It can't be denied that many, if not all great songs came from musicians under the influence of some sort of substance. How many of you have played an instrument under the influence? If so, what substance, and how did the music differ from some other piece of music you would normally write/compose?

Sometimes I wish that I had the same mentality everytime I picked up a guitar, as when I am stoned (but I've learned to be careful what I wish for. Saying, "I wish life was like a mild shroom trip can lead to HPPD ;)). Can't lie. . . A fat bowl of some afghan and then a jam session is an interesting experience that everyone should go through at least once. I've also jammed during the comedown of an acid trip.

I can play bass when I'm drunk, but I occasionally miss notes and shit because I can't even see straight. After smoking pot my playing is more relaxed, but my timing goes out the window, I tend to space out and can't remember shit. But I write some alright riffs when I'm stoned though, usually they're slowish doom metal basslines, but they're simple and work. Tried on a mild opiate dose, but I just wasn't interested in playing music at all. I don't like playing guitar stoned or drunk, I just don't find it as interesting as a bass.

But when baked I once learned how to play they piano from Louie Louie on accordion.

I've never tried playing stoned.

Fuck I'm stupid.

I like to play while lightly dosed on opiates. I am not so fond of playing while drunk but when tipsy it can loosen me up.

I've never tried playing stoned.

Fuck I'm stupid.

Dude its fucking exhilarating. I improvised this like 10 minute acoustic guitar song that was fucking intense. Really, if your a talented musician, you can write some crazy shit when stoned.

There are no boundaries when stoned.....

i suck when im drunk, stoned is fun except when i need to practice jazz. its fucking hard to nail some of those changed when your blazed, and then i'll get cotton mouth and my reed will dry out. that about the time i say fuck it and jam out to some maiden voyage. but yeah, its fun except if im too high i get light headed and need to sit down.

Last show I played with my old thrash metal band, was at starland ballroom in NJ. As soon we got our gear backlined, I went directly to the bar to chat with the cute bartender chick and get a couple drinks before the place filled up.

I ended up getting in the "Yeah, I'm sitting at the bar talking to people and enjoying myself!" mentality, and not the "I have to get onstage after the fourth band" mentality. So, I naturally lost count of the jack and cokes.
I go to stand up to take a piss, and as soon as I my feet hit the ground I realize that I'm totally wasted. I then realize that this band playing now, is the fourth band. As I was taking a piss, I remember muttering to myself "What would James Bond do in this situation?". I had to shake off my sluggish drunkenness, because I could never go onstage and just stand there, I had to hairwhip and work the crowd. So, I found our recording engineer, a real cool guy named pete, he's like the Obi-Wan of metal to us (Only he's a white dude with dreadlocks that only wears black), and run him down with my situation.

He explains to me, that he's been in this situation before, and takes me out back. He then commands me to stick my finger down my throat and puke, which I'm not really in a state to argue, so I puke. While I'm puking, Doc Coyle from God Forbid (headlining band) walks by and starts talking to pete, I finish puking (puke that was literally, nothing but jack daniels and coca cola, it even smelled like jack, no gross puke smell) and notice that Doc is standing there. So, he tells me that pete was telling him about my situation, and he gives me this pep talk about how the best metal guitarists played onstage wasted ("Dude, I met Dime before he died, that guy was wasted off crown royal ALL the time! Early metallica, Dave Mustaine, hell, I'm stoned off medicinal marijuana that our lead singer buys right now! Punch yourself in the head and get the fuck in there!" So, I head inside, as the band is just finishing up, warm up on guitar, and as I'm walking up the ramp to the stage, Pete hands me fresh jack and coke and says "You'll need it"

That happened to be one of my best performances onstage. Not even in the playing aspect, I played good, but I fucking worked it. I barely ever do vocals, or even talk between songs, but I was quite vocal that show. Halfway through our singer realized that I was pretty blitzed and just let me intro the songs. I'm mad that we didn't have a recording of me saying "This is our last goddammned song! It's called "FUCKIN FUCK FUCK!" and ending the performance with "Meet me at the bar in five!"

Alcohol and Metal rule.

Last show I played with my old thrash metal band, was at starland ballroom in NJ. As soon we got our gear backlined, I went directly to the bar to chat with the cute bartender chick and get a couple drinks before the place filled up.

I ended up getting in the "Yeah, I'm sitting at the bar talking to people and enjoying myself!" mentality, and not the "I have to get onstage after the fourth band" mentality. So, I naturally lost count of the jack and cokes.
I go to stand up to take a piss, and as soon as I my feet hit the ground I realize that I'm totally wasted. I then realize that this band playing now, is the fourth band. As I was taking a piss, I remember muttering to myself "What would James Bond do in this situation?". I had to shake off my sluggish drunkenness, because I could never go onstage and just stand there, I had to hairwhip and work the crowd. So, I found our recording engineer, a real cool guy named pete, he's like the Obi-Wan of metal to us (Only he's a white dude with dreadlocks that only wears black), and run him down with my situation.

He explains to me, that he's been in this situation before, and takes me out back. He then commands me to stick my finger down my throat and puke, which I'm not really in a state to argue, so I puke. While I'm puking, Doc Coyle from God Forbid (headlining band) walks by and starts talking to pete, I finish puking (puke that was literally, nothing but jack daniels and coca cola, it even smelled like jack, no gross puke smell) and notice that Doc is standing there. So, he tells me that pete was telling him about my situation, and he gives me this pep talk about how the best metal guitarists played onstage wasted ("Dude, I met Dime before he died, that guy was wasted off crown royal ALL the time! Early metallica, Dave Mustaine, hell, I'm stoned off medicinal marijuana that our lead singer buys right now! Punch yourself in the head and get the fuck in there!" So, I head inside, as the band is just finishing up, warm up on guitar, and as I'm walking up the ramp to the stage, Pete hands me fresh jack and coke and says "You'll need it"

That happened to be one of my best performances onstage. Not even in the playing aspect, I played good, but I fucking worked it. I barely ever do vocals, or even talk between songs, but I was quite vocal that show. Halfway through our singer realized that I was pretty blitzed and just let me intro the songs. I'm mad that we didn't have a recording of me saying "This is our last goddammned song! It's called "FUCKIN FUCK FUCK!" and ending the performance with "Meet me at the bar in five!"

Alcohol and Metal rule.
That is an awesome fucking story. Shit made my day.

Last show I played with my old thrash metal band, was at starland ballroom in NJ. As soon we got our gear backlined, I went directly to the bar to chat with the cute bartender chick and get a couple drinks before the place filled up.

......



That was a pretty good story. Shit man, I go to shows at starland a lot, you should have made a post about it or something maybe I would have gone.

I like to have a few drinks when I'm playing but it's a fine line between loosening up a bit and just fucking up my playing.

Me and my band never play without having a smoke. I find weed can make you get into it better, but it makes you sloppy and lazy if you over-do it (i.e smoke all day). Likewise with drinks: a couple can get you fired up, but once you're actually completely hammered you're gonna sound like a bunch of blind, new-born zebras staggering about all over your instruments trying to learn to walk.


The better you are at an instrument the less intoxication will affect you. That's why John bonham could drink like a fish in a relapse and still be the world's best rock drummer, and why Hendrix could tip a bottle of acid down his throat and still blow people away. If you've mastered your instrument it doesn't matter what fucked up state your mind is in.

Personally I like having a couple of spliffs before I jam, but whether or not it actually imrpoves matters I don't know.

I love play guitar while stoned, but nothing makes me play so smoothly and creativly as when I do a little h and play... That's basically what I did all day today

i cant play guitar good when im drunk, i can play pretty damn good after smoking a little weed, but if i get pretty baked i suck shit at it.
but the drums i can play them kickass sober/high/drunk it dont matter

Played bass while on MDMA once. Shit was so much fun.

I play the drums, so I have a lot of experience playing on different substances. I've found that each drug improves my playing in some way, but also dulls down aspects.

For example, I smoke a whole lot of weed. When I sit down at the set while I'm ripped, I can think of unique patterns and phrasing that I normally wouldn't be able to do while sober. But, the downside is that I won't remember anything specific about what I played. Then, I finally came to my senses and started recording every drum session while ripped.

Drumming while drunk turns me into an animal. I play powerfully and passionately. But, if I'm too drunk, I'll start to lose my place in the song and tend to speed up slightly.

Playing on shrooms proves to be a little more difficult than playing sober. With shrooms, I never take less than an eighth, but this usually means I'll be laughing uncontrollably for the next few hours.

My favorite drug to play on is acid, by far. It feels like complete clarity. I understand every little nuance and aspect of the music. The first time I tried drumming on acid, it was like I was a completely different drummer. It was as if I skipped 2 years of practice. I felt like I could play anything I could think of, which usually was the case. My timing never wavered, and I felt like I was on top of the world. The craziest thing is that ever since that trip, I've retained the abilities and awareness of music that the drug "unlocked".

All in all, drugs in moderation are a very helpful tool for writing music, as well as playing.

I played my brothers drum set on acid once... that was pretty crazy but ultimately ended up throwing me into a bad trip because everyone else wanted to play the drums too and wouldn't leave me the fuck alone.

I could actually taste the beats I was making. Everytime I fucked up it would put a funky taste in my mouth.

Cymbals taste weird as fuck on acid...

Playing on shrooms proves to be a little more difficult than playing sober. With shrooms, I never take less than an eighth, but this usually means I'll be laughing uncontrollably for the next few hours.

My favorite drug to play on is acid, by far. It feels like complete clarity. I understand every little nuance and aspect of the music. The first time I tried drumming on acid, it was like I was a completely different drummer. It was as if I skipped 2 years of practice. I felt like I could play anything I could think of, which usually was the case. My timing never wavered, and I felt like I was on top of the world. The craziest thing is that ever since that trip, I've retained the abilities and awareness of music that the drug "unlocked".

All in all, drugs in moderation are a very helpful tool for writing music, as well as playing.

I hear you man, my favorite instrument normally is electric guitar, but when I'm stoned or tripping, it's drums. I'll just pay so much more attention to what the drummer is doing when I listen to music, or am actually jamming with someone. When I took acid and walked around in the woods at night, with Meshuggah (obzen) on headphones, it was the only time I really understood what the fuck was going on in their music.