Early this month, Rocky Votolato came through Brooklyn to play one of his living room shows at Suburbia. He took some time to play a couple songs for us, and he opened up about dealing with severe depression throughout his whole life and he talked about a period in his life when he felt suicidal. Most importantly, he explains how he keeps himself moving forward and what part music plays in that.
Click through to watch the interview and to watch Rocky perform the title track from his brand new album "Hospital Handshakes" and his song "Red River."

First of all, THANK YOU!! We couldn't have done this without the votes of all of our supporters. Thanks so much for putting up with our relentless social posts and reminders and for voting for us. February was our third month in the Kind Cause grant contest, and we came out of it victorious. 

Zero Platoon is one of the causes in this month's $10,000 contest held by Kind Snacks. Each month, Kind donates $10,000 to the cause that gets the most votes in this contest. We need your help.

VOTE HERE: http://causes.kindsnacks.com/cause/battling-depression-in-the-u-s-military/

Voting is simple...

Well, I was originally going to drop off the tour after Atlanta, GA, but it looks like I'll be sticking around for Florida and VA. Things have been going so well and Zero Platoon has been getting so much interest and support from all the awesome fans at these shows that I asked Real Friends if it would be cool if I stayed on through the four Florida dates and North Carolina. They said yes! So rather than flying back to NYC for 5 days, I'll be riding along with Have Mercy and setting up the Zero Platoon booth in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville and Richmond, VA. And then, as planned, I'll be at Philadelphia, NYC, Boston and Howell, NJ.

A million thanks to Have Mercy for taking care of me and to Real Friends, Neck Deep and Cruel Hand for their support. You guys are all too f'n kind.

(tour dates below)

-Mike

Members of Real Friends, Neck Deep, Have Mercy, Cruel Hand and Better Off took some time to film a special message for the men and women in uniform. 

Major League singer/guitarist Brian Joyce performs "Montreal" and discusses the years that he has dealt with depression and explains where the title for the new album came from. 

Thanks to Molly Hudelson from Circles & Soundwaves for sound recording.

A few months ago, while working on the "Spacecrafts" and "Howl" music videos with Have Mercy, the band invited me out on the road with them to shoot some photos and video on their fall tour. They said they'd be hitting the road with Real Friends and Neck Deep. I knew that it would be a huge tour and a great opportunity to get some exposure for Zero Platoon Productions, but I also saw it as a huge opportunity to get some exposure for Zero Platoon and our mission to help young people in the military who struggle with depression. (tour dates below)

The guys from Switchfoot talk about how they got started in music and which bands help get them through hard times.

The music video for Have Mercy's song "Howl" off their upcoming Hopeless Records release A Place of Our Own was released today on the Hopeless Records YouTube channel. This is the second music video Zero Platoon has produced for Have Mercy and Hopeless Records. Earlier this month, Have Mercy released a montage video for their first single "Spacecrafts" -- produced and edited by Zero Platoon Productions. 

As you'll see from watching this video, "Howl" was a much more intensive endeavor. The concept and script for the video were written by Zero Platoon founder Mike Henneberger who also produced the video and co-directed it with Bowie Alexander. Shot over three days -- one day at Ottobar in the band's hometown of Baltimore and two days in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York -- the video tells the story of a young boy and his mother who are struggling with loss and trying to be strong for one another but can't always be. (Watch the video below.)