Answer Addiction

Tag: Guns N’ Roses

  • Slash Talks Performing, Writing Music While Sober

    Slash Talks Performing, Writing Music While Sober

    “I found that when I got sober… my partying thing was really a matter of killing time in between things.”

    Slash, who is currently enjoying a successful reunion tour with Guns N’ Roses, had a long history with substance use before finally getting sober in 2006.

    The famous guitarist born Saul Hudson also has a new solo album, Living the Dream, coming out on September 21, and now that he’s writing new music and performing sober, he realizes it’s been a whole new ballgame.

    “I found that when I got sober, sort of looking back from the time that I started playing up until 2006, my partying thing was really a matter of killing time in between things. I wasn’t really using when I was in the studio, I was always focused on music,” he told Loudwire. “So when I got sober, all that effort that I put into what turned into a massive addiction at that point, I took all that and just put it straight back into the music, and it wasn’t really reliant on me being buzzed, or should I say inebriated, to be able to create stuff.”

    When writing the classic Guns N’ Roses songs, Slash recalled, “A lot of that material from the old days—I can pick particular songs that were definitely written under the influence, but I can pick other songs that were written under the influence of a couple beers.”

    Slash confessed to Rolling Stone, “From ’86 to ’94, there was definitely not a day or a show that I was sober… I was a very functional alcoholic. When I was on tour, it’s always alcohol. I knew better than to try a [heroin] habit on the road, knowing that if things don’t go as planned, you’re gonna be sick and all that miserable shit. So, it was just alcohol that I was dealing with. Which is its own demon, but I mean, I was good with it [laughs].”

    Slash has always been a workaholic, and keeping busy has been the key to his sobriety. “I think, probably I’m at my weakest if I don’t have a bunch of shit going on.”

    Today, he says his sobriety has “been going well. All addicts and alcoholics have to know that it’s there… I’ve been really fortunate that I finally got to that point where I was just over it. And I haven’t had an issue since then. I haven’t had any desire to go back and do that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Guns N’ Roses Drummer: I’ve Never Been Happier Than I Am Sober

    “After, like, the ninth month of not drinking, my whole life did a 180. Everything changed. I became happy again. I love life again.”

    Steven Adler, the former drummer for Guns N’ Roses, who left the rock band because his drug use was becoming too much, says that he has never been more happy than he is living life in recovery. 

    “My health is fabulous. Actually, tomorrow I will have four years and four months of no drinking. And I haven’t done drugs since 2008. So I’ve never been happier,” Adler recently told a journalist, according to Blabbermouth. 

    While the initial period of recovery was difficult, Adler said that he began to notice positive changes in his life the longer he stayed away from drugs and alcohol. 

    “After, like, the ninth month of not drinking, my whole life did a 180,” he said. “Everything changed. I became happy again. I love life again. I enjoy the sunsets. I enjoy the sunrise. It’s beautiful.”

    Guns N’ Roses paused recording during the late ‘80s and early ’90s to give Adler a chance to get his heroin addiction under control. However, Adler wasn’t able to stay sober, so he was kicked out of the band in 1990. 

    Since he has been sober, Adler has joined the band on some tour dates, and has also started his own Guns N’ Roses tribute band. In order to keep touring with that band, Adler maintains a strict routine that helps him stay sober, he said. 

    “I wake up,” he said. “The first thing I do is I read The Four Agreements. It’s a book from Don Miguel Ruiz. [The book’s mantra is] be impeccable with your word; don’t take things personal; don’t make assumptions; and always do your best—no more no less,” Adler said. 

    “I read a little of that, I have my decaf tea, I go on the treadmill and I do a little jogging to stay in shape, and then I practice. It’s all mind, body and soul. So I read the book for my mind, I do the treadmill for my body, and I play the drums for my soul. And then the rest of the time, I sit round and watch Family Guy with my dogs.”

    Adler’s mother, Deanna Adler, recently spoke about watching her son struggle for so many years. 

    “[It] was very hard to see my son hurt like that and have a disease like that, because I’ve never drank or smoked or done drugs—I’m just a normal person,” she said. “But to see your son in such pain like that and knowing that you can’t do anything—I thought I could do something to help him, but in reality you can’t.”

    View the original article at thefix.com