“Success came suddenly and I didn’t know how to assimilate it,” says Mai Meneses, who talks about her battle with addictions and mental illness in a book.
The Nena Daconte duo went out of the box to win an Ondas Award, reaching the coveted number one spot on Los 40 Principales in just nine months. But Mai Meneses, the singer – the first to be ousted in the second edition of OT – never believed she deserved that support and practiced vicious sabotage on herself. He took the stage after consuming several beers and countless joints. In the book ‘I had so much to give you’ (Plaza & Janés) he portrays his struggle against mental illness, addictions and the dark side of his musical triumph.
–With ‘I had so much to give you’, their mythical song, they triumphed in the commercial circuit without giving up their ‘indie’ identity and enjoying the stamp of quality.
-We were halfway between the commercial and the alternative, but that was not the intention. It was about our way of doing things. I compose songs with catchy choruses, but dressed in arrangements that are not typical of pop. Success came suddenly and I did not know how to assimilate it. My head began to distort reality.
-In your book you admit that you drank and used drugs. Weren’t you afraid to join that list of artists, like Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse, who succumbed to their addictions?
I had many ballots. For three years I was quite lost. Just when we were very successful, I started destroying myself. His self-esteem was at an all-time low. She suffered from impostor syndrome. I thought I didn’t deserve what happened to us. All this led me to avoid alcohol and substances. When I hit rock bottom, I spoke to my parents, who helped me get out of there. Since then I have been very close to my psychiatrist.
“Do you know what’s happening to you?”
-I’m bipolar. I have more depressive episodes followed by other euphoric ones. I have been on medication for years and am stable. Now I am a normal and ordinary person.
-But his link to the drink preceded his success.
–Alcohol is so accepted in society! I started drinking when I was 13 years old and I have always been able to get drunk easily. The music world encourages it much more because almost all artists have stage fright. Drinking slows you down, gives you a degree of security and makes you a more outgoing person, but if you go too far, it’s dangerous. Besides, in this medium there are a lot of bipolar people and they don’t know it. We get into trouble because we have a special predisposition to get into trouble.
– Yours sounds like a musical version of “Sleeping With His Enemy.”
–Ha, ha, ha… I wouldn’t say much. I think what happened is that we went through two different vital moments. I was immersed in my insecurity. If it hadn’t been for this, half the things they said to me wouldn’t have touched me. I’m not trying to hurt or do justice to anyone. It’s what happened.
-But everyone thought that the key to success lay in the talent of his partner.
-I also thought it was the image projected outside and I think it was because I was a man. The composition of the songs, which was mine, did not prevail, but the production of the song. He lived it from that point of view, that of I am the boss, because without me this would not have happened.
– He decides to disband the formation if they have to travel to Mexico for the international jump.
-Yes. I didn’t want to share my life with that person anymore. I knew I could lose everything and yet my mental health took precedence over professional success. Failure felt great to me.
–What would you advise young people now embarking on a musical career, eager for gold records, mega concerts and hordes of fans demanding encores?
-It’s very simple, I would tell them to forget about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll and see their work as a top sport, a serious job that requires a lot of mental and physical effort.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
