Rock musicians in recovery
Nimai Larson finds growth and beauty in sobriety’s Second Surrender
When Nimai Larson first came to the rooms of recovery, surrendering to the process the first time around was relatively simple. It wasn’t necessarily easy — giving up the security blanket of drugs and alcohol that have become a panacea for the slings and arrows of life lived on its own terms is often a…
Read MoreFrom sadness to hope: The sober paradigm shift of Hand Drawn Maps
Hand Drawn Maps is Stewart Crichton (left) and Blake Baldwin. For years after they lost touch, Blake Baldwin would hear the stories about his childhood friend, Stewart Crichton. The two — who make up the band Hand Drawn Maps — had grown up together in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, bonded over music…
Read MoreAlready a whirlwind, cosmic rocker Idgy Dean gets supercharged by sobriety
Courtesy of Jordan Kleinman It’s not exactly accurate to credit Trent Reznor with creating Idgy Dean any more than it is to lay the fault of her addiction at the feet of Aphex Twin, but both artists had a part to play in the journey of Lindsay Sanwald. For the sake of clarity: Idgy Dean…
Read MoreClean at 17: Elia Einhorn builds a career and a purpose through sobriety
Courtesy of Ebru Yildiz It’s Feb. 24, 1997, and Elia Einhorn is running for his life through the Chicago snow. He’s 17 years old, and the bands with which he’ll make a name for himself — Scotland Yard Gospel Choir first, and then Fashion Brigade — are still several years down the road. It’ll be…
Read MoreLCD Soundsystem’s Tyler Pope reflects on grace, music and sobriety
Courtesy of Ruvan Wijesooriya Sobriety is a radical reinvention, and bassist Tyler Pope took that to heart when he made the decision to embrace it in 2010. For one, he left his post as the guitarist (among other instruments) of the dance-punk band !!! (pronounced “Chk-Chk-Chk”). For another, he joined LCD Soundsystem, a similarly dance-…
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