Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix sat down with Kerrang! and recalled his producer’s pressure to not go sober. He recalled how some people in the industry push the idea that drinking and self-destruction are part of being a real rock star.
“I had a producer. I remember calling him, telling him I was gonna get sober. He was like, ‘That’s what’s f*cking wrong with rock‘n’roll. You guys are getting sober.’ I was like, ‘First off: f*ck you. Second off: f*ck you again. And third, I’m watching my icons die and destroy their lives,'” the frontman said.
“I’ve seen the tape play through when you f*cking keep this alcoholic life up,” he continued. “It ends in cirrhosis and death. Now you see this new generation of, ‘rock stars’, and it’s like, ‘f*cking Juice WRLD died on a f*cking private plane because he swallowed his f*cking drugs – that’s rock‘n’roll.’ F*ck off, dude.”
“‘I’m not a train wreck for your f*cking entertainment, but watch me f*cking do this thing for 35, 40, 50 years. That pissed me off. It kind of put a chip on my shoulder in a way that I think was good,” he added.
In February this year, Shaddix will be celebrating the 13th anniversary of his sobriety. In September last year, the rocker opened up about his journey and how he navigated it.
“Once I learned how to get out of my way and continue to extinguish my stinking thinking, it affords me a life where I can be a father, be a friend, be a frontman for a band, be a husband, be somebody that I can look at in the mirror and go, ‘Alright, cool, we got this. We can do this.’ I got my good days and my bad days, and that’s just like everybody else. But I know that I got so much worth fighting for and so many good things to be grateful for.”
The musician says songwriting was a positive outlet even in his darkest times. Fans often told him his music gave them ‘hope and strength’ when they had none.
“I had people around me that picked me up and lifted me up in my time of need, and I accepted that care and that love and that help,” he added. “I’ve been able to pay that forward to other men in my life. It’s an important message and an important story. The mental struggle can wreak havoc on you. [‘Leave a Light On’] is real in so many ways.”
Shaddix also shared earlier that alcoholism had affected his family for generations, ruining lives and relationships.
In other news, the band recently released a new single titled ‘Even If It Kills Me.’
