Alcohol and playing

artiebear

This has been an interesting read.
  
As a bit of background,I have been in the business for a long time now ( I was signed at 16 ) and have done what is required to stay involved in the only thing I have ever cared about from fronting my own band, touring with bigger name artists as a hired hand, mentoring new artists for labels, producing, writing, then jumping the fence and working for labels in various capacities and eventually going back to playing and writing, these days for various artists while focussing on composing for TV and film. I hope that makes me a professional, even with weekly tinges of imposter syndrome. 

I have ducked, dodged and been hit head on by issues involving the free perks (along with an acceptance of behaving a certain way ) of the job for a long time, while working with friends and colleagues dealing and in some cases, ultimately, not dealing with the interconnectivity between a creative personality and how to deal with the, too often associated. mental highs and lows which often open the floodgates to the brilliant, the absurd and sometimes the deeply sad.

Firstly, I am very thankful that have never found drugs interesting. I tried a few things when offered socially and could not for the life of me find out what everyone else was getting ( I, most probably, wrongly put that down to a state of mind, maybe not ? ). On the other hand, I know what booze can do when not handled with caution. I am cursed with a very high threshold to this day and can carry on way beyond those around me while being highly functional ( I have worked with and still do, many other creatives at the top of their game with a similar disposition though their choice of pick up may be different it might appear to be pretty much like someone else's dependency on caffeine and sugar).

Secondly, I know it's dangerous, ultimately bad for ones health, but can be harnessed to be a part of the creative process. My working week these days is tee total Sunday through Thursday, I have an arrangement with regular clients to send updates on Friday. Friday pm in the studio is time for reviewing, editing etc, thats usually when I pour a glass of wine or two, listen, hear things that the caffeinated week did not reveal and maybe make the odd tweak. (Though, as with this week, a lot of pressure to hit a deadline along with major system failures a glass of red was preferable to another shot of coffee)

As a writer and composer, yes it can help to use alcohol as firstly an enhancer, then as a filter, but it is a very imprecise process. Most of my writer, artist, actor, and technical pals use it the same way. I am currently working on a project with someone better known as an conceptual artist that started under the influence, though the majority of the work is being accomplished in sobriety, apart from the odd huge leap forward

I am classically trained and know quite a lot of folks who can play music 200 years old that is pretty difficult ( has music really got more difficult in the last 20 years ?), written by people who were using every filter they could find to deal with the complexities running through their heads, while the former are well into a bottle of good red.

To say that these days it does not exist would suggest that some people need to get out more.

I hope that this is taken as was intended, it's a minefield of a subject. Take your steps accordingly.

thegummy

imalrightjack said:

I actually started the weed conversation, if it helps.  I didn't intend for it to take off like this!  It's something I don't habitually do - and even less often for gigs/performances - and that's because I am aware it is 100% addictive, like booze/cigs/bad food/porn, etc., hence have moderate consumption of all things I believe to be bad for body/mind/spirit.  Some people can live that way, some can't.  But I guess that wasn't the original question...

Buying expensive guitars is dangerous and addictive, too...

Not pulling you up on this as it would be pointlessly pedantic to do so, just adding for the sake of interest:

"Addiction" often gets used to refer to what's actually a habit. Anything at all can be habit-forming from weed and fags to computer games and gambling, even playing the guitar. It's when someone does something for pleasure every day and feels bored without it so it's compelled to do it more and more.

Properly addictive drugs like alcohol and heroin are different because the body actually changes to be normal with them in the system. Stopping them causes the person to be extremely ill and can even die from withdrawal.

Someone with strong will power could just stop weed or fags and never touch it again but with alcohol and heroin, no matter the amount of will power the person would be very ill for a couple of weeks.

Again, that doesn't take away from how bad or harmful non-addictive drugs might be, it's just information for anyone who didn't know.

thegummy

gringopig said:

So I would say to the OP that if you start associating relaxation and playing well with drinking alcohol then you run the risk that it becomes a crutch or a habit,

That's definitely good advice. I have a friend who started taking diazepam purely to deal with stage fright when his band started gigging, it wasn't even anything to do with a buzz or anything.

After a while he not only felt he couldn't perform without it, he started needing it in other situations too.

Putting aside all the debate about whether some drugs detract from performance or not, I think everyone would agree that not taking any drug will definitely not detract from your performance so that is the guaranteed safe choice.

professorben

thegummy said:

gringopig said:

So I would say to the OP that if you start associating relaxation and playing well with drinking alcohol then you run the risk that it becomes a crutch or a habit,

That's definitely good advice. I have a friend who started taking diazepam purely to deal with stage fright when his band started gigging, it wasn't even anything to do with a buzz or anything.

After a while he not only felt he couldn't perform without it, he started needing it in other situations too.

Putting aside all the debate about whether some drugs detract from performance or not, I think everyone would agree that not taking any drug will definitely not detract from your performance so that is the guaranteed safe choice.

Wis x

Danny1969

It's an interesting thread this, makes quite good reading

I personally find my own playing a bit too eager when fully sober ... like a dog waiting for the ball to be thrown. It's fine on some songs but on others I actually think I play better on a few beers. Everything is less rushed or pushed and it just grooves better, sounds more relaxed and less eager. I also prefer listening to music after a few beers too, I seem to appreciate it more. Years ago everyone I knew including myself smoked weed and we would get stoned and put on Dark Side or The Wall or another PF album and it would just sound amazing ..... like you were actually in the music in a 3D sense rather than listening to a stereo image on 2 speakers. I don't even smoke fags these days let alone weed but I'm grateful I got to experience that. 

Using drugs to heighten the senses and push your thinking isn't actually just a music thing .... it's a tool used by all kinds of thinkers, creators and even scientist sometimes. In the sixties and seventies quite a few scientist admitted to taking acid in a bid to further understand quantum mechanics ..... trying to get their brain to think outside the norm. Having tried acid a few times in my teens though I wasn't capable of doing anything remotely coordinated like playing a guitar let alone theorizing the momentum and position if a particle in an atom.

All in all what suits one person doesn't another. You just have to go with what works for you