Music and drugs have always gone hand-in-hand. Take marijuana, a substance that helped inspire everything from the reefer songs of 1930s and 1940s jazz, to the blunts ‘n’ beats of modern day hip hop. Cocaine birthed David Bowie’s mid-seventies Thin White Duke alter ego, and was a cornerstone of disco culture, while heroin gripped the lives, careers and creative output of artists right across the board, from Miles Davis and Jim Morrison to Kurt Cobain and Julian Casablancas. But few musical genres have been so interlinked with drug use than the vivid explosion of psychedelic rock that occurred in the late sixties and early seventies. Needless to say, dozens of bands loiter the dives of New York City, dedicated to keeping the spirit of ‘67 alive. Read Dean Van Nguyen’s feature about Psych Rock in the NYC scene.
This article appeared on The Deli NYC"s issue #36 (Fall 2013). Listen to a playlist of emerging Psych Rock and Dream Pop NYC bands here.