On Craig Owens
This is a really painful first blog to write, actually. I wish it could have been about some of the other dozen topics I had been kicking around the past week in my head but today kinda changed all of that.
At about 12:05pm today, I got an IM from photographer and close friend of Craig Owens', Nicole Rork, letting me know about a posting Craig had made to his website 18 minutes earlier where he admitted that he had tried to overdose yesterday afternoon (Sunday, July 20) at his home in Michigan. He went on to say in the post that he had been to the ER during that afternoon, was released and was planning to admit himself into a "mental clinic", as he described it, but that he was okay and that everything was going to be fine.
It was so strange because I just had received in the mail from Amazon.com a copy of the Chiodos Bros.' The Heartless Control Everything and was opening the box the moment Nicole IM'd me with the news of Craig. Just weird.
I then made a flurry of phone calls to his publicist, manager and Chiodos band mates, confirming the story and learning that Craig was already back home and resting with his family.
AP has a cover story with Craig coming out in a few weeks (I wrote it) and in it he describes how hard it has been for him to get used to the constant criticism a band receives as they get bigger. He's just a super-sensitive guy: in one sense, he cares immensely about you but in the other, he really does get hurt by many of the flippant negative comments posted on message boards. He's been struggling with this for quite some time and it's only gotten worse as the pressure has increased on he and the band to take it to the next level.
When I went up to his place to do the interview for the story, it was the first time I had gotten to spend more than a few hours with him and I really began to see that other side of him that not a lot of people have seen regularly: He's always full of ideas, his talents and heart are huge, and he can read anyone like a book, instantly caring about them. He loves horror movies, basketball and reads a crap load of books. The guy is just a decent person.
But he's had his struggles and now has a growing support group of friends and industry people that are surrounding him with help, love and advice; telling him to ignore the critics and believe in himself thoroughly- not just when it comes to his career (which is in full-motion currently.)
Chiodos performed an absolutely-killer set at the Detroit Warped tour last Friday (7/18/08), he has plans for more Cinematic Sunrise dates and a solo gig in Pontiac, Michigan on July 26th, and his record label is repackaging Bone Palace Ballet with a DVD and four new Chiodos songs for a holiday release. He has plenty of things to look forward to over the next few months.
When I was speaking with his management and band mates, they had asked me if we would not run this story about his suicide attempt as they had talked to Craig and he had decided to delete the post to his website. They just felt that this was more of a private matter and that he needed to deal with this with his family and not in the public eye at this point as it would have caused even more pressure on him and given him more questions to answer. So, I obliged and didn't run it today out of respect for Craig, despite his original posting of the news to his website for less than an hour.
Despite what you may think, this give-and-take between artists and press happens all the time. If you work with them in their time of need, they learn to trust you and the relationship you have with them just becomes more solid. It's that "off the record" trust that comes with being a journalist. I've been doing this for 23 years and it wouldn't have been the first time we had been asked for some privacy on a matter with an artist.
Later this afternoon, absolutepunk.net ran the story anyway with a link to the original cache from his website of his journal posting of the story. By 13 pages into the news post on absolutepunk, there were comments from posters saying he was a failure at killing himself, unsubstantiated rumor-spreading of Craig punching girls and further slagging on his band and he, personally.
I dunno, sometimes doing the right thing is just better and I know I'll be able to live with myself about not running it when I could have.
I hope you're well, Craig.
At about 12:05pm today, I got an IM from photographer and close friend of Craig Owens', Nicole Rork, letting me know about a posting Craig had made to his website 18 minutes earlier where he admitted that he had tried to overdose yesterday afternoon (Sunday, July 20) at his home in Michigan. He went on to say in the post that he had been to the ER during that afternoon, was released and was planning to admit himself into a "mental clinic", as he described it, but that he was okay and that everything was going to be fine.
It was so strange because I just had received in the mail from Amazon.com a copy of the Chiodos Bros.' The Heartless Control Everything and was opening the box the moment Nicole IM'd me with the news of Craig. Just weird.
I then made a flurry of phone calls to his publicist, manager and Chiodos band mates, confirming the story and learning that Craig was already back home and resting with his family.
AP has a cover story with Craig coming out in a few weeks (I wrote it) and in it he describes how hard it has been for him to get used to the constant criticism a band receives as they get bigger. He's just a super-sensitive guy: in one sense, he cares immensely about you but in the other, he really does get hurt by many of the flippant negative comments posted on message boards. He's been struggling with this for quite some time and it's only gotten worse as the pressure has increased on he and the band to take it to the next level.
When I went up to his place to do the interview for the story, it was the first time I had gotten to spend more than a few hours with him and I really began to see that other side of him that not a lot of people have seen regularly: He's always full of ideas, his talents and heart are huge, and he can read anyone like a book, instantly caring about them. He loves horror movies, basketball and reads a crap load of books. The guy is just a decent person.
But he's had his struggles and now has a growing support group of friends and industry people that are surrounding him with help, love and advice; telling him to ignore the critics and believe in himself thoroughly- not just when it comes to his career (which is in full-motion currently.)
Chiodos performed an absolutely-killer set at the Detroit Warped tour last Friday (7/18/08), he has plans for more Cinematic Sunrise dates and a solo gig in Pontiac, Michigan on July 26th, and his record label is repackaging Bone Palace Ballet with a DVD and four new Chiodos songs for a holiday release. He has plenty of things to look forward to over the next few months.
When I was speaking with his management and band mates, they had asked me if we would not run this story about his suicide attempt as they had talked to Craig and he had decided to delete the post to his website. They just felt that this was more of a private matter and that he needed to deal with this with his family and not in the public eye at this point as it would have caused even more pressure on him and given him more questions to answer. So, I obliged and didn't run it today out of respect for Craig, despite his original posting of the news to his website for less than an hour.
Despite what you may think, this give-and-take between artists and press happens all the time. If you work with them in their time of need, they learn to trust you and the relationship you have with them just becomes more solid. It's that "off the record" trust that comes with being a journalist. I've been doing this for 23 years and it wouldn't have been the first time we had been asked for some privacy on a matter with an artist.
Later this afternoon, absolutepunk.net ran the story anyway with a link to the original cache from his website of his journal posting of the story. By 13 pages into the news post on absolutepunk, there were comments from posters saying he was a failure at killing himself, unsubstantiated rumor-spreading of Craig punching girls and further slagging on his band and he, personally.
I dunno, sometimes doing the right thing is just better and I know I'll be able to live with myself about not running it when I could have.
I hope you're well, Craig.
52 Comments:
This was very big of you.
I love when I see the media do the right thing. As an aspiring journalist, this gives me hope. I admire you and AP magazine more than ever. Thank you.
Totally agree with everything you said. Couldn't be put into better words. Some people on AP.net are just such assholes and they have no clue what people are going through. It's sad. I hope that Craig gets well and can continue on with his life in better spirits then the ones recently.
If people are really going to be so insensitive towards someone so amazing when he needs love and support the most, then theyre all assholes. I can't believe that anyone could be so horrible, and as for absolutepunk, i wont read them anymore, not after they would use the story after he asked not to. craig owens is an amazing person & i hope that everything becomes better for him
Has anyone asked him to remove it yet? I mean, I think if enough people im him, and message him, it has to come down right?
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this is extremly awesome of you to post this, it gives good praise to craig, and is also informative. since now that craigs message is posted on ten diff. sites i'm glad you can clarify it in a good way, and one that is not hurtful to him. the comments on absolutepunk are completly ridiculous. obviously some people don't have a heart. HOWEVER,
i really respect this what you had to say, good job. :)
i undertsand that the pressure can really get to someone in the spotlight as much as craig, but i hope he knows that hes already accomplished so much and has an amazing amount of talent.
its really awesome of you to respect him by not posting the story though.
This is why I respect you, Mike.
My thoughts and prayers are with Craig and his family. Take care of yourself boy, we want you happy and well.
Mike!
You did an awesome thing! You weren't afraid to stick your neck out and let the cut throat jerks take the story!
Its great to know that there are still people with integrity- GOOD WORK!
Gosh, the people on Absolute Punk are asses.
Mike, I respect you for not posting the story.
By the way, I just got my new AP today and the Craig story is absolutely amazing. It is so comforting to see that my hero has to deal with similar feelings that I have to.
Yeah, there were a few select assholes who said disrespectful and heartless things on Ap.net, but seriously, there tons of people wishing nothing but the best for Craig that went unmentioned in your blog. Yeah, so Owens might read the low comments on Ap.net, but he's even more likely to read your blog and get the wrong impression of the overall sentiment of the thread. While I think the news shouldn't have even been posted out of respect, there are doubtlessly hundreds of people who not only have him in their thoughts and prayers but are rethinking the bullshit they fearlessly post on the internet. I guess I can only hope that Craig finds peace, or whatever he was searching for, in his life.
This was so awesome of you to do.
Craig Owens is a humble guy and I'll always respect him for what he does. I'm glad he'll be fine, and that you've done this for him.
It is wonderful to know that there are people like you in the industry. My prayers are with Craig and his family.
well there are a few things i want to say.
first off, i really respect you for not running the story. and that i am reallly glad craig is okay and that he's with his family. i was really worried about him.
next, the ap story on craig was really amazing. and its a shame all the shit he gets for just giving his all and trying to enrich the world with his music. if no one else, does i'll appreciate and support him.
I defiantly know where you are coming from as an editor. I myself has gone through the problem of being crtized repeatly and knowing that I do not take things too well either. It's defiantly in a sense that you are trying to please the whole world & trying to get them to enjoy the art that you worked so hard on to produce. No matter what, people will always be there trying to make you feel inferior by critizing so they can feel better about themselves. I just wish people would just give him a chance because he's more than just the lead of Chiodos/Cinematic Sunrise. I have faith in him 100% and I will always be on side no matter what happens because this man deserves so much for sharing his talent with us. The night I was driving home from the Cinematic Sunrise show here in Chicago, I was listening to the podcast you did with Craig over & over again, and after hearing him, I've grown to love him more as an artist & as a person as well.
Wow Mike! This is totally why I love this magazine and everyone who works on it. You did the right thing by not placing the news elsewhere. Mr. Owens is an AMAZING person and he deserves respect after all that he has been through. I just hope he gets better. As for absolutepunk...I wont even go on there any more. Every time I do, I even get yelled at by random people. So shame on them for writing about it! Anyway, thanks alot Mike...what you did was awesome.
When I first read this I was like..oh my gosh. This really shocked me and I am thankful that I heard about it. Craig is such an amazing vocalist and nobody should have the balls to criticize him. He is a musical genius and not everyone can appreciate that. So if you are one of those people, then go screw yourself because you don't have to like Chiodos, and if you don't, you don't have to advertise that to the public, especially to the people who are mentioned. You people are such assholes and you should pay for this insensitivity. Craig-I love you and I can't wait to see you in concert because you are truly amazing (and I'm not the only one who thinks that way babe)! I will pray for you forever.
Thanks Mike.
From what I saw during the encounter I had at Warped Tour, I can tell that he is humble and sensitive. Especially to his fans. I feel for Craig and wish him well through the turmoil he is experiencing.
thank you for posting this. i've been a fan of craig for a while, and to see what people wrote about craig made me wonder how tough it must be, to be him.
when i found out: it tore me up inside. i burst into tears. noone wants to see that happen to their hero. but i will NEVER lose respect for craig over this.
never ever.
i gained so much respect for him because he shared with us what was happening.
i would never have never had the courage to do something like that.
he did.
<3333. thanks, mike.
i have never seen craig without a beaming smile upon his face. he is sincerely one of the most genuine people i have ever met in this industry. his vocal range is almost as huge as his heart. he is in my thoughts, prayer, and short list as one of the 'good souls'.
-stephen
absolute punk blows.. mike your an awesome guy who def has tons of respect for people wanting to handle things personally and not wanting a ton of attention..
craig everyone who has ever heard a song from chiodos or cinsun wishes you the best of luck.. get well soon!
I cannot even begin to think about why people would say such horrible things about Craig. He has got to be one of the sweetest lead singers I have ever met. I think some people just can't deal with the fact thast he is an artist that deserves attention. The only people who I've seen posting this shit are the ones who are into mainstream bands like Paramore, All Time Low, stuff like that, and don't get me wrong, I love those bands aas much as the next kid, but that doesn't make them a spectacular, fantastic band. I mean, what's so special abiut them? Paramore's lead singer is a girl. Great. All time Low's music is catchy and Every girls faints at the sight of Alex Gasgarth, but that doesn't make them any different from any band you hear playing on the radio. Chiodos brings something different to the table. The Lyrics are amazing, and every member seems to bring at little of their own style into the band. Craig's songwriting and vocal skills have to be the best I have ever seen though. You can tell that he puts his soul into the words he sings. His lyrics hold meaning. It seems as though the aformentioned "Mainstream" bands can't do that. They write superficial crap, that their fucking insanse, musically retarded fans eat up. I'm not trying to slam them, but I do have a few words for they're fans.........
Expand your horizons and know the whole story about people before you make up stupid shit about amazing people like Craig. He was just trying to do his job. I don't think that you really wanted him to kill himself, and if he had succeded, you all would've felt like fucking dirt bags.
Mike, I'm so happy you chose to write this. I can tell that you and your staff handled things correctly on this situation. Had it been anyone else, I'm sure they wouldn't have done a very good job. I'm sure that you'd agree with me on the fact that people judge Craig WAY to fast, and that people who don't have a clue about what they're talking about shouldn't be posting shit about anyone. To be perfectly honest, Craig has never come off as a self absorbed asshole like some describe him. I KNEW he wasn't when I met him at their concert. He is by far one of the friendliest, nicest people I have ever met, and I hope to god he finds help. Thanks for taking care of this the professional way.
Much love,
Grace
props to you, mike, for doing the right thing in this situation. it takes character and guts to do that. thank you.
This was a very endearing article. I'm not serious too often, but this touched me in a naughty place... my heart.
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Oh, I'm sorry did I not say what you wanted to hear?
hello weltzschmertz: the grand thing about having your own blog is that you can get rid of immature, insensitive shit-head commenters such as yourself! if you want to be such a shit-head with your fucked-in-the-head comments, there's another place that will welcome you with open arms: absolutepunk.net.
criticizing one's work is one thing, but smacking someone down when they're already down in such an inhuman way as you did is just something i choose not to have lying around on my blog.
-mike shea
there are times that I become very disenchanted with the current scene because of all the hating on the message boards. The hatred shown against craig and chiodos and the recent events has been one of those times. But post like this and people like you remind me that there are still good people in the scene, who do what's right. So thank you, i wish there were more people like this in the scene. Then maybe it wouldn't be such a hateful place.
So this has nothing to do with your blog posting, but I have an idea that I would really love to see put into motion from AP. How about an AP application in the iTunes store? It's a growing trend and I think that the magazine would do well with an iPhone friendly version of its website. Or perhaps even a rehash on the short lived "AP Mobile" which I was so sad to see it go away last year. Love to hear your comments on this idea...... neight_gorbie@yahoo.com
-Nate G.
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I read that whole blog post through and I give you kudos for this. I am also a user on AP.net and I would like to point out that most users were like "woah dude, that sucks. I hope he gets better fast." thats one of the few times AP.net hasn't been at each others throats. But like everything else, there is always someone looking to cause problems, and you get the asses coming out to do it. There are asses all over that site, but they're a bunch of good, nice people too. Jason Tate didn't mean for it to get out of hand, and he for sure didn't mean for the hateful comments to be posted. I have read through most of all the replies on AP.net for this story and I must say that it is disproportioned in your article. While I know you are only protecting a man that you care for and respect, Jason Tate had good intentions. Tate thought this is what Craig wanted, he had no idea it was him who removed the post. He stayed through the whole threads entirety, an act that is extremely rare for him. So once again kudos to you on this blog post, and best wishes to Craig.
PS- I heard you were at the recent acoustic show, is this true?
Also, Grace, Chiodos is a mainstream band, along with all mentioned bands in your post. I'm not saying its wrong to defend him, I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't go after the fans of certain bands just because you assume it was them. It wasn't them in fact, it was fans of all bands, or just shit talking assholes. I dont support these people ,nor do i agree with them. They we're wrong for attacking him, it's never right to attack a man when he is down. Most of these people were just looking for a shock factor, or they were disgruntled dicks. But again I say, don't assume about things like this.
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hahah i love you mike shea more than life for defending your friend, craig.
<3:)
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A response.
so any time anyone says anything opposed to what you think, you delete their comments? Wow. Great job there
nah- there are two things not worth wasting one's time with in life:
1) trying to decide which is better: double-stuff oreos or mrs. fields chocolate chip cookies (they're both better- easy decision.)
2) getting pulled into hyperventilating back 'n' forths with jason tate.
the conversation was digressing into a discussion that was best left out of the public forum and was trailing off onto other subjects (and thus away from my entire reason for writing my blog in the first place.)
my general point was that people can be really cruel sometimes on line- just because they want to be- and if it involves drug, alcohol or suicide issues with a musician, people really should try and have a heart and cut some people some slack. i don't care who the musician is either.
i've been really pleased that the most recent post on abspunk about the video i shot of craig has been 99% supportive of his recovery and the one moron on there who just wanted to be an idiot and said something cruel was quickly slapped-down.
that's what matters.
if these musicians are who we love the most, then let's show them the love when they hit the bottom, ya know?
we can argue about whether their new record sucks later.
jason- im not even going to read "your response."
i've got work to do, bud.
and i would imagine you do too.
:-)
PPPPPPPS- i forgot to add this....
a couple of people brought up a really good point- why did AP end up running the news in the end even though I was criticizing those who ran it regardless of what Craig's team wished? Good point- so I think I should explain-
By the time AP (us, not the .net) ran the news about this whole thing, both BUZZNET (with a tactless photo, no doubt) and PUNKNEWS had already ran the story on their websites (along with extremeguitar.com or whatever the hell it was).
So, if anything, we at AP were pretty much last on the story because we held out to the last moment due to Craig's team's initial request to us (kinda like how NBC held the news about Tim Russert's death until his family was notified in Italy- even though Fox, CBS and ABC all ran it immediately.)
Later that day, I checked with Craig's team and they thanked me for "doing the right thing" for not running the story earlier, and, since it was already leaking all over the web, said we could run with it when we felt like it.
Once I saw the story had launched on both BN and PN later that evening, I called up our news guy (who had just launched the story a few minutes earlier), pointed out the newly-posted "To My Fans" blog that Craig had put on his myspace and asked him to update the entire story and post a new version on our website so ours was the most up-to-date and factual.
Which is what we did.
So, I get the question as to why we ended up running it in the end, totally. Since you couldn't know what we were going through on our end (the conversations, the emails, phone calls, etc)- I figured I would explain so you all understood.
You know what the biggest impact of this entire story affected me though?
The next day, I got a voicemail at work from Craig's mom sincerely thanking me for being there for him and helping him out over the past 24 hours.
And you know what?
That voicemail was worth more than any "gotta get the news out" aspect of my job.
If i can make a difference, a positive one, in someone's life- that's worth anything.
(ugh- now i have to do circulation spreadsheets for the day- NOT FUN)...
-mike
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the real bottom line is that the whole thing is a publicity stunt. as someone who has had a loved one attempt suicide, i can speak from experience in saying that recovery takes much longer than the amount of time craig has spent rehabilitating. first of all, if he were telling the truth, he would not have said that he has both bipolar and manic depression, as they are synonymous. the dude was trying to get attention, and you're trying to defend him so that you can sell magazines. it's business. i get it. stop bullshitting everyone.
I saw the original blog entry when he posted it and, honestly, was not shocked. Thank you so much for NOT runnin it when you could have. I'd hate to have heard from anyone except him about what happened. He went public about it on his own time which is what anyone going through a situation like that needs.
And screw the people calling him a failure. If I know he has succeeded at even just one thing, that thing would be making my life easier and less lonely in my absolute darkest period of time in my life. He will never be a failure in my eyes.
I saw Craig's mom and aunt tonight at his acoustic show in Fenton, Mich. and they both said they were extremely appreciative of your work. They both said you did an excellent job both with the cover story and with the posting of what happened.
I sometimes hate being in the media. But there's gotta be a handful of us to keep the rest from giving the medium a bad name.
Amazing work Mike. This is what anyone going through a time like this needs. I think some people need to realize that although Craig is one of the most talented and hard working vocalist out there, not to mention my favorite, he's still a human being. Many people forget that Craig and anyone else in the spotlight go through the same shit we all do, except for the fact that they have to face the constant criticism of idiots all over the web that think they've got everything figured out and that they can judge another fucking man because he has poured his heart out in front of millions of people with millions of different opinions. If any of these people with negative comments live the life of Craig, feel the constant pressure of expectations and criticism, or know him personally and still have shit to say against him, then go right ahead. We all know that is not the case though. All I'm getting at is that we need to respect people like Craig and treat him like anyone else who has gone through his recent troubles, because if he wasn't the amazing person in the spotlight that he is, no one would have a word to say against him at a time like this. Great job again to Mike and all the people who made wonderful posts on here, I know thats the support that Craig needs to keep going. Oh and to whoever posted that the attempt was fake, you should probably realize that when you're on top like Craig, you dont need a fucking publicity stunt. And I'm done
okay, i dont understand why everybody is bashing absolute punk.net. yes they posted the article, but thats kind of their job. and maybe nobody asked them not to run it like they asked mike. its the people who posted those horrible comments about craig that everybody should be pissed at. not absolutepunk.net
I agree with everything you said. Being a person with bad anxiety and depression I really feel for him. Craig is a brilliant person who's creativity knows no bounds. It makes me really sad seeing people make comments like those on message boards. I understand what its like to deal with negative comments, they are hard too ignore. I just hope Craig gets better and i just hope people realize how hard it can be in his situation.
Peace and love
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