Randy Blythe Talks To RVA News about Photography, Social Media And Sobriety
Online news site RVA News, based in Lamb Of God’s home town Richmond, Virginia, recently sat down with frontman Randy Blythe to discuss his photography and more.
Randy discussed how he decided to ‘unplug’ from social media after what he describes as a ‘rough’ Twitter bender ;
“This Twitter thing, I started interacting with people, and I had 40-50,000 people following me. When you have that much humanity directed at one person–the hive mind–people become upset when you don’t talk to them or, if they say rude things to you, because I’m a public person, people seem to think that through the anonymity of the Internet they can say whatever they want.”
Randy’s original intention was to disconnect from the internet entirely, and write about his experiences, but after speaking to Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta, he decided to make a film instead. To that end he purchased a Canon EOS 60D and set about learning how to use it.
Unforeseen to Randy, but the situation in Czech Republic affected his plans- suddenly he needed the internet to communicate with lawyers back in the US. Despite the postponement of his film, Randy’s new found passion for photography remained.
“When I returned to the Czech Republic earlier this year to stand trial, I made it a point to photograph as much of Prague as possible, for it’s a beautiful city. Towards the end of my trial, I returned to walk the surrounding grounds of Pankrác Remand Prison, the 123 year old crumbling prison where I was held for 34 of my 37 days of incarceration. It was quite strange being there, looking at it from the outside, wondering if I would return to its confines at the end of my trial.”
Randy left Twitter, but shortly after replaced it with Instagram, which he prefers as it allows him to express the thought process behind an image in a way that a 140 character tweet couldn’t;
“I’ve gotten some really nice constructive criticism and some valuable information from Instagram, from followers who happen to be professional photographers.”
Randy’s heavy drinking came about when Lamb Of God began to find success. No longer needing a straight and steady job, and having a reasonable income he “just went crazy, drinking”. His touring cycles meant he was drinking heavily while working overseas, and then sobering up on his return home. Around 2010, Randy confided in friends while on tour and decided to stop drinking.
“When I sobered up, photography became great. Right now I’m writing a memoir of my last year. That never would have happened had I been drunk. I never would have made it through my trial in one piece had I been drunk. Sobriety enabled me to do things”
You can read the full article over at RVA News.
-LambOfGodNews
Young Fan Interviews Mark Morton (And Does A Good Job Too!) At UK’s Bloodstock Festival
I always trawl YouTube after a major Lamb Of God tour searching for interesting interviews and stories to share with the fans. I’ve seen a lot of below-par and uninteresting interviews over the years.
‘EQPTV’ managed to catch an interview with Mark Morton while he prepared for the band’s headlining gig at Bloodstock Festival in the UK, and actually posed some great questions, despite the interviewers age!
-LambOfGodNews
Lamb Of God News 