In every profession, there are people that use drug while they work. The same goes with DJs. Current research and theory on rave culture have articulated a link between solidarity and drug use, although the precise nature of this relationship remains unclear.
Most DJs don’t want to come across as preachy, and appropriately so. Who are we to tell others how to conduct their business? Especially since many artists have used drugs in the past.
Luciano
Last year, in an interview to IANS, Luciano, who is known for tracks “Esperanza” and “Rise of angel”, opened up on his battle with substance abuse.
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“I started at a time when nobody wanted to be a deejay, and being a deejay was not a great idea. I started very young, and when you start you are always in situations with someone holding a glass of wine, saying cheers, and you start to drink. Then, someone gives you something else and it”s very easy to forget the principles of who you are and of music and other things. I lived a very difficult rock and roll and hardcore life,” he said.
Elaborating a little more on his drug addiction, the 41-year-old electronic music artiste shared how certain medicines available in pharmacies are worse than drugs available in the streets.
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He said: “I was really using a lot of chemicals, but also things that medical (advice) gives you a” like something to sleep or something to wake up. You”re always thinking things, and you don”t realise, but sometimes the pharmacies are worse than the drugs running in the streets. So at one point of time my body and mind stopped working and it took a long time to function properly.”
“You are allergic to chocolate, but you”d have to work in a chocolate factory. So, it was very difficult initially. With time, I came back to the most happy phase of my life. So I danced and created music. These things helped me in combating my addiction.”
Seth Troxler
“There is an expiration date on your own sanity and trying to keep human”, Seth Troxler thoughtfully proposes. And here is what he thinks of drugs.
Seth Troxler is as widely regarded for his encyclopaedic knowledge of early Chicago house and minimal techno through to obscure indierock and ambient psychedelia, as he is as a cultural commentator, art curator, restaurateur and entrepreneur.
“We’ve lost a lot of people, a lot of talented people to drugs”, Seth Troxler comments in the famous DJ documentary you can check below.
Rebekah
Famous Techno DJ, Rebekah shared her thoughts and story with DJ Mag. Rebekah recalls:
“I woke up one day and had that conversation with myself: “Do you really not love DJing and music enough to do it without drugs?” I did some cognitive behavioral therapy and Narcotics Anonymous, which is very much based in spirituality and, in the end, worked for me. But I also need to intellectualise everything, so I studied psychology and learned about my own behaviour, and having this understanding is what has kept me clean.
My first sober gig came about six weeks into my sobriety. I must have drank five cans of Red Bull as an alcohol substitute to calm my nerves (and obviously, Red Bull is not a good choice to help with anxiety). The next day, after I had successfully played without using alcohol and drugs, and managed to get some sleep, I remember waking up with the sunshine coming through the windows, and I had this lightbulb moment — you do not have to do take drugs ever again. You are free. And since then, I truly have been. “
Carl Cox
Carl Cox shared his thoughts about drug use in his interview with The Weekly Review. He said he’s glad he made an early decision to say no to drugs.
‘I’ve always said music is my drug. I’ve always been clean living. If I had been taking drugs, I wouldn’t be here today. I’d be in a mental institution. Or dead. I was lucky enough to say no in my early days and to get enough sleep. I’ve got a zest for life and that’s what makes me who I am.’
See More: Carl Cox – If I’d Been Taking Drugs, I’d Be Dead
Luciano is now advocating for a drug and alcohol free experience for clubbers: “Remember music is magic, and you don’t need anything else except your heart and imagination to feel this language that connects people together… It took me about six months to remember the many reasons I was going out, and one day it popped into my mind again… the reason we all go out is to laugh and to share.”
