask every single day,” she said. “Many people who suffer from mental illnesses are great at masking their loneliness, hopelessness, and fear. They need help, but most of the time people can’t tell until it’s too late. If you see me at my day job, I’ll be professional and 100 percent attentive and give you the best customer service you’ll ever receive. I’ll seem like I’m the happiest person, even though I’m not. The truth is, I’ve been dealing with depression every day of my life, and now I’m finally at a place where there is no more mask left to hide behind. I finally burned that ratty, old mask and I owe it to my music. One of the only things that has kept me alive is finding solace in music. It became my life and my reason for living. And I want my music to be a voice for other people who struggle with similar things. I want my music to show them that they aren’t alone. I felt alone when I was going through the hardest time of my life, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Santyna has an EP dropping at the end of November called “VENIN.” It’s a project that she said is geared toward mental health, with songs that take real-life situations and use them to help people see the hope and light that can come through healthy communication and deeper relationships. Santyna describes the project as a wave of emotion, starting with a dark tone that gives listeners a sense of what it feels like to be deep in depression, then leading toward a lighter tone that is intended to represent hope. The name for the EP is a take on the French word for “Venom” and the cover art for the project features a picture of Santyna in the likeness of Medusa.
“Instead of my hair being snakes, there are snakes in my hair and I am a snake,” she said. “I’m the queen of snakes, the mother of snakes, and the mother of darkness. I’m a person surrounded by darkness, but I’m really drawn to snakes because they represent rebirth and rejuvenation and wisdom. They are magnificent, lethal creatures. And they resemble me in the way that they don’t beat around the bush. I’m a snake. I’m gonna look out for me because I must in order to survive. Snakes take care of themselves and I’m a very independent person. That’s why I feel like they’re my spirit animal, so to speak. And more than anything, I think they represent the full circle of everything that’s connected in this beautiful life.”
The debut single from the project has already been released and is available across all streaming platforms. The song is called “FREE style” and it’s a song that Santyna said she wrote in a moment of clarity following a breakup with her ex-boyfriend.
“We had broken up a couple of months prior to writing ‘FREE style’ and it was really bad,” she said. “I was heartbroken. We were thinking about getting engaged before the breakup and had looked at apartments together and then he just up and left one day with no warning. It shattered my heart. And after two months, I was just starting to get over it. I was making music again and hanging out with friends and making money and trying to live my best life. Then he called me out of the blue. He left me a voicemail and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I literally went straight to the studio and put on a beat and just went off on that beat. And that freestyle session is how the song was born. The whole song is basically about him, but it’s also about struggling with depression and the journey I’ve taken. I literally went from a place where I was struggling to even get out of bed, and now look at me; I’m free. I’m leaving my house and making music and have just released this beautiful single that I’m so proud of. I can’t wait for people to hear my music. I hope it changes their lives in a positive way like it did mine.”
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To listen to Santyna’s music or to follow her on social media, please visit:
“FREE style”
hyperurl.co/freestyle_santyna
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