Elia Einhorn Talks New Sober Resource Zine "Sober 21"
Getting sober and staying sober is a challenging prospect for just about anyone. For musicians and those who work in and around the industry, it can be doubly hard given the unique settings and circumstances that come with the profession. Artists spend long hours on the road and find themselves in the presence of drugs and alcohol on a nightly basis, making temptation a regular occurrence. Elia Einhorn knows full well the challenges that those in this industry face, as he’s been in the trenches as a sober musician and radio professional for over two decades. He fronts his own projects including The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir and Fashion Brigade. He’s also worked in various radio presenter roles for Pitchfork, Sonos Radio, and Talkhouse. Along his journey, he’s held onto key pieces of advice and guidance that have helped him stay clean. However, when he approached two decades of sobriety he wondered, why aren’t these key pieces of advice and tips codified somewhere? Realizing that so many artists could benefit from these lessons, stories, and guidance, he came up with the concept for Sober 21, a self-help zine that collects stories, advice, and tips from 21 different sober musicians. The zine contains essays, interviews, and as told tos from a cross-generational swath of artists of varying backgrounds, including Nile Rogers, Patty Schemel of Hole, Moby, Richard Lloyd of Television, Emily Kempf of Dehd, Annie Truscott of Chastity Belt, and more. Though Einhorn originally conceived of the project as an e-zine, he teamed up with the folks at The Creative Independent to create a print edition of the zine, which anyone can order free of charge via their website.
We recently had the chance to chat with Einhorn about how he came up with the concept for Sober 21, how he pieced it together, his own sobriety, what he hopes people take away from Sober 21, and much more:
It’s really incredible that you’re compiling all of these stories together from sober artists as a reference point for people that are either struggling with sobriety, trying to get sober, or thinking about it. When did you come up with this idea? What motivated you?
Well, it's funny because people often don't know that I’m sober because I'm out in bars DJing, catching shows, or performing with my groups. So, people don’t know that I’ve actually been sober for 24 years. But, I started noticing that as more people in the music industry learned that I was sober, I would get questions from musicians seeking advice. A lot of them had similar fears. They thought they wouldn’t be able to tour anymore or be able to create if they got sober, so I’d try to share some tips and advice to help. Eventually, I thought, how is this information not codified somewhere? So, when I hit 21 years sober, I decided that I’d compile the stories and experiences of 21 musicians as a way to share their tips on how to stay sober. It’s advice that’s very specific to musicians that are trying to make that change or attempting to stay sober.
It sounds like this project has been several years in the making. Has the idea behind it evolved while you were putting it together with respect to how you wanted to present it and what you wanted to convey?
Yeah, that’s a good question. I think it has in two ways. Initially, I thought I’d have each artist write an essay, which worked at first. Then I realized as bigger artists got involved like Nile Rogers and DMC from Run DMC that it was hard to get them to write an essay because they’re very busy. So, I thought, well, I’m a professional interviewer, why don’t I just interview them? So, my vision evolved from a series of essays to a combination of essays, as told tos, and interviews. Sober 21 integrates those three forms, and we used whatever format fit that artist the best. The cool thing was that as some essays came in, I was able to help steer and guide future essays and interviews towards information that hadn’t been covered yet. So, we were able to get a wider range of information and advice.
Originally, Sober 21 was only supposed to be a free e-zine with any potential proceeds/donations going to MusiCares, which is an organization that helps musicians in recovery. We did that, but I also approached the Creative Independent and they offered to make a print version for free. All people have to do is go to their site, request a copy, and they’ll ship it out free of charge. It’s a beautifully bound, gorgeous book. It’s so cool to see how they put it together. I could have never done that on my own.
That’s really interesting that you were able to guide the content. What were some of the ways that you were able to steer some of the interviews and essays? What were some of the aspects of maintaining sobriety that you wanted to make sure were in there?
Totally. Here's an example: I think one thing that a lot of musicians who are just getting sober are scared - well, scared isn’t the right word - really, they’re petrified. They’re petrified about talking to their group of collaborators about this lifestyle change that they’re thinking about undertaking. So, one of the last pieces I did was an interview with Jay Dee Doherty from the Patti Smith Group. He’s been sober for almost 40 years, and he had one or two examples. I also talked with Patty Schmel for Hole and she discussed the conversation that she had with Courtney Love about her own sobriety. I really wanted to flesh that out a little more because it’s a fear that so many musicians would ask me about. So, as I was interviewing Jay, I asked him how did Patti Smith take that? His response was totally unlike what I thought he was going to say. So, it was cool to be able to be an active participant in that conversation.
The other really cool thing about Sober 21 is the broad, cross-generational swath of musicians and creative professionals that it covers. There are contributions from people like Richard Lloyd of Television, but there are also younger artists like Emily Kempf of Dehd. In seeing these types of universal experiences for sober musicians across generations, what do you think has changed in the industry for them? What do you think has stayed the same?
I think what’s stayed the same is the idea that as a musician, you're going to be working every night in a venue that’s serving alcohol and where there are probably drugs somewhere nearby. That hasn’t changed. The hours are grueling being on the road no matter how you’re traveling. It’s hard to make time for things like self-care. As far as what’s changed, I think over the last couple of years, there’s been a real shift in the idea of maintaining wellness. Now, we’re more accepting of the idea that artists should take care of themselves and take the time to actually do the things that they need to stay sane. That’s more accepted now, as it should be.
I also think recovery has entered the mainstream in a different way. For example, when I first got sober, the only example of Alcoholics Anonymous on TV was Blossom's brother from the show Blossom. Now there's like entire series on the subject of recovery. Like, you go to Netflix and there's like half a dozen, really artfully made and nuanced shows about recovery. So, it’s cool that the conversation around recovery has entered popular culture, and as a result, it’s not stigmatized. It’s more of a celebration in some ways. It’s a very cool turning point.
How did you go about putting all of these stories together? Did it start with one or two, and then did you came into a whole bunch of others? Or was it more of a piece-by-piece process?
Right around the time I came up with the idea for this project, I was hanging out with Peter Hook of New Order, and I told him about what I envisioned for Sober 21. We were hanging out in a fancy Manhattan hotel bar, talking about our own sobriety, and I asked him if he’d be comfortable sharing his story. The project was still in the early stages, so I told him that I wasn’t sure when it’d come out or what it would look like, but he was totally down. And so we recorded the first as told to for Sober 21 in this fancy Manhattan hotel bar, which I transcribed. That was the first piece for it. After that, I started reaching out to musicians that I know from working in the industry for 20 years. And I mean, I’m basically a professional music fan. I read every blog and magazine, so I know when an artist talks publicly about getting sober or being sober. So, I collected them piece by piece, but it did take a little while.
Was there anyone in particular that you were surprised to learn was sober while you were doing this?
I don't know if I was surprised during this process, but for some of the people involved, I was surprised to learn they were sober when I first met them. Here's an example: I was hosting Pitchfork radio at Coachella at this beautiful boutique hotel and there were a series of DJs spinning at a pool party. One of the DJs was Tyler Pope from LCD Soundsystem. And, you know, I want to stress that I am not anti-alcohol or anti-drugs. We had an amazing open bar there with mixologists, so I asked Tyler, do you want anything from the bar while you’re getting ready to spin? He replied “I don’t drink,” and I could tell by the way that he said it that he meant he’s sober. I’ve been sober long enough to know, and so I said, “are you sober?” We got to talking and he’d been sober for quite a while, and he was like, “oh man, it’s so nice to have other sober people at this crazy raging alcohol-infused pool party.” So, it was this beautiful connection that we had in the middle of an awesome event. I’ve also worked with Nile Rodgers many time over the years and we’ve connected on our sobriety, so it was cool to be able to share those stories from him, particularly, the time he went to Madonna’s birthday party, entered a drug-induced psychosis, and had to have Gerardo “Rico Suave” bring him home. So, that was interesting.
Was there any story that you found particularly captivating?
Hm, that's really interesting. One thing that really took me off guard was Moby really wanting to talk about his involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA has a tradition where they ask their members not to break their anonymity at the level of press, radio, and film. So, Moby and I are on the phone and he's talking to me about going to AA meetings. And I stopped and said, Moby, you know, AA says that it’s members aren’t supposed to talk about this stuff. He said, well look, nobody who talks about AA publicly represents AA, they’re just a person who goes to the meetings and I want to share my story about that because I think it’s important for people to know. That really changed my view of the project because before that, I thought we wouldn’t involve the 12 steps because of that AA tradition - but then I realized, I’m just the editor. It’s not my job to tell people that they can’t talk about that experience. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I’m drawing out what really helped them stay clean and what they want to talk about. I'm just there to facilitate that conversation. So, Moby really changed it in that way and that definitely took me by surprise. And I do think it was a very important conversation to have.
When did you decide that you wanted to get sober and then ultimately stay sober?
So, I started drinking when I was 13 and using drugs when I was 14. I was on what I call the fast train because I was very quickly doing things like snorting mystery powder that we found on the street, taking tons of psychedelics, smoking weed all the time, and selling weed in order to keep up my habit. I started to experience some real consequences pretty quickly. For example, one thing that I’m reminded of every day when I brush my teeth in the morning is a time when I was a teenager when I fell face-first on the concrete. It must have been 1996 and I was going to see The Specials play at the Metro in Chicago. I took a combination of drugs - some Codeine, some other pills, smoked a ton of weed, and took some mushrooms. You know, just this crazy drug cocktail. So I’m on the train and I started seeing walls of color and at a certain point, I just couldn’t see anymore. The train stops, the doors open, and I completely passed out and fell on my head. I smashed my face down on the concrete. I lost two huge chunks of my front teeth. And I think about that every morning when I brush my teeth - like you want to go back to using? Well, that’s what’s waiting for you, dude. So, I was sober by the time I was 17, which is crazy, but I had probably used more than most people do in their lifetimes. There’s no doubt that I would have been dead within a couple of years if I had continued on that path.
Are there any specific pieces of advice that you’ve held onto during your journey as a sober person? Or any words of wisdom that have helped you stay sober for over two decades?
I think one of the biggest pieces of advice that I received while I was in rehab was that, “you only have to change one thing: everything.” They said, look, you think that after you get clean, you can just go back to the same people and places expecting different results. And that's the definition of insanity. That was very powerful for me. You know, I've worked with a lot of people who do a lot of drugs, and some of them do drugs very safely. They’re not addicts and they’re not alcoholics, but some are. So, there’s a range of people. And so for me now, I’ve learned to reframe those relationships so that they’re not based around drugs or alcohol. As an example, more often than not, when a band that I’m friends with or working with comes to town that I want to show around New York, I’ll say, let’s go to this beautiful vegetarian restaurant since I know you guys are vegetarians, instead of saying, let's go to this awesome cocktail bar. You know what I mean? It's not that I'm avoiding alcohol. I'm out at bars in non-pandemic times on a regular basis for different reasons, but I'm there for a specific reason. And it's not just to soak up the alcohol. I'm there to see people I love or catch music that I love. So, it’s really about reframing those relationships, you know, so that they’re not based on bonding over drinking or using anymore, but instead about bonding over a love of music and actual human connection. Like real talk, you know?
For people who are struggling to stay sober or considering getting sober, what do you hope they take away from Sober 21?
I just hope people look at this and think, I can do it. I didn't think I could do it, but I did it and now I'm also hearing these 21 people telling their story of how they were able to do it. Maybe someone who reads it can then realize that they can also do it.
It's really important to me to say that not everyone who uses or drinks is an alcoholic or drug addict, by any means. It's a small number of the people who use or drink who are addicts, but for them, this is really life and death. And it’s like Nile Rogers said, his career is better than it’s ever been because he’s sober. He’s had more hits than he’s ever had and he’s more productive than he’s ever been. Richard Lloyd from Television said he can rip solos now that he never could have done before when he was drinking. And I want people to know that is real. The myth of having to do drugs and drink to create is nothing more than that. It's a destructive, deadly myth, and we can live free.
How’d you connect with the Creative Independent to publish the print edition of Sober 21?
Brandon Stosuy founded The Creative Independent and we used to work together at Pitchfork. He was overseeing Pitchfork Radio many years back and we became very friendly. I just loved his attitude. He was so artist forward and he was really the opposite of that sort of “gotcha journalism” where you’re trying to use an artist to get something. He was all about building relationships and going deep with people. That really struck me. And so, as I started putting this together, I had a few places in mind that I would have liked to work with, but he was the very first one I thought of going to because I had previously seen his attitude towards artists. Also, I’ve seen the work that The Creative Independent has done in creating things like zines, and they’re all beautiful and very well done. I saw the care that they gave to each project. I knew that this project, because it’s quite a big project in some ways, needed a lot of care. Luckily, they were my first ask, and they were super excited about it.
You can download an electronic copy of the zine or order a print edition free of charge via The Creative Independent. Keep up with Elia by following him on Instagram and Twitter.
