Gentle Storm – Still Breathing

Behind Gentle Storm is London based songwriter Athos Antoniades. He’s an artist whose life experience outside of music is a very distinct thing. With Still Breathing the project has a real opportunity to look at one of the most fundamental aspects of the human condition which is the sheer will to keep going when things are tough. The title in itself is about endurance, survival and the quiet strength it takes to go on another day. It’s a very human starting point for a song about perseverance. His background as a martial arts master (he’s actually in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame) is a very pertinent point of comparison. The martial arts require the same sort of patience, commitment and the ability to go through the tough times without losing the sense of the bigger picture. That’s what gives Gentle Storm such a grounded feel, it’s a project born of experience. He’s a fan of the greats in the business (Elvis Presley in particular) and he’s firmly in the tradition of songwriters who use their own lives and emotions as the core of their work. Still Breathing is a chance to look at survival in a more personal way. It’s not about some grand triumph. It’s about the decision to carry on when it’s hard. That’s a theme that will obviously speak to people who have been through their own struggles, their own periods of uncertainty and who have had to simply keep going.

The whole concept of resilience is what gives “Still Breathing” its emotional punch. There’s something very potent in a title which is essentially about the act of just breathing, of just being here. It allows for the idea of strength without the need for invulnerability. You can have the exhaustion, the doubt, the vulnerability and all of that alongside the determination. That’s the sort of thing that works in emotionally based songwriting where the most resonant moments are often the ones where you acknowledge that life doesn’t always go in a straight line. Antoniades’ own life experience is the obvious basis for this and his love of Elvis Presley is a clear indication of his respect for performers who were unapologetically direct in their emotional delivery. The best songs about perseverance don’t just tell you to be strong. They recognise that strength is born of the struggle. “Still Breathing” in that sense is about the small, unremarkable victories that come when you’ve got the will to get on with it again after a tough time. It’s a concept that can be applied to so many different experiences rather than being tied to one particular story and is therefore able to speak to people in a very personal way.

Gentle Storm is a vehicle for Antoniades to bring his own personal perspective into his songwriting, a project that is as much about the discipline and the dedication of his martial arts career as it is about the creative process. It’s a project with a distinct identity, based on the notion that you can find meaning in life experiences that have nothing to do with the music industry. “Still Breathing” is all about endurance and the sheer will to keep going. The title is so effective because it’s so simple. It doesn’t say that you’ve got through it all, it just says you’re still breathing. That’s the emotional punch of it. Resilience isn’t always about dramatic comebacks or major life changes. It can be as simple as the decision to keep going, to learn from what’s happened and to remain open to what comes next. Gentle Storm is a project that brings together personal experience, musical inspiration and a real commitment to the creative process. “Still Breathing” is a perfect title for a project that’s all about the relationship between struggle and perseverance and the fact that simply continuing to go is an achievement in itself.

“Gentle Storm’s ‘Still Breathing’ is all about the quiet courage of just going on. It’s about finding your strength not in the avoidance of the difficulties of life, but in the very act of facing them day by day.”