Research
I am a PhD researcher at Goldsmiths University of London, looking at how musical personas may influence musicians’ mental health. My supervisors are Dr. George Musgrave, Prof. Rosalind Gill, and Dr. Madoka Kumashiro.
My research examines how using a musical persona may influence the mental health and wellbeing of professional musicians. It has been suggested that musicians may be more prone to experiencing mental health issues than the general population, and this is a fast growing area of research. To date, the musical persona has been left out of the conversation, despite being a fairly well-known concept within popular culture; when considered alongside the increase in social media use, and the role this plays both in identity, and as a key factor in the career success of contemporary musicians, this further highlights the need for research on how musical personas may influence self-concept and mental health.
My research aims to give a new perspective on mental health outcomes and the relationship between mental health and musical personas, providing fresh discourse to this important topic. The research utilises qualitative interviews and autoethnography to explore musicians’ experiences both using and not using a musical persona, and how they feel it may have influenced their mental health and wellbeing.
For more information about my research, please contact me at
︎ srobi001@gold.ac.uk or connect on Linkedin here ︎︎︎ ︎
︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎
Publications
Book review: Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You happy Can also make You Sick, Cultural Trends, 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2026.2644371