Once you got sober, you started to take over the world. I have to say, you were such a big part of that. Talk to me about how it was different, how it was harder, how it was easier… What was it like to do this big, creative process while sober? And for me, it’s been almost nine years, so with my creative practice I forget that initial feeling, but I remember being really afraid. Saint Cloud is the first record you’ve made in sobriety, and it took longer than previous albums. I realized I can’t actually feel at peace if I’m continuing to wrestle with this question of, “Am I drinking too much?” In order to actually heal, to actually feel as good as I possibly could, the first thing I needed to do was quit drinking.
I could argue with myself about what’s bad and what’s normal all day long and for the rest of my life, but I finally had to be honest about the fact that I didn’t feel good-physically, mentally, or emotionally. I did try to categorize it that way, like, “Oh, I drank an entire bottle of wine last night, but I don’t do that every day.” I would negotiate with myself constantly. But we both were like, “This isn’t working.” And a lot of people who struggle with drinking, myself included, think, “I’m not as bad as these other people who have gotten sober.” I’m curious to know what some of the light bulbs were for you. Something that was similar for both of us was that we didn’t necessarily drink in the morning, we didn’t lose everything, we didn’t crash cars, we didn’t go to rehab, we didn’t, like… It led me to slowly reach the point where I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. And just through a slip here, a slip there, a really bad night, a really bad hangover, an emotionally charged argument-all of that coupled with the constant touring I was doing, I don’t know. I was making all these new friends, I had a new record coming out, but I ended up slipping back into drinking. I had never toured sober before, and it felt really great. I can not do this anymore.”Īnd then in March 2017, I was sober that whole month and went on tour with my now partner Kevin Morby and had this transformative experience. Anytime I would have a bender, I would just be like, “I must quit. But toward the end of my drinking, that whole last year, I couldn’t go as hard as I once had gone.
And for a long time, that conflict created a lot for me to write about. I’m pretty on top of my shit and take pride in that, and so drinking and all of the hurdles it would present were directly in opposition with how I wanted to present in my life. I felt so bad and remember being so disappointed in myself because my sweet, sober friend Marlee, who had her shit together, had to deal with my hungover ass.Īnd you know, I’m a Capricorn. I was supposed to go to breakfast with you and your parents the next morning and I didn’t. I have a memory of a really crazy night in Grand Rapids. When I look back on all of it, it was an internal dialogue going on for many, many years. It was about being 17 and already being like, “I think I need to quit drinking.” You got sober in June 2018, so I’d love for you to tell me a little bit about what the process was like leading up to it. “We don’t ask questions-you need me, I’ll be there.” “So much of our friendship is rooted in generosity,” says Grace. Crutchfield released four critically-acclaimed albums and toured the world, all while struggling to maintain within the drinking culture of the music industry Grace went through a divorce, released two books, and became a dance sensation and together they formed a friendship and collaboration brimming with love and unequivocal opulence. “When you’re that age, it’s really easy to fall into problematic drinking without anyone looking at it critically.”Īs the years passed, the two women came into their own, both individually and mutually. “We were babies, and I didn’t really know anyone who was sober,” says Crutchfield.
The two artists formed a friendship despite the geographical distance between them-in fact, Grace would book Waxahatchee shows in Grand Rapids, and had become sober shortly after their initial meeting.
#Waxahatchee elsewhere how to
“The person was me,” says Marlee Grace, a dancer, creative advisor, and author of the books, A Sacred Shift and How To Not Always Be Working. “I just remember thinking, ‘That person is my soulmate.’”
“A Salt-N-Pepa song came on, and this woman across the room started to sing every single word and do quite a dance,” says Crutchfield. Eliot, her old punk band prior to Waxahatchee, she decided to bowl with friends on a rare day off. Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee opens up to best friend and collaborator Marlee Grace about getting sober and writing her most powerful album to date.īack in 2010, Katie Crutchfield established one of the most formative relationships in her life at a bowling alley in Grand Rapids, MI.
0 kommentar(er)
