Spokane, WA. – One recovering drug addict is using his past struggles as inspiration for his music to inspire others to believe they, too, can break the cycle of addiction.
“Now is my time to give back, because I know so many struggle with that, and I have a platform with the music,” Phil Andrade said.
Phil performs under the artist name ‘Wildcard,’ and the song he just released on his December birthday is extra personal and inspired by his experience in Spokane.
“It’s called ‘The December Shelter’ and it’s based and inspired by the social workers and the people that suffer in the homeless community and the mental health and drug epidemic,” Phil said. “I worked at TRAC the Trent Shelter and then I worked at the hive in Downtown Spokane.”
Right now, Phil works in a drug and alcohol treatment center, because he knows how hard it can be to get clean and to stay clean.
“Around 15, I started getting into the harder stuff… meth,” Phill said. “I was introduced to recovery at like 18 and then I relapsed like twice.”
Phil said he experienced psychosis when he did drugs and that his mental health was always on the line. It was November of 2015 that a tragedy changed his life and his motivation.
“My home girl Kim Vezina passed away,” Phil began. “They say it was an overdose and they threw her body in… Couer d’Alene Lake. I would…see her ghost in the back of my car yelling at me that I needed to change my life.”
Phil said dealing with that grief while trying to get sober was ‘a whole different animal.’ He wants others trying to get sober to know that there is support available.
“Just know that you’re not alone, and know that there is help and there is nothing wrong with you. You are worthy of living, and there’s other people that are clean and sober that want to welcome you in with the different recovery programs you can go to,” Phil said.
The rapper said he continues to stay involved in those recovery programs, but staying clean requires ongoing effort.
“As an addict, I couldn’t even stop even when I wanted to,” Phil said. “I still don’t know the million dollar question of how to solve that, but I know being in recovery meetings, sponsor steps… all the stuff that really helped me in the long term.”
He hopes his lyrics and sharing his story inspires others to believe they can conquer addiction and achieve their dream.
“The December Shelter’ song by ‘Wildcard’ is now available on music streaming platforms.
The music video for that emotional song was just shot in Spokane this month.
