Tyler Posey is a man of many talents. He flexed his acting chops on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” for years and continued to impress audiences with his performances in 2018’s “Truth or Dare” and 2020’s “Alone.” But that’s not all. He’s also a skilled musician, performing in bands Lost in Kostko, PVMNTS and Five North. Now, Posey is finally making his solo debut with his groundbreaking and heavily personal EP, “Drugs.”
Posey wrote the EP as a document of his journey with sobriety, hence the title. It dives into his many struggles and triumphs, showing every facet of Posey’s experience. We sat down with Posey to discuss his debut EP and his upcoming tour opening for Mod Sun. Take a look at our interview and stay tuned for our extended feature with Posey coming to magazine stands later this year.
Tell us what inspired you to make this EP?
This started out as any other album with my band Five North, then halfway through this EP, I decided to go solo. This EP carries a lot of weight: one because it’s my first solo release, but also because of the meaning behind it.
It’s called “Drugs” and it’s about me becoming sober, dealing with sobriety, dealing with depression for the first time without [choosing to] turn to a substance to abuse and dealing with missing getting fucked up. It’s also about starting this new life and realizing there’s this brand new, beautiful world that’s better than being high all of the time.
There’s just a lot behind this EP and I didn’t go into it with this idea. I wasn’t like, “We’re going to write an album about being sober.” I got sober after the first two songs were recorded and John Feldmann ( of Goldfinger and Head of A&R for Posey’s label, Big Noise Music Group) was someone who I leaned on. I was like, “Dude, I think I need help. I have a problem.” It was hard to admit at first and we didn’t plan on writing songs about sobriety either. That’s just what’s was happening and what was prevalent in both of our lives at the time.
Which songs on the EP specifically tie in to your journey with sobriety?
There’s a song called “Past Life,” which is very cathartic and tells you the whole story as to how I started getting fucked up, then how my life is better outside of getting fucked up. It goes “I feel fucking everything and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” so it’s very uplifting. Not only does it say, “Sobriety is awesome,” it shows you why I started getting addicted and what I was trying to coverup or run away from.
You’ll be performing this EP on Mod Sun’s “Internet Killed the Rockstar” tour. What will this tour look like for you?
It’s something I’m really excited for. I just played my first show sober at Lollapalooza, but I’ve never been sober on tour before. I’m excited to get close to my Big Noise family and to just open up. Normally when I’m on tour I’ve headlined and there’s a lot of added pressure. Now I just get to show up, play a couple of badass punk rock songs and just leave the stage.