The Streets star says life at the height of fame was 'traumatic' after tragedies
The Streets musician Mike Skinner has claimed his life was "incredibly traumatic" at the height of his success.
Mike, 44, found fame as a member of the group which formed in 1994 alongside band members Johnny Jenkins and Stuart Coleman. However, over the course of their career, the line-up has changed as the band rode the unpredictable wave of the music business.
Although they formed in the 90s, the group didn't release music until the early 2000s. They went on to spawn several Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart, as well as enjoying a Number One with Dry Your Eyes. While Birmingham-born Mike admits that the top hit continues to pay for his mortgage, life was very different for him at the time of its success.
In a new interview, he opened up about his life shortly after the release of their third album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living which came two years after the 2004 release of Dry Your Eyes. At the time, Skinner's mental health rapidly deteriorated following a string of family tragedies.
Mike Skinner has opened up about his life at the height of his fame (Monika Skolimowska/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)The 2006 release of their third album documented his downward spiral following the devastating deaths of his dad, auntie and niece who all died in a close time period. Reflecting on this, Skinner told The Independent that it was "incredibly traumatic". As well as the loss of his loved ones, he had lost tens of thousands of pounds on spread-betting.
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Spread betting is a strategy when the person betting does not own the assets that they're betting on, including stock and commodity. Spread betters speculate whether the asset's prices will rise or drop and often use prices offered by a broker. He told the publication: "I wouldn't want to do that again. Which seems crazy, being in the charts, being in the newspapers…
"I like the Noel Gallagher attitude: it's your job to show the next generation that it's amazing being a creative. Stop complaining and take your mental collapse like a proper rock star." Despite being at the top of their game when they released their third album, the band flogged 700,000 copies – a lot less than its predecessor which sold 3 million.
However, Mike appears to be much more relaxed with life now and said: "I don't have the feeling of being watched all the time any more, which is great. On my second or third album, you'd walk in somewhere and people would start talking about you. You didn't know what people were going to do."
Nowadays and one hundred thousand pounds poorer, Mike has found himself fully immersed in the film world and recently made his film director debut with The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light. The project took ten years to create and Mike says it was the "hardest thing" he's ever done. "It was triggering to watch," he commented.
*If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email [email protected]
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