Posted by joop (63.83.24.2) on May 13, 2020 at 10:02:05:
Yesterday Johnny did an Instagram live interview with an old high school friend of his, the theme was sort of "your impression of art and the industry as a whole" so it wasn't geared towards the Black Crowes, although they definitely touched on it. There was only 33 people tops online listening at a given time during the 1 hour.
Without a recording of said interview to refer back to, the main thing that stuck out to me:
96 - 97
He said in 1996, he was a slave to drugs, a slave to management/crew (a cog in the machine), a slave to other members, and he knew this wasn't why he got into being in a band and decided to get himself clean. (he mentioned yoga as part of the process)
The interesting part of that - he then says once he was clean, he promised himself that he would "not make any big decisions for one year." He thought in his mind, that if he got clean, he could maybe help "steer the band's rudder back on course" but after a year he realized he was just a sober person, around a bunch of dysfunctional people.
I thought that was interesting that he wanted the band to work out all the way to the end and wasn't just buying time.
Then he mentioned how hard of a decision it was to quit when the time came and that most people thought he was insane, that he had no idea where his money would come from and that he (and I may butcher his wording), had to duck and hide out for years, because the band was slinging insults hard his way, and that he had to "play the long game."
So Johnny speaks. Overall he was being positive, being an adult, and mostly taking responsibility for his behavior, and when he mentioned something about the band, would follow up with "which is how most bands are." He never referred to anyone by name, just "people in the band that I was close to / people in the band that also had issues" etc.
Last little tidbit: he mentioned 92 was his favorite year as far as fun he was having, confidence/top of their game, the newness still there, traveling the world, etc...which aligns with Steve's take.
I wish I had the video to share but unless someone posts it, I'll have to rely on my memory so good luck to all.