Michael Stipe: The Interview interview

(Link via Perpetua)

courtesy of last.fm

Interview Magazine recently posted a pretty meaty article on REM's Michael Stipe. He candidly talks about his band, growing up in the early years of AIDS awareness, and even his bout with bulimia:

We had moved out of opening for the Gang of Four or The English Beat. At that point we were playing our own shows and people liked us, but I was unraveling on the inside. I was also vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants without meat. I didn't know how to eat properly and I was starving. I was adrenalized to the eyeballs from performing. I was afraid that I was sick with AIDS. We were playing five shows a week. I even went through a period of abstinence where I didn't drink and stopped having sex. Which is crazy. Maybe I'm answering too many questions at once here, but this is where my mind was at the age of 25.

I hate throwing out platitudes,  but I think those few sentences speak volumes about the multi-faceted nature of eating disorders, their persistence in the music industry (that's compounded by road travel/bad food), and men's resistance to talking about what is thought of as a "woman's disease."

Eating Disorders and the Music Indsutry

(Originally posted at BlogHer )

Although it's no secret that actresses and models are under intense pressure to stay thin, you don't often hear of the same disordered eating plaguing the music industry. Recently, singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield went public with her battle with anorexia, that ultimately required inpatient treatment at an eating disorders clinic. She also chronicled her struggle on her blog. Mamapop's Miss Banshee: