In a new interview with DIY Magazine, Matt Healy of The 1975 opened up about his struggles with drug addiction. His comments came after being asked about the line about “get[ting] addicted to drugs” in the band’s new single “Give Yourself a Try.” He discussed his experience with prescription drug use after explaining that he “wasn’t in a good place” following the end of the promo cycle for the band’s 2016 album I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, and explained he decided to “really get away” by taking an extended trip to Barbados, where he apparently went to equine-based rehab.
“So when I went away to Barbados, I actually went to rehab,” Healy told DIY. “And I should have just said that because it makes me sound like I didn’t wanna say it, but I’ve been telling anybody who’ll fucking listen. I went and worked with horses for seven weeks. I didn’t get dragged away to rehab, I was fucking exhausted and at the [risk] of being another statistic in that prescription drug opioid crisis that hit America, because that’s the way I dealt with things on tour.”
He continued: “I knew that I wasn’t going to detox myself, so I went away and I got clean. I wasn’t going there to get straight edge, I didn’t have a drinking problem or anything else, I was just chemically dependent on a substance and I didn’t wanna make a record as a fucking junkie. Who wants to hear that?”
When discussing the rationale behind his drug abuse, Healy said: “I loved going out on stage and talking to 12,000 people. I didn’t like going back to my hotel room and sitting on my own for another three hours and then being expected to go to bed when I wanted to, I don’t know, change culture or something ridiculously grandiose.”
Healy also explained why he has no qualms about opening up about his struggles with addiction, and being honest in interviews in general. “That’s what people want. That’s what I want as well. Tell me the fucking truth,” he said. “If you’re gonna care as much as you do with all this pretentious fucking bullshit and all these campaigns, then let’s do it then. Let’s make this exchange really honest and I will, as a fan, give myself to you and not judge you if you just tell me the truth. And it makes for more interesting art, and that’s what I’m here for now I’ve decided.”
The 1975 released the debut single from their upcoming third LP, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, last week. Read the full cover feature on the band at DIY.
