Soundsphere’s Dom Smith chats to August Artois about controlling his narrative for our new PROJECT SPOTLIGHT series.
On the state of CYN right now: “We’re great, man. We are just zooming past the competition.”
August’s own journey to success has been incredibly quick in wrestling terms, and he confidently say that he’s always been in control, and that’s what captured the attention of EC3, and The Narrative: “Not only was I in control of myself, but I knew exactly who I wanted to be from the get-go, I’ve only been doing this for 19 months, and for me to get in to the door that quickly…I guess I am one of the standouts [of CYN].”
Artois has somewhat of a hedonistic attitude towards life, and wrestling, and it has served him well, so far: “I’m all about me, and my happiness. With all due respect, f*** everybody else, because if I’m not happy, then I’m not gonna do any good to this world. I’m in control of me, my emotions and my future. At 16, I got signed to a metal band, I was the lead singer of Forever In Terror [as Tim Felger], we toured 48 states across the country. Moving forward, I started travelling, went to eight different countries, then a few more states. I’ve always been in control.”
August continues to talk about how when he first got into wrestling, people would tell him ways to improve his gimmick, or how to talk to promoters, and his message to them is simple: “For me, it was like, f*** you. I kept doing it my way, controlling my narrative. It’s mine to control, good or bad.”
For Artois as a performer, Control Your Narrative is not just about wrestling, it’s a lifestyle: “It’s for you to get up, look in the mirror and be happy with the person you are looking at, not going on the internet and comparing yourself to others. Control Your Narrative is trying to push you to find out what kind of person you want to be. Find out what life means to you.”
In terms of his definition of success, the wrestler says that it’s about being better than everyone else: “I have been doing this for 19 months, and there are people that have been doing this for five or six years that are flooding my inbox asking me how I did this, or that. It’s sad to me. These people have put so much time, energy and effort in to this, and they don’t even know who the hell they are.”
Artois is supremely confident in his own abilities, and emphasises that it is definitely not for everyone: “I am a very rare case, this is a very hard business to get into. I am different, I am unique. It’s painful, this sh** hurts, and on top of that, it’s the most poisonous thing that you’ll ever do in your life. You will see people with two, three or four sides of their face that they will show you. People will stab you in your back, your front and your side! It’s the most cutthroat business.”
When it comes to defining what Control Your Narrative is, Artois is wary, because what it means to him is completely different to what it means to others in the group: “Others are trying to find control, some guys like me already have it, guys like EC3 have already had control, and established this group. If I had to answer the question, I’d say ‘freedom’. You’ll come to our show, and you will have a hell of a time. We’ve got Sarah Rowe [Sarah Logan in WWE] coming in, and you’re gonna see legit women’s wrestling. We’re opening eyes, and turning heads.”
So, why is August doing this, what does he want to get out of wrestling? “I’m in this for the money, man. I’m not gonna sit here and say that I wanna have a 5-star match, and that I want to be the Champion of this company. I don’t have those dreams, I never did. I realised that there’s a lot of money to be made in professional wrestling. I can talk, I’ve got a great body, and I can wrestle, so why not do it?”
For the full interview where August talks about working as an extra for WWE, career highlights and more, listen below:
