Every years since 2006, To Write Love On Her Arms has been a huge part of the Vans Warped Tour Community. The organization has made an impact in many lives, young and old, by partnering with many musical events such as Warped Tour. On a surprisingly nice day, we met up with Jason Blades from To Write Love On Her Arms and talked about how the heat has been treating them and what’s next for To Write Love On Her Arms.
Introduce yourself and what do you do? Jason: My name is Jason Blades and I am the Music Events Coordinator for To Write Love On Her Arms.
For those who don’t know what To Write Love On Her Arms is, can you describe it? Jason: To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement that is dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. We also exist to inspire, encourage, inform, and invest directly with recovery.
How has the tour been? Jason: The tour has been good. It started off really warm in Texas, with the weather and storms. But now on the east coast, it’s been humid. This is our eighth year on Warped Tour, so it’s going good. There’s some response from everyone around and tour has been great. Can’t ask for anything better.
So this is To Write Love On Her Arm’s eighth year, how has it been different from past ones? Jason: Probably, just the response has increased every year. I think people begin to realize that we’re still here and they connect with what they do or they see a shirt. It’s always incredible. We see how the response is like and how much it’s grown. This year is great and better than ever.
Do you see the same faces every year? Jason: Sometimes, yeah. It’s cool and it’s probably one of the things that’s really fun. Over the last eight, well I’ve done it six out of the eight years, I’ve kinda seen people grow up and still believe in this. Every year I look forward to Camden or Holmdel, people stop by the tent to say hi or buy a shirt or see what we’re doing. So it is been really cool.
I know that you guys do some promotions on the tour. Are there any going on this year? Jason: Yeah, normally we do signings. We have some of the artists that we work with. Right now, we have this campaign called Fears vs. Dreams. We just invite people to share two questions: What’s your biggest fear and what’s you biggest dream? The hope is that they feel part of a bigger story by adding their own words to this table. This is just from today. So we’ve been collecting these over the past four or five hours. Maybe they’re struggling with one of the fears or dreams that someone else has. It gives that sense of community.
What’s been the biggest accomplishment that To Write Love On Her Arms has made? Jason: I think through this world and through Warped Tour, having those people come up everyday or every other day that believe what we do and has been affected or touched with what we do. I think anytime that we hear that, it means that we’re able to help one person and it’s all been worth it.
What’s been your favorite part about working at To Write Love On Her Arms? Jason: Probably just that. It’s getting to meet all these new people and see all these familiar faces. So I’m on the road most of the time by doing this. We all love our job and everyone has a different role that’s very important to the organization. But, I always joke that mine is the best because I get to actually, most of the time, interact with our supporters and get to see people grow and find help. Just that. Again, getting to meet the people and see them transform and change as they get help or find help for a friend.
What’s next for To Write Love On Her Arms? Jason: All throughout the year we have music events, speaking events, college events going on that we host. Basically again, just telling people about the stigma that surrounds what we do. Just keep an eye out on our website and calendar. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on.
To Write Love On Her Arms has been helping those who are suffering from depression and self injury. They also have been working to educate the population about these topics. This organization is a helpful tool for everyone and they’re awesome people who care about and is passionate about To Write Love On Her Arms.
Check them out: www.twloha.com
Fears Vs. Dreams: www.fearsvsdreams.com
Lyrically Speaking 