Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan joins Jay Shetty to discuss his highly anticipated album 'The Great Divide' (April 24th) and Netflix documentary 'Out of Body' (April 13th). Known for his vulnerable songwriting about mental health and small-town life, Noah has built a massive following through his honest exploration of anxiety, depression, and family dynamics.

The conversation delves deep into Noah's creative process, his relationship with mental health advocacy, and the complex intersection of success and personal struggles. From his childhood in Vermont to Grammy nominations, Noah shares how therapy, medication, and family relationships have shaped both his music and his healing journey.

The documentary, featuring intimate moments with his family including his father's brain injury recovery, became an unexpected form of family therapy. Noah discusses the challenge of mining personal pain for art while maintaining authentic relationships with loved ones who become part of his public narrative.

The Therapeutic Power of Documentary Filmmaking

Creating the Netflix documentary became an unexpected family therapy experience, allowing the Kahan family to see their interactions from an outside perspective and process difficult emotions together.

"I wish every single family could have a chance to watch the way they interact with each other" - Noah, describing how the documentary helped his family understand their love and communication patterns.

The most challenging moment was watching the finished documentary while on an edible, followed by the anxiety of sharing it with family members who appeared in intimate, vulnerable scenes.

Initial family concerns about the documentary weren't about the content itself but about their own internal shame and fears being projected onto the viewing experience.

Mental Health Advocacy While Still Struggling

Noah grapples with being a mental health advocate while still working through his own issues: "presenting myself as someone that has an answer" when he doesn't have all the answers.

His therapist's breakthrough question: "Do you want this to be what's happening to you?" helped him realize he had become comfortable with familiar pain rather than risking unknown healing.

Recent OCD diagnosis provided clarity but also fear about properly representing mental health struggles without giving wrong advice or misrepresenting the experience.

Body dysmorphia affects people regardless of appearance: "it's almost not even about your body at all" but about internal self-perception and shame cycles.

Creative Block and the Joshua Tree Breakthrough

Following 'Stick Season's success, Noah experienced severe creative block and fear about following up a major hit, leading to a year of struggling with self-worth tied to creativity.

The Joshua Tree trip was initially miserable but became enlightening: "realizing that I just wasn't gonna be able to do it on my own was like that Joshua Tree trip was like horrible, but also incredibly enlightening."

Creative breakthrough came from abandoning control and returning to making music for "that same eight year old to pick up the guitar the first time" rather than trying to replicate past success.

Fellow artists who had experienced similar post-success struggles provided crucial support, with advice to "just let go of this idea of the follow up and just make music because it's what I'm supposed to do."

Grammy Loss and Redefining Success

At the 2024 Grammys, Noah felt like "the least cool guy there" and placed all his self-worth on winning the award, leading to devastating disappointment when he lost.

The loss taught perspective about what truly matters: "what I care most about is a story that I can tell with my music and the music that I can make, and that no one can take it away from me, no one can vote on it."

He realized he was projecting his own expectations onto others, assuming everyone around him needed him to win when that pressure was self-imposed.

Current confidence comes not from external validation but from "knowing that I went through something and I'm on the other side now" creatively and emotionally.

Family Dynamics and Public Vulnerability

Noah regrets not communicating directly with family before writing songs about personal family issues that were then "marketed to millions of people" without prior conversation.

His father's brain injury and parents' divorce became song material before becoming family discussions: "I wish I had talked to you guys about this first, because it would have been so much healthier."

The documentary's porch conversation with his father provided emotional breakthrough they couldn't achieve in regular life: "seeing him kind of be like, I know it's complicated and it's hard."

Family members ultimately supported the documentary because "someone who's going through this in their own way with their parents or their friend or family or partner is going to be helped by it."