The boys were very open at various times about the influence psychedelics had on their lives and songwriting. Living in a compound with your mates in your 20s, with little else but wilderness and a studio - I imagine was a time ripe with such experiences. What a time it must have been! Red moon parties, long walks through nature, and running back to the studio to jot down a fleeting idea.
Clearly the brothers Sandison are exceptionally skilled musicians, producers and creatives. Is it possible that being close to, and frequently visiting other states of mind were a larger part of their secret sauce than they let on? These ego dissolving experiences can lead one to follow ideas that might otherwise be weeded out in more sober state.,
Completely speculative here but I imagine as family men, the older they get the more those experiences are behind them. Perhaps, they’re only distant memories at this point.
While all of their records take their music in a different direction, I wonder if this has anything at all to do with the distinct shift we saw in Tomorrow’s Harvest. To me, it feels like a less introspective album. Don’t beat me up, just my interpretation.
At their most prodigious, they were a well-oiled machine constantly in the studio. Constantly rolling tape, and nothing but time to perform audio experiments. Is it possible through a mix of lifestyle changes, they’re bored, rusty or perhaps lost their rhythm, or clairvoyance that once allowed them to effortlessly work with each other and release seriously life changing music?
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Psychedelic Influence on their music
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EdmundFtzgrld
- New Seed
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Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
I genuinely think the only reason this next release is taking so long is due to how expansive and ergo time consuming it is, nothing else. My money is still on not just a new album but a BOC Set releasing not long after. Thinking maybe 5xCD or LP with beautiful gatefold artwork. I think that we will be rewarded for our patience and then some.
I think when you get to the level of genius and experience that the boys have achieved, drugs don't necessarily speed up or enhance their output any longer.
I think when you get to the level of genius and experience that the boys have achieved, drugs don't necessarily speed up or enhance their output any longer.
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HarryNutsack
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Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
Really well put — I’ve thought a lot about this too. Psychedelics might’ve been a kind of catalyst early on, but what really fascinates me is how that “altered state” feel continues to permeate their work, even when it’s more subdued like in Tomorrow’s Harvest.
I don’t think they’ve lost it — maybe just channeling it differently. TH feels like the morning after a long psychedelic journey: the clarity, the emptiness, and maybe even a bit of dread. That album hits differently — not less introspective, just introspective in a colder, more distant way.
As for them being “rusty” — who knows. Maybe they’re just more selective now, or exploring ideas in private that may never get released. Their silence has always been part of the mystique.
I don’t think they’ve lost it — maybe just channeling it differently. TH feels like the morning after a long psychedelic journey: the clarity, the emptiness, and maybe even a bit of dread. That album hits differently — not less introspective, just introspective in a colder, more distant way.
As for them being “rusty” — who knows. Maybe they’re just more selective now, or exploring ideas in private that may never get released. Their silence has always been part of the mystique.
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HarryNutsack
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Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
They were just normal teenagers, smoking weed, finding the local liberty caps during mushroom season. Listening to and making music, seeing through the cultural bullshit. They didn’t live in a compound and their studio wasn’t a nuclear bunker.
They grew up and had families/jobs and continued with their lives. They finalised the Boards of Canada project with TH and are likely in pursuit of new hobbies and interests.
They grew up and had families/jobs and continued with their lives. They finalised the Boards of Canada project with TH and are likely in pursuit of new hobbies and interests.
Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
Give it to us straight, like a pear cider thats made from 100% pears.HarryNutsack wrote:They were just normal teenagers, smoking weed, finding the local liberty caps during mushroom season. Listening to and making music, seeing through the cultural bullshit. They didn’t live in a compound and their studio wasn’t a nuclear bunker.
They grew up and had families/jobs and continued with their lives. They finalised the Boards of Canada project with TH and are likely in pursuit of new hobbies and interests.
Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
You know, the beauty and atmosphere of the world around us and our ability to connect with it influences us creatively on a much more significant level than drugs. In fact, drugs can be more of a hindrance to meaningful expression, especially when one has reverence for them. Attaching spiritual significance to them is a mistake & delusion. Cultivating love, understanding & forgiveness for others will "reveal" & transform much within you, connect you closer with the world around you, and is an ongoing journey that lasts a lifetime - this is true "transcendence", and I believe it bears to the strongest creative fruits. Prizing personal drug trips above that doesn't get you much in comparison.
Having visited Edinburgh recently, I was very affected by the surrounding landscapes on the way there. Not just the landscapes but even something in the air. In my teens BoC's music had a deep impact on my friends and I. We lived in Northern Ontario and were surrounded by a lot of dense & untouched wilderness. The unspeakable feeling of the world we inhabited was brought much closer to articulation in the music we made & listened to, including Boards of Canada's music among others! Psychedelics weren't really involved, some friends did them, but even for them, their experiences weren't a catalyst for expression or experience. Our environment - the culmination of the world around us and our interpersonal relationships - was the catalyst.
Music like BoC's affects listeners deeply because it is undeniably shot-through with the real, lucid, interpersonal experiences of people who grew up and produced their music in an environment where they were well-connected with the world around them. I have no doubt that their personal experiences with psychedelics are sprinkled into the BoC soup, but the soup itself is not made out of drug highs.
Having visited Edinburgh recently, I was very affected by the surrounding landscapes on the way there. Not just the landscapes but even something in the air. In my teens BoC's music had a deep impact on my friends and I. We lived in Northern Ontario and were surrounded by a lot of dense & untouched wilderness. The unspeakable feeling of the world we inhabited was brought much closer to articulation in the music we made & listened to, including Boards of Canada's music among others! Psychedelics weren't really involved, some friends did them, but even for them, their experiences weren't a catalyst for expression or experience. Our environment - the culmination of the world around us and our interpersonal relationships - was the catalyst.
Music like BoC's affects listeners deeply because it is undeniably shot-through with the real, lucid, interpersonal experiences of people who grew up and produced their music in an environment where they were well-connected with the world around them. I have no doubt that their personal experiences with psychedelics are sprinkled into the BoC soup, but the soup itself is not made out of drug highs.
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EdmundFtzgrld
- New Seed
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Re: Psychedelic Influence on their music
A beautiful thought. We can only hope!Wildfire wrote:I genuinely think the only reason this next release is taking so long is due to how expansive and ergo time consuming it is, nothing else. My money is still on not just a new album but a BOC Set releasing not long after. Thinking maybe 5xCD or LP with beautiful gatefold artwork. I think that we will be rewarded for our patience and then some.
I think when you get to the level of genius and experience that the boys have achieved, drugs don't necessarily speed up or enhance their output any longer.
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