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SOL: Where do you see your music going to next? Do you think you'll be adding more elements or tearing away at some of the ones you have now?
Warren: I plan to keep testing myself musically. I am almost entirely self-taught and enjoy challenges. I might decide to take up drums, who knows! I also play bass guitar in a band called the Black Marshmallows that has seen seen some minor success. Our first two albums are odd, dark Southern rock mixed with strange psychedelia and new wave. We have decide to move towards a more off-kilter jazz sound, which is fun and challenging.
SOL: Since you mentioned psychedelics in describing your music..I have to ask, do you have experience with psychedelics? What kind? Give us a story of the best experience you've had when it comes to these lovely mind opening chemicals.
Warren: I am appalled that we treat such drugs as innately dangerous and make them illegal, which can drive people to much more dangerous drugs. Much like marijuana, I hope we eventually treat psychedelics as effective tools for self-discovery and enjoyment of the miracle of being alive, and that we can help people use them safely. I haven't taken any psychedelics since I was in college. They were powerful and helped me understand myself and others better. But they certainly are not for everyone, and should be treated, mainly, as medicine. The primary quality they instilled in me was a realization of the amazing smallness of my own consciousness given the huge number of perspectives and experiences of others. The "psychedelic" quality of my music relates less to this experience than my enjoyment of some of the dreamy rock and roll that came out of the 1960s that was called psychedelic (such as Hendrix, Byrds, Jefferson Airplane) and, later the neo-psychedlic music of the 1980s (such as Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, Let's Active, Echo and the Bunnymen). These bands were amongst the most creative of their time, and, for whatever reason, were associated with psychedelic drug use. They are as vital to me as punk rock!
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