Drugs and music – the bad medicine

Popular music has been affected and influenced by drug use since forever. Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, amphetamine and heroin are without doubt key components in the development of jazz and rock'n'roll - and in their various modern guises they continue to exert that influence.

The question about drugs in music I have is what happens when the drugs become more important than the music? I think it's safe to say that the answer is hardcore, trance, hard house, gabba and all the other forms of ultra fast, repetitive electronic music. My reason for this claim is simple: it is nearly impossible to listen to these types of music without having taken a drug. The music doesn't really work unless the listener has already taken steps to alter their mind. The problem with this, for me, is that when you take ketamine or ecstasy you're not just gearing yourself up for a night of music and dancing. You willingly give up your judgement, your critical functions, in order to listen to music. Logically, this means that it is nearly impossible to listen to certain types of music without voluntarily cutting off parts of your brain. (Never mind the fact that ketamine use in particular is a hallmark of deep-seated emotional problems - any one who needs to repress their brain in that way needs to take a serious look at what's wrong in their lives).

Understandably, people who love gabba etc might draw attention that I profess a love of Royal Trux, Spiritualized and Elliott Smith - all of whom have a distinctly opiate sound. It would be easy to say that my comments about ketamine and gabba could equally be applied to Royal Trux and heroin or alcohol. But this is a false argument. None of Royal Trux's albums were made while 'on' heroin. The sound is influenced by drugs, but I the listener do not need to smoke heroin in order to listen to Accelerator. Which is lucky really, because I never would smoke heroin. No, there is a real difference between the drug-influenced world of rock'n'roll and the drug-necessitating world of fast electronic dance music. In many ways, this can be seen in the death of the electronic revolution that occurred in the 90's. The revolution failed because most people who adored house music now have kids and careers. Those who don't are often either affected by the frequent, long-haul drug use they participated in, or simply aren't interested in taking a fulfilling, complete place in society.

The truth is that ketamine use is not conducive to professional success or personal achievement. How ever much you may think that people around you couldn't possibly understand your music, your drug consumption, your failure to hold down a job, your money problems... it is worth considering that perhaps everyone around you does understand it. Maybe better than you do. To put yourself in a position whereby professional success is affected by how trashed you get and all you can produce is marked with the scars of the damage you're doing - this is what is called being a drug fuck-up - your friends will push you further, your family will feel impotent.

One of my favourite stories about Elvis Presley's demise is the one about him going to see the President in Washington DC. Presley was on a crusade to get drugs banned. He feared that they were a threat to society - and that they might encourage communism in America's youth.

Elvis was also addicted to amphetamines and tranquilisers - substances he didn't see as 'drugs' but which no doubt contributed to his early death. He didn't see uppers and downers as drugs because he took them... it's difficult to recognise that you might be taking something every bit as bad as the chemicals you're trying to eradicate. Indeed, if he had been twenty years later, Elvis might have died of a heroin overdose: his choice of drug was affected by his age.

Elvis was in a position where he had had his way for so long, no one even knew how to offer him advice. There was no one in his life to give him a slap and tell him to cut it out. A combination of immense fame, drug abuse and stupidity allowed him to die like a fat pig on the toilet floor. For me, drug use is naturally a part of music. But we should always watch out for the moment when rather than influencing us and our favourite singers/DJs, it becomes a necessary component firstly for composition, and next for life. Because if we reach that point, we become desperately shit.

tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music