Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Acid Man

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  • paulalambert,

    How would you people who are parents feel about your kids using LSD etc if it were legal and available?
    I'm not sure whether or what my eldest has used, but I do know she's been glad there was the option of discussing it with me in a sane and rational manner if she needed to. I expect/hope her younger brother may also appreciate it one day and very much agree with whoever said the best thing you can give your kids is a good 'listening to"

    If LSD etc were legal and available at least there would be some sort of safety and quality control. There are liars and thieves throughout the black market.

    chch • Since Dec 2006 • 107 posts Report

  • paulalambert,

    and very much agree with whoever said the best thing you can give your kids is a good 'listening to"

    I should qualify that by adding 'at appropriate times' LOL

    chch • Since Dec 2006 • 107 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    i can think of a lot worse things for young people to get up to than taking LSD and going to the art gallery or park.

    I had a friend in the US who used to go and watch greyhound racing on acid. Yep. LSD + dog track = guaranteed fun, apparently. Parklife!

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Peter Ashby,

    I thought playing current local music was wot student radio was for? are am I behind the times not having listened to it since 1992?

    I can't for eg have got the idea to buy all those LPs from the Dunedin sound from seeing all those bands in Dunedin at the time since I was too skint (I did see the Verlaines live in the Ori but). I have this collection of the oevre that some day I will copy into MP3s since my turntable doesn't work with the new stereo....

    Though seeing what my Sneaky Feelings LP could be worth that MP3 turntable could be seen as an investment :)

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report

  • Kerry Weston,

    This reminds me of our own Philip Clairmont and his attempts to galvanize his LSD experience's

    Indeed. Funny how Clairmont went off the radar the last 20 years as far as establishment art circles are concerned. I still think he was one of our best painters - I've got a copy of an old interview he did where he explained his process and he was alot more rational & orderly in his painting process than what one might think.

    I think that NZ is still a rather repressive country, that is uncomfortable with overt expression, experimentation etc - looked like it was changing for the better pre the New Right, but seems to have retreated since.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Sid Barrett, on Kodachrome.

    That about says it all for me.Fond memories of my own.LSD was all good in my book/novel,

    How would you people who are parents feel about your kids using LSD etc if it were legal and available?

    I mentioned to my man's 15 yr old that if she indulged in "experimenting" being aware that the consequence may not always be fluffy white ducks,and if you are prepared,then it is called " life"I found experimenting with drugs young, gave me a much better grip with alcohol .(in a ' don't drink much' kinda way)

    I thought playing current local music was wot student radio was for?

    Yep.If you go to BFM you may find an example of student radio at its finest,and I would estimate around 40% NZ music content and local bands live on breakfast with havoc.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I've got a copy of an old interview he did where he explained his process and he was alot more rational & orderly in his painting process than what one might think.

    LSD is a great way to find the order in total confusion.(maybe, sorta.)innit ;)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I would estimate around 40% NZ music content and local bands live on breakfast with havoc.

    I miss listening to the B in the mornings (as opposed to at work on the net). Active breakfast is ok, but it ain't the same as the mighty Havo.

    Also, they provide free drug education. Listening to some of the munters who call in reminds you why you shouldn't do too much drugs.

    "Can I have yer prize, bro?"
    "What prize are you calling in for?"
    "The prize, like"
    "Which is?"
    "Dunno"
    "Ok, you win three free organic coffee enemas and a Yulia album"

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Andrew Paul Wood,

    This reminds me of our own Philip Clairmont and his attempts to galvanize his LSD experience's

    Indeed. Funny how Clairmont went off the radar the last 20 years as far as establishment art circles are concerned. I still think he was one of our best painters - I've got a copy of an old interview he did where he explained his process and he was alot more rational & orderly in his painting process than what one might think.

    I think that NZ is still a rather repressive country, that is uncomfortable with overt expression, experimentation etc - looked like it was changing for the better pre the New Right, but seems to have retreated since.

    Oh, crap.

    Christchurch • Since Jan 2007 • 175 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    I had coffee with an old buddy that was into copious amounts of hallucinogenic drugs and also some amphetamines thru-out his teens. He was back in New Zealand to attend the university graduation ceremony, and officially collect his PHD. He is a star gazer.

    The brilliant Carl Sagan was also a dedicated chemical explorer. Perhaps it goes with the territory.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Rob Stowell,

    I had this track
    stuck on mental repeat all weekend.
    According to wikipedia, it was written as a "warning against the danger of using LSD".
    Its origins may be deeply uncool- Kenny Rogers! a wild Glen Campbell solo!- but wiki also repeats the claim it was Hendrix' favourite track.
    1967 was another era, eh?

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    'Condition' is a song of badassery. I love it so much.

    (The Supergrass version is good, too.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • robbery,

    for all this talk about the creative expansion that hard drugs offers, the reality appears to be that although you may be open to new and interesting ideas though drugs your inclination while on them is to do fuck all.

    most artists creative peaks come when they're not tripping off their nuts or curled up in a stupor in the corner of their room with a needle hanging out their vein, simply because their in no state to produce anything while fucked out of their tree. Perhaps it's the period after the drug excess, but then again most recovering burn outs don't really produce anything of interest in their born again 12 steps completed phase either.

    it must be the road to hard drugs that makes for good art then, or maybe there's no rule.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • mark taslov,

    1/4 trips

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report

  • robbery,

    or maybe its another music myth.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • robbery,

    There's an old saying, most appropriate to that "when you point the finger, there's nine pointing back"

    I don't see the relevance of that in this case. general public looking at the creative output of their artist elite. its irrelevant what the person making no creative claims has or hasn't done when commenting on the performance of others as an outsider, whether or not their miserable life has yielded little of value or not.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • robbery,

    I'm having difficulty interpreting the projection of this paragraph. robbery, are you talking about yourself.

    maybe I was confused about your original point which I took to mean don't critise the artist unless you can prove you have fare better.

    Its not about our achievements or not, its about theirs before, during and after drugs.

    perhaps visual art works differently with drugs but its pretty well documented the effect it has on the creativity and productivity of ones career. There are exceptions, but not many.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • Brent Jackson,

    Steven wrote:

    But this is the good stuff

    How right you are !
    Interactive art - Len Lye would've loved it.
    I especially enjoyed the river with the rubber duckies

    Cheers,
    Brent.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Its not about our achievements or not, its about theirs before, during and after drugs.

    perhaps visual art works differently with drugs but its pretty well documented the effect it has on the creativity and productivity of ones career. There are exceptions, but not many.

    I think the exceptions would be the leading popular music artists who didn't take any drugs ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    Is this where we quote Bill Hicks?

    (I started listing all the talented and successful drug-taking musicians, but then realised that my post was going to be so long that no one would read it...)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • robbery,

    is your point that people are talented because they take drugs?

    or do they take drugs because their talented?

    and further to that are you asserting that their drug consumption is what makes them talented?

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • robbery,

    Enquiring minds, do tend to survey there options.

    :) no I'm just waiting for clarification before I ask them to back up their vague assertions.

    I've seen a lot of creative minds silence by substance induced stupors, but I can't say I've actually seen anyone getting more creative from said substances.

    RB was extolling the virtues of acid for insight, and it may well have that effect on some, but it has yet to be proved that there is a direct link between drug consumption and creativity.

    perhaps its better to differentiate between hallucinogenics and drugs as a whole though. The drugs that stop creatives in their tracks are typically mood altering ones, not mind altering.

    and yeah, I have seen a lot of it first hand.

    daniellle says she's got a list of drug taking successfuls, Id be interested in her opinion on whether the drug taking impacted positively on their creativity. but then again, how would she know.

    Drugs are for people who can afford them.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    daniellle says she's got a list of drug taking successfuls, Id be interested in her opinion on whether the drug taking impacted positively on their creativity. but then again, how would she know.

    Oh, I wouldn't. I'm not creative at all. And I couldn't say that the drugs caused the creativity in my list of drug-taking musicians, either. As we all know, correlation does not equal causality. It may very well be that all the creativity would have existed without the drug-taking.

    What I *do* think is that the types of drugs the musicians are taking have an effect on the way in which the music is expressed. Look at the Beatles: the early albums are all amphetamine-fuelled; Help and Rubber Soul are the pot albums; Revolver and Sgt Pepper are the acid albums. All of Elvis Costello's early records are heavily informed by speed and alcohol, otherwise he wouldn't have been spitting out the words so damn fast (see also: The Who, pre-bombast). The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie all made records in which cocaine was a heavy influence.

    Time and again I tell myself
    I'll stay clean tonight
    But the little green wheels keep following me
    (Oh no, not again)
    I'm stuck with a valuable friend
    I'm happy, hope you're happy too

    It doesn't mean they're more creative because they're taking drugs. But the drugs are definitely an influence of some kind.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • robbery,

    I just got through watching the joe strummer doco, so maybe my vision of it is a little tainted by his story.

    His stance was drugs were for hippies (but apparently cigarettes and alcohol don't come into his definition of that), and as you know all hippies must die by punk ethos.

    it then went on to show various members of the band falling by the wayside from drug abuse (same old story, its almost boring), as the music spiraled downward.

    Strummer didn't come off to well in the doco though. regularly changing his identity and dropping his old friends in his search for stardom.

    its hard to really know how much drugs played in the creativity we hear in a finished record. I've seen plenty of shit drug fueled efforts sculpted into master pieces by skilled producers and engineers,

    potentially great performances rescued by the rest of the band covering for the twat who took p 10 mins before the gig started and couldn't tell when the songs started and stopped. sometimes you have to be on the inside to know what's really going on.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    Oh, another example: the increasing use of E in the American hiphop community in the late 90s/early 00s. Timbaland and Missy and OutKast clearly added stuff to their production based on that drug.

    (Actually, I think my entire argument can basically be boiled down to one Flaming Lips compilation title: Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid. Heh.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

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