Passion Pit Singer Forms Musician Support Services Company
Passion Pit mastermind Michael Angelakos is launching a new company offering legal, educational and healthcare support to musicians. The New York City-based Wishart Group raised $250 million in funding based on contributions from “big names in the music and tech industries,” Mashable reports. The singer is expected to officially announce the company this week.
The project’s still-expanding board will include leaders from various technology sectors, including music distribution and artificial intelligence. Wishart Group, described as an “Artist Research and Protection Service,” will function primarily as a mental health program.
Angelakos was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 17, a fact he revealed in 2012 after his struggles with the illness caused him to cancel several tour dates behind the group’s second LP, Gossamer. “My depression was so bad … that I was suffering from something called Psychomotor Retardation, which is essentially where your brain starts shutting down your entire body,” he told Rolling Stone that year. “So you’re sitting in bed, and you can barely move.”
The singer said that, despite the importance of speaking out about his mental health struggles, he wanted to avoid being labeled “a bipolar artist.” “People romanticize it,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with this since I was 17; eight years of hospitalizations and medications and finally I found treatment and medication that works. It’s a pain but hopefully now that’s just going to eliminate the need to take time off and I can actually start focusing on what I like to do.”
The following year, Angelakos appeared at the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards, where he received the Beatrice Stern Media Award for openly discussing mental health issues.
A YouTube channel under the Wishart Group name posted a new Passion Pit song titled “Inner Dialogue,” on Monday. The funky electro-pop track, full of vocoder and shimmering synthesizers, continues Angelakos’ trademark work with Passion Pit.
In December, Angelakos released Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields, an expansive, holiday-themed soundtrack and “video album.” He issued his third Passion Pit LP, Kindred, in 2015.