Better Now : Serena Ryder & Libra Pair Up to Change Canadian Music Industry

When you meet Serena Ryder, you’ll be immediately drawn to her sense of joy and confidence exuding from every word and smile even when it’s virtual. The usual platitudes don’t do her justice, although she is all the things and more - down to earth, easy to talk to, intelligent, creative and extremely talented. Above all, Serena Ryder is full of life.

Ryder has been very open about her choice to rethink drinking and is leading the conversation about it in the Canadian music industry. She is extremely passionate about changing the mental health stigma in the music industry and create a new normal for musicians.

“Within the arts and music business using substances or drinking is totally normalized but as soon as there are whispers of mental health issues or turning into addicts people run away scared. It’s very contradictory.”

She provides an entirely new perspective on drinking and the music industry in one line “It’s not a party if it happens every day”, from Better Now, a track from her recent album.

“Being on stage in front of thousands and having to be ‘on’ all the time. And then having people afterwards say ‘hey let's have a drink, have another drink, party with us’. When you're on tour, that’s your every single night but it’s other people’s “big night out” of the month. So everyone feels like it’s this big gigantic party, but it’s your every day.”

Ryder wanted to share her story because she knows there are lots of other artists that feel the same way.

“It’s so much more rewarding, so much more inspiring, and gives you the opportunity to have a long term career and be the best you that you can be if you aren’t partying all of the time,” she explained.

She and her longtime manager have built a wellness-based record label called ArtHaus that helps to combat some of the gaps that can mean success or failure for musicians. Part of that effort is to work with brands like PEI-based non alcoholic brewery Libra whose parent company Upstreet Brewing is one of only a handful of B Corp companies in the Canadian beer landscape. CEO Mitch Cobb has worked diligently to build community and music into the fabric of their business.

“Working with Serena at ArtHaus just made sense. Her values really aligned with Libra and our mission to refresh the community through music,” said Cobb. It was a fortuitous choice, when they decided to send Ryder some samples, but for Ryder her mission goes even deeper than being able to offer musicians a non alcoholic option during recording sessions.

“It’s so much more bad ass when you can go to bed after a concert, and get up early to see the city you’re touring in.”

“In the industry there are certain things that a label can do that can help your career but are missing some of the other parts that I think are also important, like affordable housing, your mental wellness, being able to record and write and be in community with other people. More has to be available than just a record deal and some money. That won’t go far if you’re not a healthy human being and don’t have a place to live.”

Cobb sees the bigger picture too and knows it’s not just about the product. He’s pledged that 1% of all of Libra’s proceeds will be donated to ArtHaus in an effort to help her drive that change for better mental wellness within the music industry. It’s a ground-breaking initiative by both Cobb and Ryder, “to start making change by demonstrating how you want it to be” explains Ryder.

Cobb agrees, emphasizing their desire to help more artists across Canada access the mentorship and wellness services they need.

“It’s also such a great beer. It just tastes so good! When I first tried it, and saw that they had ‘find your balance’ written on the side, it was like woah - I think about that every day.”

The music industry is not the only forum where change is happening. Libra was launched a mere year and half ago, and has been perfectly positioned now that 40% of Canadians are rethinking their consumption habits. Helping everyone find their balance is their raison d’etre.

Ryder herself says that finding balance is something she works at every day and that includes not drinking.

“It’s so much more bad ass when you can go to bed after a concert, and get up early to see the city you’re touring in,” she said. “I never got to do that before because I was always hungover…When I first tried Libra, and saw that they had ‘find your balance’ written on the side, it was like woah - I think about that every day.”

Canadians can help support ArtHaus by picking up a pack of Libra to try for themselves. All four of their non alcoholic styles are available across the country on drinklibra.ca and Well.ca, including their brand new Stout.

Serena’s final acknowledgement for Libra is that the beer is great. “It just tastes so good! It’s exactly what you want to be drinking when you’re not drinking.”