Thursday, October 18, 2012 3:56pm ET by  
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Example: 'I keep a metal bar by my door'

'Kickstarts' sensation Example has opened up about the negativity aimed at him from social media users and admitted that he deals with a significant amount of unprovoked abuse daily.

In a new interview with The Guardian newspaper, he explained that his Twitter feed is often overrun with offensive messages from strangers, but he's learned to take it on the chin:

"I get abuse on Twitter all day long. I'm not bothered. Some artists set out to leave a legacy. I'm not trying to change the world. I was meant to be a film director. This was just a hobby – a hobby that's gone right. I'm adaptable. If I put my mind to it, I could smash it."

"I was a TV editor, I did voiceovers for the Paramount Comedy Channel and MTV – I've got a deep voice, and when your voice operates at certain frequencies, it resonates more in people's ears. I also did landscape gardening in Australia for six months, I did removals, I still paint – I painted my flat in a day and a half."

When asked about the kind of Twitter abuse he finds himself subjected to, Example revealed: "Someone said to me the other day: "I'm going to come to your gig in Belfast and set fire to you." People tell me they're going to beat me up, stab me, spit on me. They say, "I hate you, you're a prick, I hate your haircut, your face, you look like a horse, you can't sing, you can't rap, your clothes are shit ..." I've got 1.5 million followers. 20,000 people mention me a day. I'd say 500 of those are abuse."

He even added that he keeps a weapon in his house: "I've got a metal bar. I keep it by the door."

 

 

 

Watch his newly unveiled music video for 'Close Enemies' below: