For a time, some wondered whether Vancouver hip-hop band Swollen Members would survive.

The award-winning, platinum record-selling band had fallen apart due to drugs and gang associations.

But the band appears to be making a comeback.

They recently performed before a packed house at Moe Joe's in Whistler, part of a cross-Canada tour that runs through November and December.

"Word of mouth spread quickly," front man Shane Bunting, a.k.a Mad Child, told CTV News the next day from his hotel room.

"It was a great vibe last night."

Drugs

Things weren't always so rosy.

By 2005, the band's record label had collapsed. Management contracts were cancelled.

And Bunting was severely addicted to OxyContin.

"It's crazy because you know when you drive down Hastings [Street] and you see people wigging out from being off heroin, and you always think, 'Well, that will never to me.' Well that happened to me," Bunting said.

"Fortunately, I was in a financial situation where I never ended up on the streets. ... But I almost lost everything from it."

Bunting said he estimates he spent half-a-million dollars on the drug.

Producer Rob the Viking said he was worried whether the band would survive.

"It felt like everything was put on pause for a few years there, for sure," he said.

"You get frustrated. There's only so much you can put up with."

Hells Angels

The band's association with the Hells Angels didn't help either.

Bunting's relationship with full-patch Hells Angels member Damiano Dipopolo and Hells Angels members' cameos in Swollen Members videos got the attention of police.

Police followed the band everywhere.

CTV News was there when RCMP gang investigators pulled the band over in Surrey for speeding.

The association with Hells Angels members led to a lot of misperceptions, band members say.

"Were we a Hells Angels financially-sponsored band? No. Mad Child's done everything independently on his own since day one," band member Kiley Hendriks, a.k.a. Prevail, said.

"Were we getting venues and shows because dudes were walking in the back door of establishments at 5 in the morning trying to strong-arm people? No. All the things we made happen for ourselves happened because of the fruition of our hard work and our work ethic."

But band members admit that the Hells Angles associations hurt them.

Nettwerk Records CEO Terry McBride severed ties with the band because of them.

"I could have maybe been more discreet about my relationship," Bunting now says, adding that he continues to be friends with Hells Angels members.

Come back

For now, the band's main focus is their music and their tour.

Bunting, who has been sober for five months, and his band mates are grateful for the second chance.

"Yes, it's a comeback," Bunting said. "And every day needs to count for three to make up for the harm I did to my friends and group."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington