Damon Albarn opens up on heroin use: "It changed me completely as a musician"

Damon Albarn has opened up about his past heroin use, saying the drug “changed [him] completely as a musician”.

“[Heroin] freed me up,” the Blur frontman says in this month’s issue of Q magazine. “I hate talking about this because of my daughter, my family. But, for me, it was incredibly creative […] A combination of [heroin] and playing really simple, beautiful, repetitive shit in Africa changed me completely as a musician. I found a sense of rhythm. I somehow managed to break out of something with my voice.”

Albarn told the mag he acquired his habit “at the height of Britpop” after returning home from tour and finding heroin “in the front room”. “I just thought, ‘Why not?’ I never imagined it would become a problem,” he said.

The newly established solo artist addresses his drug use on ‘You And Me’, a song from his forthcoming album Everyday Robots, with the lyrics “tin foil and a lighter, the ship across, five days on, two days off.”

“I’m happy I found that poetry,” said Albarn. “I can move forward now without all the nudge nudge, wink wink innuendo I’ve had in the background for years.”

While acknowledging the drug’s positive impact on his creativity, he also warned of its inevitable dangers: “It’s a cruel, cruel thing,” he said. “[Heroin] does turn you into a very isolated person and ultimately anything that you are truly dependent on is not good.”

The full interview is in this month’s Q magazine. [via Guardian]

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