Jack Antonoff feels 'allergic' to drugs
Jack Antonoff feels "allergic" to drugs following a life-changing experience on magic mushrooms after the death of his sister.
Jack Antonoff feels "allergic" to drugs following a life-changing experience after the death of his sister.
The Bleachers frontman - who is married to Margaret Qualley - was 18 years old when his sibling Sarah died of brain cancer aged just 13 and although at the time he and his friends had been experimenting while touring with his band Steel Train, one night his grief combined with the effects of psychedelic mushrooms saw him get "completely freaked out" and he pledged never to dabble again.
Speaking to Apple Music's Zane Lowe, he said: "We were touring a lot and I was obviously just so [messed] up emotionally that I took a whole bunch of mushrooms one night with some friends and I completely freaked out.
"I completely lost my mind.
"And I think it was a combination of how much I took and the grief and the long story short is I was so [messed] up from that experience that to this day I feel allergic [to drugs]."
Jack is "grateful" for the "profound" experience, and though he occasionally has a "drink or two", he doesn't like to feel "out of control".
He said: "I never wanted to be out of control again.
"I'm grateful that I made that stupid mistake because a lot of my friends struggled, I know a lot of people who have struggled and continue to struggle.
"I got lucky that my rock bottom was more one that was mixing psychedelics and grief and not needles and fast cars and whatnot."
The 39-year-old producer is pleased people are more open about discussing difficult topics now but he's concerned it has made grief "isolating" as there's a lack of nuance.
He added: "I think that words like grief and trauma and depression are so commonly used right now that we almost need new words for people who are really… down there because there's depression and then there's not leaving the house."
