Your profession and alcohol
 

Hi gang - long time observer.... first time poster. Just began anew with my sobriety after deluding myself for quite a while I had it under control. Up to day 5 drink free and apart from rubbish sleeps the first few nights it's been okay. I've been exercising, eating well and feeling better every day. I'm keen to check out AA and go through the steps because after reading so much about alcoholism and alcoholics recently I know I fall into that category and need help!

ANYWAY.

I've got a situation that I'm in that I'm curious as to people's thoughts. I'm a professional musician from Australia and as you imagine alcohol is very much glorified in that industry (and in general in Australia). It's typical for gigs I do around the city for us to have our band room stocked with beer and wine. The band I play with regularly are very professional about it (we don't drink much on gigs as we're normally driving.... ) but that doesn't stop me from often grabbing a bottle of wine to have when I get home...

On tour it's often a different story. A different group I play for will often go on longer tours where responsibility isn't as much of a factor. We're staying in hotels, getting cabs or have transport organised and it's very easy after we play to hit it hard. We've done a few tours where alcohol has been a massive part of it and seems to be fundamental to the general bonding with the different players the singer uses. I've got a festival interstate in a couple of weeks with her and then a US tour for a couple of weeks after that which will include some industry events where there's normally free alcohol or people being generous to the singer and taking us out for dinner and drinks etc.

I'm obviously cautious of relapse and need to get as sorted as I can before these gigs.

What I'm actually curious about is has anyone ever felt they had to change professions when they quit drinking because of the certain culture or attitudes to alcohol? Or is it a matter of drawing enough strength to push through and with the help of people and God continue with sobriety through it.

I'm finding it a bit of a wrestle because I've obviously worked really hard to get where I am as a musician.... but I know if I continue to drink it's not going to be a pretty path and to have it so available (and often free) it's a tough temptation....

Sorry this is lengthy but would appreciate any thoughts.

It's a long story but the reason I'm in my current position is that the founder of the company I work for and I get along great because of our mutual love of drinking.

When I quit I knew it could put a damper on our personal relationship. But part of the reason I quit was so that I could be better at my job, right? So for me it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to quit drinking and change my job. Let's see if quitting does indeed make me better at it first.

Thinking about a musician's lifestyle, I'm sure that drinking is ever-present, but I'd also bet that there are a lot more sober people out there than you initially might imagine. And it's hard to make it as a musician, if you're succeeding don't be hasty to throw it away.

welcome to SR :)

I used to be a gigging muso in Australia too.

I didn't have much of a choice in changing my career...I blew my reputation through drinking...I definitely fell into the rockstar lifestyle BS.

While I think it's true that there's a lot of opportunities to drink, I actually knew a fair few teetotal and drug abstinent musicians - so it's not impossible to live that life and stay sober. I played with a bunch of them for a while after I got sober.

I don't know how I'd go on a long, overseas, hard drinking tour so soon after trying to get sober though. You might have to give that one some thought.

I'd definitely throw myself into AA or some other face to face kind of support group.
D

Congrats on 5 days:) I think Dee is right...you might have to change some aspects of your profession but there might be more sober people in your business then you are aware of.

I'm an artist and art events are always full of free booze and there is a perception that artists drink and there are a lot of artists who are pretty hedonistic. But in getting sober I realized how most successful artists I know drink very lightly or not at all.

:)

I'm an artist as well (painter)..... used to play guitar/sing in a group or two but that was "way back then." But it seems all my friends are in those two fields and unfortunately a few of the most talented ones have huge problems.....

I thought alcohol gave me a short-cut to being more spontaneous in my work, so I drank while painting. As it turned out I was much, much more in tune without the booze. Duh.....

There's a period of adjustment, though.......... so I hope you can work something out that allows you to get comfortable and confident in your sobriety before you venture out......

There's lots of ways to stay sober if you make it your #1 mission (this forum is a great tool)..... I wish you the very best - you could be a real "ambassador" to others in the industry. First things first though, which is you and your sobriety.....:grouphug:

I don't know if you'd have to change professions - like everyone else is saying, there are some musicians who don't drink. I've been in plenty of bands, and I can tell you that alcohol does NOT help you to be productive!

Some of the public displays of sobriety and then crashing and then sobriety again might be interesting places to learn from.

I.e., Steven Tyler.

I love Aerosmith, and he has one HELL of a voice.

Lordy, I hope he makes it clean. I think he is now? He was doing some TV gigs for American Idol or something, but I don't watch TV much at all, so I don't know.

My son is a musician and battled "herb" for many years. It ruined his early career, totally. He is now clean for over 6 months. No other ETOH or drugs either.

Hi jitterbug boy ... My honest opinion is than you should give sobriety a good long time to settle in before you consider going out on the road and being around it. After you've gotten a solid footing in your recovery it may be possible to be in that environment again.

I'm an artist too. I always find it curious how so many of us struggle with addictions. Certainly it's not exclusive to creatives, but interesting nonetheless.

There seem to be a ton of creative people on SR. I always felt more "sensitive" than most people...it was one of the reasons I drank...one of the many excuses I used rather. It never helped my creativity...I did not paint well while drinking.

Music was a side gig for me for a while - not my main profession. Had regular bar gigs with a group playing mostly locally - no touring or recording.

I pretty much gave it up. The lifestyle/partying was just part of the reason though. I have/had a day job and could only gig on the weekends and that just wasn't happening. I needed to be able to play during the week too and the nights were just way too late.

I haven't played in 10 years now.

Not saying you or anyone else needs to get out of the business to get/stay sober. That's just what happened with me.

I'll second that. I worked PT as a bartender. Leaving that behind is somewhat easy for me as it's not my primary source of income. I want more sober time before going back to work in that field.

I was gonna say the same thing as failed taper. Aerosmith, in general took a rehab break. From what I understand...all of them for various reasons, family, self destructing, health, etc. They could go into a hotal and literally trash the joint with a wild night of booze and women.
Come clean and sober, they got back together...alittle clinking, clanking and twanging and thought -jeeze, we can't do this anymore.
But here they are after 40 years of jamming and better than ever. And I might add that Steven Tyler is HOT!
If you actually HAVE a talent that god gave you -it is worth the struggle to break out of the stereotype and try it 'your way'. You may be surprised how much better you actually are, how much better you feel about gigging and you will gain more respect from your followers.
Bruce Stringsteen did kind of the opposite. He knew he had to take advantage of his fame while he could in the 80's -do it sober, do it right. While other band members were getting honked and blowing cash he was investing his money and living clean.

They both must have like a gajillion dollars by now.
And you might realize, being sober, that you have a better handle and more control over your career.

Good Luck!

Hi and good for you for recognizing you need to stop drinking.

I didn't have to change what I did for a living, but I would have if it was necessary. Nothing is more important than recovery.

jitterbugboy,

Congrats on your decision to get sober! I think it's important to have a formal plan for recovery especially if you're on the road a lot as I am. You may have to get "stuck up" when you're out there and remove yourself from the "festivities." I often claimed I had paperwork to do. Which was true because my sponsor gave me assignments.

Go prepared. Tell your bandmates you're taking a break from partying. Who knows? Someone else might be wanting a sober buddy too but is afraid to say anything. Also, if you can, call the hotel to have the minibar emptied or locked before your arrival. It's no big deal, many corporate accounts have this done to avoid "confusion" and the staff won't think anything about it or you. In fact, it's one less thing for them to count up.

Bring some recovery materials with you. I bring my daily reading and put it next to the bed. Also, you might really find "Under the Influence" very helpful. Some folks have AA speakers on their ipods so this is something else for you!

Take your laptop so you can keep in touch with SR. Depending on where you are, Wireless connection can be very expensive. You might want to check out where the local internet cafes are near your hotel before you get to destination. In the larger cities, there are usually cafes near the hotels. Some hotels have free connection in the lobbies or business center. It's easy to check out beforehand.

As time goes on and people don't expect you to participate, it gets easier. These days, I don't even want to be "there" as it's just not fun to see drunken behavior. It's NOT a good time. It's NOT fun. It's very sad to see people making fools of themselves. Seriously.

Good luck and I do hope you'll post more. Let me know how it goes for you.

Love,

Lenina

Wow - thanks to all for your replies. I truly appreciate it.

It's true that a lot of creative people I know really struggle with alcohol addictions and use alcohol in really detrimental ways. One friend describes his drinking as trying to silence the "black dog". That being the part of you that is full of doubt in your abilities as a creative person - a lot of musicians and artists I know have those worth issues and rather than feeding the "white dog" (that positive thing that says you're unique and special and important) they try to block out the negativity with booze... which then in turn actually feeds the black dog anyway.

I admit changing professions is extreme - but I guess my health and sanity is really important. I'd love to be an example of a musician who is clean and sober (and probably in turn be a better player and more reliable) - so I really want to work on that.

Thanks Lenina - I'll track down a copy of Under The Influence - I read a bunch of the excerpts that were posted on here the other day. I was trying to find it as an ebook but no dice...

I know the singer I'll be on tour with will respect my decision to not drink as the first tour I did with her she did dry. I'm sure it can be done. I'm amazed at the stories and support on this website so I'm sure I'll frequent it when I'm away.