1150: Randy Blythe | Making Peace with the Wars Inside His Head
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How did Randy Blythe start his journey to sobriety?
Coming up next on the Jordan Harbinger Show. 2010, we were in Australia on tour with Metallica. And I woke up one day and I looked out on my hotel room balcony and I was like, I don't want to live anymore. It wasn't like I was suicidal. I just wanted to be erased from existence. James Hetfield and some of his guitar techs, who I knew were sober, they had talked to me. Dude, you might want to dial it back a little bit. And then I was like, maybe you stop drinking and doing drugs, James. your life might get better.
Welcome to the show. I'm Jordan Harbinger. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker through long-form conversations with a variety of incredible people, from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, and performers, even the occasional hacker, astronaut, or even real-life pirate. Yes, those still exist. And if you're new to the show, or you're looking for a handy way to tell your friends about it, I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of our favorite episodes on topics such as persuasion and negotiation, psychology and geopolitics, disinformation, China, North Korea, crime and cults, and more. That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show.
Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start, or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Now, today on the show, lead singer of metal band, and it's probably even like Heavier than that, but whatever. Lamb of God. Randy Blythe joins me here in studio. I'm not much of a metal guy, but Randy has quite a story from his upbringing to his music career, the way he views the business, creativity, touring, recording, merch, and more. He's battled addiction, the music industry, even a murder charge that landed him in a Nazi prison castle in another country, which, well, yeah, we'll hear about that. It wasn't necessarily a fun time. However, this conversation was fun. It's insightful, and I think you're really going to enjoy it. even if you don't listen to music that's loud enough to break your car windows. All right, here we go with Randy Blythe. 30 years in the band. That's an objectively long time for any project, but I think for music, it's got to be top percentile of we haven't killed each other yet.
I'm just astounded by constantly. I realize that we're heading into legacy territory, and it's super rare. A lot of the great bands that I listened to when I was younger lasted five, six years.
What is the story behind Lamb of God's musical success?
Yeah. It's surprising when you read that. You go, wait, what? That was seven years?
But they're eternal in your mind and in your sort of emotional connection to this music because it's so important to you.
What genre would you say it is?
Because everyone has their different sort of... It's just extreme metal, just descendant of thrash or whatever. Just extreme metal.
Do you guys all get along pretty well? Yes. That's important, eh?
Better now than we ever did before.
That's impressive.
And it's rare. That's another thing.
Grievances add up over time. I think every human knows that.
I think we started as such a sort of cantankerous group of gentlemen, combative. And over the years, we've learned, I mean, not 100%, but we've learned more and more to shelve the ego. This is my way. I want this. and really think about the greater good. So we have a saying in Lamb of God, which is, better is better. That's a hard pill to swallow if you've written something that you think is genius and everybody else is, I don't know, dude. But an old saying from writing, often attributed to Tennessee Williams, you must be willing to murder your darlings.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
How did Randy Blythe start his journey to sobriety?
0:29–2:56
2
What is the story behind Lamb of God's musical success?
2:56–7:45
3
How does Randy Blythe handle fame and ego?
7:45–14:52
4
What led to Randy Blythe's arrest in the Czech Republic?
14:52–30:10
5
How does Randy Blythe view the impact of beliefs on personal growth?
30:10–38:30
6
How does Randy Blythe balance personal and environmental ethics?
38:30–46:46
7
What challenges do musicians face on tour?
46:46–1:49:51
Speakers
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