The Gym Class Heroes front man almost went broke making his new solo album.
He wouldnt change a thing.
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When I first spoke toTravie McCoyfor this piece in early September, his piss had never been clearer.
I have a pretty addictive personality, and its really not that fun at all.
When we catch up ten months later, hes honest right off the bat: Hes been drinking again.
I was like,Fuck this, playground my ass.
Im gonna write shit in my journals!
He formed Gym Class Heroes as a teenager in 1997 with his friends Matt McGinley and Ryan Geise.
Later, they joinedPete Wentzs label Decaydance, an incubator for alternative artists that didnt quite fit anywhere else.
Gym Class Heroes playful, self-referential, and genre-bending tracks baffled critics but they had their fans.
Recently, though, things have been quieter for McCoy.
ForNever Slept Betterto come to fruition, McCoy had to lay his personal and professional issues to rest.
How are you doing?
Last time we spoke you were in good spirits.Im doing great.
I got an album dropping!
Weve had a lot of videos out, a lot of singles.
Its all been really well-received.
I cant lie I did expect people to react the way they have.
Theyre fun songs, and they let people know where I am with the state of things.
How would you describe this record?The whole record is ten years in the making.
Thats a lot of life, a lot of loss.
There are songs on the album that I wrote years ago that we revamped and turned into other things.
I had some issues with management and labels, I guess they wanted another Billionaire, another Cupids Chokehold.
Im like, Im 40 years old.
Beyond that, we laid some grudges to rest pretty early on in the making of this record.
That was another hurdle.
It was ultimately made to be different.
The highs, the lows, the very highs, the very lows.
Theres a common thread, and I think its overcoming the low lows.
The songs that are better are happy and triumphant.
Those came from making the songs that werent so triumphant.
I cant go out on tour as Gym Class Heroes without Gym Class Heroes.
I just dont feel right.
Honestly, it was the best choice I could ever have made.
The more the album progressed, the more things started getting better for my career.
I got back in contact with my original booking agent, which was awesome.
We both cried like girls, and its awesome to have him on the team.
Our long-time tour manager for Gym Class Heroes is now managing me and doing a hell of a job.
Youre now on an indie label, Hopeless Records, too.
They were like, This is fucking awesome, but what are the singles?
Im like,You guys missed the whole point.
Weve come this far, why not go the distance?
I couldnt be more excited.
Its hard to do things your own way on major labels.
Im not a kid anymore.
I know what I like, I know what I want.
Majors can be cunning and stifling.
Its a tight-knit group of people who actually care about each other.
Im independent as fuck for the rest of my life.
I touched one of those posters, and it was still warm off the copy machine.
We still laugh about that shit.
The last time I was in a major-label building, it was some time before the pandemic in L.A. Like, really, thats how were signing people?
I can show you some really dumb videos that have a lot of views.
Are you gauging artistry by how well somebody can do the flossing dance?
What the fuck is going on?
Why are you giving these kids record deals?
I was never taught how to do an interview.
We never thought Cupids Chokehold would launch us into the stratosphere, and I wasnt ready for it.
I was nowhere near ready for what was to come.
But in the process, I feel like it gave me tough skin.
In artist development, they show you the ropes and how to have a long and prosperous career.
Theres none of that anymore because they dont expect any of these kids to have long and prosperous careers.
Its a really hard world to stay sane in, and I know youve struggled.
How long were you sober before?I was real bad on opioids back in the day.
I went to a treatment center.
Ive literally stopped counting the days, but I think it was 2012.
Close to ten years.
Every night, I would wake up feeling guilty and have to reassure myself that I didnt go anywhere.
Beyond that, I feel like Im not my true self when Im wasted.
Going into this record cycle, I dont want to be fucked up.
Back in the day, there were Gym Class tours that I barely remember.
Ill be scrolling YouTube and a show will pop up, Gym Class Heroes St. Louis 2006.
Im like,Holy shit, who is this dude?
He looks cool as shit but he was completely on another planet.
Is it harder to spot if its a different problem?
Does your mind kind of goes,Well, at least its not opioids?Absolutely.
When I was younger, I never bought into AA.
Theres a lot of knowledge to gain from people who have been through way worse than you have.
I was like,Alright, I wont do Oxys, Ill just do Vicodin.
There is always an alternative in an addicts brain.
That was my thing, I would just drink rose and shit.
This is my sanctuary.
There were kids in the streets dying every day.
When heroin started reaching the fucking Hamptons, theyre like, We need to take care of this.
What are you really doing to stop this?
As opposed to putting people who need help in jail?
Theyll never put the people whose fault this is in jail.
Thats how I got caught up in doing opiates.
When I finally got out of the hospital, they sent me home with a huge prescription.
Thats where it started, and I completely bottomed out after that.
I was sweating and puking out of every hole.
I was hallucinating it was intense.
My dads like, What are you doing?
Its crazy how theyre so quick to prescribe these crazy heavy narcotic drugs.
But youre good now?
Hes this old Italian guy from the Bronx, the coolest motherfucker ever, he rides motorcycles and shit.
I warmed up to him.
He pretty much saved my life.
Him and my niece definitely saved my life.
I have a really good psychiatrist as well, and they work together in the same building.
They have a good relationship, too.
Its cool to have a dope team.
You have your fiancee, too.
I get so high being onstage.
By the time the shows over, I just want to sleep.
I feel like I got a lot of that amateur rock-star shit out at an early age.
Im too old to be going to college parties and shit.
I got fur babies at home.
I felt like I couldnt even think my own thoughts.
We didnt give a fuck.
We were four dudes from four different backgrounds, and we made music together.
It just happened; it wasnt intentional.
I feel like a lot of shit out now is so contrived, but this shit happens in cycles.
I listen to that shit today.
I grew up with everything.
I listened to old jazz records, Philly Soul.
I love anything from the 70s and early 80s.
Mostly stuff I heard growing up Im a nostalgia junkie.
I love shit that brings me back to being a kid.
I listen to everything, but its a weird space were in musically.
I feel like a lot of people make music for TikTok, which is so fucking crazy to me.
There always is and always has been.
You grew up with hard-core, right?
Thats where you found your place.Having all this pent-up aggression, thank God I found music.
It was a good time.
You were well-located for it.
New Jersey and Long Island werent far away.Philly too.
Philly is two hours from New York.
It has an insane hard-core scene.
You got 45-year-old housewives, teenagers, Black, brown, white people.
I was like,Oh shit, we did this.
Everybodys there, no fussing, no fighting the whole time.
Just enjoying themselves and having a good time.
Thats always literally my favorite part of touring, looking at that line.
That shows you how strong and powerful music is.
This is totally off subject, but I just bought this eight-foot blow-up for the pool.
Its a pirate ship.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
