For Musicians, How life-changing is Lsd or shrooms for your mind? I'm a guitarist, dying to be a songwriter. I always heard about how Jimi Hendrix Put acid on his headbands while he played shows( which makes me think thats one of his keys). And all these great musicians that really play from the heart seem to have done these drugs. I am going on 17 and have been musically inclined for about 3 years. I've been in a creative funk for the longest while and can't get over that mental fence. I've heard one of my friends say " after acid I can write song on will now man!". So I ask the knowledgeable community out there, How life-changing is LSD or shrooms for your mind? Has it had a profound effect on your gift of musicality? If so please please PLEASE explain..
LSD has huge effects on creativity. It will just open your mind to the limitless space of possibility. The work must still be done by you though. Not sure what you want explained, it's just an effect of the compound. It's very paradigm-shattering.
I play guitar and LSD can definitely open up creative possibilities. It allows you to view the instrument as an outlet of expression I guess more than an instrument. You feel the energy flow from your body, to the instrument, coming out the amp. Shrooms are a bit harder to play guitar on and straight up frustrating at times. The 3 best hallucinogens for playing guitar for me have been LSD, 2ct2 and 4-ac0-dmt.
After doing LSD, I found I was able to think in a more creative way when playing guitar. It was like.."wow! why haven't I thought of this before". It really gets your creative juices flowing..feels like it just brought my creative ability more to the surface. Now i'm currently in progress of starting a band
Well Thank you so much for the feedback you all have given me so far. But because of this creative slump its caused me to become very self concise, anti-social at times, and even kind of scarred me from jamming(maybe due to past band experience). Would it help me in this area as well? I'm just really ready to get out of this terrible mindset I have been in and ready to just be free.
^ I think you'll need cocaine for that . JUST KIDDING. But honestly if you're self conscious about jamming with others, psychedelics probably won't help. They very well may make you more self conscious.
yeah, idk if acid really has much to do with creativity - it may help some folks get over their own hangups but to be honest there aint no drug gonna make you play or write any better. It all comes from within and acid wont force it to come out.
Im not sure if this was sarcasm but listen to The Beatles pre LSD and post LSD. Its undeniable the impact LSD has on the creative process. As far as playing on LSD, it effects short term memory so I think the majority of people will not play better on LSD. I do think its possibile to jam really well on LSD but I would definitely try to hone your skills playing while tripping on your own first.
not sarcasm, acid just brings out whats already there. Doing it doesnt create it, but it can help the player put aside hangups or whatever logical blocks they have. But the songs, melodies are there whether acid is or not. Im not denying the influence of acid, but the beatles were accomplished songwriters before they took it, so to say acid was the source of their material is foolish. Yes, its an influence, but not the only one.
I don't think a song like 'A day in the life' would have been anywhere near what it was without LSD. The aural complexity and lyrical imagery is different by a ridiculous magnitude from the stuff on 'Sgt. Peppers lonely hearts club band' compared to 'please please me.' Certainly artists sounds continue to evolve but I see The Beatles going like straight from their bubble gum pop rock of the early years to like 'Let it be' type pop rock without LSD. Its certainly not the only influence but its strikingly obvious something happened with those middle albums if you have listened to them. If all you know is power chords psychedelics won't turn you into Hendrix but the impact they can have on artistic endeavors should not be underestimated.
The word 'psychedelic' just means a heightened sensitivity. It has nothing to do with drugs. Besides, these drugs are all in you. They're just keys that unlock these certain chemicals within you. -Devendra Banhart I believe he put in a way that most everyone can agree with.
hehe indeed. i'd say that lsd could help you get over your creative funk, but in the way that it could help you adress the issues that are causing the mental funk in the first place. it won't help you if you aren't willing to adress those issues. but in other ways, an acid trip can be very inspiring and very productive to the creative process. maybe after your trip you will have a new experience to draw from for your music. that is all that music is after all, experiences put into song form. playing guitar on acid, really at any time, can be stellar. but it is only going to magnify things. generally i have the most creativity for songwriting after the peak of a good trip. playing before the peak can drastically impact the rest of your trip, and since you said that sometimes you are self conscious, it might be a better idea to wait until after the peak.
