Machine Gun Kelly has opened up about his mental health, saying: “I haven’t given myself the time to just accept that it’s OK to not be OK.”

Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, Machine Gun Kelly (real name Colson Baker) started the interview by saying: “I don’t want to come off like I’m cold or shy but I’m just a little insular and I’m just having an odd day.”

“You’re in a really safe space. This show was born in a time where we get to keep it really real and be honest,” explained Barrymore which led Baker to say how he’s “new to being vulnerable outside of songs”.

“I see a lot of pictures of me and there’s smiles on them and it’s just weird though because I didn’t feel good at all that day,” he continued. “I kind of am sick of smiling on days when I don’t feel like smiling and I feel this odd pressure because I don’t want my fans to think that I’m taking something for granted.”

“A lot of what I do is for other people and I haven’t given myself the time to just accept that it’s OK to not be OK,” he added.

Later in the interview, Baker speaks on how supportive his partner, Megan Fox, has been. “My girl is really centered and kind of was like the one who encouraged me to face my past and stuff and pick out what it is that I’m running from and why I put on those smiles that I don’t want to wear and stuff like that. That was big for me.”

Machine Gun Kelly has also teased details about upcoming album ‘Born With Horns’, revealing that it’s “more guitar-heavy” and lyrically “deeper”.

“I’m not scared anymore, there’s nothing holding me back from being my true self – and my true self can’t be silenced, can’t be restrained,” he explained. “It’s a force, it’s like a hurricane. Can’t stop that, it just goes until it feels like stopping, and I don’t feel like stopping anytime soon.”

For help and advice on mental health:

• Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians (CALL MUSIC MINDS MATTER ON: 0808 802 8008)
• CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
• Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues (CALL: 0800 030 6789)
• YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
• Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
• The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day