Substance abuse and showbiz

PATIENCE MUSA

All over the world, musicians are more likely to die from alcohol and drug abuse than non-musicians.

For famous international musicians it has been the norm, a ‘trend’ of some sort for them to write ‘confessional recovery memoirs’ at some point in their lives.

 A lot of international artistes have had famous substance abuse episodes and sadly for some, it led to their demise.

Artistes like James Brown, Ray Charles, Kurt Cobain, Billie Holiday, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson, Robert Downey Jnr, Demi Lovato, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore…have dealt with substance abuse. Some survived to tell the tale, others were not so lucky.

In Zimbabwe substance abuse in show business is not really talked about enough, its there but no one really gives it serious attention.

Depending on the genre, the company they keep and the type of money the performer makes the substances abused vary from alcohol, illicit spirits and brews, marijuana, illegal cough mixture to hard drugs.

There are Zimbabwean artistes that have been known over time to ‘over do’ things a bit like the late husband and wife duo that would get high together and the next thing the husband would be hurling insults at the wife on stage for everyone including fans to hear – that was no secret.

There are other tales too of another artiste: a living legend that couldn’t go on stage without having smoked a joint and the manager had to drive to a road in Mbare National popular for the sale of marijuana. 

Meantime venue management would be in panic mode and patrons would have to wait impatiently.

Tales of how sometimes those water bottles in guitar cases are not full of water but vodka.

Most recently we lost a young great chanter who still had a lot to offer, even though he did have health issues we cannot ignore the fact that substance abuse played a big role in the deterioration of his health.

I have to confess when I decided to work on this piece; I thought it was going to be simple.

I mean I was active in the music industry for over a decade after all and more so in the live music circuit which involved touring, participating in numerous festivals where I got to work alongside a lot of different artistes from different genres in Zimbabwe and from all over the world.

Who best to write on this really?

As I started to do my research though, I discovered that I was coming from a quite biased angle. 

Yes, I was in the industry for a while, but my situation was unique.

I got into the industry in my late teens and everyone around me was super protective of me.

Those that smoked never smoked in front of me, and the rest of the guys were of very sober habits.

In-fact the group that backed Mateo and Friends that then evolved to The Other Four (a Jazz outfit) was made of ‘choir boy’s’.

I kid you not! Three of them attended church together and they all played in their churches bands and one of them aspired to be a pastor.

We had a rule for those that did drink, that it would not be before or during the show. If one chose to partake of the ‘liquid courage’ then they had to do it elsewhere and not where we had just ‘gigged’.

We had rules, but that is not always the case for most performers.

Substance abuse can be viewed as a contemporary problem but that is not true.

Substance abuse has been plaguing artistes as early as the Beethoven’s.

Beethoven used alcohol to deal with his depression after he lost his hearing.

He wasn’t the only one Tchaikovsky did the same to deal with his sexuality issues. Debussy was a morphine and cocaine user and the great Satie’s liver failed because of alcohol consumption.

So why is it that artistes tend to abuse substances?

 Everyone goes through life challenges’ right, be it bankers, teachers, accountants, lawyers’- pain and suffering is everywhere?

What is unique about artistes? Zimbabwean comedian Doc Vikela said that he hits the stage sober and prefers it that way and he went on to explain that – ‘…artist’s themselves fight demons that no fan canfathom.

Demons that if not dealt with invite suicide knocks, ndiyo nguva inenge ichinzi zvinhu hazvisi kufamba, zvakadhakwa. So, at this stage that’s when mostly you find entertainers finding it hard to resist’.

Could it be the pressure to create something new, hence the use of drugs and alcohol to get into a place that creates new experiences and exposes truths that the sober eye or mind cannot see?

There is need to think differently, to see the world at a different angle to unlock new ideas, new sounds, unique melodies and views.

The creative pressure on artistes increases the more popular they get. After releasing one hit the following pieces have to be equally good or better or critics and fans have a field day.  

Jimi Hendrix used LSD with creative intent and I’m sure there are plenty more in todays’ world doing the same.

Question is: are you still talented if you have to take substances to create the art?

Pablo Nakappa a popular talented guitarist who besides having his own music has worked with different artistes including Winky D feels art “should be an inborn thing that comes naturally.

You don’t need to take drugs to do things you know”. He has never taken substances to enhance his performances but has witnessed other artistes doing so and how they are destroyed by the habit.

Studies conducted all over the world have revealed that most artistes suffer from performance anxiety; this manifests in the form of tension, shaking hands, pounding chests, negative thoughts, memory blanks, excessive sweating, flushes, adrenalin rush, nausea, dry mouth, butterflies in the stomach- and I can totally identify with these reactions.

There have many times when my brain just shut down and I couldn’t remember lyrics, and all I wanted to do five minutes before I hit the stage is close my eyes and find myself two hours into the future. 

Think about it, in your job what’s the worst that can happen if you give a bad performance, your immediate boss reprimanding you. In the world of performers it’s recorded and you live with it for the rest of your life. Public humiliation is a real thing.

Zolile Makeleni aka Tsotsi from the Zimbabwean soapy Wenera explained: “Human beings are designed to keep themselves safe and away from things that causes fear, they also want to feel a sense of being accepted by others, so they fly from anything that will cause potential rejection drug will suppress this feeling and you will develop an attitude of not caring for what others think.

“That’s how most creative geniuses are formed. However a large number of artists believe in this.

Personally l have been around creatives who practice such and it seems to work in their favour, they can’t write without taking some substance, other actors and musicians do this as well.

I have learnt to accept people as they are. I don’t take any substance the reason being l would not want to depend on anything other than my sober brains when writing or performing.”

Being an artiste is a tough job, there is no job security.

One does not wake up and go to studio each day and then get a check with a set amount every month whatever you may have achieved during the course of the month.

Performers have to worry about the amount of people attending the show: will they be enough? Are they going to sell enough tickets, enough of the music?

Artistes experience greater financial insecurity than any other industry sports included.

Today in a world with Covid-19 it is the one industry that has been hit hard in the past year plus. Last year football matches started again but concerts did not.

At the moment there are all sorts of sports all over the world but no concerts, no shows, no theatre productions. How do artistes make a living, session artists, sound engineers, comedians, dancers, actors?

Touring can be crazy, being on the road for days, hours…far from the comforts and familiarity of home. Travelling continuously can be depressing, and especially dealing with leaving loved ones at home, missing birthdays, and all sorts of celebrations that bring a feeling of belonging to one.

For me having to always be entertaining other people on New Year’s Eve, and watching other people celebrate life’s milestones was quite depressing. I too wanted to celebrate and to be celebrated.

Despite all your emotions you are expected to smile and give a show – select the right songs, say the right things in between, sound must be perfect, you must look perfect too.

The fans don’t care what has happened in your life – heart breaks, deaths of loved ones, financial stress even sickness.

Too much pressure! Besides, if you do not go on stage where will the money come from?

It’s also a problem when the art becomes the only way one validates one’s self-worth that becomes a blood sucking creature of its own. It results in no time to take care of self, with no boundaries – always chasing the dollar, gigging non-stop, not sure when the next new thing will come through and topple you off the number one spot.

Many artistes are actually introverts who are forced to be more introverted, that results in a lot of emotional battles within.

The Avicci:True stories documentary shows that such pressure is what led to his premature death. Some artistes just want to create their art and go home, personalities differ.

Being an artiste most times entails: shows, concerts, radio and television interviews, public appearances and the public do not give you a day off.

Whether you are out just shopping for bread, attending a church service, hanging with friends or family the public still expect a ‘show’. That can lead to stress.

Fame and the celebrity status bring with it a lot of pressure.

The public sees you in certain way-which is not the way you are. Fans see the fantasy, read in between the lines and come up with their own version of the artiste far removed from reality, it is the kind of pressure that no one can cope with. It is not an easy transition to be a nobody one minute and the next everybody is talking about you.  

There is never enough preparation for this transition.

In Zimbabwe it is worse because one becomes famous most times without the money to match the celebrity status, and that can be very stressful.

The artistes cannot escape and buy a mansion, because they do not have the money. They have to live with other people, travel with other people in public transport all the while expected to be a whole show the whole time.

Genres like Jazz have always been performed in clubs most performances too, bars and even pubs, entertainment-alcohol and hospitality are known to be interdependent.

When I look back if I had accepted every alcoholic drink I had been offered I most likely would be dead right now or ‘knocking on heavens’ door’.

Artiste workspaces are full of free drinks from fans, venue owners and managers, peers too.

Urban grooves singer Sani Makhalima said that a number of artistes are “exposed to these substances more often than the ordinary individual and thus peer pressure kicks in”.

“I doubt that artists are better performers or creators when under the extreme influence of any substance but as a person who doesn’t abuse these substances my views are only limited to me,” Makhalima said.

With some genres, drug use is part and parcel of the sub-culture identity like reggae, hip hop, ragga, dancehall and closer to home Zim dancehall.

There are some individuals in these genres that do things differently but in most parts of the world it results in losing ‘street cred’.

Substance abuse in the arts is at times encouraged by all sorts of crazy beliefs: some artistes believe that their energy levels have to match their audiences every time they have a show and in normal times this can be four, five or even six times a week, that an artiste has to have a flaw of some sort for them to be regarded as interesting, artistes are rebels and nothing says rebel than substance abuse, that art is about ‘sex, drugs and alcohol’ and that great artistes die young.

But everything comes to an end at some point.

There will always be newer, younger artists coming up with more contemporary ideas- not every artist stays famous forever.

Coping with changing trends and the loss of fame and celebrity status can also lead one to substance abuse. If some artistes can do without substance abuse, why is it others get hooked?

Personality flaws maybe, deep rooted issues that can be traced beyond the music? That is a conversation for another time.

 Now that we know why artistes may end up abusing substances, are the reasons valid?

Do you sympathise?

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