Street roots., November 24, 2017, Page 11, Image 11

Street Roots • Nov. 24-Dec. 1,2017
News
Page 11
"W ith most people who have
a d d ic tio n Issues? II yo u 're not
Io ye a r recovery then you're
io yo n r addiction« I f you're
not concentrating on fe e lin g
better? then yon are d r illin g
towards being worse/"
Brand
New Day
Russell Brand talks about
his new book and how he
never wants his battle wi
addic
C R E D IT : R E U TE R S
BY ANASTASIA SAFIOLEAS
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
one are the trademark cheeky taunts
and rapid-fire speech. Instead Russell
Brand, calling Street Roots’ sister
paper The Big Issue from London during a
long day of press, is softly spoken, polite and
generous. One might even call him
respectful.
It’s a contrast to the rock’n’roll swagger,
Jesus-esque hair and the tendency for whip-
smart monologues that took Brand on his
epic journey from Essex boy to superstar.
The Hollywood actor, comedian, writer,
editor, political activist and new dad is
infamously also a former bulimic, alcoholic
and heroin and sex addict. Call him an
expert on matters of addiction. Now he’s
turned self-help guru with the release of his
new book, “Recovery: Freedom from Our
P H O T O B Y L O U IS h H A Y V V U U U - i L M i t r t r \
Addiction.”
op, Russell Brand arrives at the Hollywood F X Sum m er Comedies Party in Los Angeles,
Hollywood movies have made way for a
'a lif Above, B rand sat down and talked about addiction and other issues with vendors from
more subdued Brand, who these days would
'he B ig Issue UK, Street Roots’ sister paper in Great Britain.
like to take your hand and lead you towards
enlightenment.
Don’t fret. There are still signs of the
sassy Brand we’ve gotten to know.
blueprint of sorts.
be quite domineering in certain contexts.
“Recovery” sports irreverent chapter titles
“The program has been effective in
But when talking about addiction there’s a
such as “Are you a bit fucked up?” and
getting me and millions of other people
great deal for me to learn, particularly when
“Could you not be fucked?” He describes
clean from substance abuse,” he said. “It is
it comes to dealing with extreme poverty
Hollywood as “anathema” (i.e. a polite way
effective also for other forms of addiction -
and extreme suffering. The things I heard in
of saying revolting) and believes the
behavioral addiction, which may not be
that room with those vendors were really
revolution is ongoing.
criminal but I believe is equally severe,
valuable and insightful. There were a lot of
“I really love the magazine,” he says
addictions around food, addictions around
things I understood and which resonated
thoughtfully, having recently sat down to
gambling...”
with me, but there were certainly a lot of
chat with a handful of Big Issue vendors in
Delve deeper and you’ll find Brand’s
things that were much more extreme from
the UK. They tackled addiction,
philosophy also reflects his long-held
homelessness and recovery, a palpable sense the suffering I’ve experienced.”
spiritual belief that even if you don’t have an
Brand has been clean for 15 years and
of comradeship among them. “When I was
extreme and obvious form of suffering,
wants to help others achieve the same using
in that room and they’re talking about their
everyone still understands suffering.
the tried and tested 12-step recovery
own feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness
“I don’t know anyone who isn’t in some
program made famous by Alcoholics
and despair, the first thing it did was end
type of pain unless they’re successfully
Anonymous. The book also extols his much-
the illusion that I experience those things in
distracting themselves, if not chemically
publicized call to decriminalize drugs and
solitude,” he said solemnly.
then perhaps through behavior or some
turn addiction into a health issue, not a
“What I’m learning is because I’m a
other form of illusion. My belief is this
moral or judicial one. It’s a self-help book
person who has access to two things -
program can be used by anybody in any
that uses Brand’s own path to recovery as a
exhibitionism and oratory - it can lead me to
G
situation, because what it is talking about is
the human condition - the odd habit we
have of attaching our happiness to external
things. I do it still. I still think if I get that
jumper I’ll be happy, if my wife behaves in
this way I’ll be happy ... The 12-step
program can work with everyday issues
because it is a system of thinking.”
Brand readily admits writing this book has
helped with his own ongoing recovery.
Despite many drug-free years, the
irresistible pull of narcotics is ever- present.
He once wrote in The Guardian: “I cannot
accurately convey to you the efficiency of
heroin in neutralizing pain. It transforms a
tight, white fist into a gentle, brown wave.
From my first inhalation ... it fumigated my
private hell and lay me down in its hazy
pastures ...”
He said, quietly but matter-of-factly: “With
most people who have addiction issues, if
you’re not in your recovery then you’re in
your addiction. If you’re not concentrating
on feeling better, then you are drifting
towards being worse. That’s my experience.
I can’t for a moment disconnect.”
Like “My Booky Wook” and its follow-up
“Booky Wook 2,” Brand uses Recovery to lay
bare the terrible truths of his own life. He
unflinchingly describes himself as more
addicted, more narcissistic, more driven by
lust and the need for power and recognition
than most people. And revels in the
admission.
“I don’t feel like I’ve exposed anything.
Sometimes I think the choices are
vulnerability or ignorance. The exposure
offers the opportunity for connection. Me
and those vendors connect because when I
came into the room I said, ‘The reason I’m
an addict is because when I was a kid I felt
worthless and I can return to that feeling of
worthlessness in a moment if I’m not
careful’. For me that’s not weak to say that.
It’s honest, and honesty is a value - it’s a
strength.”
This year Brand married Laura Gallacher
(Katy Perry and Brand divorced in 2012),
and is now a dad to 11-month-old Mabel. In
“Recovery” he writes about her birth in a
way that touchingly parallels his own kind of
rebirth. “It’s made me realise that you can’t
spend your time wrapped up in yourself and
what you want because now there’s this little
baby,” he said to me, animatedly. “Watching
my daughter deal with the survival instinct -
‘feed me, pay attention to me’ - it’s
fascinating. Not to mention what it’s doing to
my heart - I can feel new territories of love
open up just by her smile.
“My daughter is just romping towards me
right now,” he said suddenly. There’s pure
delight in his voice, and across the crackly
line I can hear Mabel’s happy babble. But
just when I think I’ve lost him, he offers a
parting gem for the vendors of The Big
Issue: “They are on the frontline in every
way and I admire their bravery. I hope I can
support them in the way they support me.”
Courtesy o f The B ig Issue Australia / INSP.
ngo