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i remember seeing eek-a-mouse smoking crack backstage at this shitty club i worked at once...

Guided By Voices is inconceivable without a trash can full of Rolling Rock at the side of the stage. As for the recording process, we can only wonder.

I like pot. It makes my music sound more paranoid than it already is.

If I knew more about my favorite artist's drug habits, I'd probably ditch most of my music.

I don't respect people that treat themselves that way, and therefore I do not need to be entertained by the product of a drug addict.

So for the most part, ignorence is bliss, and I can keep my music.

How about a big stamp on records... 'SA' for Sober Artist.

The Chinese had it right when they rounded up all the opium dealers and murdered them. Good times!!!

God I hated the people in Arizona. They thougth it was 'cool' to rip mirrors off the wall, and wondered why I freaked out.

caveat:
Some artists, such as Skinny Puppy , are nutorious for their addictions. Still, their music was so far ahead of its time, it can't be ignored. It's conflicting for me to listen to it, knowing what they're all about.

One last thing....
I think some people regard drug use as being rebellious and some sort of an anti-society activity. I think of drug use as the most boring, mainstream thing to do. It's much more subversive to society to have yourself together and further your art.

All upcoming artist should watch VH1 , and draw some conclusions.
Formula:
Struggling artist... Hit record.. Everything was great... THEN THE DRUGS RUINED EVERYTHING. Same story every time.

-Rook

this wont make me any friends but...
drugs are for high school. drugs make your band sound stupid. people who cannot play unless they are high are weak and worthless and use that as an excuse to explain why their music sucks.
it takes more balls to face everyday life head on rather than some dulled time-passing "high". fucking grow up.
I guess just ignore me and get "cheifed" and smoke away the best years you got until your bastard kid is old enough to bring his friends over to toke with dad.
when people talk about how fucked up the musicians were that made historys best albums I always wonder how much better they could have been.....

buzzsaw wrote:this wont make me any friends but...
drugs are for high school. drugs make your band sound stupid. people who cannot play unless they are high are weak and worthless and use that as an excuse to explain why their music sucks.
it takes more balls to face everyday life head on rather than some dulled time-passing "high". fucking grow up.
I guess just ignore me and get "cheifed" and smoke away the best years you got until your bastard kid is old enough to bring his friends over to toke with dad.
when people talk about how fucked up the musicians were that made historys best albums I always wonder how much better they could have been.....

But how could Husker Du and the Replacements have been ANY better than they were?

I think you have to take each case on its own merits. It's not so much that drugs made these artists better; rather, drugs were an intrinsic part of their whole way of dealing with the world, and these crazed highs, terrible lows and struggles therein were insperable from the songwriting process. Without the drugs they would have been very, very different individuals.

In the case of Husker Du and The Replacements, they might have made it out of the '80s intact had it not been for the drugs. A fucking waste, in my view. Even Billie Holiday said that drugs stole twice as much from her as they gave, with respect to inspiration.

buzzsaw wrote: drugs make your band sound stupid...

This is an overt and ubiquitous statement, made to provoke self-righteousness, instead of an understanding of how the creative process works for seperate individuals.

Now, I don't PERSONALLY do drugs, and CERTAIN drugs that musicians do...I feel strongly about....

but it's ultimately their business.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IN REGARDS TO THIS STATEMENT...there are TONS of AMAZING RECORDS that were made under the influence of various substances.

I believe, for example, every recording made at Electrical Audio is under the direct influence of the nefarious and highly addictive alkaloid: CAFFEINE

An interesting time.

Makes no difference in performance or in writing ability, but is a better way to kill a couple hours than watching Cops or listening to a record you've heard a billion times before. Strangely, it cures the temptation to use Big Words one has found on the Internet.

Well, here's my chance for the top four spots on the General Discussion board, so I'll grab it.

It would be difficult to argue any of the "hard" drugs as a positive influence on the canon of American music. I'll leave it to the dissidents to make the case in their favor, but I feel the negatives suffice to demolish that line of argument.

Really: Hank Williams, Joplin, Hendrix, Sly Stone, Johnny Thunders, Rick James, Bob Stinson, Grant Hart, Kurt Cobain, [hell, I'll throw in Layne Staley] This is just a partial list, but there is no number of recovering James Taylors and Bonnie Raitts than can redeem this group with respect to what has been lost.