SINGER-songwriter Kevin Jon once suffered from such severe panic attacks he found it hard to leave his home.
The 24-year-old of Worcester, born Kevin Jon Slade, dreamt of turning professional. He self-produced 250 tracks, wrote thousands of lyrics, played his songs to close family and friends but agonised over playing in public. “I just started getting panic attacks,” he said.
“At the time I didn’t realise and I didn’t get any help, so it developed. The panic attacks turned into depression and sometimes just going to the supermarket was difficult.
“In the weeks just before I got my record deal I didn’t want to leave my bedroom. I guess I had to get to the worst point before getting better.”
Getting that record deal, a direct result of putting a selection of his songs on myspace.com, literally changed Kevin’s life. “I’m very grateful,” he said.
“Getting that record deal, pretty much overnight, changed everything. I’ve had to work very hard and put to bed all the stuff that’s happened.”
Next month, Kevin will release his first single, When Fear Gets In The Way. It was written about having fears of getting another panic attack in public, then facing these fears for the sake of his friends and his own sanity. It’s a song very close to Kevin’s heart and one he performed at the Cardiff Mardis Gras - in front of 25,000 people - earlier this month.
“I got quite choked up singing it in Cardiff,” he said.
“When Kevin (Savage - owner of Savage Trax Records) told me we’d got the gig I thought, This is going to be mad’ but I just went for it.
“To be honest, I was incredibly nervous but everyone said for those eight minutes on stage I was a completely different, confident person.”
Kevin has just signed a four-album record deal with Worcestershire-based firm Savage Trax. His single will be available online and from HMV in Worcester.
To hear some of his music go to www.kevinjon.co.uk To keep up to date with his progress visit www.kevinjon.co.uk LAUREN ROGERS
