Acey Slade: ‘I’ve Been Sober for 12 Years’

"You don't need to be boring to live, and dying is no way to live," guitarist and singer Acey Slade says simply to Noisecreep. Slade is a recovering addict, 12 years sober. A normal day means meeting friends for coffee, heading to the gym and working on new tunes. Then there's the counseling.

"I'm heavily involved in helping people with drug and alcohol addictions. That constitutes at least an hour of my day," Slade continues. "I do a lot of stuff with 12-step programs, and I've been sober for 12 years. I'm lucky I've been sober for 12 years. And I think I have a lot to offer, because people a lot of time seem to think getting clean and sober means getting boring and putting on a priest's collar. I think I have a lot to offer from the aspect that I'm a musical tattoo guy with a stupid haircut."

While Slade pauses before revealing his 35 years, "I was thinking of my Metal Edge age!" he laughs, he is quick to share hair stories.

"As a kid, I wanted to look like [Mötley Crüe bassist] Nikki Sixx so bad, and I figured I've got my hair spiked up and my eyeliner on, [but] what is the piece of the puzzle that's missing? I'll never forget looking in the mirror after I dyed my hair black for the first time. I was like 'Whoa, that's it! That was the piece of the puzzle that's missing!' It's been nothing but Clairol Blue-Black ever since," he reveals.

Acey Slade and the Dark Party just released 'The Dark Party,' an album of tunes somewhere between goth, glam and electronica. Look for another album by the band before the end of 2010.