James McVey Reveals He Almost Left The Vamps Because Of Mental Health
12 May 2017, 13:18
The guitarist revealed how bottled up feelings upset him to the point he almost left his band - and how opening up helped him overcome it.
James was speaking to LBC’s James O’Brien during Mental Health Awareness Week when he opened up for the first time about his own mental health struggles.
“I had a really difficult time last year where we were on tour in America and things were just building and building for me.
“I was getting terrified of being late for a hotel lobby call. I wouldn’t be sleeping because of it.
“I’d be on stage and I’d be like I hate this, because I dodn’t understand how I was feeling or why.”
He revealed the pressure he felt was such that it almost caused him to make a huge decision.
“I was on the verge of saying ‘I’m leaving the band’.”
James did something he hadn’t done before and turned to his bandmate to talk about his mental health.
“It took me a lot to speak to Brad, the singer in the band.
“I said to him, I’m really struggling, man. I don’t know if I can do this."
He said while he liked the other guys in the band, the music and the fans, there was just something not right for him, but talking about it helped.
“Just opening up to someone about my emotions was so refreshing for me as a person. It really pulled me from that edge.”
This was a turning point for James, and he found the support from his bandmates made him realise how he’d been bottling up his emotions.
It also helped him find the root of his dissatisfaction, something he had ignored for a year and let eat away at him. Speaking to someone helped to stop that and stopped him making a decision he would probably have regretted forever.
“If I hadn’t opened up about that, I probably would have left.
“In hindsight that would have been a ridiculous mistake.”
