It’s been a week since Scott Weiland tragically died, and there have been no shortage of emotional reactions to his death, all with varying degrees of empathy and sympathy. Travis Barker, drummer for Blink 182 and someone familiar with the dangers of drug abuse, talked about the former Stone Temple Pilots singer in a recent interview with Billboard, during which he also discussed his own struggles with drugs:
“I think it’s just ultimately what drugs do when they get the best of somebody,” he told Billboard. “It’s sad. Myself, I was addicted to drugs for a long time and the only way I was able to stop doing drugs was being in a plane crash and having morphine for four months when I didn’t want it. That’s what it took for me to get sober.”
The plane crash Barker mentions happened in 2008. Four of the six people on the plane were killed. DJ AM was also on the plane.
Also in the interview, Barker said that he’d met Weiland in the past, back when he was singing with the all-star cover band, Camp Freddy, which featured members of Guns ‘n Roses and Jane’s Addiction.
“He’s (Scott Weiland) great. Oh my gosh, his contributions to music were amazing. I saw video of him recently, he sounded great and he looked fine. But you never know what demons anyone is fighting. Whatever you’re masking when you’re doing drugs gets more severe the more you mask it. Everyday you’re doing it more and more and you’re never facing what you’re running from — whatever that is. The masking gets to be so dangerous. It is excessive. It’s unfortunate.”
Barker sees himself as lucky and a “good example” of how it’s possible to be a rock star without the dangerous trappings of excessive drug and alcohol use, citing hobbies like boxing and music as positive outlets. His kids have also served as incredibly strong motivation for him to get clean and stay clean, to “get my sh*t together,” as he says. Yet speaking of his kids, Barker also talked about how it’s become challenging talking to them about his heroes, many of whom have fallen victim to drugs and alcohol:
“My son at a young age asked me what happened to John Bonham. What happened to Elvis Presley? What happened to Marilyn Monroe? I explained to him that all these people who you know as these huge icons or rock stars died because of drugs or alcohol.”
Barker has made other news recently, confirming that a new Blink 182 album is on the way, the band’s first since Neighborhoods in 2011.
(Via Billboard)
