Sex, drugs and rock and roll: As with all clichés, it’s almost impossible to write about without blushing. But what this phrase, set to music by Ian Dury, encapsulates is one of the most powerful and fertile myths in popular culture. A myth that has given fans hours of speculation and thousands of pages of social and cultural chronicle for years. Also dozens of valuable works, starting with “The Persecutor”, the story of Julio Cortázar, based on the disordered life of Charlie Parker, marking the transition from bohemian or cursed poet to musician with an equally tortured existence. So everyone knows it: musicians stay up late, drink and take drugs and thus look into abysses that others (the consumers of their art) cannot even imagine. The audience offers them their money, their admiration and their affection during the concert in return for what happens to them when they leave the stage or after their creative outbursts, which are their responsibility. It seems like a fair deal… except for those left behind.
Fortunately, in recent years there have been concerns about the mental health of workers across all industries. And music is particularly important in this aspect. Suffice it to connect the dots: all of these suicides and premature deaths that we previously thought of as isolated incidents or parts of a tragic legend show that beyond the creative torments and joys, something happens between those who go on tour. And this doesn’t just happen to musicians: psychological problems are particularly common among those who work with them: technicians, managers, press, editors, drivers…
According to a 2021 study conducted in the United Kingdom, someone whose work involves music is three times more likely to suffer from depression and four times more likely to suffer from anxiety than those who engage in another activity. “There is something systematically wrong in the world of music and it is making people sick.” It is the thesis of Ian Winwood, a journalist with decades of experience covering bands like Metallica and author of Bodies: Life and Death in Music (Liburuak , 2023), a chronicle of how the music industry “tolerates and encourages behavior unthinkable in any other industry.” “Professional Type”.
Iggy Pop and David Bowie, at the Ritz Hotel in New York, 1986.L. Busacca
Winwood is not alone. In recent years, more and more British organizations have been addressing the issue, with groups such as MITC (Music Industry Therapists Collective) having emerged, made up of psychologists specializing in the problems of musicians and those around them. They recently published Touring and Mental Health, a detailed guide full of practical advice and scientific information.
Drugs are the tip of the iceberg
“All of us, whether we work in the music industry or not, have certain possibilities of developing anxiety disorders, personality disorders, addictions, depression… There is a tendency or a genetic predisposition, but in this industry we don’t sleep, the people around you celebration, there is fear and there are traumatic events, so it is easier to develop what is there,” explains Rosana Corbacho, a psychologist from Extremadura who works with MITC. Corbacho decided to study psychology while working in the music industry in London because she realized that the people around her were “having recurring problems.” And I felt that when they went to therapy, their therapists didn’t understand how important their job was to them. These specific problems are, for example, creative blocks, attacks of anxiety, difficulties in relationships between band members or with managers… It is believed that the only problem that musicians have is that they use drugs. It is something much more complex, because although the substances are there, they are often a consequence of what is suffered.”
Joan Vich tells it in Here I Lived (Libros del KO, 2022), the chronicle of his 25 years of work at the Benicasim Festival: The former director of the festival confesses in its pages that there was a camel at the festival called Frida and served to provide artists with what they needed. This is confirmed by Marcela San Martín, who worked for the Siroco and El Sol venues and is the founder of MIM (Association of Women in the Music Industry): “At festivals they give you the phone number of the dealer directly. One musician even threatened to cancel a sold-out concert if we didn’t bring him the appropriate grams. I left him there and argued with his road manager.” Rafa Gómez, promoter of Silbato Producciones, also found himself in similar situations: “I won’t name names, but I remember looking for a horse in Torrelavega on a rainy Sunday had to look because the artist said he wouldn’t come.” I told him, okay, I would go. After half an hour I came back soaked, I tore my pants and my shirt a little and imagined that I had nothing because they had robbed me and beat me.” In any case, Gómez himself makes it clear: “Today it is not common for that Musicians or technicians are drunk during the performance.” It happens on time and is solved because both artists and technicians have a team behind them that covers them, not covers them, but, just like a shower, saves them from monumental ridiculousness. “
Víctor Coyote, in Madrid in 2021. Alfredo Arias
“The most intense excesses cannot be sustained for long, even the most famous bands have had a very long journey,” Corbacho continues. “In the end, you either retire or something happens to you. They may have made a great album, but that productive rhythm can’t be sustained. To create something, you have to rest, eat well, maintain interpersonal relationships… It is a very demanding life that requires a lot of work.”
Although hard drugs sometimes make problems worse, they may not be as common as we think, and are almost always dealt with with some degree of self-control, a virtue that Víctor Coyote, a legendary musician since the ’80s, says is “fundamental in the artistic world, because, moreover, the function of the salesman has been delegated to the artist himself.” Everyone has to advertise themselves excessively, so there is no time to rehearse, get high and pay attention to social networks. The Galician also clarifies against the myth of endless parties at the time of Movida: “I was a supporter of the diet that Iggy Pop had: riding horses in the evening and going to the gym in the morning.” It is a radical diet that I never followed strictly, but that seemed good to me. Of course: after two days of partying, I was already tired of the pain and of myself and wanted to get up early again to start drawing.”
Although alcohol has directly or indirectly led to deaths such as those of Bon Scott, John Bonham or Dolores O’Riordan, it is viewed very differently and its consumption (as in many other areas on the other hand) is much more structural: “I’ve been in a lot of changing rooms , where you could get as much beer as you wanted, long before you got a piece of fruit or something to eat,” recalls Javier Carrasco or Betacam, member of several bands on the Madrid scene. “Alcohol is a deeply rooted, tolerated and even naturalized cultural habit,” adds San Martín. “Alcohol has become an integral part of a concert hall. In addition, the production sheets also include the catering of the groups in which it is included. Venues thrive on consumption in bars, not concerts, and those of us dedicated to programming know that we have to play with groups whose audiences consume to a greater or lesser extent, regardless of musical quality.”
Several festival staff members, including a former director, have spoken openly about how the figure of the “dealer” is central to relationships with some artists. GETTY IMAGES
“There are two risk factors when developing addictions,” warns Corbacho. “When a great success comes suddenly because there has been consumption before, to cope with the pressure one may resort to the stick that numbs the emotions; and when someone who was very famous is less professionally active. However, when sustained success occurs, the musician is aware that, in order to stay there, he must lead a balanced life.” In any case, the psychologist insists that “alcohol or drug abuse is a warning sign and a symptom, which indicates that other faults and other risks exist.”
Self-exploitation and fear: which substances mask
Especially since the 1990s, there have been a lot of songs, like Pulp’s “This is Hardcore” or Tom Petty’s “Into” from Great Wide Open, that talk about how disappointing it is to achieve the money and fame that you’re so excited about dreamed for a long time. Even in urban music (where there are more conflicts than in rock) artists have an ambivalent relationship with their own success, which acts like a curse whether it happens or not. “Capitalism has triumphed like a beast and is permeating all levels of society and culture,” says Carrasco. “And music is increasingly permeated by a competitive spirit, which is not good. The two key words are self-exploitation and frustration.”
According to Winwood in Bodies, in the world of music, “the chain of command is very confusing,” but that doesn’t stop musicians from feeling exploited and exploited. As in the rest of the cultural industry, it is almost always they who impose these strenuous working conditions on themselves. “There is a tendency across the industry on all sides to push the envelope. Neither the musician nor the manager takes care of themselves and mutual dependencies arise that become harmful,” reveals Corbacho.
Opportunities are always double-edged swords and “they are often lived out of fear of their end.” “There are also feelings of guilt,” adds the therapist. “When you have success and you don’t enjoy it: you gave it your all and when you’re where you wanted, you don’t enjoy it because you’re nervous, because you’re comparing yourself to the previous band, because you’re tired…” Of course, the opposite is more common the case, and that is, as Carrasco says: “It’s very frustrating to see very good people who work until they burst and then don’t make it,” which is practically unthinkable for others to refuse a job. Fee. “The reward system for creative work is very insidious,” Carrasco continues. “We have a gluttonous attitude, like dogs who eat and gorge themselves because they think they won’t eat for a week. Sometimes we feel guilty when we take on more work than we can handle, and sometimes we suffer when we see that there is a ceiling that we will not exceed.”
Amy Winehouse, at Loolapalooza, 2007. Getty Images
Furthermore, in a world dominated by platforms where authors barely receive royalties, musicians have to tour almost constantly, and that is one of the biggest risks to their integrity. “When it comes to major tours, we’re talking about teams of more than 200 people who are under enormous pressure because, although it’s a cliché, the show has to practically not care what happens,” explains Corbacho. In this context, the psychologist and therapist sees the greatest contrast between the experience of the audience and that of the artists: “The audience connects with the artist through a final product that evokes emotions, and often they confuse their own emotions with those of the artist , who did a lot of invisible things before appearing on stage. There is a discrepancy because I know that even concerts that were perceived as great were traumatic moments for the artist, which we later discussed in therapy.”
Stories like those of Ian Winwood, who decided to write his book after thinking what he had until then seen as a series of isolated anecdotes (from the disappearance of Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers to the death of Amy Winehouse). The admission of Caleb Followill, “one of the most polite and discreet guys I’ve ever met,” says the author, to rehab was actually about something much deeper, helping to highlight a widespread problem make, that, very It is often misunderstood or approached through romanticism and mythomania. “Romance is very bad, very difficult and ends when you realize that you end up working for the hospitality industry,” concludes Víctor Coyote.
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