For Tash Sultana, an Australian self-taught musician and recovering addict, music is more than just a pastime. Sultana experienced a drug-induced psychosis at seventeen years old, which lasted for seven months, due to increasing misuse of psychedelics and a bad trip that changed her life forever. She remained out of touch with reality throughout her psychosis and struggled in many areas of her life, especially when it came to creating music, because of her mental-health issues. She soon realized that when she would play instruments, she would have peace of mind, and found that creating music was a way for her to find healing. With her love of music revived and revitalized, she went on a creative spree.

Tash Sultana’s Career Is Born

From there, Tash Sultana went on to work as a busker, sharing her creations and playing on the street for pedestrians to enjoy. She gained a substantial following in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia for her talent on the streets. She uploaded her first recording, a home video she had made when was almost nineteen years old, to YouTube and finally started to share her work with more than just the onlookers that listened in passing. That video alone quickly gathered thousands of views, and within just over a year, her videos started going viral. She started selling out local shows in Australia and went on to sell out a world tour after her first EP release.

Keep On Keeping On

Tash Sultana shared that what she did when she was younger permanently affected her, but that she didn’t let her past stop her. She uses her music to express her emotions and experiences, and creates beautiful art inspired by the difficulties she endured. A lot of her music is instrumental, and she lets the music speak all the words she couldn’t say herself. She allows her music to speak of her recovery, including the outward beauty and the hopelessness she had felt. Her songs represent her healing and they show the true potential music has to change lives significantly for the better. She doesn’t let her success distract her, however; instead, she uses it as a reminder of how far she has come in life, and how she was able to turn drug addiction and a psychotic break into endless beautiful creations.