Meet Doug Rockwell

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Doug Rockwell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Doug below.

Doug, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

At a very young age I was diagnosed with OCD and a mild form of Tourette’s. It’s something that had always made me feel different, and at times alone. I used to have such a hard time talking about it and tried anything I could to hide it in public, which would cause great amounts of stress and anxiety. Around this time, my parents were going through a divorce, we had to move (and also give away our dog), and my grandpa had suddenly passed away. It was a really hard time for an 8 year old. But I also decided to learn how to play guitar during all this. Before I knew it, I was locking myself in my room, trying to learn songs, pretending I was playing in front of thousands of people. It was an escape from everything that felt like it was chasing me. Fast forward lots of years and lots of practice, being in a band and playing on stage became my drug. Whenever I was up there, all of my anxiety, ticks, and intrusive thoughts disappeared. When I wasn’t on stage, I was in therapy, trying different meds to slow my mind down, but only some helped. But I also started figuring out little shortcuts in my brain to bypass the long exhausting rituals I had to play out, like walking through a doorway without having to go back and walk through it 20 more times because whatever bad thought that would pop up in my head would make me think “it’s gonna happen if you don’t walk through the doorway again without having any bad thoughts!” Exhausting! But music was always my escape. It not only gave me relief but had me feeling on top of the world, instead of feeling crushed by the weight of it. About 30 something years later, here I am, writing and producing music for a living. I don’t perform as much as I used to, but every time I’m writing or locked in on composing or arranging, everything except the notes I’m playing are quiet. Bottom line, when you find what you’re passionate about and use that to lift your soul up higher than you’ve ever been, you start being able to accept what makes you different, and even appreciate it. My struggles have given me empathy, patience, and understanding towards other people in ways I might not have been able to express if I hadn’t been through that journey. Being grateful for who you are, despite the challenges, is an amazing way to love even the most jagged edges of yourself.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I write music primarily for TV & Film, as well as theater. After touring in bands for years and years, I switched gears to start writing for pop artists since life on the road no longer felt sustainable. Somewhere along the line, I started taking on projects geared towards tv and film musicals, and found it much more inspiring. As soon as I made the shift, everything started working out, and I fell in love with being able to wear different musical hats at any given moment. It’s a great way to explore a huge variety of genres and keep your skills sharpened on all ends of the musical spectrum. I never thought I’d end up here from performing, but I couldn’t be more grateful! There’s nothing like seeing what you created come to life on the screen, even bigger than you had imagined it could be!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Persistence, quiet confidence, and obsession with being the best I could be. I used to stay home on Friday nights and learn how to make my snare drum sound better while all my friends were out drinking. You need to be obsessed with it. Because if you love something, it’s not enough. When something you love hurts you (and trust me, pursuing a dream will have its moments of pain, uncertainty, and emotional turmoil), you take a step back so it can’t hurt you anymore. But when you’re obsessed, nothing will stop you from persisting. I truly believe that if you keep going, you will get there. There are no secret pathways, no shortcuts. Just one long road. But the road is always there. You just need to follow it.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

They believed in me – and this 100% made me believe in myself even more. Knowing THEY thought I could pursue this crazy dream of mine — knowing I had their support — it made me think “wow.. if my mom and dad think I can do this, maybe I really can.” I am so unbelievably grateful for my parents’ confidence in me, because I know if I didn’t have that, it would have been a lot harder to convince myself to keep going. So for any parents out there – believe in your kids, and support their dreams! It will help them do amazing things!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @dougrockwell