Rising Bass Music Star Steller Puts Mental Health in the Headline Slot on "Here & Now" Tour

Steller gets candid about her mental health journey and teaming with To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit mental health group, for her debut headline tour.

For many, raves are an escape, a temporary haven from life’s immense weight. But it can be so much more than a short-term remedy.

Music and movement are incredibly therapeutic. They can play a profound role, not only in masking pain, but also in mending it. Just ask Steller.

The surging DJ and bass music producer is making the final preparations for her debut headlining tour. Titled "Here & Now," it represents a confident step forward in her budding music career while also reminding that personal fulfillment need not be a distant dream.

Steller is partnering with the nonprofit mental health support organization To Write Love On Her Arms, which will provide onsite resources and conversations about mental health. The goal is not only to provide a safe space, but to build a bridge forward for anyone struggling.

“Music is an escape for many people,” Steller tells EDM.com in a candid interview. “When I first started going to shows, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a place I feel fully accepted. Anything happening in my personal life disappears. Everyone is here for one thing. It’s so loving and the energy is high.’”

“I want to create that with my shows. Having this partnership lets people know we’re there for you. You have support. Anything you need, this community has your back. It’s so special.”

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TWLOHA is a nonprofit striving to offer hope and help for anyone struggling with mental health challenges. They build bridges by connecting people to local and affordable options for care. To build a bridge, you need hands on deck. That’s why it’s a priority for TWLOHA to get boots on the ground.

“We like to show up where we feel most alive,” said Chad Moses, TWLOHA's Director of Outreach. "Music is a place where we’re reminded that it’s okay to find things worth singing about. There are things in life worth screaming about. There are things in life worth dancing about. And there are things in life worth sharing with other people. The reason this tour happens and why these festivals happen is that people show up. For a lot of us, music is the place we run towards to make sense of our lives.”

“You showing up to a show changes everything about that place, physically and metaphysically… You showing up in that room changes how that sounds," Moses continues. "That’s how physics and music work. Your body will make that room sound different. That night would be utterly changed without you there. That’s the case for your life and your community. You are irreplaceable. You are the only-est you here. That’s a resource worth our admiration and worth finding ways to sustain.”

It’s a serendipitous pairing. The essence of raving is beautifully in lockstep with mental health advocacy: mutual and self-acceptance, camaraderie and a universal desire to heal.

“The times you’ll go to a rock show and you see a ton of people, if they’re not in the pit doing a lot of moving, everyone else is on the edge, arms crossed,” Moses explains. “I can’t recall ever seeing arms crossed at an EDM show. You’re invited to react. You’re invited into that movement. So much of it is that your presence is part of the show.”

“The times I can zoom out of these live experiences and see how many ravers, how many folks are making eye contact with one another. It’s something you don’t get at so many of these other genre shows.”

Moses can hardly find his belongings under a sea of kandi bracelets, googly-eyed rings, 3D printed dinosaurs, rubber duckies and sprouts. To the uneducated eye, it’s quirky. But anyone with a keepsake box of rave trinkets understands its true value.

“You have this premium put on getting back in touch with a more innocent, playful part of yourself,” Moses said. “We’ve forgotten how to play. We’ve forgotten the joy of giving a little gift. Somewhere along the way, we learn that the value of a little trinket we give someone is based on the price tag… Little stuff that has no monetary value, except that it made me smile.”

Music is a fundamental constant in Steller’s healing journey. It’s a powerful tool for achieving presentness and channeling her human experience. Having caught the rave bug well before becoming an electronic music producer, her impending tour offers the perfect setting to cultivate the roots of raving’s healing agenda.

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“Music is my meditation and flow state,” Steller explains. “A lot of times I feel scatterbrained, chaotic, anxious and in my head. It’s really grounding to create and express myself in that way. It’s why I was so keen to partner with To Write Love On Her Arms. I’m so happy we made that happen. I love what they stand for, their message and what they’re doing. I’ve known about them for.”

“Music and creativity are iterative,” Moses adds, threading the needle between music and mental health. “Steller, you did not create the idea of bass music. At some point, you saw someone do that and thought, ‘Wow, I love that! I wonder how it would sound through my lens?’”

Mental health is a deeply personal struggle requiring commitment from the person at its epicenter. That internal turmoil can spawn the misunderstanding that mental health is a one-on-one fight. It isn't.

“We’re not inviting you to invent what sobriety looks like, or what recovery looks like, or what it looks like to see a counselor,” Moses said. “We want you to trust that other people have been down this road. We want you to see their stories and believe this could be true for you also if it’s something you’re curious about.”

Steller’s mental health journey wasn’t conquered solo. Music is a powerful weapon in her arsenal, but it’s one instrument in a deeper tool belt forged with experienced guidance.

“I’ve been in therapy for years, almost coming up on 10 years,” Steller said. “It’s such an important part of my life. I was very closed off when I started doing it. I was scared and didn’t feel comfortable talking to anyone about my problems. But I knew talking to someone was the first step in my healing process. I’ve had really intense anxiety my whole life.

“I feel I have so many tools. I can control my thoughts and emotions better. I can show up for people better. I now look forward to my therapy sessions. In the past, I was scared and I wouldn’t sleep the night before. I’d think, ‘Oh my gosh! She’s going to make me get in touch with my emotions! I’ll have to go to this dark place!’ But it’s so important to feel it, talk about it and have someone there who supports you. Healing is a journey. I’m still on that journey, but I’m in such a better place than I was 10 years ago. I’m grateful for all that.”

Steller’s commitment to tending her mental garden bears fruit privately and professionally. At her therapist’s recommendation, she adopted the “just do it” mantra when she’s scared to draw attention to herself. A frightening proposition, perhaps, but repetition is impressively formidable.

“It creates this magical cycle and your fears start dissipating,” Steller explained. “Even if people say it’s cringe, it doesn’t matter because you’ve trained that muscle and you trust yourself. Taking baby steps with whatever it is that’s holding someone back, it’s crazy how the world will respond to that. It will have your back. You need to take the leap and do it.”

The slogan "work hard, play hard" lends itself well to electronic music's heart-thumping, hip-swinging and head-banging energy. However, the familiar motto needs tweaking. Work and fun are valuable, but if someone works and plays hard, they can heal just as feverishly.

“We get to be reminded that life is a serious thing, and so we should also play seriously,” Moses said. “We should get back in touch with the moments where our best friend can be the stranger we just met on the bus. Life was so much simpler before we learned how to be afraid. Before we learned what our ego is and all the things we have to do to protect it.”

“But if we can just drop that for a second and acknowledge the beauty of existing and one another, it makes it so much easier for me to accept myself. We are so much harder on ourselves than the greater world is. You deserve to have your own back. You deserve to be proud when someone sees you and smiles, that there’s something about you that’s utterly irreplaceable. I think EDM gives us an invitation to remind us of what joy feels like.”

You can head to Steller's website to learn more about her upcoming "Here & Now" tour and navigate here to learn more about To Write Love On Her Arms.

Follow Steller:

X: x.com/StellerSounds
TikTok: tiktok.com/@stellersounds_
Instagram: instagram.com/stellersound
Facebook: facebook.com/StellerSounds
Spotify: tinyurl.com/en6h9m6w

Follow To Write Love On Her Arms:

X: x.com/TWLOHA
TikTok: tiktok.com/@twloha
Instagram: instagram.com/twloha
Facebook: facebook.com/towriteloveonherarms