The musician Eymar is now opening up about his story to the public for the first time. Eymar was born in Sauðárkrókur and says his childhood was happy, school went well and he was active in football and basketball, but he took a sharp U-turn when Eymar started messing with alcohol in his teens.
„I started drinking at the age of 15 and drank for the next 17 years after that, I was 32 when I managed to stop. I’ve been sober for four years and it’s amazing how quickly life changed after that.” – Eymar
Eymar says that his drinking started with weekend drinking every weekend, but around the age of 18 it became day drinking and there was no turning back for the next 17 years. At the age of 18, Eymar moved to Reykjavík and there the drinking continued, along with getting bored with stimulants that offered even more tolerance for drinking. Eymar says that these first years in Reykjavík were out of control and he was very lost, but he has always had his heart in the right place and music has followed him wherever he went.
„I was probably with the most active musicians in Iceland at that time without ever getting paid for anything, and I took my guitar with me to all the parties where I played and supported friends and family.” – Eymar
At the age of 25, Eymar gets his dog Mola at the same time and puts the bottle on the shelf for a very short time, but then falls into the weekend drinking shortly after, but manages to keep the drinking there. Eymar then meets his wife Harpa and together they have their first child. Eymar has come to believe that he is no longer struggling with alcoholism, but his wife points out to him that he is abusing alcohol by drinking every weekend and until noon the next day. Eymar has composed music throughout the process and recently released the album 2018 and it is about the fight with the brandy, he has both lost and won, fallen down and stood up again.
„The fifth song of the album is called 2018 and it is about the time when I experienced the worst night of my life. I couldn’t drink anymore and at the same time I couldn’t stop drinking. That night ends up in intensive care where I lay in critical condition. What I remember is when I woke up again there was a nurse looking at me like she wanted to save me from the hell I was stuck in. I will never forget it.” – Eymar
Eymar says the nurse on duty played a big part in his recovery process and helped him see things in the right light, and Eymar is eternally grateful to her. 4 days later, when Eymar is discharged from the hospital, he immediately relapses, but something has changed and he decides at that moment to seek help. He hasn’t had a drink since and it’s been about 4 years today.
It was only after he said goodbye to drinking that all his dreams came true, a little girl was added to his family, and he was able to start nurturing his artistic dream of recording and releasing music. Eymar says that the journey of 17 years has passed at speed, like blinking his eyes and 17 years have passed and he never realized that in order to really deal with the problem he needed to get outside help. Eymar encourages others in the same position to reach out and not be shy to ask for help because the situation is never as bad as most people believe because there are so many people who are willing to step in and help.
„During the years that I’ve been sober, I’ve watched countless of my friends die, by their own hands or as a direct result of alcoholism, and I just always think how incredibly grateful I am to be here. ” Eymar The final song on his album is called: “If I wasn’t here”
His album 2018 is a direct account of his life in the city and leads us through the lost years right up to the victory over Bakkus and all the sadness, happiness and struggles that Eymar went through in those years until he found himself again and Eymar says it is only the beginning of the stories he has to tell.
You can follow Eymar on his social media here.
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