Psychadelics and music

guitarzero

Whats your opinion on the influence of Psychadelics on music? Between the 50's and now, is the trend of drug use and attitudes towards creating and listening related? How much emphasis would you place on the relationship between drug use and the artist? Is there a reflection of drug use in todays...."music"/art/expression/movements?
More interestingly, could someone who advocates drug use in the context of art be able to specify what it is that occurs in the artist that enables them to express themselves better?

kerash

What is your opinion?

rcaz

I hate the idea that people might think they 'need' a drug to make music... If someone needs to be drugged to make music, they're not a musician, imo. Music is of the mind moreso than of the heart... Even if someone is 'playing from the heart', they can only do so 'cause they've practiced and trained themselves so much that their mind works fluidly enough to turn their 'emotions' into the physical gestures they need to play their instrument accordingly.

Steven Drozd wrote some of my favourite music ever while he was addicted to heroin, in an interview he claimed that heroin did inspire music in him, but other things do in the same way as well, he likened it to the feeling you might get after good exercise. But then endorphins would be drugs too right? Maybe I've got it all wrong.

Edit; Heroin isn't a psychedelic, is it?

guitarzero

I guess talking about drug use in any context requires us to remove any stigma attached to it and try come from a pretty open space as there is so much junk about the topic that can distort ones opinions about it.

It was when I listened to this track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zV78IgXzB0 that I became curious. Its one of the best songs I've ever heard and it broke many molds in terms of writing rock songs. If this song was a testimony to drug use then surely there must be some substance in it (pun not intended ;-) ). The more I read about Hendricks, Cobain, Joplain, The Beattles, The Stones, Grunge, 90's House, the list is endless, drug use was often a strong feature of their lives.
Of course, no one is saying drug use will make you a great musician but there seems to be a common trend in many of the musicians lives - 'Sex, DRUGS and rock n' roll'. These 3 things seem to transcend us from the ordinary, from cognition, into a state of instinctual behaviour, to a state of other worldlyness, no?
When I made the post it was more to do with exploring the relationship between drugs and music, not necessarily to come to a set conclusion, although that would be fine too.

nyarlothothep

There may be some causal connection, although when I dream for example which I would suggest is a state akin to a psychedelic drug induced experience, I might hear songs, plots for novels or jokes which I find amazing or incredibly funny but when I wake up I'm thinking no, just no. On the other hand some of the best stuff I've written has been in dreams but rarely has it been good enough on its own, a conscious process of judgement was needed to refine and expand on it.

I think another explanation is that these artists have personality traits which would increase the probability of them taking drugs, those traits may be linked to their creativity, the drug taking may be incidental, heroin for example has been claimed to be really bad for creativity, Oasis released a crap album on coke, on the other hand LSD and psychedelia culture inspired the Beatles to write Sgt. Pepper. I would say it also has to do with interest, sources of inspiration and the desire to prove oneself by writing good music. Afaik Mozart and Beethoven weren't renowned for their drug use, although I may be wrong on this, it didn't affect their creativity though.