Beyond the Applause with Gorillaz Bassist Seye AdelekanBeyond the Applause with Gorillaz Bassist Seye Adelekan
Sober Awkward
Fame, Belonging and Sobriety
53:52•26 Jul 2026
Bass Lines and Sobriety: Seye Adelekan on Fame, Identity and Life Beyond Booze
Episode Overview
- Everyone’s relationship with alcohol and recovery is individual, so copying someone else’s path can be unhelpful.
- True self-worth comes from recognising your value beyond career, talent or being the life of the party.
- Sobriety can make performances more present and connected, enhancing creativity, empathy and listening on stage.
- Support networks and what Vic calls “sobriety capital” (family, housing, work, community) can make sustained recovery more achievable.
- Learning to sit with ordinary, quieter feelings instead of chasing constant highs is a key skill in long-term sobriety.
“If there's one thing I'd like to stress to people listening and watching is everybody's journey with sobriety is individual.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of Sober Awkward brings together bass player Seye Adelekan and host Vic for a warm, very real chat about fame, family and staying sober on some of the biggest stages on earth. Seye, best known as the live bassist for Gorillaz, talks about growing up between Nigeria, Holland, the UK and Ecuador, and how being the kid who never quite blended in fed into his drinking.
He shares how a strict Christian upbringing, early music success and later being dropped from a record deal all pushed him towards alcohol and drugs as a way to feel cool, worthy and less alone. A major turning point came with a 10‑month rehab programme where he wasn’t allowed to play music for the first 16 weeks.
That break triggered a painful identity crisis, but it also led him to ask, "Who am I without this?" He explains how taking stock of both the damage he’d done and the good in him helped rebuild his self-worth: "I have value even if I don't play music.
I have value when I'm not drinking and not the life and soul of the party." Now over seven years sober, Seye talks frankly about performing stone cold sober, the rush of applause, and why the hardest moments can be the happy ones when you’re tempted to supercharge every good feeling. He emphasises that "everybody's journey with sobriety is individual" and urges people not to copy anyone else’s recovery plan but to assess their own life, trauma and needs.
You’ll hear about sobriety capital, support in the music industry, learning to enjoy quieter days, and why real love can be easy to overlook next to online likes. If you’re wondering what a full, creative life can look like without booze, this conversation might spark a new way of looking at your own story.
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