There’s been a lot of discussion recently about decriminalization or legalization of various kinds of drugs, including psychedelics. The podcast “The Argument” held a panel discussion on this topic in the episode “The World’s View on Drugs Is Changing. Which Side Are You On?” Oregon was among the first to experiment with decriminalization of drugs, but according to the website Governing, this has not resulted in connecting people with treatment. They point out, however, that COVID-19 may have impeded these efforts.
For the first time in the last 50 years, the federal government is funding a research study on the use of psychedelics to treat addiction. Three universities (Johns Hopkins, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and New York University) will be studying psilocybin to break addiction to tobacco. Psilocybin is also being studied as a treatment for chronic pain, and Psilocybin and MDMA are also being studied for treatment of mental illness. One study found that psilocybin improves major depressive disorder in cancer patients. Reality Sandwich warns, however, that psychedelics are being commodified in a way that diminishes their cultural value.
The biggest news in psychedelic music is that Earthless has announced that they will be touring this winter. Levitation (formerly Austin Psych Fest) will take place this week in Austin. And this episode of Turn Me On, Dead Man features several new psychedelic tracks, starting with the Altered Hours. The Irish Times praised their latest album, stating that they “inject doomed Irish romanticism into psychedelic rock.”
00:00 Turn Me On Dead Man – Intro
00:28 The Altered Hours – Radiant Wound
04:23 Strawberry Sleepover – For Tomorrow
08:05 Halo Noose – Journey to the Sun
12:15 Turn Me On Dead Man – Break
14:19 Chainsaw Rainbow – blonde with dark roots
17:57 Sly Fungi – Panspermia
23:12 The Squarevoyants – Motor Psychos (Ride)
25:02 The Wizard – The Wicked Messenger
27:52 American Cream Band – New Gods FM
31:47 Wah Wah Wah – Wormhole
36:10 Speck – The Metz Sessions
| The Altered Hours – Radiant Wound [from Convertible, releases October 29, 2021] |
| Strawberry Sleepover – For Tomorrow [from Exploding Strawberry Inevitable, released October 08, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live – your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SS: Baltimore has a long history of fraud and corruption, this is our take on a pyramid scheme to exploit the general population. But in all seriousness, Baltimore is an interesting city with lots of history; Frank Zappa was born here. Edgar Allan Poe died here. Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner here. There are also alot of great bands and cool places to play
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SS:
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band – Safe as Milk
Hendrix – Band of Gypsys
Quicksilver Messenger Service – Self titled & Happy Trails
Frank Zappa – Hot Rats
Wesley Willis – Greatest Hits Vol 1 & 2
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SS: Just trying to play as much as possible. Maybe try to plan a summer tour if things work out. We just released our 2nd album, Exploding Strawberry Inevitable, so right now we’re trying to save up and get it pressed on vinyl. It’s expensive doing it ourselves!
| Halo Noose – Journey to the Sun [from The Druid EP, released October 15, 2021] |
I corresponded with Stuart Morrish
TMODM: How does the place you live – your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SM: I live in a cottage that sits in a small crofting village in the Northern Highlands.It is so peaceful and surrounded by jaw dropping beauty and free roaming wildlife.Life is pretty cool for everybody up here.Everything flows and has certainly added an extra dimension to my sound.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SM: To be honest i cant remember a specific record that influenced me.I used to listen to Loop alot,also Sundial,early Monster Magnet,Spaceman 3,Screaming trees and Mudhoney.Plus im a big fan of late 60s psychedelia ie July,Tomorrow,Hendrix,floyd etc
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SM: Im working on a 3rd ep at the moment.Similar sound to the two previous records.Ive been invited to record a full LP on vinyl by a record label which is going ahead.Just need to work out the direction they want me to go with it etc.This is what i was aiming for so i will busy the next few nonths recording and mixing.I also have a gig in April 2022 at a 3 day sold out Psych festival in Liverpool.Its organised by Hard Rock Hell and there are some big bands playing that weekend.So yeah things are rollin pretty fast.
| Chainsaw Rainbow – blonde with dark roots [from pink noise overdrive, released July 07, 2021] |
I corresponded with Dominic Massaro
TMODM: How does the place you live – your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
DM: I’m not sure if any of any or all of those things feed into my music. I never sit down and try to write music. I create spontaneously so whatever comes out comes out. After that I figure out how to make it work. I suppose I’m affected but more on a subconcious level.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
DM: I don’t think any records have changed my life.
Certain records have definitely affirmed my musical direction. When I first heard records like Velvet Underground and Nico, MBV Loveless and Aphex Twin Selected ambient works volume 2 to name a few they let me know that the weird direction that I was going in was ok.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
DM: I’ll probably put out some new music in the next few months. I’ve been creating lots of pieces but haven’t decided which direction I want to go in.
| Sly Fungi – Panspermia [from The End is Calming, released October 05, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live – your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SF: Mostly based outta Arlington Texas, where it’s a pretty suburban landscape, we tended to grow our music in isolation before venturing out into the local music scenes. The local music in the area is pretty diverse and we’ve played some shows sharing a stage with grindcore rappers, jazz fusion, and death metal all in the same lineup, so we’ve enjoyed learning to adapt to different crowds and vibes which has probably influenced our free formish approach. Pretty much we lock ourselves up in our practice space and then throw it out live and sometimes people seem to like it.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SF: It’s impossible for us to pick one cause we’re super pretentious and like just too much music…
Fergie: The Dutchess
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SF: Continue to write more, play more, and hopefully save enough money to be broke on tour.
| The Squarevoyants – Motor Psychos (Ride) [from The Squarevoyants EP, released October 21, 2021] |
I corresponded with GE McBride
TMODM: How does the place you live – your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
GEM: Great question! It 100% influences the music we make but not in the way you may think. We’re from a small/mid-size city in North Carolina. We have a music scene with lots of talented musicians and a great kinship between us all. However, most of the bands are cover bands and the original artists play genres such as Americana, folk, hip hop and alternative rock. There aren’t many other artists playing raw garage rock so that motivated us to get this thing started and create something different from what our peers are doing. Basically, we just want to play the music we like whether the crowds like it or not. There will always be an audience online that digs so we’re good with it.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
GEM: Simply, too many to list. I’m involved in several projects from different genres so I could say there is a life changing album for each project. For The Squarevoyants, I would probably have to say The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators would be somewhere very close to the top! It’s raw, it’s reverby, it’s Roky!!
TMODM: What’s next for you?
GEM: Keep putting out original music. Keep creating. Keep discovering new music.
| The Wizard – The Wicked Messenger [from Texas Heat Vol. 3, released July 23, 2021] |
I corresponded with Vince Garlisi
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
VG: The place we live (San Antonio, Texas) feeds the music we make because it’s our daily inspiration. It’s so hot here sometimes, but that’s when our best writing sessions happen. Or we have some of our best recordings during those times. Also the music scene here is super unique, and very much on its own wave. San Antonio is known as the heavy metal music capital, but the underground music scene here is anything but! There is so much diversity and good things coming out of the city it’s hard not to be inspired by our peers.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
VG: The record that changed my life was definitely Ty Segall’s self titled record from 2009. That album was so lofi and visceral, it made making music accessible to me. I knew if he could do it, so could we, and the rest is history.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
VG: Next on the agenda, we’ve got two tours next year and some pretty big shows at the end of this year as well as releasing all the b-sides from the Texas Heat series, which will still be blistering. We recorded so much material over the course of the year we were making the records. We are also working on a covers record and another full length that will come out sometime next year.
| American Cream Band – New Gods FM [from Dark Hemisphere, releases October 29, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
ACB: It surely does but it’s hard to be objective about something you are in the middle of experiencing. Everything is breathing, even in a city. The twin cities do the nature/brutalism dichotomy really well. More nature here than in other cities but its still a city.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
ACB: I would hate to admit that any record had any life changing power over me. 😉 what changed me the most was going to a tiny looking garage when I was 14 and seeing normal looking people playing music and realizing I could do it too. That all I had to do was start. That changed everything. Records that really sent me down rabbit holes tho? Tago Mago by Can was a huge one. On The Corner by Miles and Funhouse by the Stooges as well
TMODM: What’s next for you?
ACB: I should probably get out of bed its almost 930
| Wah Wah Wah – Wormhole [from Oh, Wow!, released September 22, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
WWW: I live in Seoul, South Korea. Seoul is a huge city so there are lots of places to go, things to see. I like living in a big city so Seoul is a good city for me in that regard.
I think everybody knows K-pop but people barely know about rock music scene in Korea. We do have rock music scene but in terms of psych / garage, it’s not popular at all. But people should know that some Korean bands or musicians still make some crazy sound.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
WWW: Pond’s Hobo Rocket and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s I’m In Your Mind Fuzz changed my “music life”.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
WWW: I guess I’m just gonna put out more music in the near future.
| Speck – The Metz Sessions [from The Metz Sessions, released July 13, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
S: Compared to how other musicians are influenced by their city and landscape, to be honest, we are hardly influenced by it at all. However, from a music scene perspective, we are really grateful for the scene in Vienna and how people welcomed us and our approach to music. The early support of Dazed and Confused Shows Vienna and the bands Half Baked Cheese, Liquid Earth, Hypnotic Floor ensured that we went on playing and not just stop after one improvised gig :D. Also the support of the Electric Stoner, an Austrian radio show host and music enthusiast, and being under his wings was a huge boost for our confidence. If it wasn’t for our friends in the local music scene, our band probably wouldn’t exist this day.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
S: It is hard to agree on one musician or band and it is even harder to agree on just one record. We are definitely influenced by the early rumbling but groovy Black Sabbath (if we had to choose one album: Paranoid). Another great impact were Kyuss and QOTSA with their crumbly desert sounds and harsh and driving beats (Blues for the Red Sun, Welcome to Sky Valley / Self-Titled, Songs for the Deaf). There are loads of other influences but these are the ones that we can easily agree on.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
S: We have recorded our debut album in October 2020 and we’re very eager to release it as soon as possible. As there is a general delay of vinyl pressings at the moment, we are still waiting for the physical sound carriers to arrive. We hope we’re able to release our debut “UNKRAUT” this year, fingers crossed! Regarding 2022, we’re gonna play as many concerts as possible and, if the world’s new companion Covid-19 lets us, maybe hit some festival stages.