Tash Sultana is arguably Australia’s swiftest rising music star right now. After finding viral fame on social media, Tash recently embarked on a sold-out tour of Europe and has been one of the biggest draws on the current Listen Out tour.

A musician’s musician, Tash has been playing guitar since she was three and refined her performance chops as a busker on the streets of Melbourne. Speaking recently to Tone Deaf, Tash hit out at Melbourne’s ridiculous new busking provisions.

And as she recently revealed to triple j’s Veronica and Lewis, music actually saved her from a harrowing period of drug-induced psychosis the singer and songwriter experienced when she was a teenager.

“So when I was about 17… I actually got drug induced psychosis from eating a pizza with mushrooms on it, magic mushrooms. So I was at my friend’s house and I was already pretty depressed before this was happening,” Tash explained.

“I started tripping out and I lost all my sense of reality in this trip… So I called my dad and I was like, ‘Dad I’m tripping out, I’m tripping balls I need you to pick me up.’ He’s like, ‘What do you mean, what are you doing?!’ I’m like, ‘I know, I know, don’t talk about it now I’m freaking out.'”

“I went home, watched this David Attenborough documentary ’cause my parents were trying to calm me down… and I was watching this documentary on sea life with David Attenborough and I just couldn’t work out why tortoises lived for so long and whales lived for so long when there was no purpose of life.”

“I lost the complete purpose of life,” Tash told the hosts. The trip turned into a nine month-period where Tash couldn’t pull herself “from a psychotic state back into reality”, missing school, losing weight, and not playing any music.

But it was music that finally pulled her out of the psychotic state. “I went into my room one day and I was just strumming and I realised that I achieved complete peace of mind while I was doing that,” she recounted.

“I had finally found some quiet so I literally played and played and played and played until I played the pain away, did every single open mic, snuck into every single place to go and play a show, busking, everything.”

“I used what was already there that I’d kind of forgotten about in the state.” According to Tash, she kept a diary throughout this period of her life and hopes to one day write a book about it and assured everyone that she’s fully recovered.

“I’m sweet as, it’ll never happen again,” she said. You can check below for all of Tash’s upcoming Australian and New Zealand tour dates. You can also catch her during the upcoming instalments of Listen Out 2016.

If you or someone you know needs personal help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636.

Tash Sultana National Tour Dates

Friday, 30th September 2016
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Thursday, 6th October 2016
Mojos, Fremantle

Friday, 7th October 2016
Settlers Tavern, Margaret River

Thursday, 13th October 2016
Baha’s Tacos, Rye

Friday, 14th October 2016
Torquay Hotel, Torquay

Saturday, 15th October 2016
Uni Bar, Adelaide

Thursday, 20th October 2016
Newtown Social Club, Sydney

Thursday, 27th October 2016
Sooki Lounge, Belgrave

Friday, 11th November 2016
Kings Arms, Auckland

Saturday, 10th December 2016
Pleasure Garden Festival, Melbourne

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