We are Stephen Carafone and Nick Bachelder. We host the EmptySpacePodcast in hopes of helping end the stigma around mental health. Focused on pop punk music, in each episode we breakdown how music and our minds correlate, talk about our own personal mental health experiences and dive into lyrics and what they mean to us. We here at EmptySpacePodcast just want people to know it's okay to not be okay. With the suicide rate being at 132 humans a day, we hope our words, stories and music can help make a difference, even if it is just one persons life. We hope you join us in our mission to the moon.
Nick Bachelder
If you know me, you know how much I love pop punk music. Some of my favorite bands are Green Day, The Story So Far, Belmont, Neck Deep, Youth Fountain, Chief State, Calling All Captains, Knocked Loose, and many more. These bands, along with several others, have made me feel not so alone and have helped me through dark times with their relatable lyrics. Mental health has always been a huge part of my life. I struggle with depression, anxiety and am a recovering alcoholic. Along with listening to music and going to concerts, I play Hockey as often as I can. It is a huge help to my mental health and allows me to turn my brain off and forget the world for an hour. With this podcast I am hopeful that we can share some of our struggles and stories and how bands like these have helped us and could potentially help you. Steve and I are not medical professionals by any means. We are just two guys that enjoy pop punk and struggle daily with mental health. We are here to lend an ear and a voice to let others who struggle know that it’s ok, not to be ok. Thanks again for checking us out. Hope you enjoy! -Bach
Stephen Carafone
What’s up everyone? Thank you for checking us out! I want to start by saying I am HUGE into Pop punk music and have a love for all music in general. The idea of this podcast was to let people know that “they are not alone” and to share with you songs, lyrics, and bands that have saved our lives. I grew up listening to Blink-182, Sum 41, Greenday, Simple plan and many more, and that like many others got me into the scene. I later found hardcore, punk, and bands like Black flag, Rancid, OPIV, Minor Threat, Descendants, Bad brains, Have Heart, The Ghost Inside, the list goes on. But later in my life I found my favorite band The story So Far. This led me deeper into the pop punk scene to bands like Neck Deep, Title Fight, Tigers Jaw, Belmont, capstan, youth fountains, calling all captains, and I mean listen to the podcast you’ll find out more bands! As far as me if you’re wondering well, I’m an open book, I didn’t used to be, but I went through a lot of mental struggles like most people. I suffer with sever OCD, ADD, Anxiety, Depression and suicidal thoughts. I have even gone as far as trying to take my own life. Yes, that’s true and I’m saying it to you because I want people to know it’s okay to not be okay and to feel things that may seem “wrong”. We are humans just trying to figure the world out, but more importantly we are NOT ALONE! I found that talking to people and listening to pop punk music helps me deal with my problems along with playing Hockey, working out, Drawing, Tattoos, playing guitar, singing outload in my car while people stare at me ha-ha, and hanging with my family as much as possible. Well, me and Bach we are just two normal as weirdos that love pop punk and want you to know you’re not alone so come check out an episode or two and chat with us at any point! You are never alone, and we can get through this together. Peace love -Stephen