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‘I had a walloping left hook I didn’t see coming’: ex-Girls singer Christopher Owens on his journey back from rock bottom

In seven years, the cult singer-songwriter suffered a motorbike crash, homelessness, the death of his bandmate and the end of a relationship. He talks about survival, redemption and his cathartic new album

A quick recap for those unaware of the Christopher Owens backstory: he was raised in the abusive cult Children of God, escaped at 16 to the punk scene in Amarillo, Texas, and – after having his life turned around by a businessman, artist and prankster called Stanley Marsh 3 – found redemption in music. He moved to San Francisco and formed Girls with Chet “JR” White, the pair bonding over 60s surf melodies, fuzzy art-rock production and a love of prescription narcotics. But by the end of the record, optimism has bloomed on the beautiful Distant Drummer (“I’ll be all right, as long as I follow my guiding star”) and Do You Need a Friend (“I can see the weight you carry on your back / I’d like to put it down and watch it drown”).

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