THE STRAIGHT
EDGE MAN BEHIND THE NAME
If you saw him on
a beach. or in a production studio, or on a train, he would stand out, by his
messy quiffed hair, and his dark fashion sense.
He himself said that "I don't
associate myself with yellows and whites, I tend to be darker, more ambiguous,
which in a way also supports my character, as I don't tend to put myself out
there, I am normally quite shy behind the scenes.
For
years Oscar Mcnesser, (once known as Oscar Stapley), a young boy from London, who
is now widely considered to be the new upcoming face of the modern rock and
roll, the Elvis of the late ten's, has been topping charts in America and the
Uk without anyone really knowing what he is really like behind his name. After
interviewing him earlier this week, it seems that after coming from nothing at
first, he was very unlikely to make it in life. I found out during the
interview that when Mcnesser was only fifteen, his single mum (Irene Stapley),
a chronic alcoholic, was arrested after hitting
him on the head with a spirit bottle. He
was concussed, and kept in hospital for two days after several scans to his
brain were carried out making sure no long term damage was done.
Oscar
was then taken into a foster home and therefore became part of the care system,
where he was unhappy, had to change schools, and abandon his passion for
playing the guitar at school. The story about
the incident was published in the papers and on the News, and a wealthy American
couple called the Mcnessers, who were currently working on a case in Yorkshire , saw the story and decided to send
an application to the foster care home to try and adopt young Stapley , so he
was taken out of the system, and placed in the care of the Mcnessers. They returned to Arizona after the case in
Yorkshire was settled, and found Oscar a place at Payson High School, where he took up
his passion for playing the guitar again, this time in a band along with his
new mates Cody Greene, Dexter Satrap, and Stu Edwards. They called themselves
the Head bangers, where Oscar acted as the front man, singing and playing the
electric guitar. All throughout high school Oscar made sure he didn't touch
alcohol or any recreational drugs, so he didn't end up like his parents
At seventeen he went solo and with the help of his newly adopted
parents established himself as Oscar
Mcnesser, rather than Stapley. After interviewing him on the show, he said his
reason for making this his name, is "To wipe out my past, continue living a
straight edge life, and show respect to the two people who changed my
life". His first ever No.1 hit
which was dropped in 2012, (Don't look back), which topped Billboard charts for
4 weeks between September and November, and was about his experience of change from
being in care to the world he would find in America.
The way he dresses is of typical to his rock heroes of his
childhood. He mentioned his favourite artists and bands in the interview, some
of which were Slash (and Guns and Roses), Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones,
but his main favourite band back when he lived in back when he lived in London,
were Oasis. Oscar himself said that in his eyes "Oasis were the better
version of the Beatles", and he could relate his abusive mum to Noel and
Liam's abusive dad back when they were
kids, and their upbringing gave him hope that he would one day still make
it. He also said that where he gets his
inspiration from is "very miss matched, and alternative". This is
evident by his interest in Elvis (Blues), The rolling stones (Rock and Roll),
and Oasis, being (Indie rock).
The new unlicensed
merchandise released in Camden Town known as the OM rings. Oscar said
himself "Although I was charmed by the fact fans were buying rings with my
initials on it, the rights and legal stuff didn't bother me, it was the fact
that they were so brightly coloured!!, being red and white despite me never wearing anything lighter
than dark blue!!". He also said
that if they were darker, he might have even wanted one for himself to wear !
Chris later asked
how clean cut his lifestyle is despite the fact he is a rock and roll star. He
said that "Many people would have thought with inspiration from Oasis and
the rolling Stones, he would have been a drugs consumer, and a drinker, but too
much of his surprise, Mcnesser stopped him saying he was straight edge. A term
meaning he didn't believe in taking or taking any harmful recreational
substances. "I am fans of these bands, but do you honestly believe that
after my childhood experience with what I went through, I would honestly
consider taking anything which would make me anything like my parents ? Yes I
am a rock and roll star, but you don't have to take drugs and get drunk to live
up to your potential, you might get a more hardcore name out of doing so, but
what makes you more rock and roll is not what you take, it's what you produce".
Article by Alex Steinbeck
No comments:
Post a Comment