Korben Dallas frontman Juraj Benetin hasn’t had a drink in almost six years. When he started thinking about stopping drinking, he didn’t see himself as an alcoholic. He only realized this at the AT Sanatorium, which helps with addictions.
“They told me that I basically still have some level of alcohol in my blood. I don’t like it. And when it goes down, I go for the bottle. That’s why I drink every day,” describes Benetin.
In the interview he says:
why he started thinking about stopping drinking, what were the beginnings like without alcohol, how much he was offered for alcohol ads, but also how he felt when those closest to him told him to stop drinking.
How can a frontman of a rock band not drink?
There are only two types of rock band frontmen – those who don’t drink anymore and those who shouldn’t.
So it’s not a prejudice and frontmen of rock bands really have problems with alcohol?
In my opinion, yes. It’s not for everyone, and there are people who can drink moderately, appropriately and socially, but the vast majority of those I know have some sort of problem. And it would be best if they stopped. The second part is already abstinent.
Lasky, Matúš Vallo and all of Korben Dallas abstain. Is this a new trend or does it come with age?
Certainly with age. But it is true that opportunity makes a thief. You’re in a bar, hanging out and playing for people for fun. They want to have fun there, they drink – you are in an environment where it is difficult to drink just right.
You haven’t had a drink in six years. What was the moment when you decided to quit drinking?
It was a period when I thought I had to do something about it. It lasted about two years. It also had a little to do with the birth of my second son. When he was born, we took a break from playing with the band for almost a year. But that was just a workaround.
When you weren’t playing, did you drink?
I was just drinking. I thought it was part of the solution – I won’t be playing for a while and will be more with my wife Lucka and newborn Kubko. I was 38 at the time, it was already ripe in me that I should do something about drinking. At work, in the band and at home, I had situations where it was obvious that alcohol was not doing me any good in any sense. And it fits into everything I like.
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