Exposed!

Original article found at: Guitar Magazine

Published: February 26, 2019

Exposed!

Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll: How Callith Appleton is Rising from Bad Boy to Executive Producer

by Anja Belmonte

It was a late night in January 2018 when the world turned upside down for members of Finland's Vaarallinen, a Euro metal band breaking into the American scene after a successful run of four album releases. It was after a performance in Manchester promoting their fourth album, Maanpetos when their car hit something in the road. Unbeknownst to them, it was the start of a massive change in their lives. We sit down a year later to talk about the aftermath and what it means for the band. Now just over a year later, guitarists Callith Appleton and Erik Severn start yet another chapter in their lives with Mr. Appleton announcing the formation of his own studio, Phoenix Productions based out of Colorado.

Anja Belmonte: Mr. Appleton, what prompted the creation of this studio, and is it a direct result of an accident a year ago?

Callith Appleton: Ultimately, we were not happy. After the accident, we had been sent to the US, in fact out to the middle of nowhere in Idaho, by the courts in the UK and EU deciding jointly that we were still salvageable through rehab and therapy. While we did go through three managers here in the US and went from being represented by Sony by two separate but wonderful managers to a small company in a state that we weren’t even living in; in the end, the creation of Phoenix Productions was my Valentine’s Day present to my fellow bandmates who ultimately are my family and best friends. We may not always get along, and we may have caused some of the largest rows I have ever seen, but I know that when you need to create, you need to create and these guys in the band are my friends and family. Having a studio accessible for us all at any given time, whether for Vaarallinen, or solo projects, or even helping locals is something I’ve wanted to have for us all since we were in Idaho. It was in New York around Christmas that I quietly started getting the paperwork and everything together to make it happen. We just needed a site to build it at.

AB: And this is out in Colorado? How did that happen?

CA: Completely by accident. I was on vacation when I heard that many of our friends in New York were moving away, so it left us alone in the City. One night an ad popped up on my web browser for this little tiny town in Colorado, and I discovered that many of our friends had ended up trapped in a blizzard there. While I am not normally one for cold or snow, I did go out, and instantly it reminded me of Europe. So, of course we needed a place there. I closed on the property the week before Valentine’s Day, and on that holiday, I announced to my bandmates this project that honestly was meant to be a creative playground for us all, separate from our own careers, separate from Vaarallinen, and separate from having conflicting schedules against other musicians in the studio we had been working out of.

AB: And from what is being seen on Twitter, is that the former studio?

CA: Yes, but by the time we had signed to them, we did have our own facilities somewhat backed by Ace Productions in Geneva, Switzerland in a site in Lake Montauk, New York. Ace have been our original producers all along in Europe since 2014. We only signed separately with the company in Louisiana for management and promotion in the US. The studio in Colorado is between Ace Productions and Phoenix Productions, in a mutually beneficial, exclusive agreement. They are leasing space from us for their equipment and storage of the items from their leased facilities in New York, and in return we are returning the band to Geneva where we will be recording our next album with our engineers who recorded our other four.

AB: Even if there are times you will return? Why buy a studio here and move back to Europe?

CA: (laughs) Well, at the time I didn’t know that [Lysander Kjell, the band’s long-time executive producer from Ace Productions] was going to play Santa and bring us home. I presented the studio to my friends, and two days later found out the exile had been lifted by the courts and more importantly by our producers back home. And the first thing we all realized was that we wanted to be on European soil again, or in simpler terms, we wanted to go home. It had gotten to a point that I had lost hope of it ever happening again, which was another reason to create Phoenix, it was there should there ever be a problem elsewhere, or if we just wanted a place to create uninhibited.

AB: From what I have seen in various places online, there seems to be more happening than just wanting to return to Europe or not being happy. What happened?

CA: All in all we were not happy, we wanted to go home, and our work had become stagnant while dealing with the challenges of living in a foreign country in a foreign system. It was incredibly hard to be separated from family, friends, and fans while recovering from the accident last year, let alone while recovering from addictions and undiagnosed illnesses that were first being caught while we were in the US. It’s no secret that I’ve struggled with drugs. While most who are seeking rehabilitation and help for that have their own family there as a support network, I had the band and work, and that was it. And when all five of you are facing similar struggles, and more so similar expectations to face the person that each of us used to be, it can be extremely hard to make the changes you need to be healthy when the environment around you is out to only use you for profit. It was time to go home. Our friends, family, and European fans, which are the majority of our fanbase, are waiting. Rumor has it there may even be a party waiting at the airport when we land.

AB: What were some of those struggles you were facing in the US?

CA: There was a lot. We first arrived in March of last year, so almost a year ago, fresh out of rehab and recovering still from the accident. Gabe was still needing a cane to walk, I still faced a lot of neck and hip pain. Erik’s hands to this day have more platinum than bone in them, as does his jaw. We came back together thinking each of us were who we were in the past, which was not the case. We all changed from the accident, and over the course of the year only faced continual challenges that kept pushing us apart. For awhile there, it seemed as if Vaarallinen was no more, especially when we were bought out of our Sony contract which had required one last album with them, one we were trying to work on, but every time we gathered, it was like a perfect storm. We all changed, we all had our personal challenges. Hannya, who was the least affected, went back to school after seeing what we were going through, Trish pulled back and went straight into law. Gabe broke up with Trish and started his solo career, and Erik started his solo and acting career. On top of that I had one more stay in rehab after a suicide attempt in summer, and then was almost killed at the end of October by an assassin who seemed to have it out for all of us. It was by sheer miracle that I lived, let alone recovered this far. I still have migraines, and I still have the occasional seizure but thanks to a second surgery at Christmas, most of that is behind me now.

AB: So, was there more to the formation of Phoenix Productions then? It seems incredibly well-timed to go from being unhappy in one studio to having another US option with Ace Productions backing you.

CA: Well, for the members of the Vaarallinen, while we were with our previous studio in the US, only Erik was being represented in his solo career. Gabe had been represented by Sony until Vaarallinen’s departure, and I had been toying with the idea of a solo album which is now being turned into The B-Sides listing of our up and coming album also named Phoenix, which we are going to begin recording in the beginning of March, hopefully with a release near the end of the month. Hannya [Lee, keyboardist of Vaarallinen and fiancé to Mr. Appleton] was already working with a company out of, I’m afraid I don’t know where, but it was electronic J-Pop that he focuses on solo. So, while we worked on our album and waited for work to come, which wasn’t coming, our studio gives us a chance to work and explore other facets of music beyond just what we have already been doing.

AB: Did I just hear you say that Vaarallinen’s next album is going to be released soon?

CA: Yes, indeed you did! We don’t have a definitive date yet, that will be figured out as soon as we are back in Geneva as we will be recording it there, but yes, we plan on releasing end of March, early April. We also will be offering fans a chance to listen to the album for free as we will be posting it all on YouTube. So that way, everyone can listen, it is there for the sake of the fans who can then download or order it from their favorite distributors.

AB: Aren’t you and the other producers worried that you will lose money from this?

CA: To be honest, more and more albums are being released onto YouTube and just by watching the video of it, the band is making money through Google AdSense and YouTube’s monetization features. We all hear the jokes of content creators on there getting demonetized for various things, and it’s there because these creators are making money off of their videos, including the major distributors. It’s why you see Vevo being so popular on there, or T-Series out of India surpassing PewDiePie for subscriber count. It was my belief from Phoenix Productions that we can do the same thing, benefit our fans and benefit from it.

AB: I heard that this isn’t the only way the band is making money either, through more modern means.

CA: Indeed, there is more. We are keeping most of the land we have in Colorado underdeveloped. A small portion of it is being turned into a solar energy farm while the rest is having wind turbines installed, it just depends on what is flat for solar and what gets wind for the turbines. The entire site will be fueled by those energies, with excess being sold back to the grid for others to use.

AB: So, you aren’t making an animal sanctuary then?

CA: (laughs) We considered it, but another friend of ours is working on one near the site in Colorado that we plan to support once it’s open. We won't allow hunting on our land however.

AB: That’s a lot of good planning there, something I think that fans of the band never would have expected from you, especially given what we have talked about before. To the readers, this isn’t the first time that Mr. Appleton has done this interview. Your EU manager in September contacted us stating your interest in doing a cover shoot, and we almost published this interview in January. What happened that you pulled it?

CA: (laughs nervously) Timing and exposure. I know that it was about to be released at the same time that Erik was having a difficult time. I thought that doing the magazine for him would help, but there was a small scandal happening there. I figured given the details of what I had been through in my past, we didn’t need another scandal to hit.

AB: What happened with Erik and what would have been your portion of the scandal that you speak of?

CA: It is not entirely my place to speak for Erik, and I hope that he put it in his interview that he did, but there was an unexpected wedding and an unexpected divorce a couple weeks after. We all are close friends, and it’s been mostly resolved. The young man is a very endearing, as is his cousin that is a good friend, much as his employer is someone I admire and have learned a lot from, hence my newfound maturity over the last year. It isn’t just sobriety, it is the influence of a few people I value in my life. I didn’t want parts of my past throwing fuel on a fire that was hard to control at that time, especially as there are parts of my past which I admit here are not entirely legal, especially in Egypt where I cannot return to because of it.

AB: At this point I would like to return to parts of that initial interview we conducted and will introduce the questions again. I should also note that ahead of this interview we did discuss topics that would be of more interest to our readers and concluded that Phoenix Productions, the album, and your history of drug use were more pertinent, and perhaps on our next interview, if we get the chance, we can cover what we had to put to the side.

Mr. Appleton, despite the bad boy reputation, you are notorious among the press for being in control of media interviews, to a point that when there has been an interview, your contract has always stipulated that you approve of the questions before your arrival. Today, you are keeping everything open and giving us at Guitar World control. What has led you to decide to open to the public now like this?

CA: Initially we were gearing up to release our upcoming double album, Phoenix, which has been a theme we seem to have been following since the accident in January 2018, rising from something that very well had destroyed us, and becoming something better and stronger. It is a mantra I try to keep for myself, and that I have been encouraging as a theme into the band, both as we changed management and locations here and there, or as challenges struck. The first songs written were about things that ultimately have been a source of that bad boy reputation, and not just sex or drugs, but interpersonal things that I buried deep for years. The drugs and sex weren't for fun or to party, but it was to anesthetize me. I am now awake, and I am free. They say the truth will set you free, and this is a case where freedom is the goal, not being numb to it all. Sometimes it is good to embrace the pain and embracing that pain is what finally broke the writer's block. Most of The B-Sides reflect this, as do several of the songs on Phoenix.

With the announcement of Phoenix Productions, it gives a second reason to come forward with more of my story as I suspect that people will want to dig in and find out what really happened. So, what better time to put in our band members’ announcements of the new studio, new album, and our return to Europe than this?

AB: Looking at the past and the accident, and everything else in your life, it seems like there is a lot that you have not spoken about publicly until now. Besides the break from your previous US studio, and besides the marriage scandal from Mr. Severn, the other publicly known fact is the accident. Tell me, what happened, and what did it mean not just for you but for the other members of Vaarallinen.

CA: Sarah Rosenberg happened. She was a fan, had a backstage pass, and she came to meet us after a gig. She took Gabe aside to sing to him, recording on his phone both a song and several sexual advances towards the band members, including a desire to sleep with us all. I admit that there were substances distributed, things said and done, and within a half hour she was gone; Gabe, Erik, and I were being rushed to the nearest hospital. Gabe and Erik almost didn’t make it, the fan, Sarah had died in mine and Gabe’s arms, I was in hospital for a month. Legally there were charges against us, but with time they found some evidence and worked out a few deals with the courts, which is how and why we ended up in the US. It is also how I ended up withdrawing from cocaine, which led to not the first time being in rehab.

AB: Not the first time? When was the first time?

CA: Back in my early 20s really.

AB: Speaking of Sarah Rosenberg, there is a rumor online that was more happening in that accident than just drug use, such as the fact that the band had sex with her. Care to elaborate? Or are you going to let Twitter fill in the blanks?

CA: (sighs). Well, for the last year this was a good portion of what I avoided in interviews, and prior to that my early 20s were the reason. We were drunk and high. When she approached the band that night, Gabe introduced her as a fan and was recording her singing and wishing to be with us sexually. I am not proud of this portion of my or the band’s past in that it was common but quiet knowledge that we lived the lives of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, of which all three happened that night. In fact, she was between Gabe and me at the time of the crash. She died looking into his eyes, and with my arms wrapped around her from above. It was fully consensual and thankfully because of Gabe recording the song she was singing, we were able to prove it that way. We tried to flee the scene, which didn’t happen as I couldn’t walk and Gabe and Erik both lost consciousness. I had a concussion, whiplash, broken ribs, and dislocated pelvis. The next two months for me were spent withdrawing from cocaine while in the ICU, my body immobilized, and it was pure hell. (he goes quiet) It’s honestly not something I bring up other than with my shrink because to this day the aftermath of being trapped in that hospital gives me nightmares. My early 20s were easier than that.

AB: What happened in your early-20s? You’ve brought it up a few times now. I looked back in other interviews, that time in your life is something that has never come up. Is this one of those items you had kept under your control in the past?

CA: Yes, along with the accident and its aftermath. I am not proud of the fact that I did drugs, especially as heavy as I used them. And I look back at the potential charges against me in Egypt, drug use, distribution of drugs, and even though homosexual relations per the books are technically legal, they are often punished via the laws against debauchery, which is combined into the same set of laws against prostitution. So, a single potential homosexual act in Egypt, or even publicly showing support for LGBTQIA rights is punished by seventeen years in jail with or without hard labor and being labeled as what the US and EU courts would consider a sex offender, just for being gay and wanting love. Jails in Egypt are not air conditioned or heated despite being in the Sahara Desert, and a prisoner gets a bottle of water and some bread a day and that is it. There are no beds, and families are expected to come bring food and other necessities for prisoners while they are in there. Some are fortunate and have that support, but many others are not. And it is not uncommon to die in prison because of conditions, so that family support is crucial to survival.

AB: You speak as if you know from experience. Do you? Or is this just from research?

CA: Experience. I was arrested in my early-20s for a combination of drug use and debauchery charges, debauchery because I am gay, and it could be argued that I used sex to barter for the drugs. I was high on coke and E, and my father was with the arresting officer at the time. They were close friends, so my father let them give me a chance to see what jail was like. I was taken to jail, processed, and taken to a room with about eleven other prisoners and five guards. We stood in line and one by one we were taken to the center of the room and beaten until we could no longer stand. It was considered our hazing into prison by the guards. Eventually it was my turn, I was about the seventh one in. I was still high, so it took longer, the coke made me laugh at first, which you can imagine, the guards did not like. They continued until my body couldn’t take what they were doing and the high fell away, and I too fell to the ground. I woke up later that night on the concrete, not remembering going from where we were beaten to the cell, so I must have been unconscious. Sometime the next morning my father arrived with the officer and he bribed him to release me. Supposedly he destroyed my arrest record for a healthy sum of money that was still less than the fine I would have otherwise had to pay on top of the years in jail that would have also ruined my father’s and our family’s reputation. As he is a cardiothoracic surgeon in Cairo, his reputation was not something he wished to lose, and that small bribe was far less than he and my siblings would have otherwise had to pay because of me.

AB: You also spoke in our previous interview about coming out as gay, and the stigma of a family history and personal history of depression. Did one lead to the other, or were they separate from each other?

CA: Both. Being gay in a predominantly Muslim family and country was enough to keep me ostracized enough already, but the underlying problems of depression were always there too. Being gay made it worse because of the isolation from my own family that otherwise would have been my support system if we were here in the US or almost anywhere in Europe. And more than 90% of the population of Egypt is against rights for the LGBTQIA population, mostly because of religious and cultural beliefs against it.

AB: How did your family respond to this? What was it like to come out to them?

CA: I was twelve and just a boy. But while my peers in school were looking at the girls and noticing breasts, I was watching my peers and noticing their physiques changing. And it was isolating. I was taught at the mosque that it was a sin to not only fixate on women in that manner, but it was an even bigger sin to see my fellow man as such. So, when I came out to my parents, it was blasphemy and instant isolation. My mother tried to help me out where she could in secret, but otherwise my father’s word was law and it was kept hidden from the family, much as I was kept separated from them out of fear. My father is a devout Muslim to this day, something that led my mother to divorce him and return to France.

AB: But he still had some support for you, if he kept you from staying in jail, did he not?

CA: To be honest, I suspect it was more about keeping his reputation pristine in the community and in his mosque than an act of saving a son from dying in prison. I have two siblings and many more half siblings that remain in Cairo. Keeping me contained and under his control was the closest thing to love I suppose.

AB: How so? What did he do?

CA: I was brought home from prison and given the option to stay and continue my education or return to the streets where I had been living. I chose education and was sent to rehab where they diagnosed me with depression, something that runs in the family. It wasn’t until after the accident that I discovered the depth of it, both treatment-resistant and they said psychotic tendencies.

AB: Was it from the drug use?

CA: Actually no, I don't think it was. Looking back, I had always had a fixation with the ancient Egyptian history and religion, and fantasies I had as a child of meeting those ancient gods turned into something that I thought was real. To this day when under stress I will black out, and friends have told me they see a complete personality change when it happens. I saw security video of it happening to me once in New York, and I have zero recollection of it happening. It’s scary to know that at any given moment you can become someone else out of your control or believe in things that aren’t really there. Even then, I had started using drugs as a performance enhancer. School is a lot easier when you don’t have to sleep or eat, and you can speed read paragraphs in minutes.

AB: So it was drug use and alleged prostitution connected to debauchery in the same law. You seem to have come so far from then, once upon a time being a drug addict in an Egyptian prison, to now being an executive producer of your own label and writing your fifth album with Vaarallinen. Where do you see yourself going from here?

CA: Home? (laughs) But no, I plan on getting married in the next week or so, something we had delayed so that we could have Erik at the ceremony. I am between Colorado and Louisiana finishing up work both on the studio site and some contacts that I had wanted to take care of, and of course the release of our fifth studio album Phoenix in the next month or so. We also are sharing writing and production credits on the album this time, which is a change from before, which brings us more together as a group.

AB: Well there we have it, it seems. Thank you, Mr. Appleton, for being so candid with us, and we wish you luck both with Phoenix Productions as well as your double album Phoenix and The B-Sides, due out at the end of next month or so.

CA: It was my pleasure Ms. Belmonte and thank you for having me.