Travis Barker and More Open Up on Fighting Addiction and Depression

Travis Barker

Steve Baltin, writing for Forbes, interviews a variety of artists on fighting addiction and depression:

Travis Barker: Sobriety saved my life. My only my regret is it didn’t happen sooner. It was sad that it took a plane crash and almost dying to finally sober up. My second chance at life and my kids was enough to never touch drugs again. Being present and sober is something I wouldn’t trade for anything. Music is my drug.

And:

Anthony Green: I don’t have the answers for what we do, but I know that in Circa Survive and with my situation, the forefront with everything in the band is each other. That stuff comes before making money. From the beginning of the band we wanted it to be a family that cared about each other. So when I needed to go to rehab and I needed to have my mental health issues addressed, the band got put on hiatus and pause. I think that a lot of these guys are in situations where they’re afraid to stop the train from rolling because a lot of people depend on them financially. I think putting the idea of your mental health in front of making money is one thing you can do.

Today is World Mental Health Day and there’s some great insights from a variety of people in this piece.1


  1. I hate trying to use Forbes’ website though, so I’m sorry about that.

Anthony Green – “A Reason To Stay” Video

Anthony Green

Anthony Green has released his new video for “A Reason To Stay.” He and his wife, Meredith Green, also spoke with Billboard about how beating heroin addiction inspired his latest album:

This album is just a celebration of the realness of relationships, which is sometimes very shitty. I can’t imagine anybody in my life I’ve been more vulnerable with than my wife. That also leaves you very wide open for shots. You sort of walk this fine line of being like, “There’s this person who can destroy me emotionally.” And the reality of it is that you do that to each other sometimes. And I think that learning how to bounce back from that is what makes a relationship stronger, or what breaks a relationship apart. I needed to [make this album] ‘cause in processing this stuff right now in my life, I’ve been going so many times, “Is this something I should be giving up or is this something I should be fighting hard for?” And that confusion on that question has come up in our marriage. Being on the other side of that, I feel like it’s always better to work through things. I think dealing with that was really why the record came out.

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Interview: Anthony Green (Video)

Anthony Green

Anthony Green’s new solo album, Pixie Queen, comes out on Friday. In this video interview, the singer-songwriter talks about love, family, addiction, mental health, and how they all found their way into his music. Green, in his music and in person, is candid, frank, and honest. He is also currently on tour to support this new album and the live show is a cross between a fireside sing along (fans literally joined armed and swayed in Baltimore) and a psychedelic rock trip. You’ll find the interview below.

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Review: Anthony Green – Avalon

Anthony Green - Avalon

Being the pillar of an important rock band must be exhausting work – so much so that it renders the siren song of going soft downright deafening. Nick Torres and Tyler Odom went from Northstar to the alt-country of Cassino, Dustin Kensrue offered up his own solo slice of down-home Americana, Roddy Woomble veered off the Idlewild course to dabble in Scottish folk, and on and on. Maybe it is just the “in” thing to do – like how some actors will take up stints on Broadway to bolster their middling resumes, or maybe it is just the underlying need for variety after recording and touring on the same genre of music day after day. Regardless of what drives this magnetism, it has corralled yet another subscriber in Anthony Green, the scene’s favorite man of many hats. After having his hands in countless bands and records, Green has decided to finally to wander off on his own (sort of, at least – the guys in Good Old War are certainly a noteworthy backing band). With Avalon, Anthony pulls a near 180 to most work he has done in the past – so is it any good or should he be running back to his Circa brethren apologizing for ever straying?

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