'˜No-one is immune to mental illness' says Scott Hutchison's brother Grant

The brother of tragic Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison has appealed for people to educate themselves about mental health.
Grant HutchisonGrant Hutchison
Grant Hutchison

In his first interview since the singer’s death, Grant Hutchison said one of his biggest regrets was not knowing enough about Scott’s illness.

Speaking to Planet Radio, Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant, 34, said he wanted to raise awareness on behalf of other sufferers.

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“One of the main things about this is to realise that it’s not just Scott - anyone can go through this,” he said. “There are no rules, mental illness isn’t something that anyone’s immune too.

“I think education and learning about it, and speaking about it to people that don’t experience it and don’t understand it, is an important thing.”

The 36-year-old singer and songwriter from Selkirk was found dead on May 10 following a battle with depression.

He was the founding member of the indie rock band, which recorded five studio albums including top-10 hit record Pedestrian Verse in 2013.

His brother and bandmate Grant said this week: “One of the thoughts I’ve had to deal with and think through, is what could I have done.

“Mental illness is not something I’ve suffered from in the same way as Scott, so it’s always hard for me to empathise without having gone through it. That doesn’t mean you can’t help, and I know I did help him.

“The main thing I’m taking from that is that maybe at the time I wasn’t educated enough. I’m still not, I’m not saying in the past month I’ve learned everything there is to learn. But not knowing enough is probably my biggest regret.”

Last week a discussion on mental health awareness and the music industry replaced a scheduled Frightened Rabbit headline set.

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The band had been due to perform at Meltdown Festival, curated by The Cure’s Robert Smith, at London’s Southbank Centre.

Instead a panel - chaired by clinical psychologist Jay Watts and featuring Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses, Stefan Olsdal of Placebo, musician and poet Dizraeli, and Christine Brown from music charity Help Musicians UK - discussed mental health issues within the industry.

A Southbank Centre spokesperson said: “The music industry has seen a number of devastating losses of life in recent years, and increasing numbers of musicians are speaking out about struggles with mental health.”