So I was just reading Rolling Stone October edition and Wayne is quoted as saying Embryonic is "definitely the most drug-damaged thing we've done in a while." I'm just confused about the band's relationship with drugs. I've heard so many different references to drugs in interviews, The Fearless Freaks or album reviews. Whether its how the they don't really take drugs, or they do but not for coming up with musical ideas. I remember a story about Wayne and Micheal dropping acid once or twice, and how they didn't want to do it again (i think). So I guess what I'm wondering is what Wayne meant by the quote "drug-damaged." I realize that this might be deemed as unimportant as far as the music goes, but it is a subject I've thought about a couple times over the years. I'm probably over-thinking things.

I think he's simply referring to the overall sound and feel of the record.

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Originally posted by SoundShaman:
I'm probably over-thinking things.

You are not over-thinking things. I never understood the whole drug culture references being that aside from Stevens' trials the band is pretty straight-edge. But you really do not need to immerse yourself in something in order to appreciate it. I love watching people on film getting disemboweled, but I've yet to disembowel someone...yet.

In a way, you could say the whole idea of psychedelia is "drug-damaged" because it emerged out of 1960s drug culture, although it has since grown into something separate.

Embryonic is definitely the band's most psychedelic album in years, so you could think of it as "drug-damaged" in that way, regardless of whether or not the band was taking drugs during the making of it.

quote:

Originally posted by RDV:
I think he's simply referring to the overall sound and feel of the record.

This was my initial instinct. However, then i though "drug-damaged" ACTUALLY meant damaged-by-drugs.

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Originally posted by Emperor Clobbersaurus:
you really do not need to immerse yourself in something in order to appreciate it.

I concur... or you may only take drugs once or twice just to experience that shift in reality. I don't really believe Wayne is an acid-head, but sometimes he says/does some things that confuse me. I think he just has a strong understanding of what something like an acid trip is like, and the expansion of creativity it can allow for.

Yeah, what they said. Track down the interview with former drumemr Nathan Roberts (Priest Driven Ambulence & Hit To Death). He pretty much spells out the band's drug use myths (except for Steven, but yeah that was in the movie...).

http://flaminglips.netfirms.com/nathanroberts.htm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Wayne say he would take things like LSD more often if they didn't last so long?

I'm pretty sure he's not referring to thalidomide.

quote:

Originally posted by soniclovenoize:
http://flaminglips.netfirms.com/nathanroberts.htm

thanks for this, and I LOVE your avatar!

It's very possible at this point to refer to music as "drug-damaged" or "acid-drenched" without actually meaning anything related to drugs. I think.

quote:

Originally posted by SoundShaman:

quote:

Originally posted by soniclovenoize:
http://flaminglips.netfirms.com/nathanroberts.htm

thanks for this, and I LOVE your avatar!

No prob and it took me WEEKS to figure out to hop on her eggs and throw it back at her.

A lot of the basic tracks on Embryonic sound like the product of people jamming on acid.

I think Wayne's very psychedelic naturally. Maybe it's from being exposed to his brother's pot smoke (and who knows what) all his childhood.

There seems to be an underlying current of drug references in the Lips universe, such as "eat your own spaceship," the LSD story in the ACID boxset.. the blotter-sheet tickets from the CoM premieres,etc, etc

It seems that the band appreciates the depth and impact of consciousness-expanding drugs. And yet, while Wayne in particular seems to reject drugs as any sort of ultimate "answer," he does seem to count them as a major inspiration - even if he hasn't indulged seriously since his youth. In the ACID story he claims to have only done LSD a few times, never really enjoyed it, but enjoyed psychedelic music... which is meant to be consciousness-expanding in and of its self. I'm sure many straight edge lips fans could attest to the fact that the Lips music and stage show can be quite stimulating and mind-altering without the use of psychotropic substances.

I have always respected the freedom the band allowed Steven in working out his drug issues... while the Lips might not be pro-drug, they certainly seem to be pro-freedom and pro-self-exploration.

from “Ben Marshall Meets Wayne Coyne” Uncut #149 October 2009
page 22, Wayne Coyne: “I guess I talk about Mars because it’s easy shorthand for somewhere bleak and grim and scientifically real.”

Perhaps Wayne’s drug talking is similar “shorthand,” at least some of the time. For someone who claims to not have taken drugs in years (and then only minor amounts) he talks about drugs (or being “drug-damaged”) a whole lot … could it be more for what they can represent (an altered perception, an intensity for life etc) than for drugs themselves? Certainly living around people on drugs his entire life (family members, bandmates, neighbors etc) has shaped him and from this he recognizes the grim realities drugs can bring… along with the alternate realities and yearning for living “up above the daily hum” that they idealize. He’s just as likely to playfully joke about getting stoned as to candidly say he doesn’t like getting stoned.
When he does talk about actual drug taking (such as at the Q& A before the secret show recently, singling out Steven kicking H as the high point of his experience in the band) he typically doesn’t paint flowers around them.
That he also doesn’t condone drugs or users and has a outspoken acceptance of drugs in the lives of the millions who use them, coupled with his playful use of drug imagery, seems to confuse a lot of people (as if he’s a pot/acid head by association of not being strongly “anti-drug,” and using positive "druggy" imagery in his work, or to get a crowd worked up, or shining a light on being "drug-damaged").

Far more people know about Wayne long ago being a dealer, or Steven being a heroin addict, than Wayne being a guest speaker for Road Recovery (a non-profit young adult rehab organization).

Here’s from that same Uncut interview with Ben Marshall:
Wayne Coyne: “I’ve been around drugs my whole life, so I’d probably have to say that on balance they do more harm than good. If you wanna drop acid or whatever, try it, but treat it as a vacation and not your occupation. I know guys who’ve been doing drugs for 10, 15, 20 years and there are noticeable gaps in their perception. And let’s be honest, most people don’t take drugs to get to that palace of wisdom, they take drugs to get themselves fucked up.”

If you guys are truely this confused, read "The Doors to Perception" by Auldus Huxley. While there is an unrealized reality that our brain filters and does not allow us to see, there are a handful of different ways to turn off the filter, drugs being only one of them.

I thought the new record was a Dukes of Stratosphere cover compilation.

Wayne is probably referring to psychdelic drugs like LSD and mushrooms, which really aren't like other drugs. In fact, they can be a useful tool. There's a big difference between taking a trip and starting down the road of hard drugs like cocaine.