We recently caught up with Paddy Cornwall from Sydney favourite Sticky Fingers, who recounted the tough times he and his bandmates experienced over the past 12 months as they made their way around the country and the world on a golden road paved with sold-out tour dates.

According to Paddy, whilst the outsiders looking in may have seen a band living the dream, for the band members it was a lot harder. “I had a bit of a nervous breakdown, and there was this period where I wasn’t sleeping well, where I wasn’t feeling too well in the head,” he said.

In fact, as Paddy recently revealed, the band nearly broke up last year but were saved by an unlikely guardian angel. “The band came very close to breaking up last year. There was this point where it wasn’t going to go on,” Paddy revealed in an interview with Music Feeds.

“I think we were just pushing ourselves a bit too hard and we were just getting a bit burnt out and then the next thing you know we’re dealing with psych wards and rehab clinics and punch ups and all sorts of other types of meltdowns.”

“Then we couldn’t get some visas sorted to get over to our tour of the States. So morale for the band was pretty low and we felt like if we weren’t going to get over there, that might’ve been it for us.”

“But then miraculously, we got it sorted. Anthony Albanese got wise to the fact that we were having some trouble because of minor criminal record stuff like drink driving charges et cetera. But it turns out he was a fan of the band, so he got us all cleared and got us over there.”

Yep, you can thank Albo for bringing Sticky Fingers back from the brink of collapse. According to Paddy, it was on the band’s recent US tour that the bandmates, who hadn’t spoken in months, reconnected and remembered why they love being in a band so much in the first place.

“That night we all had this real classic band moment where we were on stage, playing together and all the bulls**t just washed away and we remembered, all of the crap aside, we love doing what we do and making music together,” said Paddy. “We had the most incredible time falling in love with each other and the band again in America.”

Sticky Fingers are heading out on a national tour in October (dates below), and will be counting in the new year at Beyond The Valley. Their new album Westway (The Glitter and the Slums) will be released this Friday via Warner/Sureshaker.

STICKY FINGERS NATIONAL TOUR DATES

Friday 28 October
Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Friday 4 November
The Tivoli, Brisbane

Saturday 5 November
NightQuarter, Gold Coast

Friday 11 November
Odeon Theatre, Hobart

Saturday 12 November
Festival Hall, Melbourne

Friday 18 November
Metro City, Perth

Saturday 19 November
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

Wednesday 30 November
Beyond The Valley Music Festival, Lardner VIC

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