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Music and Drugs

Mantaray

Mantaray

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
369
Location
London, UK
Well I got the idea for this thread from a discussion we had at "those darn drummers" thread. Is there an actual relation between drugs and music for you? Have you got any personal experiences(you or bandmates)? How does it affect your music?
Do you think that it is a result of the lack of knowledge? I usually say that " I PLAY MUSIC TO GET HIGH, I DON'T WANT TO GET HIGH IN ORDER TO PLAY MUSIC".
 
>>>>I usually say that " I PLAY MUSIC TO GET HIGH, I DON'T WANT TO GET HIGH IN ORDER TO PLAY MUSIC".

The wright way to go :D

>>>>Have you got any personal experiences(you or bandmates)?

As a Crim lawyer, I see it five days a week....7 days a week as a muso.

Softer drugs?....it's what the dealers mix with it....many don't realise the dangerous ones can be inhaled.....and before you know it....Bingo!

uhmmm....or should that be Bongo! :p
 
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I don't need drugs! I get high on GOD!!! haha. I think that was joke in some sitcom or something...

Anyway, I have never experienced that drug-music thing and I never plan to. If a musician I'm working with is doing drugs, I wouldn't care if he/she was the most talented and amiable person in the world - I'm not working with him/her. Just because. Heh.
 
Rod Trussbroken said:
>>>>uhmmm....or should that be Bongo! :p
Click to expand...

:p Bongo IS a drug - just look around this forum. I know I'm hooked on mine!:p

Seriously, though - I've seen so many good players crash because they thought that drugs would help their playing. Seemed like the drug became far more important than the music; missed practices, late to gig, sloppy playing, etc.

20+ years ago we had a steady once a month gig in this great bar until the owner found our drummer smoking a joint IN A CORNER OF THE BAR! Bye-bye gig - That very night!

One kid I played with when I was a senior in high school was an absolutely incredible guitar player. He had saved up money and bought a brand new 1977 Les Paul Goldtop and a Marshall stack. By his second year of college he sold the whole thing for less than $400 to feed his newfound habit. Haven't seen him since.

Any of you younger guys checking this out read this and heed: Drugs can seem like fun for a while but they WILL consume you. If not today, tomorrow, or the next day - it IS only a matter of time.

Has anyone seen that PSA where Henry Rollins gets in a car and redlines it until the engine explodes? Ya just never know with Meth.

Sorry for the rant but this is something I am very passionate about.
 
i agree with you tottaly. im 16 and i have no desire to do any for of drugs. i dont even like any achoholic drinks. ive tasted a few, havent liked any of em so i decided to just not mess with em. i only take drugs when im sick, and then its like cold medicine and stuff. i also yell at my friends when i found out they do that kinda stuff. a guitarist i know is probably the best one at my school and at his birthday party i found out he smokes. i gave him a lecture then. he has quit, for now anyway. and if he starts again more yelling from me. drugs are bad.
 
skabassist13 said:
i agree with you tottaly. im 16 and i have no desire to do any for of drugs. i dont even like any achoholic drinks. ive tasted a few, havent liked any of em so i decided to just not mess with em. i only take drugs when im sick, and then its like cold medicine and stuff. i also yell at my friends when i found out they do that kinda stuff. a guitarist i know is probably the best one at my school and at his birthday party i found out he smokes. i gave him a lecture then. he has quit, for now anyway. and if he starts again more yelling from me. drugs are bad.
Click to expand...

APPLAUSE - APPLAUSE:) :) :)
Keep up the good work - the less tolerant you are of it around you the more likely that someone else will think it's cool to not do it. Good job, SB!
 
Rod Trussbroken said:
Nothing wrong with a good Cleansing Ale though!
Click to expand...

Unless the bar gives you free drinks as part of your pay:eek: . Did that ONE time - about (8) Gin & Tonic's before we even started - worst night of playing EVER!:mad:
 
true, but heard that people who dont drink before 21 are less likely to drink after that than people who do drink. im over halfway there. and besides most of the stuff tastes like ****
 
Just curious, how many of you who posted in this thread smoke cigarettes? Nicotine is a hellacious drug that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year (more than all illegal drugs & alcohol combined) but would you not play with a fellow musician who smoked cigarettes??

I'm just posing questions here.

Also I have to agree with Psychicpet, even though it's over 80 degrees here today, I still had my 2:00 pint of coffee! :)
 
skabassist13 said:
true, but heard that people who dont drink before 21 are less likely to drink after that than people who do drink. im over halfway there. and besides most of the stuff tastes like ****
Click to expand...

You could be right. I guess I didn't have a chance. The legal age was dropped to 18 shortly after my 18th birthday.
 
WillPlay4Food said:
Just curious, how many of you who posted in this thread smoke cigarettes? Nicotine is a hellacious drug that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year (more than all illegal drugs & alcohol combined) but would you not play with a fellow musician who smoked cigarettes??

I'm just posing questions here.

Also I have to agree with Psychicpet, even though it's over 80 degrees here today, I still had my 2:00 pint of coffee! :)
Click to expand...

None of the musicians I play with smoke. Oddly enough, when I think about it, the aspect that gets me most about drug use is the inevitable addiction that'll follow. That usually leds to desperation. What I'm primarily concerned about, and you can call me a greedy bastard for this, is finances. Like spectorbassguy said, addicted drug users can end up selling valuable things for ridiculuous prices just to get their lion's share of drugs.

Of course, there're the moral and ethical aspects of drug use, but I'm more concerned about losing money and gigs (which lead to money) if fellow band mates start on the drugs.

As for cigarettes, I suppose it isn't as harsh to me, although it is a drug. I certainly don't like the smell of smoke and breathing in the refuse air from smokers, but I can bear it and it doesn't set off the sort of red flags that drug use does in my mind.
 
skabassist13 said:
thanks, but even if it was free i wouldnt take it.
Click to expand...

You keep that frame of mind ska. Take it from a Dad whose son has tried a lot of junk and has some permanent scars to show for it (thanks to a night of too much drinking including a macho game of "Chicken" with a lit cigar).

I hope your Dad tells you he's proud of you; I'll tell you I'm proud of you!
 
drugz

Never done drugs. Recreational drugs if that's what you mean. Not even pot. I know a lot of people who do pot and hang out with them, I'm sure I've gotten a contact high at least once but never actually smoked it. Never had a need for it. Fortunately I don't know anyone who does anything harder than pot. I refuse to associate with anyone who does hard drugs anyway. Since I'm pretty confident about myself, and I'm ultra-picky with friends, peer pressure's never been an issue for me. I'm more of the type of person who influences people than gets influenced by them (unless it's musical skill you're talking about).

That being said, I never get preachy towards people who do drugs. If they do em, fine. It's not my problem. And if it becomes a problem for them, tough shi*t. I won't have anything to do with them. So f*ck them. I know it sounds cruel but, I can't stand with all that baggage sh*t. I'd rather hang out with people who give me energy, not suck it out of me.

Alcohol? Sure, I'll drink from time to time, once in a while, I'll go get drunk. It's fun to get a buzz. But only when I want to celebrate something or I'm broken-hearted. Heheh. I never play drunk though, I like to be focused. And I never drink alone, or to get away from my problems.

Smoking? Never done it, never will. I'm asthmatic, do I can't smoke even if I wanted to. My last girlfriend was a social smoker, though she never smoked in my presence and always told me she'd quit (though she still would sometimes). Still, I can't stand wondering if she smoked or not, and it's not something I want to deal with for the rest of my life if I did decide to be with her for the rest of my life. I'd rather not deal with that, plus I don't believe in changing someone just to be happy so, along with other issues, I broke up with her.

The only thing I ever did smoke was a hookah (flavored tobacco) pipe at Middle Eastern restaurants. It's perfectly harmless and has no behavioral effects whatsoever, though if you did it too much you'll dry your throat out.

But like I said, music is my drug. I guess I learned at an early age that getting into drugs leads to a lot of sh*t and baggage that drives down people. Plus I have big plans and goals for myself, I personally think it's more important to focus on those things.

I am addicted to Stingrays though. I get high off their tone.
 
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