A former titan of Twitch, [Mitch Jones](https://www.instagram.com/mitchjones3/) dominated the streaming community for years. The once-Top 10 streamer forged a unique path to stardom which landed him as a household name, boasting over half a million followers and pulling multi-thousand viewer streams on the regular. Jones found his forte in the popular World of Warcraft streams and a multitude of other ventures including Pokemon Go and his _Just Chatting_ content. His reach was immense: the creative found himself riding a career high, hitting new milestones with each and every stream. In July of 2020, Jones’ best friend and fellow Twitch streamer Byron “Reckful” Bernstein died by suicide… everything changed.
The once deeply fulfilled streamer had his life uprooted, and spiraled into quitting his illustrious streaming channel for good. In April, Jones took to YouTube to explain his decision to retire from streaming, as well as the ultimate abandoning of his empire. “Truly I had some magical moments,” explains Jones, “those days are over. Every day that I continue feels like me trying to relive something that I’ve already reached the peak of.”
Over the past 4 months, Jones channeled his grief into music, hoping to find an outlet for his seemingly untreatable depression at the loss of his best friend. Soon after the announcement of his retirement via YouTube, Mitch Jones debuted his first original single “Now That You’re Gone,” a heartfelt tribute to Reckful. The single quickly amassed hundreds of thousands of plays, and garnered high praise from fellow Twitch streamers such as Pokimane, Mizkif, xQc, and more.
Now, the streamer-turned-artist proudly unveils an emotionally heartfelt _If I Could Go Back._ The 6-track EP includes a revamped version of Jones’ debut single “Now That You’re Gone,” alongside several other sonic compositions detailing pain, heartbreak, and loss. With the help of friend and producer Kurtis “Kala” Lloyd, Mitch Jones’ _If I Could Go Back_ is a sentimental exploration into Mitch’s innermost thoughts on the passing of his best friend.
"I've been a full-time streamer for the past 10 years. I became a person that everyone who watched me wanted to see, and it slowly broke down my mental health over time,” says Mitch Jones. “I lost some of the best people in my life, to death, or just having them leave me for all of my poor choices. In early 2021, Kala and I connected and we started making music together. It has helped me more than any therapy could. I want to write songs to save people who are struggling like I've been. Thank you to all of the real ones from Twitch who have supported me in this journey into music. I hope the music can help at least one other person."
2021 marks a new era for the Twitch streamer turned musician, and we cannot wait to hear more.
