FIDLAR man Carper kicked habit to stay alive

FIDLAR frontman Zac Carper says he kicked his drug habit as he didn’t want to die young.

The band release second album Too on September 2 and Carper reports writing and recording the new material helped him work through his issues.

He tells Stereogum: “The way that I look at it is through the whole first FIDLAR album cycle and the tour, I was basically this crazy person on drugs.

“On this new record, I’m just a crazy person. I stopped doing heroin, I stopped doing meth, I stopped smoking crack, so now all I’m left with is just being this crazy person who’s trying to deal with it – and the way that I dealt with it was writing songs.”

He says he’s been clean for a year and adds: “I’m not going to stay fucked up just to fit in or because that’s what people want me to be. I don’t want to die when I’m fucking 28.”

Carper reports that Leave Me Alone from the album is based on his experiences while out on the road.

He adds: “Instead of being hungover or dope sick, I know what I am. If I start drinking again, then a week later I’m going to be slamming dope, so I just cut out drinking, too.

“I loved doing heroin, so if drinking is just the gateway to that, I’ll just fucking stop drinking. That’s what the song is all about.”

FIDLAR play this weekend’s Reading and Leeds festivals and return to the UK and Europe for a run of shows in November.

Too tracklist

01. 40oz On Repeat 02. Punks 03. West Coast 04. Why Generation 05. Sober 06. Leave Me Alone 07. Drone 08. Overdose 09. Hey Johnny 10. Stupid Decisions 11. Bad Medicine 12. Bad Habits

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.