Linton Rubino (aka Mercury) has opened up about how he coped with being fired from his former band, Ghost. In a recent interview with Dr. Music, the Swedish artist revealed that he needed therapy due to his dwindling self-worth following his departure. Because he had to conceal his identity as a member of Ghost, things were particularly tough for him once his stint with the band came to an end.

“Yeah, I actually went through therapy for six months after that ’cause I felt that you know I’m nobody,” Rubino said. “We were up there playing with Metallica and Iron Maiden and everything and they know who we are, all the people backstage know who we are, but nobody else.”

He also talked about being fired from the band he grew emotionally attached to.

“So it’s just like being up here and then you’re basically not. And then I had to, I didn’t have a job or anything and then it was cold turkey money-wise. So I had to really restart from bottom,” he explained. “Every breakup takes a while right, then you’re back on track in a couple of months. And you just roll up your sleeves and get at it again. You don’t have much of a choice.”

Rubino is now the vocalist for Priest, a synthwave band that fuses rock, industrial and electronic music. Another former member of Ghost, who goes by the name Salt, is the band’s keyboardist.

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado