THE BLOGRONAUT DISCUSSES WEED’S EFFECT ON MUSIC
Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 1:00pm by Sacha Dunable
Quite often, in interviews or just in conversation with random people, I am asked about my marijuana consumption. Imagine some nerdy Canadian metal journalist dude over the phone, going (read with accent) “DUDE, how much WEED did you smoke during the writing process for that record?” I get seriously annoyed by this, as I think it’s really immature to assume that pot has some magical power that actually writes the music for you. It reminds me of being 16 or 17, getting together at band practice, and someone coming up with the idea to “get really high and just jam” with the tape recorder running. 100% of the time, the result was a droney mess consisting of boring, meterless drum beats, monotonous “singing”, and one guitar playing an open E with a flange pedal left on at full blast. I just want to grab these people, throw them against a wall, hold them by their throats, and scornfully inform them that drugs are stupid, they themselves are stupid, and that it takes actual skill and thought to write interesting music.
I’ve had the idea to write about this for a while now, but something happened last week that totally threw me off. My roommate came home with some awesome weed and got me high. We bullshitted for a bit, and then I went outside and smoked a cigarette. Then I came inside and wrote LIKE TWENTY AWESOME RIFFS. Normally I sit at home playing guitar and rarely come up with more than one or two ideas in a sitting, if that. I was totally blown away at how awesome I was. I then realized that practically every riff I’ve written for Intronaut was done so while high. And I am not embellishing for the sake of an interesting story here. I mean every riff.
Last thing I’m going to do is turn this into some “I heart weed” kind of thing, but I will say, especially to small children, that you should smoke it if you want to write good music. And to that Canadian writer guy, I apologize, and to answer your question, “probably a shitload.”
-SD
It’s 4:20 somewhere, ain’t it?? Puff, puff, pass!!
Sacha is dead on.
Yeah, I mean you have to be good to write good music, but weed definitely helps.
I read the first paragraph (before the cut) and was ready to give a big FAIL to this discussion…and then you go and totally redeem yourself. Drugs have done amazing things for music. Sgt Pepper’s anyone???
I always think it’s funny when people figure out I’m a stoner who loves metal and they get confused. “Why would you want to be so angry all the time, all that raaaaaaaah-ing”
I don’t know about anyone else, but I go nuts thinking of all kinds of riffs I should be playing while I’m high but don’t have a guitar around. Most of the time I end up forgetting what sometimes leads into entire songs worth of riffs and they are never to be heard of again.
Weed is definitely a big help when it comes to guitar playing.
I think Axl and Vince should just do a post where they try to get the most ridiculous ads from Google. Sacha posts about weed and we get Pizza Hut and industrial grade weed killer. Imagine the possibilities mannnn!
If you have no talent weed or any other drug won’t help. But in the words of the late, great Bill Hicks, “If you think drugs haven’t influenced music then go home take all your all your albums, all your CDs and throw ‘em in the garbage because the artists that made that music you love so much, yeah, really fuckin high.”
Wow. at first I was going to write “fuck you I am never reading your articles again”, but after the jump you totally redeemed yourself and I now like you.
Marijuana is a fun HERB to do.
There should be a law that all anti-marijuana lobbyists must first take a bong rip before voicing their opinion or voting against legalization and what not. I am sure there opinions would change.
Last night I was all tired n shit from work when I got home, like “ughhh I gotta practice but fuck I’m so blahh” and then I hit the bong and sat for a while listening to tunes… eventually I just grabbed the guitar and ended up jamming and singing by myself for like 2 fucking hours, like learning songs and making up shit, damn I shoulda recorded that shit… Fucking weed lol
4:22 E.S.T.
I’m only going to say one thing about this post:
For Drug-Crazed Grind-Freaks Only
i think that, considering that you shaved your beard off a couple weeks ago, you should put a new picture in the O of the word BlogrOnaut. sellout.
^^^^SHHHHHHHHHHHHH^^^^^
And now that you wrote good music while stoned, you will never be able to believe you are capable of writing good music un-stoned, therefore you will always be stoned. That is why i dont smoke weed.
yes, it is both a curse and a blessing.
I know, that is why i am too afraid to try it. I know i would probably like it.
Alright, I give. Sign me up, let’s jam.
exhale and wail
I think if you were born with a somewhat inculcated brain, that if you have the talent, originality, and intelligence, that you can write interesting stuff.
4:24 est.. good write sash!
There’s no miracle drug that can make you a good musician. You either have talent or you don’t. That’s it. Honestly, though, I loved the first paragraph of this post… the rest of it not so much.
i think this shit would only apply to guitarists. i once tried jamming with someone while high and all i could do was really slow stuff like shuffles. couldn’t play fast even if i wanted to (which i didn’t). sad.
And in my experience, the best musicians are those who don’t need drugs to write stunning music. If you can’t write great music when you’re sober, I’m just not impressed.
Just sayin’.
I was going to quote the late, great Bill Hicks but EnemyOfGod beat me to it.
To OneRode-
I in no way support or advocate drug use of any kind, but I’m just curious to know who you’re talking about that doesn’t use drugs and writes awesome music. The only band I could ever think of was Minor Threat.
I used to smoke alot of weed when I played with my first band. I was’nt very talented at the time, but I don’t think that smoking all that weed helped me write any better than I could right sober. Regardless, music and drugs just go hand and hand to some extent.
Has anyone thought that maybe, just maybe, the second half of this post was the sarcastic/ironic/whatever else part, and the first paragraph was the serious part?
The unfortunate side effect mary jane has on me whilst i make music while stoned is that I cant remember the nuances of the riffs afterward, which really sucks. Also, Zac, he does mention that he apologizes to that one canadian writer, so I’m pretty sure he was being serious.
I remember fondly mike and I smoking several bowls in high school and writing the sickest riffs we could imagine on our trusty 4 track. so awesome. The next day we heard it and realized it sucked, so we got stoned again and tried writing some more.
fast forward 10 years…
The weed is WAY better now, hence the music has actually improved, I think.
Hmmmm … where to begin … A once (maybe not so very) famous (but VERY handsome) young man said to me, when asked, “okay, where are your tatoos and piercings?” … “I haven’t any … I’m a leader not a follower”. So … pot, eh? Well that just about covers at least one of the stereotypes for muscians doesn’t it? Just wanted you to know, I for one, read your stuff, and I still love you.
Personally, I’ve found that weed is absolutely amazing for writing riffs and melodies, but actually detrimental to writing songs. When I’m high, I’ll write a badass riff and then keep playing it over and over and over again, finding it impossible to segue into something else. I guess that’s why we have jam bands. The best thing to do is record your jam sessions and then organize your riffs into real structures when you’re sober. I’m always impressed by people who can structure a song when their goose is cooked.
Doors of Perception anyone?