What’s Going On In Your Head? uses the power of performance art to open up important conversations around mental health with groups who wouldn’t ordinarily be exposed to this kind of information. It is also a platform for artists with lived experience of mental illness to perform their work and be heard.
The first show took place in 2018 in London and it has gone from strength to strength. During the lockdowns we took it online and extended our reach to audiences beyond London and the UK. Now that venues are opening up again we are looking forward to bringing it back to the stage and we plan to run our shows in front of a live audience and continue to make it available to our online audience.
Who are we?
What’s Going On In Your Head? is run by a team of volunteers and is made possible with the participation of artists who use their creative talents to share their lived experiences of mental illness.
The production team
Liz Smith
Liz is the show host and uses her experience as a documentary filmmaker to create a narrative arc for the shows and podcasts to take the audience on a journey that will be memorable, enjoyable and eye opening.
She is interested in what makes human beings tick, and how psychology, philosophy and politics drive contemporary behaviour. She is the director of the documentary I Am Gen Z that is currently touring the film festivals and is being broadcast on channels around the world. In the documentary she tackles mental health themes relating to the impact that digital technology is having on a generation who grew up with mobile phones in their pockets.
When she’s not making films, podcasts or putting on live shows you’ll most likely find her on a tennis court.
Jon Salmon
Jon has created an award-winning production studio, a digital pioneer since the late 90s and is the co-founder of Byte Entertainment.
As a producer of What’s Going On In Your Head, Jon’s vision is to create a world where anyone can feel comfortable sharing their lived experience through performance without judgement. Jon sadly lost his Dad to suicide as a teenager and this impacted his own mental health a few years later being sectioned in hospital. Jon now realises how important it is to create safe spaces for us all to discuss What’s Going On In Your Head.
Jon works tirelessly behind the scenes to pull together the shows finding incredible talent and making sure the shows run smoothly. When we had to take the shows online he took on the pioneering role of the “zoom controller” with aplomb as we navigated the bumps in the road that went with hosting shows digitally.
He is the proud Dad of two young children, loves going to gigs and the odd run.
Kim Halliday
Kim is an award winning media composer & musician working in London. His music is an evolving and revolving mixture of trip hop, reggae and film noir, designed to comfort and disturb in equal measure. His scores have encompassed horror, comedy, drama, musicals and child birth, while his albums have been described as “Sonic Youth meets Bernard Herrmann” and “Face-Bashing All-Out Guitar Assault”.
Kim brings his experience as a musician to the production team and is the unsung hero behind the scenes of the What’s Going On In Your Head? podcast series using his audio editing skills and facilities to pull together these audio gems.
Maria Mendes
What’s Going On In Your Head? would never have happened if Maria had not shown an interest in Liz’s project The Secret Illness and pushed forward the idea of doing a live show at the hClub related to it. “Don’t worry we will make this happen,” she told Liz, and she did!
Maria has been actively involved in the creation and development of our “show openers” and when the shows went online she took on the role of our chat room host. As we return to the stage she will continue to be there to ensure our online audiences can remain involved in the shows.
Rupert Eyles
Rupert is a freelance writer, yoga teacher and mindfullness coach with a deep interest in psychology. Alongside other members of the team he seeks out talent for the shows and podcasts and uses his writing and interviewing skills to contribute to the content What’s Going On In Your Head? creates.
What's Going On In Your Head? 