MUMBAI: It's been almost three years since Chilean-Swiss DJ Luciano stopped consuming drugs and alcohol, and it wasn't easy to get rid of addiction and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

In an interview to IANS, Luciano, who is known for tracks "Esperanza" and "Rise of angel", opened up on his battle with substance abuse.

"I started at a time when nobody wanted to be a deejay, and being a deejay was not a great idea. I started very young, and when you start you are always in situations with someone holding a glass of wine, saying cheers, and you start to drink. Then, someone gives you something else and it's very easy to forget the principles of who you are and of music and other things. I lived a very difficult rock and roll and hardcore life," he said.

Things changed for the better after he met with an accident.

"I lived a hard life until I had an accident and it was a blessing. It was a blessing in order to wake up to become spiritual again, and now I try to teach the young generation that it's not bad to be sober. It does not make you less boring," he added.

Elaborating a little more on his drug addiction, the 41-year-old EDM artiste shared how certain medicines available in pharmacies are worse than drugs available in the streets.

He said: "I was really using a lot of chemicals, but also things that medical (advice) gives you a" like something to sleep or something to wake up. You're always thinking things, and you don't realise, but sometimes the pharmacies are worse than the drugs running in the streets. So at one point of time my body and mind stopped working and it took a long time to function properly."

Luciano was eventually admitted in a rehab to combat drug abuse and when his rehab stint got over, it was difficult to come back to normalcy.

"You are allergic to chocolate, but you'd have to work in a chocolate factory. So, it was very difficult initially. With time, I came back to the most happy phase of my life. So I danced and created music. These things helped me in combating my addiction.

"Also, having interesting conversations with people, discovering new places and meeting new people helped me a lot. Till now I stick to these things."

On the work front, Luciano is busy with his international tours. He recently performed at Sunburn 2019 in Goa. This is his first visit to the country.

"It was my dream to come to India. I remember my first girlfriend was in India to teach English and since then I wanted to come here. I have been travelling the entire world for 23 years and I have never been to India before. So, I am really happy to be here," Luciano said.