Enigmatic singer-songwriter Lee Baggett invites listeners into the haze of forgotten memories in his cannabis-inspired mixtape.
A true musical wanderer, Lee Baggett's timeless sound weaves a mysterious tapestry of ethereal melodies and introspective lyrics. A constant presence in the underground music scene, Baggett’s latest album Echo Me On delves into new emotional depths, creating an evocative journey where the sun never sets and the songs linger on.
A true musical wanderer, Lee Baggett's timeless sound weaves a mysterious tapestry of ethereal melodies and introspective lyrics. A constant presence in the underground music scene, Baggett’s latest album Echo Me On delves into new emotional depths, creating an evocative journey where the sun never sets and the songs linger on.
Heads Lifestyle: Hey, Lee, where are you now?
Lee Baggett: The far south end of Puget Sound.
HL: What do you do with your time?
LB: I horticulture, climb trees, surf, play guitar or piano (when no one is around), draw, feed my worms, and watch British mystery dramas on TV with my family.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
LB: The traditional ceremony of a bowl with the vinyl record will always be best.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
LB: The answer to the question is in the song selection. This list, by the way, is mostly stuff that blew me away from way back. I do love being at some friend of a friend’s house while travelling, say after a show, and we’re sitting around a hazy room listening to someone’s selection from a nice record collection. That’s the best. I’m taking steps to have that kind of collection, and space for space.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
LB: My best friend had two super cool older brothers, who were into taking us to see the movies like The Warriors, going to the fair, playing Led Zeppelin for us (sounding like a swirling wash of colour that I didn’t understand, I didn’t even hear the beat, which is strange because they have the biggest beat in the history of rock), black lights, a giant Wings poster. Then I was hit with three massive torpedoes right before high school: going to see Rush, Van Halen, and Ozzy (with Randy Rhoads), one after another. Cruiser hit and sunk! Not that we totally indulged then but there was something in the air.
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
I like the radio. I used to tape-record songs off the radio. Once a week, our local station had midnight records when they played a whole vinyl record non-stop. I had my sister drive me the half-hour into town to pick up some yellow blank cassettes at Tower Records. Of course, there was a little detour to meet our little friend. I got back just in time, flat on my back, completely floored but entirely awake. The emotion and tone of Duane and Dicky’s guitars were so gripping. It set up a new chapter for me.
One of These Things First
After playing a show in New England a long time ago with Little Wings, we got a ride back to where we were staying in a black sedan, which got all smoky inside. With the windows down, driving quickly on a winding, empty road under big black trees through the chilly midnight moonlight, this tape was put on. It sounded so good, like quicksilver in my ears, almost too good for my senses to handle. I was afraid of going back to listen to it. I can now, I think.
Where
I played this song at a gig with Kyle in an elfin-woods kind of place, just winging it. Later, when I got the chords down, I said we should put it on the list. He just looked far away and never said anything. I want to go where this song goes.
Dogs
My brother, his best friend, my best friend, and I were caravanning up for a Tahoe ski trip with a church group. We had the station wagon to ourselves, which filled with a light blue mist. Time on the freeway slowed to another dimension, turned to stone, as the church van pulled alongside us. We smiled and the dogs in the speakers barked in a faraway English countryside.
Time of the Preacher
I first heard this song while travelling with my buddy Kyle. Looping back from west to east to west across the country, we arrived in Texas with our brand new cowboy boots and a cassette tape of Red Headed Stranger. Slow down, take it way back, we were transformed. It felt good. Under a starry night, we got pulled over by a sheriff way out in the vast no man’s land of West Texas. After looking around and finding nothing incriminating, the sheriff asked if I was still growing. Taken aback, I replied, What?! It was just a couple of plants in my backyard over a decade ago. My punishment was tea and acupuncture once a week for a month or two. I never heard or talked about it until then.
A Passage to Bangkok
The Moving Pictures Tour was my first real concert, and the first time a doobie was passed to me (not sure if I inhaled). Rush became my favourite band for years afterwards, and I still play back the concert in the smoky arena of my skull. 2112 was our key to ascension. Exit Stage Left was the live record from The Moving Pictures Tour. I think A Passage to Bangkok is better than the 2112 one; the guitar solo is a smoker!
Oh Lonesome Me
After the Goldrush was the only Neil Young record I had for a long time. When I first moved to SLO, I’d come back in the wee hours after running around in the night, and put this on my little record player on the floor of the patio that was my room. It was a little fire in the darkness.
(Editor's Note: Neil hates Spotify and who can blame him. As a result, this tune does not appear on the playlist.)
How Blue Can You Get?
There’s something so sunny and stony in B.B.’s guitar tone and the way it communicates with a live audience. It’s a trip, like when you come face-to-face with a big animal at the zoo and you’re sure they know way deeper things than you do.
All The Things You Are
If a serious instrument note can make me laugh, that's a good note, and there are a few somewhere in here, I think.
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Bob is raging full on.
Holding
I first discovered John Hartford at the High Sierra Music Festival when I heard Yonder Mountain String Band play this song on the little mountain stage under the high-elevation sun. Aereo-Plain is the great ‘70s huckleberry riverboat string band album. For the recording, John said they could play anything or any lick, anytime, regardless of whether they knew the song. They were virtuosos, smoking and keeping it loose. It’s a masterpiece!
BIO
Lee Baggett, also known as Lee Gull, is the enigmatic singer-songwriter from the West Coast who has carved a niche for himself in the indie rock world with his ethereal melodies and introspective lyrics. He's a constant presence in the underground music scene, and at times, serves as a guitarist for Little Wings. Baggett's captivating tunes echo with the warmth of Pacific sunsets and the haze of forgotten memories.
A true musical wanderer, Lee Baggett's elusive persona and timeless sound weave a mysterious tapestry that keeps audiences enthralled, leaving them longing for more. With each note, Baggett's music whispers of a hidden world, where the sun never sets and the melodies linger on, transcending time and space.
On his latest album Echo Me On, Lee delves into new emotional depths, creating an extraordinary musical experience. Backed by a full band, backup singers, and a rich string section perfectly arranged with sympathetic violins and cellos, along with honky-tonk piano and a swelling mid-60s country choir, Baggett's reedy vocals are masterfully accompanied, adding an ethereal quality to his poetic lyrics. Released in December 2023 via Perpetual Doom, the album showcases Baggett's unique artistry, and promises to be an evocative journey into his distinctive sound and a must-listen for discerning music aficionados.
Previous releases, including Just A Minute, Anyway, and Strings Across the Water, his collaborative album with Blind Dead Timmy, are all available via Perpetual Doom. His previous works include the Burn’r albums as Lee Gull and his collaborative album with Graves, titled Lee Gull and The Graves.
Album Info:
On his latest album Echo Me On, Lee Baggett, the enigmatic singer-songwriter, delves into new emotional depths, creating an extraordinary musical experience. Backed by a full band, backup singers, and a rich string section perfectly arranged with sympathetic violins and cellos, along with honky-tonk piano and a swelling mid-60s country choir, Baggett's reedy vocals are masterfully accompanied, adding an ethereal quality to his poetic lyrics. Released in December 2023 via Perpetual Doom, the album showcases Baggett's unique artistry, and promises to be an evocative journey into his distinctive sound and a must-listen for discerning music aficionados.
Listen to first single, All Star Day Here
Watch All Star Day Video Here
Order Echo Me On: Official Store or Bandcamp
Follow Lee Baggett on Instagram
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After the ball drops and the corks and confetti are swept away, many of us sit down to write a list of goals to better ourselves in the New Year. Fad diets are a bust and do you really want to quit smoking—again. So where to begin? Albert Einstein, once said, “I have no talent. I am only passionately curious.” So this year, why not try a different approach. Instead of focusing on shortcomings, let’s shift the attention to strengthening the most important muscle of the body: the brain. The catalyst of change is curiosity. And what better way to satisfy your curiosity than by learning something new.
The catalyst of change is curiosity. And what better way to satisfy your curiosity than by learning something new.
Enter YouTube, the video-sharing website met with equal parts criticism and praise. With 1 billion hours of YouTube videos watched daily, there is a plethora of fast, bite-sized information available. This is the gateway to building a new healthy habit—being more curious. Whether it’s making a dish from scratch as seen on your fave TV show or learning the ins and outs of quantum physics, you’re just a video (or two) away from being a more curious you.
Catch the learning bug with this non-exhaustive list of channels to help you navigate the oversaturated and sometimes intimidating digital world of YouTube. Covering a broad spectrum of tastes and skill sets, you’re certain to discover more as you go deeper. Whatever your cup of tea, if you are savvy and eager to learn, YouTube can teach you almost anything in a few clicks.
CrashCourse is an educational channel hosted by brothers Hank and John Green (yes, the famous young adult author). The videos are, just as the eponymous name of their channel suggests, crash courses on a variety of topics. The Green brothers, along with invited experts, present speedy ten-minute-or-less episodes on subjects ranging from astronomy to psychology and everything in between. The brothers’ quick wit and clever approach breathe new life into challenging subject matter. Whether you’re a college student cramming for your next test or an adult learner wanting to know more, CrashCourse offers universal education to anyone willing to exercise a little brainpower. If science has always seemed daunting, head over to CrashCourse’s sister channel SciShow. Run by Hank Green, Michael Aranda and Olivia Gordon, it will have you reconsidering your deep-seated fear of test tubes and lab coats with videos chockfull of science concepts applied to everyday life.
Do you love food? Do you love movies? Do you love to eat food while watching movies? Do you love foodie movies? If you answered yes to any of these questions, look no further than Binging with Babish, a channel dedicated to recreating iconic dishes from your favourite movies, TV shows and video games. From crazy ambitious to downright delicious, watch Babish (filmmaker Andrew Rea) whip up a feast of dishes from SpongeBob’s Krabby Patties to Seinfeld’s babkas with dry humour and expertise. If you’re keen on learning basic recipes and kitchen techniques, Rea has a second channel, Basics with Babish, in which he presents a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to cooking with tips for the amateur chef.
Nerdwriter1, the brainchild of Evan Puschak, is an educational YouTube series. Its focus is 5-to-10-minute-long video essays on a range of subjects from film and music to comedy and language. Puschak, who declared he “woke up to learning,” dissects original topics to their core in each video. Highly engaging and brimming with fun information, Nerdwriter1 will have you curious about ideas you’ve never even thought of before, whether it’s why Bob Dylan won the Peace Prize to understanding Picasso’s art. Browsing the dozens of videos on the Nerdwriter1 channel, it’s nearly impossible not find one that sparks curiosity. Be warned, once you’ve discovered Nerdwriter1, chances are you’ll binge watch them all so plan to take the afternoon off. In your defence, you will be learning.
Engineer Mark Rober worked at NASA for nine years where he spent most of his time creating the Curiosity Rover. What sets Rober apart from his stuffier science colleagues on YouTube is the delightful and entertaining nature of his channel. Rober credits his childhood hero, Kevin McCallister of Home Alone fame as his inspiration for overengineering some crazy inventions like the Glitter Bomb Trap. Inventive and ambitious, Rober’s videos are quite literally astronomical—he combines his limitless knowledge of science with crazy, dare-devilish stunts. Who says science can’t be fun?
Lessons from the Screenplay (LFTS), the YouTube channel created by filmmaker Michael Tucker and his team, takes a deep dive into your favourite movies and TV shows by way of the screenplay. Originally conceived to further the art and understanding of storytelling, LFTS is education disguised as entertainment. Grab some popcorn and relive your most beloved cinematic moments through LFTS’s fresh perspective. You won’t see Star Wars or Ghostbusters in the same way.
To celebrate all the great musical artists we’ve had the pleasure of discovering over the course of 2023, Heads’ music editor has handpicked some of our favourite tracks and compiled them into the Heads Lifestyle’s 2023 Mixtape. Now get comfortable, fire one up and press play.
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
~ Plato
What a crackerjack of a year 2023 turned out to be! To celebrate all the great artists we had the pleasure of showcasing, Heads’ music guru has handpicked some of our favourite tracks from the guest-curated playlists on our Spotify channel and album reviews, and compiled them into Heads Lifestyle’s 2023 Mixtape. Thank you to the Heads Lifestyle community including Bobby Lee, Ripley Johnson, Rosali, Jeffrey Alexander, Tarotplane, Circle Around the Sun, and all those who inspired us.
Find your happy spot, take a hit and enjoy some of the best music of the year.
If you dig these artists, show them some respect by purchasing their music directly from them or on Bandcamp.
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Eucalyptol is one of the many minor terpenes found in cannabis. Its well-documented health benefits make its therapeutic applications far-reaching.
The terpene eucalyptol gives the eucalyptus plant its characteristic cool, refreshing, menthol-like aroma. In smaller concentrations, it is found in sweet basil, bay leaves, cardamom, rosemary, sage, and wormwood. Eucalyptol’s low toxicity (in small doses), strong entourage effect and well-documented health benefits make its range of potential therapeutic applications far-reaching. Research has substantiated eucalyptol as a potent antibacterial, analgesic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-proliferative (inhibits cancer cell growth), bronchodilator, and neuroprotective. As a minor terpene found in cannabis, eucalyptol helps boost the therapeutic effects of CBD and THC. Cannabis strains containing eucalyptol elevate mood, produce a calming effect, ease pain, and increase memory and mental clarity.
Bay leaf (Laurus nobilis), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), sage (Salvia officinalis), sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) and cannabis (Cannabis sativa)
Minty, menthol-like aroma with refreshing, cooling sensation.
Antibacterial, analgesic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-proliferative, bronchodilator, neuroprotective.
Discover more terpenes here.
]]>Fig Farms’ award-winning Blue Face cannabis strain will steal the face right off your head with its intense potency and quirky flavour profile.
Rare craft cannabis for the seasoned smoker
Not a doobie for the noobie, Blue Face strain will steal the face right off your head. Family-owned Fig Farms is the OG cannabis breeder-grower that took home Best in Show at The Emerald Cup 2023 for their hybrid cultivar Blue Face. This uniquely quirky strain walks the line between chemical scents of Windex mixed with pencil erasers and sweet citrus spice not unlike freshly baked ginger snaps. The radical potency of this Sativa-dominant hybrid will grasp you in its powerbomb hold until you tap out. Expect fast-acting, well-balanced mind-body effects with strong medicinal properties. Blue Face is a cross between Face Off OG and Animal Mints; the pedigree parentage accounts for the rare blue coloration seen in the resinous colas and the intense stoney high that is both cerebral and full body. THC testing ranges from high 20s to high 30s—definitely not a beginner strain and best suited for cannabis connoisseurs. Reputed for being difficult to grow, but well worth the effort, Blue Face matures into smaller, looser, high potency buds. If you’re seeking rare craft cannabis with an intense psychoactive experience, Blue Face will leave you with nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile!
Find out more here.
Munchie pairing:
The Fly agaric is considered the premier shamanic tool among many of the world’s cultures from Siberian shamans to the various North American Native and Meso-American peoples, and pre-Christian European societies. It’s legal, easy to find and pairs magically well with cannabis.
Within 20 miles of anyone reading this article grows a magic mushroom of such entheogenic significance it is considered the premier shamanic tool—the Amanita muscaria. Given that the white-speckled red fungus is also perfectly legal to possess—unlike the generally illegal-to-possess psilocybe magic mushroom—you can’t help wondering why more folks don’t explore this particular form of magic. The red-capped, white-spotted Amanita is easily identified as it grows among temperate-zone birch, fir and pine forests.
Also called the Fly agaric, this fungus’ shamanic importance has been understood by a large number of the world’s cultures. It was the foremost entheogen for Siberian shamans to the various North American Native peoples from Alaska to the Great Lakes region. In fact, the Canadian Athabaskan and the Michigan Ojibway peoples can trace uninterrupted shamanic rites to this plant. Various Meso-American peoples, including the pre-Columbian Indians of Mexico also utilized the fungus. Additionally, the pre-Christian European societies also attached great importance to this shroom. Frescos found in early European Christian churches occasionally portrayed, most appropriately, the forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden as an Amanita mushroom. The fungus is also believed to be a potential source of the great intoxicant Soma—so important to the ancient Hindu Vedic traditions. Thus a huge swath of the planet has believed the Amanita to be divine.
Where do you find Amanita? Everywhere there is a conifer, thus they are not uncommon in North American forests. Picking during the dry months of August and September often results in the most potent samples. They are also easily procured on the Internet. Amanita is legal to possess everywhere; although an argument can be made that consuming it for its psychoactive nature might be illegal. Therefore enjoying this magical shroom in the privacy of one’s home or at a safe outdoor setting away from prying eyes would be best.
How to dose? Amanita done incorrectly can be a bit of a rough ride on the body so following some sensible procedures will ensure the more desired magical experience. First Amanita does not mix with alcohol at all, and alcoholic beverages should be avoided for two days prior to tripping. Second, one should avoid caffeine during the experience. And finally one should always start with a minimum dose to ascertain each individual’s response to the material.
Amanita should always be well dried and ground to a fine powder. Never eat a fresh Amanita. In addition, as there is wide variability in psychedelic strength according to the time of year or day picked, where the mushrooms grew, type of soil and weather conditions, it is best to grind all of one’s shrooms together to create a homogeneity of strength in the final Amanita powder.
The easiest way to begin exploration of this magical mushroom is to add a small amount of Amanita powder to a doobie and smoke it—for while Amanita mixes not at all with alcohol, it mixes very well indeed with cannabis. The smoked experience will give you a glimpse of the more substantial shamanic trip when consuming the shroom.
For the full shamanic experience the shroom is eaten. A dose is generally 10-15 grams of dried material or anywhere from 1 to 3 mushrooms. Start with half this amount for the first time, as it will allow a better gauge of the experience. (A lethal dose would be about 5 kg of fresh material—an amount an individual wouldn’t be able to eat. Too much of the material is definitely an uncomfortable experience.) In a saucepan, add the dried Amanita powder to a cup of water for every 10 grams or so of material. Heat the concoction to about 190 degrees C. Do not let the mixture boil but maintain the temperature just below boiling for thirty minutes or more. Keep stirring—it should have the consistence of blended tomato soup. Let the mixture cool and then drink. A little fruit juice as a chaser will be desired and welcomed.
After 30 to 90 minutes you will feel sleepy and have a bit of nausea. You may also perspire and have more saliva in your mouth than is useful. The key here is not to fight it. Try instead to relax and give yourself over to the experience. Let yourself go to sleep for an hour or more and you will awaken to the real experience. A well-dosed trip will be perceived as a sense of quietly talking to yourself for hours, which indeed is what you are most blissfully doing.
For additional entheogen resources: www.iceers.org
Muraco Kyashna-tochá is a cultural anthropologist with over 50 years of experience exploring the nether regions of her mind with entheogens. She is an award-winning educator and a recognized medical cannabis advocate with extensive experience working on medical cannabis legislation in Washington State.
For more from Muraco Kyashna-tochá go to: www.muraco.org
And follow her on Twitter at: @muraco
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Ripley Johnson is a most prolific artist. Singer, songwriter and musician of not one but three different bands—Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo and his solo project Rose City Band. When not creating his unique genre of psychedelia, you can find him among his plants. Join the garden party with this mixtape of some of his favourites.
Ripley Johnson is a most prolific artist. Singer, songwriter and musician of not one but three different bands—Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo and his solo project Rose City Band. When not creating his unique genre of psychedelia, you can find him among his plants. Join the garden party with this mixtape of some of his favourites.
Heads Lifestyle: Hey Ripley, where are you now?
Ripley Johnson: I am at home in Portland, Oregon.
HL: What do you do with your time?
RJ: I work and garden and play music and watch movies and read books.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
RJ: Sometimes but not specifically.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
RJ: I don't really have typical sessions. If I smoke, it's usually homegrown, unless someone else is passing something around. Sometimes I vape because it's a mellower experience. I usually play records on a turntable.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
RJ: Probably the cover photo of Peter Tosh's Legalize It LP. That got my attention early on. I still always think of that when we grow in our backyard. The plants are just beautiful to be around and they smell amazing. I probably enjoy growing more than smoking.
Sleep Song
The intersection of country and rock in 70s music is a big inspiration for the Rose City Band, and I'm always listening to tunes in that vein, with that particular vibe. There are a number of British bands on this list who were clearly influenced by American country-rock, or The Band or the Grateful Dead—that kind of back-to-the-land, rural, hippie thing. I like the country-ish breakdown in this Unicorn song.
Devil's Whisper
I first heard of Mighty Baby being called "the British Grateful Dead," but they don't really sound like the Dead; they jam though and have their own unique sound. This is one of my favourite tracks by them.
Glad and Sorry
I've been a big fan of the Faces, and Rod Stewart's early solo albums, since high school. I could have picked any number of tracks by them. I especially like their melancholy songs. And they're not afraid to incorporate traditional country sounds—mandolin, honky tonky piano, etc. Ian McLagan was a true keyboard maestro.
A Way to Settle Down
I think I bought this record just based on the title and cover. They're not a very funky band but it's a great record.
Chant to Mother Earth
I responded strongly to this track the first time I heard it. BLO has some great songs, but this one is my jam. I like the spacey, laid-back vibe.
It's Not Easy
I came across Ofege after I was in a big Zamrock phase, though they’re from Lagos, like BLO. I love how this kind of sounds like Loaded-era Velvet Underground. The guitar playing is amazing.
Little Ole Country Boy
Parliament/Funkadelic have been with me from the beginning, when I first discovered psychedelics. I don't think their very early stuff gets enough love.
Changes, Circles Spinning
I think this is an unheralded Grape album. Love the production on this, and the lyrics and theme are right up my alley.
It's a Way to Pass the Time
Another British country jam. I don't really know anything about High Broom but I dig the vibe of this song. Love how they rhyme food with good.
I'm Over
I went deep on Judee Sill when her albums were first reissued a while back. This song is from a planned third album, recorded at Mike Nesmith's studio, finally released in 2005.
Willie and the Hand Jive
Good jam by the Bay Area country rockers.
Alone at Last
I like the disco element on this one while it still sounds very much like Tony Joe. I enjoy when genres collide or are simply ignored, and artists just do what they will.
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Closing it out with Freddy Fender because I've been on a Freddy kick as of late, and the whole Tejano musical melting pot is my kind of stew. This whole album Before the Next Teardrop Falls is fantastic.
BIO
Ripley Johnson is a singer, songwriter and musician. He fronts Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo and his solo project Rose City Band. Based in Portland, Oregon, the prolific Johnson is best known for his signature country cosmic jam style, integrating rock, psychedelia and country into music of epic journeys. Rose City Band’s latest offering, Garden Party (left) is a celebration of summer and all it brings: communal gatherings, the respites offered by nature, and an appreciation for even the simplest beauty.
May 31 - Middelkerke, BE - De Zwerver * [tickets]
Jun. 1 - London, UK - Scala * [tickets]
Jun. 2 - Manchester, UK - YES * [tickets]
Jun. 3 - York, UK - The Crescent * [tickets]
Jun. 4 - Brighton, UK - Patterns * [tickets]
June 6 - Schorndorf, DE - Manufaktur [tickets]
Jun. 7 - Zürich, CH - Bogen F * [tickets]
Jun. 8 - Ravenna, IT - Beaches Brew
Jun. 9 - Milano, IT - Arci Bellezza * [tickets]
Jul. 21 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Festival [tickets]
Jul. 22 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Festival [tickets]
Jul. 23 - Kingston, NY - Tubby's [tickets]
Jul. 24 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge [tickets]
Jul. 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool [tickets]
Jul. 26 - Washington, DC - Union Stage [tickets]
Jul. 27 - Detroit, MI - Magic Bag [tickets]
Jul. 28 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle [tickets]
Sep. 8 - Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival [tickets]
Sep. 22 - Redmond, OR - Cascade Equinox Festival
Nov. 9-12 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who Festival (exact date TBC)
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
Aquarium Drunkard's Jason Woodbury smokes a bowl and shares his ultimate stoner playlist
Curation Record’s Brent Rademaker eats an edible and lets the gummies do the DJing
]]>β-Caryophyllene is a powerhouse of therapeutic potential with its distinctive spicy, musky, gassy aroma. Discover what makes this cannabis terpene so unique and all it has to offer.
The terpene β-Caryophyllene is readily identified by its spiciness, providing the piquant kick to black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, hops, rosemary, and cannabis. Of all the primary terpenes, β-Caryophyllene punches above its weight, binding directly to the endocannabinoid system and offering a host of therapeutic effects. Research has confirmed its value in the treatment of inflammation, pain, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, colitis, osteoarthritis, diabetes, anxiety and depression, and Alzheimer-like diseases. Cannabis strains with high β-Caryophyllene profiles have a spicy musky aroma with undertones of fuel and turpentine. They are much sought after for stress relief and their calming properties.
Black pepper (Piper nigrum), cinnamon (Cinnamomum), cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), hops (Humulus lupulus), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and cannabis (Cannabis sativa)
Aromas of spice, musk and turpentine
Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, platelet-inhibitory, bone health, treatment of diabetes, relief from anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer-like diseases, and suppression of cancerous tumour growth
Discover more terpenes here.
]]>Popular as a cannabis alternative, Mexican Wormwood (Artemisia mexicana) has a long history as a folk medicine and in ritual practices. Smoked, it produces a gentle stimulating effect followed by pleasant euphoria. Discover its cultivation and psychoactive qualities.
Mexican Wormwood is an aromatic plant sacred to the Aztec goddess of salt—Uixtociuatl. Traditionally, it was used in rituals and as a medicinal plant, and continues to hold an important place in Mexican folk medicine. The smoke arising from the burned incense was known to relieve headaches and smoking the dried herb creates a gentle stimulating effect followed by pleasant euphoria. Today, the attractive dusty grey-green shrub can be found in North American backyard gardens and beyond.
The sacred sidekick of Mexican Prickly Poppy (chicallotl) is itztauhyatl or Mexican Wormwood (Artemisia mexicana)—a relative of European Wormwood (Artemisia absinthe) used in the making of the exotic European liquor Absinthe. It is a subspecies of Mugwort and is classified in the Aster family. Mexican Wormwood is also known as “St. John’s herb” having many psychoactive and medicinal qualities. Like the Prickly Poppy it can be easily cultivated, obtaining a height of about a meter, and looks very similar to the European Wormwood. It prefers well-drained slightly dry soils and tolerates rocky ground.
As noted in the Renaissance Florentine Codex, the Aztecs used the plant as ritual incense associated with the rain god Tlaloc. Today the plant is still sacred to the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, most notably the Tarahumara Indians, who apparently also utilize it for its psychoactive nature. Mexican Wormwood gained favour among young urban Mexicans who smoke it as a cannabis substitute. Dosage is said to be similar to the Prickly Poppy. Most medicinal use of the plant involves oral extracts taken as antispasmodic medication, etc.
The plant contains a number of interesting essential oils and at least one as yet unidentified alkaloid, believed to be partly responsible for its psychoactive effect. In addition it contains a small amount of thujone, the primary active ingredient of Absinthe liquor. Thujone is chemically similar to THC in molecular symmetry.
While once only found in Mexico, it has been propagated and transported abroad and is now found throughout the world, appreciated primarily for its beauty or medicinal quality. Today it is easily found growing wild throughout the South West regions of the United States although it can be easily grown as a garden or patio plant just about anywhere in North America. Interestingly, another relative of this plant is the North American prairie sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana), a plant considered so sacred to the Plains Indians that it is used for smudging in every single one of their rituals. Occasionally people report a certain level of euphoria by inhaling vapours from this plant, too.
Although, the herbaceous perennial is perfectly legal for your landscaping designs, Mexican Woodworm may contain small quantities of thujone, which is not legal for consumption in the United States. For this reason, it’s best to enjoy this Mexican beauty in the safety of your private residence.
For additional entheogen resources: www.iceers.org
Muraco Kyashna-tochá is a cultural anthropologist with over 50 years of experience exploring the nether regions of her mind with entheogens. She is an award-winning educator and a recognized medical cannabis advocate with extensive experience working on medical cannabis legislation in Washington State.
For more from Muraco Kyashna-tochá go to: www.muraco.org
And follow her on Twitter at: @muraco
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Find out more here.
Johnny Mumbles ponders, Are you down or not?, considers the particularities of casting a ballot for legal cannabis, and concludes that we all just need to chill.
By Johnny Mumbles
We are on the precipice of cannabis legalization. State by state, nation by nation, the people are choosing to finally free the herb. Before the complete deluge of dank, I would like to say my piece to all the parties involved. There are my fellow high functioning potheads, then the corporate interests, the muggles, and the legislators. As municipalities discuss weight limitations, avenues for criminal appeals, and changes in the nomenclature, it all comes down to one question, “How chill are you really?” As I address each group, let us remember that the blunt is not a microphone.
The first group is those with the greatest to gain—the voters who smell like weed right now. (Pause.) Yes, I saw you just smell your shirt. Let's face it, dank herb stinks to high heaven. I love its funk but there is a reason why it's called the skunk. What we have to understand is that the uninitiated don’t want the strong aroma of marijuana in their face, or around their families. When it is fully legal, I think a certain modicum of discretion will be appreciated. When we can finally toke as we please, can we be chill about it? As one may enjoy a cigar or alcoholic beverage, in an appropriate space, or at least respecting other people’s personal space? Can we keep it on the low?
A similar query also goes out to the business interests. Can you chill out a little bit? Two things need to calm down. First, can we lower the price of pot? I understand that growing cannabis is expensive, but $60 eighths are ridiculous. Second, can we lower the potency? I’m looking for a serene euphoria, not a transcendental experience. I enjoy a cultivar with a THC percentage between 8% and 20%, ideally with a strong CBD presence. I can appreciate that very strong pot appeals to enthusiasts and connoisseurs but an average percentage of 25% THC requires a healthy tolerance. The first cannabis someone tries should be under 10% THC. We want to partake comfortably, so let’s cultivate enough variety for everyone to enjoy. Education is critical but options are key. How is the cannabis curious going to acclimate if the average product is so mind-bendingly intense?
In order to truly unlock the wonder of legal cannabis, we must find consensus with the third group, those on the fence. Or rather staring through the fence as I light up a joint. I look up, make eye contact and choke on the smoke a little bit. A feeble neighbourly wave caps off the train wreck of the only social interaction I will have today. I’ll put it to you like this: When everyone walking around you is intoxicated, would you rather they be stoned or drunk? (Pause for emphasis.) Exactly. So, let’s just chill for a minute. Even if you don’t personally partake, can you recognize that when each chooses their poison, cannabis appears to be the least harmful to the body and society? Did you just feel a little defensive about your one glass of wine a night? Good, now you know what it feels like. Healthy, responsible adult use of cannabis should not be illegal or a point of shame. I think we can all at least agree that there should be no criminal penalties or records because of it.
Now for the regulators. I am going to need you to be mad chill on this one. First, we need some expedited due process for anyone incarcerated for marijuana. Second, the legislature needs to have a good plan for recreational marijuana sales—a system that prioritizes access, quality, and value. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, some cross between a CVS and a corner bodega, or maybe even a little Sativa dominant hybrid. Recreational access should be about comfort, safety, and discretion. It should be super chill to purchase and enjoy in an appropriate setting. What if there were age-restricted smoking yurts with pre-roll vending machines and an endless supply of kettle corn and ice-cold seltzer? The legislature needs to think outside the box or at least hotbox the room while they think about it. If lawmakers don’t understand the influence we are under, how can they expect to influence us?
In summary, everyone should just chill out and enjoy the vibe. Legalizing recreational marijuana is the coolest thing I have ever voted for. On November 8th 2022 there was a ballot question in Maryland legalizing marijuana. All it said was “Are you down or not?” Turns out, Maryland is down, and the state will be fully recreational in July of 2023. I was so excited about the ballot question that after I filled in the little circle, I put a heart around it with little pot leaves. Awesome!
Listen on Spotify
When Johnny Mumbles is thinking about the future of cannabis he listens to rap music. Big surprise. He also thinks about sunny days and positive well being. Lets see if you can pick up the thread. Enjoy.
BIO
Follow Johnny Mumbles on Instagram here: @johnny.mumbles
Johnny mumbles made a cannabis comic called the Phytos. It's a pot edu-tainment chromic about cannabinoids and terpenes. Check out the project at The Phytos. New comics and swag are coming soon!
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Raised in a hippy era soup of 60s music documentaries and unreined access to his parents’ record collection, English DJ and musician Bobby Lee would go on to embrace Americana, psychedelic and shoegaze. Tune in to this exclusive soul-affirming mixtape for when the world gets too heavy.
Raised in a hippy era soup of 60s music documentaries and unreined access to his parents’ record collection, English DJ and musician Bobby Lee would go on to embrace Americana, psychedelic and shoegaze. Tune in to this exclusive soul-affirming mixtape for when the world gets too heavy.
Heads Lifestyle: Hey Bobby, where are you now?
Bobby Lee: Lost in the Ozone. Sheffield, UK.
HL: What do you do with your time?
BL: I’m a father, husband, musician, dusty fingered DJ, promoter (Heretics’ Folk Club), graphic designer, occasional writer and art technician.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
BL: I guess my answer is slightly different to your State-side brothers and sisters. Weed is still illegal over here—potentially being upgraded to Class A, the same as heroin, by our shit-show of a government—so let’s just say it’s been known.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
BL: I don’t smoke cigarettes so rolling joints with tobacco just gets me buzzed off the nicotine—not what I’m looking for. The quality of the grass over here is pretty mixed so I find a vaporizer works for me. (I’d love gummies to be available in the UK as I feel a bit of a dweeb vaping.)
Deep listening sessions are a rare treat for me these days, but I’ve got my stereo set up in the lounge, with most of my records within arm’s reach and an easy chair for near horizontal enjoyment. During more casual listening, I’m prone to flipping records halfway through a song, but when I’m settling in for the evening, it’s a start to finish situation. One of the reasons I love DJing so much is that it allows for a solid stretch of uninterrupted listening and thinking about music. During the first UK lockdown, I was making mixtapes for friends, which was a way I found to get my DJing fix, stay connected to people and spend time with some of the neglected corners of my record collection.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
BL: I remember asking my mum when I was a young teenager if she’d ever smoked weed. (Despite his waist-length hair and Zappa LPs, my Dad was more of a few pints of mild and football on a Saturday afternoon man.) She told me “only once” (which I’m sure is a lie…) at a party with the band Lindisfarne. Go find a picture or video of Lindisfarne. Those lads knew their way around a Rizla. She insisted on calling it “wacky baccy” which, even at 12 or 13, made me cringe so hard my knees buckled.
My parents were exactly the right age for the hippy boom, and I lapped up their occasional reminiscences about those times. Watching The Stones In The Park (1969) or Behind The Music-type documentaries about Carole King, Joni Mitchell or Woodstock with them always elicited a few nuggets about their pasts, and awkward seat shuffling when the joints got passed in the film.
I was given relatively free rein with my parents’ modest record collection (Byrds, Edgar Broughton, Santana, Songs In The Key of Life, Let It Bleed, a fuckload of England Dan and John Ford Coley, an entirely incongruous copy of Hatful of Hollow…). I was always drawn to the loose, freewheeling, consciousness-expanding sounds that I found there.
Smoke Signals
A beautiful spiralling melody and simple wordless vocal coalesce into an overwhelming nebula of sound. Total sensory overload. And I always enjoy when jazz players lose themselves in echo and delay.
Astral Traveling
Another heady zoner, sitting midway between spiritual jazz and jazz funk. I love feeling entirely enveloped by this; the deep groove and free floating electric piano melodies, with waves of tabla and saxophone carrying me out into the cosmic ocean. I’m not religious and I don’t know music theory, so songs like this feel as close to that unknowable, ineffable, universal oneness/OM/Brahman/great spirit as I’m ever likely to get.
Yuba Source Part 1
For years I’ve been chasing the dragon of music that hits like Brightblack Morning Light’s debut and Date Palms are as close as I’ve come. They share those tectonic chord changes and organic desert drone with BML but with a touch of Earth’s western gothic ambience.
Fazon
Mellower-than-thou, impossible to pigeonhole, West Coast groover. One of my most played songs over the last decade. This invariably gets an airing at every party, DJ set, BBQ, road trip and long drive home. I love Jonathan Wilson’s version too, but I’m sticking to the original here.
The Sun Comes Up A Purple Diamond
I was a Hiss Golden Messenger and Steve Gunn fan before this record came out, but the syrupy JJ Cale worship and dubbed out folk funk really connected. I’d be lying if I said its minimal drum machine and heavily phased guitar slo-mo choogle hadn’t been an influence on my own music. A real head-nodder for the heads.
Too much so-called “psychedelic” music is just too busy, too cluttered, too interested in showing off its own musical chops to really lose itself in a solid groove. Flex sounds like The Happy Monday if they swapped the crack for mushrooms and really leaned into a Guru Guru thing. Props to SHotM for still turning out balearic-psych-synth-chuggers like this more than 20 years in.
Push Thru The Veil
Sounding like all your favourite German/Swedish/Nigerian/Japanese underground heroes of yore jamming at Black Ark. Expertly toasted 21st century Kosmiche. This was my gateway into the world of Herbcraft/Matt LaJoie/ML Wah/Starbirthed/Flower Room. I try to keep up with all of Matt’s releases but he’s so prolific. I’m sure I’ll be discovering hidden gems of his for decades to come.
Buffalo (Version 1)
Doomy, droney, mellotron-heavy yet surprisingly funky madrigal from Scottish proto-metal nearly-rans. Sounds a little like Free after an argument in the van and too many Newcastle Browns the night before.
Life Child
Hometown weirdo Ramases was an army PT instructor/gas fitter who, in a vision, was told he was the reincarnation of the 19th dynasty Egyptian king. This being the late 60s, he released several psych pop singles before a 1971 album on Vertigo backed by an embryonic 10cc. I used to live close to his suburban pharaonic home and he has become something of a talisman to those working on the fringes of Sheffield music. Life Child is a classic wah-driven, fuzzy prog-folk tune which would perfectly soundtrack reading Tolkein in a dimly lit bedroom, surrounded by velvet blacklight posters, thick with bong smoke.
Devil Weed and Me
I love how Area Code 615 used the vocabulary of country music to make incredibly forward-thinking and often deeply odd music. Playing on Conway Twitty or Connie Smith sessions in the daytime (no shade on Conway or Connie, by the way) then turning out cuts like this in the evening? They’d clearly been listening to the Mothers of Invention and Led Zeppelin when they were writing this.
Me and Mr. Hohner
I have a real soft spot for “square” artists making desperate lurches for hip credibility and I don’t think many did it better than Bobby Darin with the bunch of LPs he made at the tail end of the 60s. I guess this is just a novelty Dylan/Townes-style talking blues song about longhairs getting a hard time from meathead cops, but it’s funky as hell and the production and arrangement are just perfect.
Cannibal Forest
Backed up by Little Feat, Kathy Dalton (formerly of Daughters of Albion) lays down some slippery, spooky, sticky-icky swamp-funk which sounds right at home between voodoo era Dr. John and Cher’s 3614 Jackson Highway. I pick up every copy I see of this in the bargain bins to gift to friends.
Turritella Flats
Recently unearthed private press rural psychedelia with a too good to be true back story. (Recorded on a reel-to-reel in Roswell? Get outta here!) Elsewhere on the LP, Carl takes excursions down raga and guitar soli backroads but Turritella Flats is a fine slice of sunbaked instrumental folk rock just begging to be used on the soundtrack to some Edward Abbey adaptation.
Mountain Range
Some real punk-purist, snob-bothering soft southern rock here. My definition of balearic is perhaps a little broader than most, but this is A-grade golden hour dream music. I’m a real evangelist of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. For every AM radio staple or goofball hillbilly jam, there’s moments of total bliss like this tucked away. Pretty sure that’s a goddamn cor anglais in the mix too.
Upon Reflection
“Sitting in your mother’s garden, smoking Lebanese, beneath the privet hedge.” The sound of a stoned afternoon spent cloud watching in an English country garden after a gentle hike to Avebury or the Uffington White Horse. This is the dreamy summer precursor to Nick Drake’s autumnal melancholy.
Prayer to Aphrodite
Whilst I’m on a pastoral tip, this proto-new age flute’n’strings Windham Hill/Robert Kirby-like really hits the spot. I can’t help but imagine it as the theme from some heartbreaking 70s kids TV show about woodland creatures fighting a dastardly property developer with nothing but teeth and claws and a little earth magic. This was a big influence on a record my wife and I made together in a caravan on Anglesey.
Peace Begins Within
Early roots reggae cut with an otherworldly vocal and mantra-like chorus. Put on repeat when the world gets too heavy.
Down By The River
There’s no shortage of killer versions of Down By The River, but this is the one I’ve been turning to recently. With its super relaxed tempo, delicious phasing and gospel backing vocals, it’s looking towards the beach rather than Canada’s snow-clad peaks. Willie Lindo’s gnarly lead guitar is the real star here, though. Drifting between the fuzzed out licks of Neil’s original and some Frampton-esque talk-box action, it’s the lime in your margarita.
Space Movement Section 2
Adrian Sherwood is really letting loose here. Drifting free from his craft into endless space, his umbilical cable severed, eyes closed, fingers feeling the faders, navigating by touch. I’ve heard this record compared to The Grateful Dead, which is perhaps a bit of a stretch, but I’m sure Mickey would dig its drums and space.
Devotion
Somewhat unfairly pinned as Krautrock, Between are closer to Oregon, Quintessence or Alice Coltrane than Neu or Can. Elements of jazz, classical, ambient and Pan-Asian traditions seep into the heady mix, which is far more enjoyable than that overly academic description suggests. Glorious repetition and ritualistic chants guide you through the six bardos.
BIO
Bobby Lee is a musician and DJ based in Sheffield, England, “standing at that interstellar crossroads between Americana, American primitive, psychedelic and shoegaze” (Petal Motel). His third album, Endless Skyways, is due spring 2023 via Tompkins Square. He has previously played in Brent Rademaker’s Country Rock/Power Pop group GospelbeacH.
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
Aquarium Drunkard's Jason Woodbury smokes a bowl and shares his ultimate stoner playlist
Curation Record’s Brent Rademaker eats an edible and lets the gummies do the DJing
]]>As a lawyer and activist, Caryma Sa’d sees the evil and the good without flinching. Resolute, plucky, and wicked smart, she documents what she observes—often provoking incendiary reactions from the subjects of her gaze. But she maintains her decorum with a few simple rules of engagement: 1) respect the law; 2) remain peaceful; and 3) if all goes south, retreat to a park bench and spark a joint.
Caryma Sa’d never asked to be a provocateur. The calling found her! Passionate about social causes, her personal online observations soon turned into a form of guerrilla gonzo journalism. Easily identifiable by her signature scooter, red-framed eyeglasses, and Mona Lisa grin (after a hit of Gorilla Glue), Sa'd turns up at local events to document them as they unfold, frequently sparking ire while exposing glitches in the fabricated narratives. She uses intelligence and humour to navigate the often-hostile encounters, but it’s her dogged determination to usher in positive change that keeps her focused on exposing the lies and revealing the truth.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Caryma. Thank you for parking your scooter long enough to have a chat. Where are you now?
Caryma Sa’d: I'm just sitting alone in a park right now.
HL: It's a difficult time for women journalists. A recent UNESCO discussion paper points to a sharp increase in online violence against women journalists and reveals how these attacks are inextricably bound up with disinformation, intersectional discrimination, and populist politics. So how are you managing?
CS: The mental onslaught is a lot sometimes, but I suppose I've been training for this my whole life. The past year in particular has been a sharp learning curve, as far as learning how to manage, navigate and sit with and process attacks that come from all directions. On a physical level, you know, there are times that I've been concerned for my safety.
In the work that I do, when I’m out in public and following rallies, for example, I've learned how to modify my approach and presence to at least try to mitigate those risks. I don't think it's possible to bring them down to zero, but I feel fairly confident in some of the strategies I've developed. At this particular point in time, I'm not living in fear, but I can't say that's been true. I have lived in fear for parts of the past two years.
HL: When you say you've been training your whole life for this, can you elaborate on that?
CS: Well, I think I've always been a loudmouth and I've always asked questions and not been shy in that respect. I don't think that I am necessarily overbearing, although the persona that I've cultivated doesn't reflect that. From a fairly early age, I have been comfortable with being uncomfortable and just voicing what's on my mind. And I've always been visible, right? Whether in a classroom setting in elementary or high school, there weren't many of us who wore hijabs. Even the university I attended was not super diverse. So training in the sense that there have always been people who vehemently disagreed with me or wanted to silence me. That's just part of my life.
HL: For those who are inspired by what you do, and may want to raise their own voice, can you explain how you’ve overcome the discomfort?
CS: I’ve gotten used to it. I can't say that I’ve vanquished it altogether, but you lean into it. I’ll take myself out of a situation for a second and image myself watching it happen, and oftentimes, the situations I find myself in are absurd. So that's how I deal with things—through humour. It’s a coping/processing mechanism for me. And if I'm uncomfortable, whomever I'm face to face with, they may also be uncomfortable, and I think a lot of people have difficulty with that. So that becomes an advantage for me.
HL: You are the public face of @CarymaRules but you have support. Tell us about your team?
CS: It’s me and my cameraman, and we use an iPhone. There’s nothing fancy about what we're doing. At times we are together, sometimes we separate and sort of do our own thing and then meet back. I have a good sense of trust with my cameraman, and we can read one another well, even if we're not verbally communicating.
HL: Have you always been attracted to social causes or did you fall into citizen journalism?
CS: I fell into this particular sort of whatever it is I'm doing. We'll call it guerrilla gonzo journalism. Prior to law school, I studied International Development and Globalization. It was a multidisciplinary program, but not journalism in any real sense. Throughout my undergrad, I was involved in various groups and clubs that sought to promote social change. I've always been interested in social causes, so I would say that has been a constant theme.
As a kid, I was enthralled by talk shows. I really loved Jenny Jones. It's funny ‘cause I don't really watch a whole lot of talk shows anymore. But the idea of talking to people and getting to understand them—that's what I found appealing. And, you know, that was transferable to a career in law. What I'm doing now is kind of a mixture of these disciplines.
HL: So you've created your own career path?
CS: Something like that. It's something and it's mine and I like it. I've noticed there are mainstream journalists who have now adopted a similar approach: filming with an iPhone and providing crisp captions.
But this is really specific to the current moment in history, my own background and everything that's led me to this point. It wasn't part of any five-year plan, but I'm just rolling with it as it evolves.
HL: How has becoming so well known on social media affected you?
CS: I probably haven't really grasped the extent of it because it was a slow build and now it's just part of my daily circumstance. I'm just known to people, which I think not everyone appreciates, because attention is a form of power. I wasn't born into wealth and I probably will not achieve massive wealth in my lifetime with the economy and rental markets and whatnot being what it is.
So it's a form of power that is made accessible to me through social media platforms. And to my merit, I started at zero followers. It's never been my goal to just collect people as followers. The primary objective is always just to do what I find interesting and convey it. If anyone wants to listen, great.
But I also get a lot of demands that are out of pocket from people to whom I have no obligation. That's weird, and I don't know that it will get any less weird.
HL: What do you mean exactly by “demands?”
CS: Why aren't you covering this? Why haven't you commented on that? Why are you smiling here instead of punching the Nazi in the face? Just nonsense, right? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but no one is entitled to dictate how another private citizen lives their life.
HL: So what is your primary objective? Are you trying to reveal the truth or shine a light on the darker corners of society?
CS: There are elements of both. Initially, it was curiosity that got me out talking to people. Then it was a concern that I wasn't seeing this movement, which I understand to be a right wing populist movement, being covered in the media. I don't pretend to fully understand what's going on, but reporting was either very basic or nonexistent. I saw a potential threat and that's what drew me in further.
Like I said, I take a comedic satirical approach. As a result, you have to take [my reporting] with a grain of salt. I like people to form their own conclusions. In my earlier coverage, I did a bit more spoon-feeding—here's what this means, here are my thoughts on it. I have not backed away entirely from that approach. If I'm offered an opportunity to do media commentary, which happens quite frequently, then that's my forum to share my thoughts. But now my goal is to document and it's not a comprehensive documenting of everything. It's documenting what I find interesting. Then I put it out there for people to take in and react to. People have all sorts of different opinions about me and what I do. But I think the collective gathering is really to capture this moment in history.
HL: Have you gotten a lot of pushback?
CS: I get a lot of flack about my motives: Oh, she's just doing it to make a TV show or a book or whatever. It's interesting that the type of criticism I get centres on the assumption that I have ambition, and that is somehow wrong or problematic. So part of putting myself out there is just me existing, and people react to my existence and thereby expose themselves. I hold up a mirror; I can't control the reflection.
HL: So what do you think is going on with all of the protests and rallies and fringe groups? What accounts for the rise in fascism? Have we lost our collective minds?
CS: Yes, we have. I mean it's been a slow burn. The pandemic exacerbated many things, including the decline of civility, consideration and common sense.
I believe, at the root of everything that's happening, are people worried about their material conditions either because they are in fact changing or they perceive a threat. There's a disconnect between institutions, leadership, legacy media and the general populace. And I think that is being exploited by groups who see an opportunity to feed easy solutions—that may or may not be practical or tethered to reality, to stoke fear and division, and really whip up a frenzy. To what end? I'm not 100% sure, but there's a definite anti-authoritarian theme to everything that's happening. I suspect that their end goals are quite bleak from a progressive point of view.
HL: So there are real issues underlying the rise in discontent?
CS: I think that's what it is. People were terminally online for two years, because that was really the only option for connecting. They consumed a lot of junk and there was a lack of critical thinking in assessing the validity of it. The actual rallies have been a way of building community for the people who attend. I believe there are all sorts of needs—social needs, material need—that are driving the phenomenon and it's not being addressed in a way that they find palatable or actually get to the root of the discontent. Not all discontent is rational, right? Some of it is and some of it isn't, but that doesn't make it any less real.
HL: How do you split your time between your legal practice and your advocacy work?
CS: My weekdays are more dedicated to actual legal work, that's when I have hearings or meetings. The rallies are pretty much just on the weekends, the exception to that was Ottawa.
HL: Who inspires you?
CS: A lot of people. My circles inspire me—my family, my friends, mentors who I’ve picked up along the way, whether in the legal community, the cannabis community, or the antifascist community. I take direct inspiration from those who surround me. On a broader level, I've always been drawn to the teachings of Malcolm X.
HL: You mentioned the cannabis community. Tell us about your relationship to cannabis?
CS: That's what keeps me safe through all of this. You know, people are always asking, How do you stay so calm? Well… I was a late bloomer; I didn't even try a joint until my last year of undergrad. Then when I started law school there were some seminal constitutional cases that touch on interpreting our rights vis-à-vis people who were caught up with cannabis. I always found it interesting because the term of law enforcement seemed very clearly to be worse than the actual consumption of the plant and the negative externalities of gang involvement and drug trafficking that are all a direct result of it being illegal.
After I graduated and finished my articling, Toronto was a hotbed for dispensaries leading up to legalization. I spent a lot of time figuring myself out at the Hotbox in Kensington and a couple of other lounges around the city. That's where I developed a real love for the people involved with the plant. When we think about legalization and who the real beneficiaries are and who has yet to cash in—that's a driving interest of mine.
HL: During the pandemic you took on the role of Executive Director at NORML Canada?
CS: Yeah, I held that role from 2020 till 2021. It was the pandemic and a very uncertain time. We put some pressure and reacted to some of the cannabis policy that was coming out, especially at a provincial level, regarding what would be open, what would be closed, what was essential. Questions related to delivery and curbside pickup. We're lucky to have organizations like NORML that bring like-minded people who are passionate together.
HL: What is the role of NORML moving forward? What work still needs to be done in Canada to optimize legalization?
CS: I think there are still a lot of areas where input needs to be provided to tweak legislation or policies to make it more inclusive, a better reflection of the diversity of the cannabis landscape that existed informally. There are historical injustices that have yet to be righted. There are gaps, lots of little discrete things if we want to get into the nitty-gritty like why is there a 30-gram possession limit? Why are certain offenses bearing a higher penalty than pre-legalization? Who is sitting at what table and what interests are they actually pushing? Does it make sense to have part of the portfolio within Health Canada and part of it situated elsewhere, because currently cannabis is being regulated much more harshly, I would say, than other substances. I think that those are all issues that still need to be tackled. I haven't given up on cannabis advocacy.
HL: Let’s talk wrestling. What do you love about it?
CS: Oh, everything! Well, that's not entirely true—wrestling is highly problematic in a variety of ways. I love the pageantry, the show of it all, the storylines. Really it's distilled into good guy versus bad guy, and then complicating factors are thrown in. Wrestling is life in a weird way. And certainly that has inspired the way I approach dealing with people at political rallies, the way I do coverage, the way I will sometimes shoot videos speaking to no one in particular. I find it sensational. It's violent but not really, it's more theatrics. It also has popular appeal whether people want to admit it or not. It’s kind of dorky, but for many of us, there's still nostalgia tied to it and just raw appeal to the way things are portrayed.
HL: How did you get into political cartoons?
CS: I love art and symbols, and cartoons are a way to communicate with people that doesn't necessarily rely on words. Initially, I started dabbling in cartoons when I ran for bencher with the Law Society of Ontario in 2019. I put out daily comics to try and convey platform ideas and things that I thought needed to be addressed, and the reception was pretty positive. I didn't ultimately win a position, although I came very close and that was a respectable performance for a young solo lawyer.
I really liked putting these things out—conceptualizing them and providing artistic direction. I'm not an illustrator so I work with a couple of great illustrators. I started putting comics out about cannabis in Canada, and then that morphed into a wider range of political topics, in part because the pandemic hit. I was like, Oh, well, the world's ending, so I might as well have fun with this while we're still here. It was a way of capturing a particular moment in time. I don't set out to cover every single issue; I focus on whatever piques my creativity.
HL: Tell us about your scooter?
CS: Best purchase I ever made! Hands down! I don't actually have a driver's license. I don't drive. So this has been a source of independence and mobility around the city. I wouldn't be able to cover rallies in the same way without it. There's no gas; it just plugs into the wall. And it's fun!
HL: All right, I have a couple of quick fire questions:
What is your favourite legal movie or series?
CS: I would say based on the fact that I've seen Legally Blonde as often as I have, that probably has to win by default.
HL: What is your favourite cannabis strain?
CS: I'm not overly discerning but I do enjoy a good Gorilla Glue.
HL: Do you have a favourite munchies food?
CS: I’m generally more drawn towards salty snacks so I’m a big fan of Hickory Sticks.
HL: Excellent! That is old school. So when you’re not scooting and documenting and trying to make Canada a better place, what do you do to relax? Smoke Gorilla Glue and eat hickory stick?
CS: I wouldn't say that it's relaxing, but I do find what I do enjoyable. I wouldn't do it if I didn't. I mean, apart from doom scrolling on Twitter. I spend a lot of time in parks. I really enjoy just being out in public, not having to consume anything, and watching people. I suspend judgment and just observe people in their natural habitat. That’s definitely my summer pastime. So I guess that boils down to: I'm a creep who sits on park benches.
HL: I cannot thank you enough for taking the time. It's been an absolute privilege and pleasure talking with you.
CS: Oh, the pleasure was mine. Thank you so much for featuring me.
Caryma Sa'd's website
Caryma Sa'd on Instagram: @carymasad
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As the radio show host and music writer for Record Crates United, music soundtracks pretty much every moment of Keith Hadad's day. But his favourite smoking activity is slipping on a pair of big headphones and listening to a stack of records with a mellow bowl. Join him as he drifts high above the soundscapes in this highly meditative sonic journey.
As the radio show host and music writer for Record Crates United, music soundtracks pretty much every moment of Keith Hadad's day. But his favourite smoking activity is slipping on a pair of big headphones and listening to a stack of records with a mellow bowl. Join him as he drifts high above the soundscapes in this highly meditative sonic journey.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Keith, where are you now?
Keith Hadad: I’m in the small town of Cranford, New Jersey, which is about 20 miles outside of NYC.
HL: What do you do with your time?
KH: I write and manage a music blog called Record Crates United (www.recordcratesunited.com), which focuses on independent and underground esoteric sounds. I’m also a freelance writer and I contribute music reviews and features for the likes of Phil McMullen’s continuation of his legendary Ptolemaic Terrascope zine, The Terrascopaedia, and a German newspaper called Blicker Magazine. As an extension to RCU, I host a web radio show on Dunebuggyradio.com called The Record Crates United Mixtape, which features a great deal of the music that I cover on my site, plus interviews with the likes of Josh Kimbrough and Buck Curran.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
KH: Music soundtracks pretty much every moment of my day. But my favourite smoking activity is listening to my records, so I save that righteous combination for when I can sit down and fully immerse myself into the experience.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
KH: As I was saying, I prefer to make listening to music while high a full experience. It’s a total event for me! I gather up a stack of records or recent finds on the Bandcamp app that take your mind on a journey, so usually something performed or mixed from a psychedelic frame of mind. I then light up a bowl of a particularly mellow Indica and slip on a pair of big headphones and lay back on the pillowy soft couch in my writing room. The headphones are key, as I like to close my eyes and focus on the sounds. This helps make the stereo spectrum feel incredibly immersive, like the instruments and vocals are passing all around my entire body. I love the feeling that I have sunk into a song as deeply as I have sunk into my couch.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
KH: I started listening to acid rock at a fairly young age and had watched both the Monterey Pop and Woodstock documentaries by the time I was 11, so that clued me in quite early on. Plus, my mom constantly told me at that age that she didn’t approve of me listening to bands like the Grateful Dead or Country Joe and The Fish, as they would absolutely lead me to smoking, so that helped (sorry, Mom).
Tall Bearded Iris Speckled
Ryan Jewell is not only one of the best drummers of our time—he’s also an expert sculptor of psychedelic soundscapes when playing under the moniker Mosses. I enjoy music that takes me on a journey, to totally envelop me, and Mosses’ collage-styled acid pop record TV Sun does that in spades. I want this entire playlist to take the listener on a voyage, so Tall Bearded Iris Speckled is the perfect intro, as it feels like you’re opening a door to a Wonderland-like universe of sunny sonic curiosities.
Boat Ride II
Talk about going on a trip! Kendra Amalie is one of the most inventive and wild guitarists out there right now, and this hurricane of a jam proves it. A whirlwind of shredding 12-string acoustic guitars slingshots you across the galaxy and leaves you feeling dizzy and gasping for air by the end. A total showstopper!
Black Iris
Reverb-drenched sitars swirl from ear to ear as you nod along to the funky laid-back grooves on this one. The whole Eastern Flowers album feels like homage to the period in the early ’70s when “world music” began to hybridize with prog and psychedelia, but on this particular track, Wunder seems to be specifically conjuring the vibe of Ananda Shankar’s classic work.
International Feel
If you want to feel like you’re whipping down an empty highway without leaving your chair, Wizard Todd’s got you covered. Even Daft Punk realized this, as they used International Feel to soundtrack such a drive in their movie Electroma (it’s the only part worth watching).
On the Corner – Take 4
This whole playlist could easily have been made up of tracks from the On The Corner Sessions, but Take 4 of the title cut from Miles Davis’ infamous acid-influenced 1972 LP is pure gold. A (nearly) motorik beat guides John McLaughlin’s writhing wah-wah guitar through a murky backdrop of sitar, spooky organ and Davis’ trumpet war cries. Spacey and compact at the same time, this is a song you’ll gladly get lost in.
Spirits of the Ancestors
For a more modern take on spiritual jazz, check out Josef Leimberg’s Astral Progressions. The whole record is a brilliant fusion of many different genres, including hip-hop and funk, that never loses its peacefully cosmic vibe. This track will make you feel as though you’re drifting through shimmering waves of the aurora borealis. How can you not love that?
Kollektiv
Primal, thunderous acid rock and celestial sitar ragas together in one song? Yes please!
Chismiten
Some of the most exciting music being made today is coming from the Tuareg guitarists of the Sahara. One of the artists taking this already hypnotic art form into new mesmerizing places is the electrifying Mdou Moctar. His latest album, Afrique Victime, finds the Nigerian musician taking guitar lines that wander like climbing ivy and distorting them with a Hendrixian ferociousness. Prepare for your ears to be scorched.
Anemometer
The New Age/ECM Records-influenced Bitchin Bajas and Joshua Abrams’ experimental jazz outfit, the Natural Information Society, are a match made in improvisational music heaven. Automaginary is a gorgeously meditative record that brings out the strengths of both groups, but Anemometer is where the two become truly transcendent. If this tune doesn’t make you feel like you’re floating, then nothing will.
Springtime Again
This is the quintessential song of rebirth and renewal. If you ever start to feel lost, confused or paranoid, dear reader, this track will ground you and wash your worries away like a cascade of spring rain.
Goin
Matt Valentine and Pat Gubler have a knack for summoning the atmospheres of the cosmos and a forested mountain at the same time. This is especially true on the beautifully ethereal Goin.
Looking for Pine and Obsidian
Speaking of combining the rural with the celestial, Bobby Lee can easily shift from sounding like Ash Ra Temple (as he does here) to Bruce Langhorne within the span of just two songs. It takes a great ear and a great deal of talent to be able to find sounds that overlap between the worlds of Kosmische and country music.
Lady Magnolia
A damn fine example of great Italian space-age jazz-funk from famed exploitation/porn/library music composer, Piero Umiliani. This track is the essence of mid-century modern cool. You can immediately imagine yourself sitting in an egg-shaped chair and hearing this through a nearby spherical 8-track player the moment the flute kicks in.
Addis Black Widow
The velvety grooves of famed Ethio-Jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke meld perfectly with the acid funk breakbeats of The Heliocentrics on the wild Inspiration Information 3. This kaleidoscope of hot brass, fuzz guitars and kinetic drumming unfolds and runs circles around your head. To call Addis Black Widow exhilarating would be an understatement.
Yegle Nesh
Jailu Mergia, another Ethiopian jazz giant, cools things down here with the breezy yet danceable Yegle Nesh. This snaky instrumental coils around you and forces you to sway to its sauntering rhythm, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. You’ve been warned!
Feedback 66
Kosmische legends Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank lock into a dub groove here that is as mechanical as it is primordial. On top of a bed of squealing guitars and manipulated voices, you have this thick, thumping troglodyte rhythm provided by a fuzzy synthesizer and drum playing in tandem, and it is the definition of infectious.
Mother Seletta
Karl Hector is known for perfectly replicating the vibe of classic ’70s Afrobeat records, but here, he leans further into space rock and heady library music territory. Mother Seletta is a psychedelic juggernaut that glows with iridescent organ work and blistering guitar solos. Make sure your headphones aren’t shooting off sparks when you listen to this song.
Dallas
Keeping with the vibe of the Karl Hector tune, L’éclair’s Dallas is a funky gem with ricocheting beats and jagged guitar solos that slash through vaporous waves of warm synths. This is one criminally underrated band.
In and Out of den Gärten He Goes
Listening to this track is like gazing up at a sky full of stars, far away from the glare of city lights. You feel caught up in a great cosmic sea and relaxed by the sheer peaceful beauty of it all.
Galaxy in Turiya
If the Dire Wolves track feels like you’re looking up at the night sky, then Alice Coltrane’s Galaxy in Turiya is like you’re becoming one with the night sky. The overwhelming divine grace of this song swells within your heart, lifts you up and rests you high above the clouds. This is the perfect track to keep you glowing with positivity for the rest of the day.
BIO
Keith Hadad is the creator and author of the Record Crates United blog. His work has appeared in The Terrascopædia, Elmore Magazine, TheWaster.com, and a multitude of other web and print publications. He hosts RCU’s webradio show, The Record Crates United Mixtape, on Dunebuggyradio.com every other Thursday evening. You can follow him on Instagram @Recordcratesunited, on Twitter @RecordcratesUTD and on Facebook at @RecordCratesUnited. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Sarah and dog Miles.
Main photo: James Blank
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
Aquarium Drunkard's Jason Woodbury smokes a bowl and shares his ultimate stoner playlist
A compilation of our favourite tracks from our guest-curated playlists
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Brent Rademaker knows about harmonic pairings: weed and music go great together. As a West Coast musician, he’s tripped through psychedelic country, California folk-rock and sunshine pop. As a seasoned wake-and-baker, he’s puffed and passed backstage with the greats. Here he shares his passion for pot and positive vibes with his take on the most synergetic stoner mixtape.
Brent Rademaker knows about harmonic pairings: weed and music go great together. As a West Coast musician, he’s tripped through psychedelic country, California folk-rock and sunshine pop. As a seasoned wake-and-baker, he’s puffed and passed backstage with the greats. Here he shares his passion for pot and positive vibes with his take on the most synergetic stoner mixtape.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Brent, where are you now?
Brent Rademaker: California.
HL: What do you do with your time?
BR: Lend it out to people.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
BR: Music gets me high and I’ve been known to get real high and let the music take me on a trip… not while driving.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
BR: Gummy & vinyl. Rinse & repeat.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
BR: My best friend Sleigher (Pete Kinne RIP) got stoned with me and mimed Funeral For A Friend from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at 3 am in Tampa sitting on the tailgate of my first truck.
I Still Wonder
When you think of references to the Los Angeles music scene of the 60s in movies or documentaries, you always seem to hear The Doors or The Byrds or possibly Forever Changes by Arthur Lee and Love—and that's totally cool, but just as the Summer of Love was about to fade into the swinging 70s, Arthur's retooled version of Love recorded a batch of songs and released 10 of them on a wonderfully trippy album called Out Here. I was just six years old and AM radio and The Beatles was all I knew. I doubt Hollywood will ever turn to this album as a touchstone of a generation but cut to the mid-90s when our most psychedelic brother Tartarex from The Summer Hits handed me a cassette (a Rextape as they came to be known) appropriately titled Find The Sun. It was a collection of lost hippy nuggets of mostly obscure bands from the 60s doing their best golden sunshine West Coast folk-rock, some laid back and mellow, some choogle, some pristine pop and this epic journey of what it feels like to "take too much" of anything that sends your mind out there or in this case Out Here…certainly not down there! I think the edible craze really brought on pot O.D. syndrome—just listen to the 911 calls on YouTube. I’ve personally had to pull bandmates out from under the van after too many edibles. So the next time you bite off too much brownie or pop four too many gummies, put on this song and quit wondering if it'll be alright because it will! I love every Love album but this one is dear and this song is special. Nightmare daydream? C'mon, that's Shakespeare!
Roll Your Own
The first set of rolling papers I ever bought were strawberry EZ Widers. We smoked before a Blue Oyster Cult/Reo Speedwagon/Black Oak Arkansas concert and got busted by some Lakeland Florida cops who were real aggressive dicks. But thankfully, in a life-saving gesture, the cops only confiscated my nickel bag and papers, and let us go free, thereby saving the impoundment of our stepmother's Grand Prix and a trip to juvenile detention. With me was my brother, of course, because he had his license and was driving, and fellow skateboarder Johnny Lee Middleton who went on to play bass for Tampa Bay metal gods Savatage and the world-renowned arena act Trans Siberian Orchestra. We parted ways after that experience. D-Rad and me, along with skate buddy Kevin Peterson cut our hair and started listening to more Punk, Power Pop and New Wave including the Fab Poodles from the UK, a Kinks-loving band with a skillful knack for a tune and super funny lyrics. This one is always in my head when I'm passed a joint that's either rolled perfectly or shitty. Even when I smoked tobacco, I rolled my own. Twist up for a great time and check out Mirror Stars the debut LP from Fabulous Poodles and the follow up Think Pink.
High Is Not the Top
Chris Robinson smokes a lot of weed, except when he's on tour. Gotta protect that incredible soulful voice! We want to hear him hit all the notes and every rock’n’roll howl. In my opinion, Chris is one of the very last of the true rock’n’roll soul singers—it never sounds forced or like he's putting us on when he sings. It's real! Take a little detour and listen to him and his brother Neal Casal harmonize a simple country tune. Back in 2000, CR showed up at a Beachwood Sparks gig at the Mercury Lounge in NYC with a true bomber, full-on Up In Smoke-style joint. We puffed and passed backstage until it was showtime and, although we were all seasoned wake-and-bakers, we could barely find the stage that night. We were high! Too high? Nah, just a different version of what the audience got the night before or the night after. That's the beauty of having heady friends and putting "exotic mood modifiers" on your backstage rider along with new socks.
Fools Gold
I'm not one to use the term "stony jam" but this is one in its truest form. Heck, they couldn't even get decent weed at the studio where this was recorded—I was there and God knows we tried! Hash was the only thing back in the 80s UK.
Shake Dog Shake
What do you call the stuff at the bottom of your bag of weed? Shake Dog Shake is a wake-and-bake classic in my household. The Cure is a really psychedelic band despite the goth image they can't seem to shake.
Getting’ High
Just like an old bag of swag, this track is dry and will do in a pinch. Gettin’ High belongs on every stoner playlist.
Alcoholiday
Nothing tastes better than a cold beer when you are stoned. One of the B-sides from this era of the Fannies was called Weed Break, but it's this song that is the true weed break. It's not promoting alcoholism or addiction, but it has that slacker feeling of staying in the moment to get out of the moment and the pressure of everyday life and love. The members of Teenage Fanclub are approaching their 60s and still making awesome records. They are one of my favourite groups of all time. (Side note: Check out Lightships’ Sweetness In Her Spark.)
My Friend Jack
For my friend Kellie—The Smoke was her favourite band!
Shine a Light
Turn down the lights, spark up, lay back and let this one flow into your very marrow. It's musicianship, production craftsmanship and pure lazer-guided melody. I used to not be able to listen to J. Spaceman and co. unless I was utterly loaded but now I let the music get me high.
Higher Than The Sun
Ever wonder what Merle would sound like doing Primal Scream? Eric Shea and company have created something special with this cover."My soul's an oasis"—what a lyric! Check out the Jah Wobble remixes of the original Screamadelica classic.
Do It Again
Ever wonder what Waylon would sound like doing Steely Dan?
Thanks for listening. Let's do it again sometime. I love you!
BIO
Brent Rademaker is a founding member of the California psychedelic country band Beachwood Sparks. His musical résumé also includes the West Coast 90s indie innovators Further. He currently tours and records with GospelbeacH who have just released the new single It's Too Late. As a writer, Brent has penned articles and reviews for music mags, blogs and bios for fellow musicians. His record label Curation Records was established in 2019 with releases from Pacific Range, Uni Boys, Triptides, Those Pretty Wrongs and many more.
Main photo: Sally Peterson Photography
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
Aquarium Drunkard's Jason Woodbury smokes a bowl and shares his ultimate stoner playlist
Record Crates United’s Keith Hadad takes the lead on a highly meditative sonic journey
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Andy French, founder of the music website Raven Sings the Blues, has made it his life’s mission to mine rare musical gems. He’s especially roused by indie, psych, garage and experimental music. As a writer and promoter, he’s steeped in music from sunup to sundown, and knows just how to attain the perfect state of mind for concentrated listening.
Andy French, founder of the music website Raven Sings the Blues, has made it his life’s mission to mine rare musical gems. He’s especially roused by indie, psych, garage and experimental music. As a writer and promoter, he’s steeped in music from sunup to sundown, and knows just how to attain the perfect state of mind for concentrated listening.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Andy, where are you now?
Andy French: Hudson, New York.
HL: What do you do with your time?
AF: I operate the blog Raven Sings the Blues (est. 2006), curate and host the monthly radio show Crawl Out From The Fallout on Hudson freeform station WGXC, and up until the pandemic, I’d been booking a series of shows at local venues in Hudson, Kingston, and surrounding areas, which I hope to pick back up soon.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
AF: Well, I have two little ones right now, so to be honest, not as often as I’d like, because they never let me rest. I wouldn’t say that music is specifically reserved for me in that capacity— dedicated listening, which lends itself to getting high. With the site and my day job, I’m often listening to music the whole day through, but it is nice to be able to set aside some time when things calm down at the house for some focused listening to let things sink much deeper.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
AF: Our area is just starting to get dispensaries, and given the chance, my wife will hop to one nearby. I’ll snag an edible from her, turntable and speakers for some more concentrated listening. With the monthly radio show, it’s been nice in the summer to set up the speakers on the porch and listen outside. That in itself is a Zen experience up here in the greener parts of New York. I record the show ahead of time and set it up like a mixtape, which has been a nice way to sink into music as well.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
AF: It seems like, for my generation, there was always a discourse between The Beatles and The Stones. But to be purely fair, I grew up in a house filled with Moody Blues and Emerson Lake and Palmer LPs at the forefront. The realization that these records went hand in hand with my parents being high in college came pretty early. It’s hard to look at the cover of Tarkus and imagine any other outcome. As a result, the tumble down the rabbit hole of 60s psychedelia and prog came pretty early on in my teens, though I wouldn’t make the personal connection with music and cannabis until college, when the two halves clicked.
Saturday Drive
Stoned listening, especially in a playlist or mixtape, is all about the flow. The list here moves from sunshine to darker corners, mixing quite a few new gems in with the old. Right now there aren’t a lot of labels embracing the West Coast psych sound better than Curation Records. Their upcoming release from Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears is a cosmic Americana classic in the making, full of country-fried twang and sunshine strums. Sean’s a Nashville session stalwart who’s shown up on records from Spencer Cullum, Eric Slick, Curtis Harding, Pujol and more, but his Weird Ears is poised to be one to watch in 2022.
Ode To The Road
Speaking of cosmic Americana stalwarts, Horne has made time in bands like Circles Around the Sun, The Skiffle Players and the widely loved Grateful Shred. Behind the boards, Dan is a key producer for the new wave of cosmic artists, having helmed releases by Mapache, Pacific Range, and Allah-Lahs. Following up an EP last year, this new single is a blissed ode to van life in the style of Beachwood Sparks.
Sister Rose
Naturally, this leads me to follow with a tune from Beachwood Sparks themselves. The band kept the cosmic flame lit in the early aughts, and while the smeared strains of Once We Were Trees is a constant favourite, the more twanged moments on their debut pair well with stoned listening on a sunny day.
High and Low
Another new band on the rise is the West Coast duo Color Green. They started out with a more homespun EP a few years back, but on this pre-album single, they give hints of funk-scraped JJ Cale, digging into the motor oil choogle before going full Gimme Shelter with the background vocals. Their debut LP is one of the best of 2022, and likely this song will wind up on every mixtape I make for the next couple of years.
Goldmine
The Nashville band have remained underdogs of the cosmic country scene, but with members of The Paperhead, Natural Child, and Sean Thompson himself sitting in, they’ve got the fried country credentials on lock. The band’s debut EP has long been a favourite around here and Goldmine gets the Parsons meets Purple Sage vibes just right.
Studio Walk
Next I’ve headed back into the West Coast charms of Curation Records for one of their earliest releases. I’m always a bit surprised that Pacific Range hasn’t been held up higher in the new jam pantheon. The band nails nimble jazz touches that work best in sun-soaked West Coast psych, all filtered down from the Dead lineage. Studio Walk percolates with an ease tossed with some salt air breeze. The whole album is perfect, but this one’s a standout every time.
Morning Light
Perhaps the only band outdoing Pacific Range and Garcia Peoples as heads of the new psych wave is Rose City Band. The unassuming moniker graces Ripley Johnson’s (Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips) country-psych persona and he’s worked up a trio of essential releases over the past few years. The sun-baked strums of Morning Light whisper California more than his Pacific Northwest environs, but every time this one plays on the stereo, I’m transfixed until the last notes fade into the air.
Really My Friend
It’s easy to slip into tried-and-true—and honestly overdone—territory with 70s picks, but Country Funk is a glossed over gem that always deserves a shout. While leaning a bit further into the country than the funk aspect, Country Funk rolls dusted twang and Byrdsian harmonies into a heat-quivered bliss on Really My Friend.
Jag Älskar Sommaren
Kosmiche and German progressive often get the heavy share of praise for the early 70s but the Swedish psych scene holds a lot of weight in my heart. Kebnekajse’s debut on the venerable Silence label is one of the best of the era, and this 10-minute psych workout is the highlight of the record. Featuring members of Baby Grandmothers and Mecki Mark Men, the band rolls laid-back riffs and a feel that’s somewhere between Santana and surf into a monster jam that was sure to have expanded into a burner on stage. Love this one!
Nickel & Dimin’
Dipping into the new bin once again, this gem from a few years back has a low and dirty sway to it. JMVII is a Canadian crooner with a power pop past and a present spent playing Matthew ‘Doc’ Dunn and Young Guv. While a lot of his record Stoned When I Pray can swerve into a Beachwood downline, this track has a strange funk to it that’s perfect for stoned listening.
Hallelujah I
I’ve been digging back into this one hard; the band never really got their due. Featuring a pre-Hiss Golden Messenger M.C. Taylor, the band worked through glossed indie rock and country swagger long before the combination was finding a new heyday. There’s a bit of a smoked haze on this song that billows out of the speakers with a JJ Cale-tipped cool.
No No
The other songwriter in The Court & Spark was Hirsch, and if his Cale-shades came out on Hallelujah I, they glow in blacklight brilliance on No No. Few songs from the past few years have achieved this kind of effortless baked-in feeling. No No drives slow around the mind—seat reclined, hand atop the wheel, streetlights blurring out the windows.
かくれんぼ
70s Japan is packed with perfect psych gems, to the point that many comps have already tackled it. Happy End is one of the best, and honestly, any of their songs could probably fit this list, but I like the restrained, narcotic feel of かくれんぼ (Hide and Seek). The guitars slink on the song, offsetting the strum in the right ear with snaking, oiled leads in the left.
Wasted Time
There are few bands to have picked up the 70s rock mantle and really made it work. Garcia Peoples has done just that. Obvious name references aside, the band skirt prog and psych like seasoned pros despite their median age skewing fairly young. The band’s fourth album saw them come into their own with psych-folk touches and dips through German progressive. This one, laced with flute from the excellent P.G. Six and a heady swirl, is always a favourite.
Laila, Part 2
One of the influences on the Garcia Peoples' album Nightcap At Wits' End that seemed to surface the most was this Agitation Free album, which can often get lost in a sea of lists full of CAN and Ash Ra Tempel. The taut playing and jazz interplay between members of the band gives this song a nicely tensile feeling, moving like honed musical muscles. I highly recommend this whole album!
Heywood Floyd
Possum is one of the new bands I’ll shout out each and every time. These Canadian artists just aren’t getting enough coverage outside of their bubble. Their first album had a lot of promise but they topped it and then some with last year’s Lunar Gardens. Psych-jazz touches, scorched guitars that leave charcoal residue on the speakers, and a dry ice darkness to the whole song.
Light Up
Al Doum & The Faryds is yet another band that should have praise heaped on them. The Italian band has a new record out that plays more into psych-folk territory, but their 2018 album is pure psych-funk odyssey. I’m a sucker for flute in a psych jam and this one barrels out of the gate with overblown intensity atop a tumble of rhythm. The whole album is a scorcher, but Light Up is a highlight.
Zealous Child
Jazz flute over the top of psych grooves gets me every time and Badge is one of the best bands out of Canada these days. Slim Twig anchors the bunch with plenty of players falling in on their last couple of records. This one has a cold humidity about it that I always love in a song, plus it’s hard to beat Dorothea Paas’ vocal turn on this one.
Stanley Stood Still
Stanley Stood Still is off of Rhyton’s most recent album, and it is midnight psych at its best. A gnarled, greasy blues riff that’s all pelvis and leering eyes. In the right state of mind, this cut tears through the listener, rattling them to the marrow.
Tetuzi Akiyama
Speaking of unsanded blues riffs, I’d be remiss not to follow up with a hackled cut from 75 Dollar Bill. It’s hard to pass up a junkyard beaten boogie like this, dedicated to one of the best guitarists around. The rhythmic slap, chewed iron guitars, and 100-degree sax line burn this song into the back of the skull.
To See Darkness
To conclude my playlist, I’ve got to cool it off—but just a little bit. Elkhorn is one of the best trips to the inner mind around. The band’s psych-folk reverberates to every point in the body. Liquid mercury guitars and dusted acoustic strum before the song burns up in the desert sun. This song is off their excellent Sun Cycle record from a few years back.
Editorial note from Andy: I've been a pretty ardent proponent of not using Spotify on my site, just because the pay structure and politics are so abusive. Mixcloud at least pays radio rates, which isn't perfect, but it’s better than the meagre pieces of pennies from the alternatives. Plus, for a mix, I always like the idea of letting the songs bleed into one another rather than the hard stops on a Spotify list. For something like this, that feels key.
For readers who prefer Spotify, here's the Playlist with a couple of the more rare and hard to find tracks missing.
BIO
Andy French is the owner and curator of the site Raven Sings the Blues, a daily music review website in operation since 2006. He is the host of Crawl Out From The Fallout on Hudson, New York's independent, freeform station WGXC. The show can be heard every 2nd Tuesday of the month from 8-10 PM. Andy has been helping keep the Upstate music scene vital, booking shows in Hudson and Kingston, New York at venues like BSP, The Half Moon, and Tubby's. He's the founder of the upcoming Deep In The Valley Festival, which brings together cosmic Americana, psych, jazz, and folk at the scenic farm brewery From The Ground on August 20th in Red Hook, New York. He lives in Hudson with his wife, Dani, and their two daughters, Florence and Mae.
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
Aquarium Drunkard's Jason Woodbury smokes a bowl and shares his ultimate stoner playlist
Curation Record’s Brent Rademaker eats an edible and lets the gummies do the DJing
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Lara Bennett of Petal Motel, a blog dedicated to cosmic American music, has created a most serene psychedelic experience starting with an ambient entrance into soothing sounds, followed by an ascent of rollicking peaks, before touching down gently. Featuring local discoveries and old favourites, our guest trip master is here to guide you.
Lara Bennett of Petal Motel, a blog dedicated to cosmic American music, has created a most serene psychedelic experience starting with an ambient entrance into soothing sounds, followed by an ascent of rollicking peaks, before touching down gently. Featuring local discoveries and old favourites, our guest trip master is here to guide you.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Lara, where are you now?
Lara Bennett: Mojave Desert, California.
HL: What do you do with your time?
LB: Write, swim, take photographs, play music in a local band called Daytime Moon, paint, travel. I also run a blog called Petal Motel that highlights cosmic American music.
HL: Do you get high when listening to music?
LB: Full disclosure—I no longer get high. Though I do use weed medically for all sorts of things. I interchange gummies and tinctures with THC & CBN for sleep most nights. I grease up daily with salves, muscle freezes, and apply transdermal patches for aches and pains (shout-out to Mary’s Medicinals). These days, I let the music get me high. Unless I accidentally wake up in the middle of the night or wait too long to go to sleep after popping a gummy, then I like to put on something soothing and float into slumber.
HL: Describe a typical music-weed session?
LB: I’m constantly seeking “pretty” and calming sounds when I’m not at peak energy levels (which is often), especially before or after playing a show when I’m feeling extremely sensitive and/or drained. That’s what this playlist is—music that just sounds lovely and comforting and makes me feel the calm, chill mood that Indica used to.
HL: What is your earliest memory of connecting the dots between music and cannabis?
LB: Ooh, I wish I could remember just one! I recall making a playlist for a full on psychedelic session as a teenager filled with CSNY, Donovan, Joni, Jefferson Airplane, Cat Stevens, all the classic Laurel Canyon/acid rock of the era. Very odd that I skipped over the Grateful Dead until much later in life. I also remember this beautiful year I lived in a beautiful house smoking weed morning till night listening to lots of freak folk, so I associate that with weed as well. I’ve gone through lots of shoegaze, acid rock, and electronic phases but at the end of the day, “wooden” music, or singer-songwriter stuff, feels the closest to my heart and therefore the most comforting.
A Sunken Moon Is A Crescent Still
Is there anything more ethereal and heavenly than the sound of a harp? It’s no coincidence that angels are always depicted with them. Cassie’s music is so healing and truly celestial.
what’s on the inside
marine eyes’ debut album idyll found me right when I needed it and was first getting into ambient music. Cynthia’s music is the way ambient should be—it can only be paralleled by Enya in my mind in terms of calmness. It’s like a shower of soothing, and her newest album Chamomile is no different.
Health C
Imka is a producer, musician and label owner who uses plant biodata to craft these gorgeous, tranquil sounds. He’s super prolific but this collection of sounds is extra special. Get into the plant mindset and ideally listen while in water.
Helplessly Hoping
I’ve been listening to this album from birth and this song still induces chills. I love the story behind it: Stephen Stills said he had a high school English teacher who was, basically, really hot, and he was thinking about her and her legs when he wrote the alliterative language. But is there any sound more angelic than their harmonies?
Space Wheel
This is the band Neal Casal sort of accidentally formed when he gathered Mark Levy, Adam MacDougall and Dan Horne to quickly record seven hours of music to be played at the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well tour intermissions. This is one of the most psychedelic ambient tracks I’ve ever heard. Can’t recommend getting the full five hours on Bandcamp enough. Load your bong and fall in.
Franklin’s Tower
I listened to a LOT of Devendra in my weed smoking days and he’s still making great music. I love a Dead cover and usually when musicians cover the Dead they tend to be a little bit on the, how do I say, silly side, but this one is particularly striking. He made it his own.
Rounder
The guitar and steel at the end of this epic track just completely take me out of my body. Personally, this whole album is so important, and this song is just a journey from beginning to end.
Follow What You Are
This is what I mean when I say music gets you high. All of the songs listed so far really could add to any trip, but this one truly takes you on one. It’s like feeling something bloom inside.
Way Out Weather
It’s no secret that Steve Gunn is very high on my list of favourite guitarists, and all of the elements in the intro to Way Out Weather make it one of his most psychedelic songs. I remember seeing him in Brooklyn and the wind rustling through the trees added yet another layer, and James Elkington went absolutely ham on the pedal steel during an extended jam version. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
Obsidian Dust
Herb is a local artist from the Joshua Tree area and this whole album has a cosmic country-tinged grunge vibe that creates the perfect soundtrack for our space-like landscape.
Depanneur
This is the band I play in—full disclosure—but this song was written long before I knew ‘em. One of my favourite songs live, our frontman uses a bevy of pedals to weave what’s really a fairly simple song into something fantastical and electrifying.
Mulholland Drive
Strange’s guitar playing on this song is the perfect groove, and although it’s pretty sad, sometimes it’s good to listen to music that takes you right to a place you’ve been. Plus I can never get enough songs referencing my first love, Los Angeles. Who hasn’t been “there”?
Esta Vez No
Another local musician, I just recently heard David live at a local pizza and wine place and I was really excited by his playing and song writing.
Moog Raga
I mean, is there a better psych band in the world than mid-late Byrds stuff? Even though they’ve been one of my favourite bands for many years, I still feel like there’s so much mystery left in their enormous catalogue. The older I get, the more I appreciate their later, underrated and overlooked work.
Til Stone Day Comes
The Skiffle Players, if you don’t already know, is a supergroup made up of Cass McCombs, Farmer Dave Scher, Aaron Sperske, Dan Horne and Neal Casal. This is one of their most beautiful songs and it really showcases Neal’s acoustic guitar virtuosity—the solo was a first take.
Nature’s Light
Impossible to pick a favourite Beachwood Sparks song, as they all share this stoney, hazy, nature-y element I seek in music, but this one’s understatedness complements the “come down” at this point in the playlist.
Walking with Trees
A dream collab, this song blows me away every time I listen. The birdsong of Mia’s voice mirrored by Bobby’s cosmic playing shocked me upon first listen. I was expecting greatness but hearing it was above and beyond. Vibes for days.
Lost in Your Eyes
I remember the day this album came out: November 2nd, 2019. I was in Joshua Tree hiking the Hidden Valley loop under the bluest sky listening to this album for the first time and it’s just pure “wooden music” at its best. Andy’s voice is gorgeous and fragile, and the gentle guitar strums echo the simple wonder of the landscape in which it was recorded (also in Joshua Tree). I also used to listen to so much Vetiver when I was a baby stoner and he gets better and better with each recording.
Singin’ Call
This is just the prettiest Stills song. He can do it all—blues, funk, groove, lead the shit out of an epic band, but his loner folk days on his first and second are so sensitive and pure. Late night magic.
St. Cloud
I remember the first time I took mushrooms, I put Neal’s music on after the trip was over but I was still a little starry-eyed and it was just pure light. This song is so pretty and Neal’s young voice brings tears to my eyes.
BIO
Lara Bennett is a writer, artist, and creative director living in the Mojave Desert. She is the founder of Petal Motel, a music blog documenting the Californiana and Cosmic American (and world) music genres; and a co-host of the Highway Butterfly: Stories of Neal Casal podcast series, benefitting the Neal Casal Music Foundation, which provides music lessons and instruments to students, and supports healthcare initiatives for musicians like Backline.
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Howlin' Rain sonic messenger Ethan Miller shares his definitive stoner playlist
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]]>Whether on the wing of a bee or the wing of a butterfly, SF in Bloom have germinated a worldwide planting movement to seed native plants, increase biodiversity and support beneficial insects. Their passion for plants is leading the way for others to get their hands dirty and become better stewards of our beautiful planet. Discover how they are democratizing gardening for all.
Whether on the wing of a bee or the wing of a butterfly, SF in Bloom have germinated a worldwide planting movement to seed native plants, increase biodiversity and support beneficial insects. Their passion for plants is leading the way for others to get their hands dirty and become better stewards of our beautiful planet. Discover how they are democratizing gardening for all.
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Phoenix and Shalaco. How did you two meet and were plants involved?
Shalaco: On our first date, we went for a walk through our neighbourhood. My neighbour had had her citrus tree stolen and that was a real bummer. Like, what kind of people steals your tree right out of the ground? And so, on the walk, I found a tree aloe that had been left for dead in a parking lot. I was like, It's stupid people stealing other people's trees. I want to give somebody a tree. So we planted the tree aloe. That was 10 years ago. Now it's the size of a smart car. So I guess from that first date, we've gifted plants. It was our MO right out the gate.
HL: How did you go from planting a castoff tree aloe to offering native seed shakers?
Shalaco: I was always planting. I first learned about succulents. You just take one and put it in the ground and then there's another one. So after my house got too full of succulents, I would just go and find one snapped off somewhere and put it in somebody else's yard where a plant had died—kind of like Robin Hooding plants. Then Phoenix introduced me to calendula, which is a self-sowing annual plant like a marigold. You just take some of the seeds and scatter them. I don't think we ever bought any calendula. Then we found these wildflower mixes. I would go to the seed aisle when things were on sale. But you’ve got to be careful with things like invasive plants. So we started making our own native wildflower blends.
Phoenix: That's about an eight-year span from aloe to actual shaker. We were sowing seeds, but the shaker was born two years ago.
Shalaco: I saw it in a thrift store. I was like, Oh, this would be a great seed dispenser. I put a little note Mega Epic Seed Shaker, so Phoenix would know that she wasn't just getting an old Parmesan cheese shaker for Christmas. Then, I noticed that the seeds we were using had European wildflowers mixed in. So I started making my own seed mix using native seeds and rice hulls. People were asking if they could have some too so we started making seed shaker kits for folks because nobody else offered the rice hulls and native wildflower seeds.
HL: What is it about planting seeds that inspires you?
Shalaco: It’s like the magic of life. You just have this small little thing and you throw it on the ground, and then life somehow knows how to grow out of that. It's really fantastic! We just kind of plant and forget.
Phoenix: You have to wait a while, right? You can't rush nature.
Shalaco: If you just always focus on planting, sooner or later, you wind up running into your plants. You know, like, Oh, they grew. It’s amazing. It's like nature's magic trick. And it's a pretty fun one. People sometimes try to give me credit for it but I just throw them on the ground.
HL: What has the reaction to your videos been like?
Phoenix: When people see our videos and how fun it is, I think we've inspired this whole new generation of people sowing what's native to their region. This is happening all over the world.
Shalaco: Our enthusiasm about plants is contagious.
@sfinbloom Anyone else excited about spring‽ #🧂🌱🌸🐝 ♬ original sound - San Francisco in Bloom
HL: Do you believe gardening encourages people to slow down and be in the moment?
Phoenix: Exactly! You can't coerce it to grow faster. You can't pay it more money to grow faster, right? Nature doesn't care about any of that stuff, which I think is beautiful and humbling.
HL: Why do you think your story resonates so much?
Shalaco: I think the reason it is so popular with people is because it’s hitting a few different chords. When we were just talking about plants, people were so excited about how passionate we were. They might be like, I'm not really into trees, but I love how passionate you are about trees. Our passion is contagious. I've been creating content for years. So, I think the art of storytelling is another aspect of it. And then we've evolved with nature so I think there is a certain awe with nature itself.
Phoenix: It's so simple. It doesn't cost a lot of money to get seeds. You don’t need a lot of plant knowledge. I mean, it's nice to have a base of plant knowledge, especially making sure you're not sowing invasives in your area. But it doesn't take a lot of knowledge, time or money to do this. People are like, How do you do this? And I joke, it's literally like, put the seeds in your hand and go like this [gestures throwing seeds into the wind]. Nature just flings her seeds out—where they stick, they stick and where they don't, they don’t.
HL: How have people integrated the seed shakers into their daily lives?
Phoenix: People give the shakers to their kids. Or they're like, We do this on the way to our daughter's soccer practice. You just need a moment, that quick walk to the post office or that short break away from your computer at sunset or three o'clock or whenever, you can be sowing seeds. You can make a huge difference in this little amount of time.
HL: How do your seed shakers fit into the greater narrative of the climate crisis?
Shalaco: I think people see that the world is not on the right path and they want to make positive contributions to the ecosystem. I believe overall there's a big shift back to balance right now. So like, turf grass lawns are largely colonial-inspired and it's all about importing things. It has a certain allure and appeal to people because it's not natural. It's really, ecologically speaking, pretty much an ecological disaster. It's a thirsty monoculture. I mean, you can still have a turf grass lawn and mix in a beneficial native garden that's not just for you, but helps serve the ecosystem and the beneficial insects, which are important players in our world. Hey, you like food? They help with a lot of it. We're in a great extinction period. I think it's easy to look at the world and experience a lot of doomsday-ism. We’ve found a simple, elegant, accessible way that you can help make a positive impact and put out positive intentions.
HL: Can anyone garden and how do you get started?
Phoenix: It doesn't matter your situation—if you rent, if you're in a cold, dark house, if you only have concrete, there's always ways that you can have plants.
Shalaco: Our mission is to make gardening and plants more accessible to people. So whether you think you're too broke, you don't have enough space, you don’t have enough time, you don't know enough, you don't have enough money, you can't water the plants. We’ve got ideas for you. Whether that's using a cheese shaker to go shake seeds on that neglected patch that you've been walking by on your way to work every day. Or if it's setting up a drip irrigation system so that your plants can water themselves. We have a concrete backyard where we cut out a very small section and now we have a three-storey apple tree. So there's lots of ways that you can make nature accessible to yourself and it can be fun, simple, easy and affordable.
Phoenix: We want to democratize gardening and show people that everyone can have plants. We're here for you; let us know how we can help.
HL: Modern society has become very human centric. Do you feel there is a movement back to nature?
Shalaco: We live in urban centres and they're made for people, not nature, so you have a lot of urban blight. It's all human first and human centric. I think gradually we're learning that we're not separate from nature and we’re doing our best to weave nature back into urban centres. You see it more and more with landscape designs like the New York Highline where they’ve brought in prairie plants and a prairie setting into the urban setting. San Francisco is pretty good with this. We're figuring out rain gardens to sink water into our aquifers. We’re getting better at not separating ourselves from nature, but weaving it into our lives, even in these urban centres.
Phoenix: I think one of the next big interests is not only having green spaces, but also increasing biodiversity. I think that's a challenge that a lot of people are meeting. Maybe they're making a bunch of green spaces or buying a T-shirt where they're going to plant 100 trees, but they're planting the same tree and they're making these monocultures, which are not good. Really the key is to have green spaces that are biodiverse.
HL: What has been the ripple effect of your videos?
Shalaco: I was just making videos for fun. What came of it is we are inspiring people from all over the planet to plant. Every single day people ask us, How can I do this where I live? We've heard of people at their weddings throwing native wildflower seeds instead of rice. We've heard that we inspired people to harvest the seeds from their late grandmother’s garden to make another garden. Now our focus is on finding opportunities for stewardship through existing organizations and programs. So we find people in the community who are excited about planting and connect them through a program or organization with some land that needs to be taken care of. Or find people who are already working on a project that maybe needs some attention or some fresh hands. Basically just working to pair with existing organizations to spotlight what they're already doing, create opportunities for people to come in and get involved, get their hands dirty. Just helping the plant community find each other, you know, by connecting opportunities.
Phoenix: We're also working to create educational curriculums for children and we continue to do educational workshops for people of all ages. One of the things that I think is really fantastic about our experience with plants is that I've been a professional landscape contractor for 18 years and Shalaco has a deep history of plant knowledge, so if people follow us, we can lead them through the entire plant journey. Wherever they are, we can help them with those next steps. We're here to share information and to elevate people's knowledge of plants.
HL: Have you seen real change resulting from your efforts to spread the word about native plants?
Shalaco: We've had people with established gardening businesses that are now planting more natives because they were inspired by us. There's a manager at a golf course that said, I'm integrating native plants into my practice because of you. And even beyond that, when we went to Maui, we volunteered with a conservation group and we met someone that worked at the Westin Maui who converted to organic pesticide-free.
Phoenix: And they're inspiring other resorts next to them to do the same thing.
Shalaco: And not just because it's the right thing, but because you get better results for less money—and it's better for the environment. We're really passionate about meeting with people who are doing these amazing things and helping share their stories to inspire other people to do things differently and better, and basically finding a modality or practice and demonstrating that it can work.
HL: When you landscape a plot of neglected land, you can visible see the external change. Have you witnessed internal changes when people come into contact with plants?
Phoenix: Yeah. When I started my landscaping business, the first five years, I did it here in the city without a vehicle. So I was on the bus with 70 pounds of tools on my person. And I remember time and time again that I would be sitting on a bus with a plant that I was either taking to or from a client's house, and I would see someone get on the bus and sit right across facing me. They wouldn't look at me, but they would look at the plant. I would be watching them and all of a sudden their shoulders would go down and their face would relax. They would just kind of zone out on the plant. I kept seeing this happen over and over again. Whether they knew it or not, the moment that you connect with a plant, you start to chill out. It just takes a little plant in my hands and they're relaxing. That connection is really powerful. When we go into a forest, just being in nature, we almost reach a state of meditation. It's a really amazing connection that we have with nature.
Shalaco: We evolved with nature and plants and there are measurable ways that they have positive impacts on our health and wellbeing.
HL: Have you had any experiences with cannabis?
Phoenix: I personally have been through surgeries where I was able to completely forgo any sort of pain medication, and just use CBD for pain management. And that was amazing. I don't like using pharmaceutical pain medications. It was really fantastic to have an alternative that really worked for me. I'm very fortunate to have had that option.
HL: Let’s talk about the goofiness?
Shalaco: We're not goofy! We were just being ourselves wandering around planting native wildflowers when somebody said, You should do that in a bee outfit. So I did. But I went full bee because when I do things, I go full send. Now just imagine you're a little insect looking for your next nectar bite or a little water. How hard it is being a bee in an urban centre? Just go for a walk and look for the next flower or the next drink of water. It's really sparse out there for our insects, you know? If you take a step in their shoes, you see how they're really under threat more than ever. There's encroachment due to pesticides around their habitat and erratic weather due to climate change. We could be a lot better stewards of this planet that we all live together on. Biodiversity is a big part of the richness of this planet.
Phoenix: There are so many other pollinators besides bees. Birds, beetles, flies, butterflies— all of these things are pollinators. We need to be supporting all of these creatures because they're doing critical things for the well being of our ecosystem.
HL: So the bee costume acts as a liaison with people on the street or online?
Shalaco: Yeah, we've been biking on our tandem and, out of the blue, had crowds of people cheering us on, loving our outfits. But nothing has quite hit people like going around as a bee. Everyone wants to say hi.
Phoenix: Adults and children alike yelling bee puns out their windows.
Shalaco: I've never had so many people come up and want to interact. It’s amazing just how much it opens people up when you put on a bee outfit.
Phoenix: There was one post that Shalaco and I did on social media. He literally went around from daylight to night in his bee outfit. We filmed him all over the city and the responses that we got the whole day were unreal.
Shalaco: People would stop their car, get out and talk to us and ask, What's going on? Well, bees do so much. They're very important along with other beneficial insects and so we're planting flowers. Here, have a little seed packet and go have some fun. Say hey to the bees. And they're like, That's so cool! People just go crazy for it. It literally stops traffic, like we cause havoc. And, you know, we’re in San Francisco; they see weirdness all the time.
HL: What is in the future for SF in Bloom?
Shalaco: We're talking to a variety of organizations and working on creating events to help coordinate with existing programs, or start new programs where we find opportunities. And help plug people in and make it fun and easy and exciting to get involved with plants, to meet people from your community and do something beneficial. To come together to support each other in enriching the places where we live. We're working on finding people who are doing amazing things and spotlighting what they're doing, and finding people who want to do this too, but maybe just don't know where to start. So we can elevate the community by helping them find each other and opportunities.
HL: How has the success of SF in Bloom affected you?
Shalaco: When you do something you love, it doesn't have boundaries, and you do it all the time. It's great, really. It's been opening a number of amazing doors and helping us connect with people who are passionate about plants and making a positive impact from all over the world. People call it a movement and they're not wrong.
HL: Can you describe what novice gardeners can find at SF in Bloom?
Shalaco: You can check us out on social media where we have posts that entertain, educate and share our passion about plants. If you are looking to plant native wildflowers, you can get shakers from us if you're in California and we're looking to expand to other areas. There are resources on our site that show you how to confirm that what you're planting is native and non-invasive. We have a Discord you can hop on and connect with our plant community. If you need a little more hands on, you can take one of our classes that can help you with your gardening journey. And if you need a little bit more one-on-one advice or you’ve got a project that you're stuck on, or you need help designing your garden, we do consultations to support your gardening process.
HL: Thank you both for doing what you do and sharing it with us.
Shalaco: Thanks for reaching out and hanging out.
What to listen to while cruising the streets on your Onewheel spreading wildflowers seeds? Listen to our SF in Bloom curated "Songs to plant to" Mix
Listen here:
Check out SF in Bloom's website here
SF in Bloom on Instagram: @sfinbloom
SF in Bloom on TikTok: sfinbloom
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Color Green’s deeply mellow vibe embodies the very essence of Stoned Americana music. With influences ranging from JJ Cale, the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead to extended instrumental covers of 60s songs and hours-long recordings of thunder and rain on a tin roof, band mates Noah Kohll and Corey Madden are into some crazy shit. Keith Hadad of Record Crates United sat down with the boys for a rambling, wide-ranging, far-out chat.
By Keith Hadad
Color Green’s deeply mellow vibe embodies the very essence of Stoned Americana music. With influences ranging from JJ Cale, the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead to extended instrumental covers of 60s songs and hours-long recordings of thunder and rain on a tin roof, band mates Noah Kohll and Corey Madden are into some crazy shit. Keith Hadad of Record Crates United sat down with the boys for a rambling, wide-ranging, far-out chat.
Keith Hadad: So first things first, what's your musical background? How long have you been playing and how did Color Green get started?
Corey Madden: We met in New York. We came from different worlds, but we met at a job and just vibed out on this band Acetone from the nineties. They're very, very, very mellow. I was playing in a straight-up rock band and Noah was in a bunch of indie bands. We both were into a mix of that stuff. We were like, It'd be cool to do that. Talked about it and just got into a room and were like, This works [mixing these two styles].
Noah Kohll: I started playing music when I was six. I'm from Omaha; there's a small music community there. So I got to be surrounded by a lot of cool bands coming through and playing with them. There was a local record store and I befriended all the guys and that really shaped and informed my musical taste. For a while, I was playing in a lot of indie-ish bands. I still am, but... I love rock and roll! I'm kind of obsessed with it. I think it’s really great to have Color Green. The way Corey and I work together, it's a really special harmonious thing, you know? It's great!
CM: Both of us definitely came from DIY worlds in our own way. I started playing guitar as a kid and spent my entire teenage life in New Brunswick in my basement with my brother. Noah and I both have an understanding of the deep shit. I feel like that always has been a thing between us—we know the real world kind of shit.
NK: Yeah. We're dorks. We like records and—
CM: We just connect. We send music to each other all the time.
NK: What's the thing we're into right now, uh, the Balkan guitarist dude? [Branko Mataja].
NK: I just ordered it on Numero Group record. It's this guitar instrumental, kind of Ennio Morricone stuff. It's really, really good.
CM: Honestly, the most insane. It's amazing.
KH: Oh man, that's so cool. I'm gonna have to look that up afterwards.
NK: We have this deep understanding for music and especially in the sense of the atmosphere. Because we work in a lot of different projects, it’s cool having Color Green as an umbrella so we can create this atmosphere around it. The vibe is always the first thing we go to. Like, that song that just came out, So Far Behind, I wrote it in a couple of different locations. When we were demo-ing it together, I was having trouble with the vocal take. I was like, What, what is this? How do I do this? Corey was like, Do the Color Green thing. When he said that, I was like, Oh yeah, that makes sense.
KH: On that note, you formed in 2018, how did your sound evolve from your inception to what we can hear on your first EP, which came out in 2020?
NK: Well, the EP that came out was recorded in 2018. We were in these transit periods—both living in New York. Corey was about to move to LA and we were, like, Let's do this before you leave. Then we just sat on it for a little bit, not necessarily knowing what to do with it. Then the pandemic hit while I was on tour with Young Guv, and we were driving from Dallas to Omaha. On that drive, I played them the EP and they were like, What are you doing with this? Tony wanted to put it out on the label. So that's when everything kind of clicked, and Corey and I were like, Oh shit, this should be an actual, real thing.
CM: Once we got into a room, Noah was sitting on drums and I was playing guitar, and we fleshed out the song Night. Within three hours, we were like, Alright, this is a fucking thing. Then we jammed maybe just two times. Noah was living in a house that was around the corner from my house, and it had kind of a makeshift basement studio. We just fleshed out the EP. It kind of just happened—I had a song, he had a song. We just jammed shit out.
NK: I remember too, when we were making it, we recorded on a Tascam PortaStudio. I've had that thing since I was like a freshman in high school, and it's a bit of a process to use. I think we were both going through breakups at the time, and I was just not down to be thinking about it. So I was in the studio, trying to make stuff, you know? And I remember we were trying to get the right drum sound.
CM: That was a thing...
NK: It took a second and then when we got it. Corey was like, Don't touch anything! I like how those drums sound.
CM: I love how the drums sound.
NK: The drums on the EP are two mics, you know? I think it's actually just one overhead mic.
CM: I mean, the whole EP is a tiny Fender amp, the drum rig that Noah put up.
NK: Direct in. I was sitting cross-legged with a phaser pedal plugged directly into the tape, the headphones on and just playing the bass cross-legged. I think we were doing some sort of substances as well. I remember I had a sad corner and the sad corner had like—
CM: The sad corner was this weird outside little alley... I don't even, what was it? It was like a backyard?
NK: It was a New York backyard, but there was, like, weed, whiskey and other stuff. I was like, This is where we go when we're sad.
KH: [laughs] Everybody needs a sad corner.
NK: That's right.
KH: The warm kind of lo-fi analogue sound and the roughened aesthetic of the cover of the release together make the record feel like a sought-after private press cosmic American music LP from the 70s. Was that the intention, or did it just turn out sounding that way and you're like, Hey, let's go with it?
NK: I think we like that kind of music, and it's definitely an influence, but the sound of it is just how it was. We weren't trying to go for that [sound] necessarily. We never really talked about how it was gonna sound, it just ended up sounding like that. That's what our song writing sounds like. It just kind of naturally happened to be like that. I remember I was working with the designer for the tape, and I wanted the album cover to look like what the music sounded like. I remember describing it to him. I was like, Let's make it look worn. Like you found this in your dad's attic, you know?
CM: The EP was definitely not a thought out thing. I mean, we had what we had and we did what we did. But I think the record captures where we both were at that moment. And everything else just fell in line, if that makes sense? It was very natural. It's not all overthinking, you know? We just did it.
KH: That's the best. That's how music should be. So from out of that world of private press cosmic American music, who do you love and who would you call an influence?
CM: The list is, like, forever. The list is so long.
NK: Do you know that compilation, Fading Yellow at all?
KH: Actually, I don't think I know that one.
NK: It's not cosmic American music. It's, like, late sixties psych music, private press. And there's this song by this guy, John Williams called Flowers in Your Hair. I remember when I was out in New Mexico, I was listening to that a bunch. Obviously there’s more. I don't even know where to begin with all that stuff.
CM: Honestly, for me, for stripped down stuff, wouldn't even be that kind of country stuff. It's like the 39 Clocks, kinda like... so fucking stripped down barbaric kind of shit.
NK: We also vibe super hard on the basic things—we both love Pink Floyd. We love JJ Cale. We love the Allman Brothers. I love the Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Gene Clark. Like all that kind of stuff is what we are all obsessed with. The cool thing about those bands is that they're kind of endless in supply of new shit you can listen to, from live records to demos. It's funny that the EP has this cosmic American feel to it. But I only think that it sounds like cosmic American music because our friend Catfish played pedal steel on it.
I think that ultimately Color Green is infinite in what we can sound like. Stuff that we're working on now and the stuff that's on the LP... it's just a rock and roll band. We can be whatever we want to be within that. Like, even that newest song, High and Low, sounds like nothing compared to what the EP sounded like. Writing that song was crazy and recording it, too. Our friends, Gracie Jackson and Shelby Jacobson, and Corey's girlfriend, Sophia [Arreguin], sang on it. When we were in the studio having them sing, I felt like I was in Stax Records or something like that. I think I shed a tear [laughs].
CM: The band can change. For me at least, and I think for Noah too, it's gotta be open. We can change everything. The core is always a guitar band that grooves, you know?
KH: Yeah you definitely never want to pigeonhole yourself and just be stuck in the same sound for too long. I really appreciate that. So you mentioned the Grateful Dead and it's no secret that Jerry Garcia and the Dead were big influences, so I want to talk real quick about your history with their music.
CM: Before anything is said, I will bow out from this conversation. I'm Skydog, and Noah is with Jerry.
NK: The way we talk about it is, Corey's the Allman Brothers guy, and I bring the Dead influence.
CM: I will say before Noah goes on with whatever he is about to say, I literally fucking hated this band for so long. The only person who actually could get me into some of their stuff was Noah. I have made a turn. There are songs that I like. I don't hate the band, but this is a Noah question for sure.
NK: So when I was growing up, my mom's ex-husband, Bob, was a huge Deadhead, and he ran an underground newspaper in Berkeley. He was a really interesting guy, and he would listen to American Beauty all the time. I grew really attached to it. When I started playing guitar, my biggest influences were Angus Young and Jerry Garcia. They were my main influences when I was six. I'm still the same. I love Hendrix. I love the Dead. I love Bob Marley. I haven't changed a bit. Once I started getting into punk music and stuff in high school, I was like, Fuck the Dead! I was in this kind of classic reversal, teenage angst sort of thing. Then I went to the New School in New York City and I studied ethnomusicology, and I started getting really into all the Lomax archive stuff. I was specifically focusing on banjo music. I started getting obsessed with 60s subculture. Then I realized that the Grateful Dead were like the ethnomusicologist's wet dream. They're literally a survey of American music, and I'm obsessed with American music. So I dove back in super hard. I think for three years straight, I listened to a live show every day. I got to understand the language of it. I can literally now hear a show and be like, That's from 1978 in the spring. I got really tapped into it. I still listen to the Dead a lot, for sure, but I'm not quite as insane about it as I was. It’s definitely a huge part of my musical identity.
KH: Wow! That's cool. I kind of went through a similar trajectory. I really loved them in high school. Once I went to college, though, I actually went to Ithaca for College, which would've been the best place to listen to them, but by that point I started to go more towards music like The Stooges and Krautrock and Hawkwind, and I was like, Oh yeah, the Dead are okay.
[editor’s note: fear not dear reader, Keith got back onto the Dead bus again after college]
CM: Right on! You made the right call. You know, all that shit, like The Stooges, is in there when we play. All that shit you don't think you would hear. You'd never be like, Oh, these fools are into The Stooges or anything like that. But that's all in there. It's under that shit.
NK: Love that! I just got this. [holds up Träd Gräs och Stenar's Mors Mors LP]
KH: Oh, I love that album!
NK: It's so fucking so good. I saw them live once in New York. Oh, and Homeboy, the lead guitarist. I think he's in that—what's that other band out of Sweden?
KH: Oh yeah, Dungen.
NK: Yeah, that guy. [Reine Fiske] I've never seen a person play guitar like that guy. That guy is...
CM: He's off his rocker. He is amazing!
KH: That guy is wild. If only every jam band could sound like that, you know?
NK: On this one, they do a Rolling Stones cover into a Knocking on Heaven's Door instrumental. It is so cool. I fuck with this really hard.
KH: That's so cool. I got that whole box set. Now, I don't own many box sets, but once that came out, I was like, I need this. I may not be able to eat for a month, but hey, it's worth it.
CM: [laughs] Yeah.
KH: I had a few more questions involving the Dead, but I think you kind of answered them. So I'll just skip those.
CM: I can go to the bathroom if you guys wanna talk about it.
KH: [laughs] Understandable! Do you listen to any of their shows on the Relisten app at all? Out of curiosity.
NK: I got it right here, man! [lifts up his phone with the Relisten app open]
KH: There we go!
CM: Noah actually put me onto that and I went down the k-hole with all the Warren Zevon stuff, which was really cool.
NK: They have a bunch of Little Feat live shows too. I mostly use it for the Dead, but you know, I'll spiral.
CM: I think Noah and I were driving around. I was trying to buy a fucking car or something in New York and Noah was nice enough to drive me around in his van. He was doing the Relisten '74. At a certain point, I was like, Anything fucking else, dude? I can't listen to another ‘73 Althea or whatever.
NK: Then we listened to James Brown.
CM: But there's like, what? Like one million Dead shows on that thing?
KH: You literally have it all. It's wild. Garcia Peoples are on that app now, too. So that's been one of my favourite things to dig through. Hopefully Ryley Walker will be on there soon.
NK: Maybe Color Green will be on there.
KH: That would be great! Do you encourage taping?
NK: Yeah!
CM: Hell yeah, dude! Honestly, side note on being into that—every show we play is always different. It'll have a song list, obviously, but... I think Noah and I are on the same page. I personally love that every show is different. I hate stale, you know? To be totally honest with you, I saw ZZ Top in the desert two nights ago, and I've seen them play the same set for like five years. I still love it, but you're like, Alright, dude, the same is a little tired after a while. So the Relisten thing is sick because you always can get into a rabbit hole of different shit.
NK: Improvisation is a huge part of playing music for both of us. We also love jazz music. It's once again the whole thought of doing this band as a continuation of American music and exploring those realms. We literally are listening to everything, and pulling from everything, from like Furry Lewis all the way back to like—I was just listening to some weird Tin Pan Alley stuff from the twenties, you know? It's weird. I got this tape from my friend Adam in Academy Records recently, of some Moroccan Sufi mystical music group. And I've just been driving around listening to that. That’s in there. It’s everything.
KH: I love that kinda stuff. That's awesome. I know you travelled around while the EP was being recorded. Do you feel that the nomadic spirit helped to shape the mood of the music? I know you were saying that things like breakups kind of peppered themselves in there.
NK: Absolutely!
CM: Noah is always on the road, but [listening to] music for me, it's gotta be driving music. It's shit that bumps at fucking 1:00 AM wherever the fuck you are in the city. It's gotta be driving music because that is where I truly latch on to music. And I feel like the travelling spirit is what this fucking band is.
NK: It's not inauthentic at all. I literally am only home maybe like a hundred days out of the year or less. I think that it’s undeniably unavoidable to have that spirit in the music that we're making because the music we're making is a genuine, true reflection of who we are. You know what I mean?
Obviously we have our own facades and we have our own defence mechanisms and stuff like that, but the cool thing about music and making music is being able to communicate your true self within it. You know, whatever your true self is.
CM: It's gotta be an extension of you, right? Honestly, I think we never actually talked about this, but I feel like between Noah and I, it has to be natural. It's gotta be real or it's not an extension of who you are and the life you're living. It'll just naturally show like anything else you do in your life, you know? The song you wrote in a fucking van on the side of the road is the one, you know?
NK: Yeah. I think people who know about the band and the music, they can see that and they can tell. I really believe in Color Green, and I know Corey does too. It's really cool that you are interested in it, because there isn't any… I’m not seeing this as like a stars-in-the-eyes opportunity. I'm seeing it as a real way of communicating the artistic expression of myself and the artistic expression of Corey, you know?
KH: That’s great. While writing these questions, I really wanted to ask about this music being the perfect driving music, because it truly is. And I was like, Am I projecting, is that just my own perception, though? Every single song you guys have recorded is like, I could just picture myself driving through a desert to this.
CM: That's the thing. That just made my entire day, dude. That's literally the fucking goal of anything with music. I think if that's not in the back of your head when you're writing tunes and shit, then, I dunno, man. That's the vibe, man.
NK: That's the vibe!
CM: You got it. It's gotta be cruising.
KH: I could even picture the dirt on the windshield when I listen to this stuff.
CM: Dude!
NK: That's deep.
CM: Yes. Hell yeah, man. Thank you.
KH: Hell yeah. Some weed ash on the dashboard.
CM: Twenty tickets on your windshield. [laughs]
NK: You've got 20 tickets on your windshield and you're looking for a spot to buy a little thing of propane to fill up your little camper stove.
KH: That's exactly it.
NK: And you're lost.
CM: And you're lost on top of that.
KH: [laughs] That's right! So your most recent releases, the two singles So Far Behind and High and Low are a bit more polished with a more fleshed-out sound. Especially High and Low with that skyrocketing backing vocals. You were kind of touching on this before, but what led you to go in that specific direction?
NK: I think it was just the natural progression of things. We want to make stuff that sounds good. I love good production and stuff like that. Moving out to LA, we have some good friends that are incredible engineers, total heads that really know how to do this. It wasn't necessarily like we were thinking, Oh, we gotta make these recordings sound different or sound better. I think it was just like, Let's do these songs with our friends. We know it's gonna sound good. It's all about utilizing and working with people that we are close to you. That's always been the Color Green thing. The EP features really close friends of ours, and the LP that's coming out features a lot of close friends. So do those two new singles. It's just a continuation. It's like breathing fresh air into it, while still having at the core of it, the base of the band. There's still an atmospheric roomy vibe that exists, you know, it's just a little bit more.
KH: Hearing High and Low, you're reminded of Little Feat, JJ Cale and even Skynyrd’s backup singers. This deeply mellow vibe fits within the realm of what I’d call Stoned Americana music. So I’m just curious, what specific bands do you prefer to listen to the most while smoking? Like, if you're just gonna hang out at home and light up, who would be some of your go-to bands?
NK: Corey's got playlists for when we're getting fucked up. He plays some crazy shit, but lately, I like getting stoned at night in my bed and just kind of chilling out. I've been listening to this live Herbie Hancock record of solo piano in Japan. I think it's called Heritage or something like that. The guitarist of Acetone had this little weird instrumental side project after Acetone broke up called the Dick Slessig Combo and they did these instrumental songs of songs that we've known. The one that I've been really digging lately is a cover of Wichita Lineman, that is 40 minutes long, and it is a beautiful piece. Then after finding that, there's this guy on Bandcamp out of London that I've been really digging lately: Tuluum Shimmering.
KH: Oh yeah! That guy is amazing!
NK: He does crazy things! The most recent one he put out was him doing Cinnamon Girl that's 30 minutes long. There's one where he plays a Byrds song for like an hour. Lately, I've been really into this kind of atmospheric, played-out long kind of repetitive, but trance-y tunes. Plus solo piano music and Träd Gräs, that kind of very vibe-y, wild, slow, but long things, you know?
Obviously another band I listen to stoned is the Grateful Dead. Listening to a live Grateful Dead set in headphones stoned is like some of the most insane shit ever. Especially when you're in that period when you're stoned and about to fall asleep. There's this weird moment that happens where you're in this weird kind of limbo zone of lucidness. I've had experiences where I'm like passing out on a 1973 Playing in the Band, and I'm like 24 minutes into it and I don't know what the fuck is going on. I'm just hearing the craziest shit. Then I pass out. That's where the real magic is right there.
KH: I hear that. I do the same.
CM: For me, the sweet spot of late nights is to smoke something and maybe take some mushrooms or some shit. I’ll ride out a bunch of Kevin Ayers that is wacky and shit. Then you segue that into like three John Fahey records. Then you segue that into YouTube, black video with thunder and rain sounds. You make that all one motion. So when you’re in that lucid state, it transfers over to just rain. And that, my friend, is how I get high.
NK: Dude, I didn't know you did that!
CM: Dude, if you go on my YouTube on the TV at my house, all the recommended videos are like 15 hours of thunder and rain. Thunder and rain on a tin roof, specifically.
KH: Hey, that sounds great!
CM: That is my shit.
NK: That's fucking amazing!
KH: So it sounds like one of your albums should end with, like, 10 minutes of just field recordings.
CM: I would love it. Yeah, I would love the rain, dude. The rain is the best thing.
NK: We're right in the process of talking about and demo-ing the second record. So there's a lot of ideas floating around, but I think it's gonna be really cool.
KH: That leads us to the next record, your first full-length. What were some of the biggest challenges and highlights for you during the recording process?
NK: When we were making the record, I was sober and—
CM: Oh yeah, that whole week, Noah was sober.
NK: I was sober for like three months. I was also in a weird transition period during that time. I had just moved to LA from New Mexico and was settling in. Honestly, the hardest part about recording the record was getting up to record it because we kept having dates and then someone would get COVID. Then we'd have to cancel it. We wanted to do it live with the band. So we had to reschedule and push it and push it. For a second, it felt like it wasn't gonna happen. Eventually, we got to it and there were some road bumps on the way. When we actually got to the studio, we worked with our friend, Johnny Cosmo, who's an amazing songwriter and engineer, and has an amazing…
CM: He's playing in the band now.
NK: Yeah. He's in our band now. He plays keyboards in our band. That was the highlight, just being able to be there and have people come in. I think my biggest highlight during those recording sessions was Tim Ramsey. He's the pedal steel player from Vetiver. I remember I sent him the songs like a day or two before he came in. I had the chord charts and I remember sitting with him and we had our headphones in. I was in a live room with him, and I was conducting him through the song. That was so cool. To be able to communicate with this pedal steel player to conduct him through this piece of music that Corey and I wrote. Those kind of moments, doing that kind of work, it makes me feel I'm in the same zone and headspace as people that I look up to. My idols, you know? It feels like I'm an actualized version of myself. Being in the studio is, I think, just as good as playing a live show, but the feeling is all day, versus just 30 minutes.
CM: The point [when you’re] in a studio when you're at an eight-hour day and you're hitting a moment where your brain is kind of gone. So the moments where you bring in, like, Tim playing steel or our buddy Gabe who played saxophone on a song, somebody who's adding some texture to the record. Then you're like, Oh, a new sound, a new person, a new thing that kind of breaks this moment where you're about to be, like, Maybe we need to go home. Then it opens up a whole new door, going down a whole new road. Otherwise the studio, making the whole [record] was just beautiful.
CM: I'd actually say the biggest nightmare at Johnny's studio is a thing called The Hole.
NK: Oh, The Hole. I had to go back into The Hole sometimes. And it wasn't good.
CM: The Hole is...The Hole is not where you wanna be ever. Yeah. [laughs]
KH: What exactly was it? Was it like a vocal booth?
NK: It's The Hole! It's behind the recording console and sometimes we had to go back there to do some stuff, and it was just scary back there. We hated going back there.
CM: It's not where you wanna be.
NK: No, it’s not where you wanna be. [laughs]
CM: You come out of The Hole very different.
KH: Oh God! Wow! Yeah, it sounds like somewhere Captain Beefheart would have sent his band members when they didn't play what he wanted.
CM: Yes. Actually one of the songs on the playlist we're gonna send you is, I think, a Mississippi Fred McDowell song, but it was hipped to me because that's what it was. Beefheart had locked one of the guitar players in a closet and was like, Listen! And I think he forced him to listen to this song, Red Cross Store. He forced the guitar player to be locked in a closet. It was like, This is how I want the guitar to be. And made this guy listen to this one song for hours in a closet. Like psychotic shit.
KH: Oh God! Yeah. I love Beefheart, but… holy shit [laughs]!
CM: He's a trip.
KH: That's crazy. So did you guys get to play much live as a band before the pandemic?
NK: We played one show under a different name in Joshua Tree, on Halloween in 2019. It was weird.
CM: It was weird. It was a Joshua Tree show.
NK: Yeah. But other than that, no.
KH: What's the ratio of songs to jams?
CM: There's a set, you know? Then there are moments that are like eye contact that are just, like, go off until you're ready to come out. There's mostly structure, but there are moments that we both need it to be, like, Fuck structure right now. Like, yeah go off, but it’s all under the umbrella of a structure.
NK: I think that's how it kind of works, you know? It would be further down the line as we get more comfortable with playing live, like having more jammy things within it. There are jam parts written in the songs themselves. We have these inner instrumental sections that we're always like, Let's elongate this live. Another cool thing about our live set is that I feel like every time we play live, we always have new ideas for the next set. I think me and Corey were talking about doing this thing where there's that song Ain't it Sad, on the LP that we kind of borrowed the Going Down line from JJ Cale, and we were talking about actually just going into that song, while doing it live. Fun stuff like that.
CM: You know, playing music is supposed to be fucking fun. You need to have the room to do what you wanna do. Hit a wrong note. Or, I mean, don't hit a wrong note, but go off and have fun. We've been doing this thing with the song Night, where we kind of... I feel like that song will always end differently. It can be distortion feedback, with a wild delay pedal, or it could be mellow and really beautiful. That song specifically will always be different every time.
NK: Night is cool because we always have different ideas of how we can go about it. We're about to go on tour for four days with Young Guv. So it's gonna be cool to test out all the different ideas.
KH: I was about to ask if you had any tours coming up that you could talk about.
NK: We have this small run that's like three or four days. Then we're gonna take some time off and start working on the second LP. Hopefully, we'll have that finished by May. At the end of May, we're booking a very DIY-like West Coast two-week run. Then we'll probably do another run in July when the record comes out.
KH: Awesome! With this new record, you have so many other instruments involved, like at one point there's a saxophone in there. Will the live band feature these other instruments, or is it gonna be more slimmed down?
NK: I would like it to, but, you know, it's one of those things where that song with the saxophone, I can really see us jamming out that ending.
CM: I think with that kind of stuff, it'll be like hometown shows. We can really bring on a bunch of stuff that we can have fun with, you know? It could be a nightmare. I mean, we're already like a six-person band...
NK: That's another interesting and, I think, cool thing about Color Green—it's literally just me and Corey. Sometimes it feels like a less pretentious Becker/Fagan duo or something like that. There are definitely rotating members. I myself like that because I feel different people breathe fresh air into the music.
CM: It's cool because there's the band when we're in LA and we’ve got the sax, we’ve got the pedal steel, or we can be in a bar and it's just Noah and me playing acoustic guitars. It could be anything, which is truly the freedom that every musician wants.
More about Color Green here
Follow Color Green on Instagram at: @colorgreen
Lost on a desert highway, weed ash on the dashboard, 20 tickets on the windshield. Listen to our Color Green-curated "How I get High" Mix on Spotify.
About the Author
Keith Hadad is the creator and author of the Record Crates United blog. His work has appeared in The Terrascopædia, Elmore Magazine, TheWaster.com, and a multitude of other web and print publications. He hosts RCU’s webradio show, The Record Crates United Mixtape, on Dunebuggyradio.com every other Thursday evening. You can follow him on Instagram @Recordcratesunited, on Twitter @RecordcratesUTD and on Facebook at @RecordCratesUnited. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Sarah and dog Miles.
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]]>You booked your ticket, boarded your flight, and Oopsies! now find yourself quarantined in a soulless hotel room serving out a government-imposed confinement. What to do with all this unplanned downtime? Don’t feel sorry for yourself; try these 7 ways to pass the time with no extra equipment beyond the courtesy items found in most hotel rooms and the contents of your carry-on luggage. With a little imagination, these projects will transform your sad, lonely stay into a thrilling 14-day creativity retreat.
You booked your ticket, boarded your flight, and Oopsies! now find yourself quarantined in a soulless hotel room serving out a government-imposed confinement. What to do with all the unplanned downtime? Don’t feel sorry for yourself; try these 7 ways to pass the time with no extra equipment beyond the courtesy items found in most hotel rooms and the contents of your carry-on luggage. With a little imagination, these projects will transform your sad, lonely stay into a thrilling 14-day creativity retreat.
If you’re a fan of William Burroughs or John Cage, you’ll love this sort of artless art. The basic philosophy is to create something unintentionally: you just do the drudgery, and chance will provide the aesthetic content. Taking mundane sources such as local guides, in-house magazines, and yesterday’s newspaper, you can deconstruct the texts and imbue them with new meaning by reassembling them randomly on the page. Depending on your point of view, the result could be great literature, inspired nonsense, or total garbage, but with a bit of luck you’ll find some kind of bizarre logic in there somewhere.
Warning: The creator of this form of literature was notoriously inspired by his use of illicit substances.
Local guides and leaflets
Newspapers and magazines from the lobby
Hotel stationary
Fingernail scissors
Sugar glue
Cut random words and phrases from your texts and store them in a clean, dry coffeepot. Give this a thorough shake, and pull out cuttings one by one, sticking them neatly onto the paper in the order they come out—don’t be tempted to read them at this stage. Continue until you run out of words, paper, or patience. Now try reading the results. Weird, huh?
Sugar glue is the hotel hobbyist’s adhesive of choice, using a cunning formula that combines sugar (found in packages in most hotel rooms) and water (found in all but the most basic hotels) to create a strong glue. Mix two parts sugar with one part hot water to form a thick syrup that hardens as it cools.
The main problem with mind-numbing boredom is just that—if you’re not careful, your brain degenerates into a vegetative state in a matter of minutes—so it’s vital to keep the little gray cells ticking away. There’s no better form of intellectual gymnastics than a hard-fought battle on the chessboard—but how much more satisfying it is to play the game of kings with a set you’ve made yourself. Ok, you’re in self-isolation, so you’re going to have to play yourself, but some consolation is the rule that every time you take a piece, you have to drink.
Paper napkins
Felt-tip pen
Bottles from the minibar (use caps for pawns)
Scraps of paper
Toothpicks
Join four napkins together and mark the eight-by-eight chessboard with a felt-tip pen.
To distinguish between black and white, use clear bottles contrasted with brown or green, or simply play gin versus whiskey, for example. If it’s a problem finding all 32 pieces you can easily manage with 16 by using the caps as pawns.
Stick on scraps of paper and toothpicks to create the distinguishing marks for each piece—a cross for the king, crown for the queen, mitre for the bishop, pennant and shield for the knight, crenulations for the rook.
Grand Master Smirnoff (white) and Johnny Walker (black) do battle. This is the first time they have faced each other across (or under) the table. Expect a spirited match, Smirnoff moving like a well-oiled machine and Walker playing a very tight game.
Using sugar from packets on your coffee tray spread it out in an ashtray or soap dish to make your Zen garden and rake it with a fork. Make different patterns every day for the length of your stay, going for especially auspicious patterns to encourage a positive outcome for that important phone call for help to your local embassy, requests to your parents to wire more money, your teeth-chattering Covid chills to subside, or an agreeable airline to fly you out of the third world purgatory you now find yourself in. Place the finished garden in the appropriate corner of the room for the intended enterprise and make sure it has an uninterrupted, energizing light source.
Ashtray or soap dish
Sugar (brown and white)
Fork
Wealth: Southeast
Fame: South
Success: North
Love: Southwest
The yin/yang symbol is a great centering image for the jet-lagged and dislocated. If possible, use brown and white sugar to get a nice, balancing yin/yang thing going. Wet some of the sugar so it clumps into rocks. In the Zen tradition, rocks are used to signify treasure islands.
This game’s so old; they were doing it on cave walls in the Stone Age. You just need a light source and a wall to project onto. Close the curtains, switch on the desk lamp, and point it at a clear space on the wall, then make shapes with your hands. With practice, you’ll soon be able to make recognizable animal shadows. Add your own sound track and you have the makings of a great evening’s entertainment.
Desk lamp
Wall
Thought you’d be hitting the links on your trip south? Perhaps not as scenic, but olive minigolf guarantees a game whenever you want, and because you design your own course, you can play to your strengths or practice your weaker strokes. Another attraction is the eccentric aerodynamic characteristic of the olive. Any fool can play with a round ball, but it takes a real pro to cope with a knobbly oval—putting presents a particular challenge, especially on carpet.
Creamers and sugar from the coffee tray
Towel
Ashtray
Olives
Teaspoon
Coffee mixer
Toothbrush
Nail file
Good course design is vitally important to a satisfactory round of olive minigolf. The right mix of straightforward and tricky holes, scenic fairways, and interesting hazards makes all the difference. A nice touch is to place the final green just next to the minibar, so you can have a celebratory shot at the nineteenth hole.
Roughly map out a course around your hotel room floor. It’s probably a bit ambitious to go for the full eighteen holes, so aim for nine. Try to get as much variety as possible—different lengths, doglegs, etc.
Use the little creamers from your coffee set as holes, then add a few hazards. Use sugar as a sand trap, a towel for the rough, and fill an ashtray to create a water hazard.
Work out a par for each hole, and a name. Maybe give yourself a handicap (as if you need any more handicaps!).
Place an olive at the beginning of the course, and tee off. Use teaspoons, coffee mixers, toothbrushes, and nail files as clubs (you’ll soon discover which make good drivers, wedges, or putters).
Make your way around the course, keeping a scorecard. End with a sniffer or two at the clubhouse, recounting the tale of the near hole-in-one at the long sixth, or the incident of the pigeon on the balcony at the third green.
This has more to do with those “spot the difference” puzzles in newspaper fun pages than the card game Snap, but the principle is the same. First of all, you need to call an influencer in another room or hotel and challenge him or her to a game. You then take turns photographing stuff in your rooms, using the camera on your cell phone, trying to copy the image you’ve received. You’ll be amazed how much fun this is—especially the arguments over what constitute an acceptable true likeness.
Cell phone
Influencer or friend in another hotel room
Keep it simple to start off with, using things you know are found easily in any hotel room. This will lull your opponent into a false sense of security. But look around for anything unusual in your room (a void airline ticket, for example). Keep this up your sleeve until you’re ready to deliver the coup de grâce.
The goal is this game is to toss a sponge into a floating shower cap in order to gain points, wild applause, and fame—simple in concept but requiring patience, practice and perseverance to master. There are many different shots you can try out, ranging from the simple drop shot through slam dunks and bank shots, to over-the-shoulder lobs and trick shots bounced off the sink or toilet. And no need to shower after a hard game!
Bathful of water
Sponge
Shower cap
Open out a shower cap and float it upside down. Experiments show that bubble bath provides a good surface and keeps the shower cap from drifting. Bath salts are alleged to aid buoyancy, but this is not yet proven.
Take a sponge, small enough to fit easily into the shower cap, and squeeze it dry. Devise a points system: e.g., 1 for landing in shower cap, 2 for bouncing off a wall first, 3 for two walls, 4 for ricocheting around the rim of the toilet.
Throw the sponge, trying to land it in the shower cap. Depending on how athletic you’re feeling, this can be done from a standing position. Experienced hobbyists generally prefer to remain horizontal in the bath.
See how many points you can score before the bathwater gets cold. There are, of course, penalty points for sinking the shower cap or getting your big toe trapped in one of the taps.
Cannabis strain pairings:
Anything you can get your hands on (legally). You're stuck alone in a fucking hotel room; it's no time to get picky about your weed!
Last word:
Back in 2005, creative-genius-on-a-shoestring, philosopher and soothsayer Marcus Weeks wrote Hotel Hobbies: 50 Things to do in a hotel room that won’t get you arrested. Sadly, this masterpiece of entertaining how-to wisdom is now out of print. Having reviewed the original book when it first came out in our print magazine, Heads Lifestyle contacted the author at the start of the pandemic. Here with his blessings, we bring you a few of our favourite hotel hobbies adapted from his book. Who could have predicted how timely these projects would prove to be, especially for those quarantined in hotel rooms rather than lounging on the beach in Cancun or some other sunshine destination.
]]>Chase Gouthro's award-winning documentary Anything Can Happen tells the story of four paediatric cannabis patients and the courageous doctor who defied the medical establishment in order to save the lives of her patients and restore hope to their families. Read our film review and exclusive interview with the filmmaker.
“To feel heard, to feel understood… that’s rare.”
- Sara, Levi’s mom
In Anything Can Happen, filmmaker Chase Gouthro creates a safe space for his subjects—paediatric cannabis patients and their families—to be heard and understood, without judgement. Gouthro’s storytelling is grounded in his genuine respect for the four families portrayed in the short documentary, giving each the dignity to share their journey from diagnosis and failed medical interventions, to anger, stigmatization and finally hope in the healing power of cannabis.
The film opens with The Hippocratic Oath, quoting the importance of “warmth, sympathy, and understanding.” Here Gouthro sets up sharp contrast between the crushing frustration felt by parents seeking effective solutions for their medically fragile children and the medical establishment’s refusal to explore controversial therapies like cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis.
The film cuts to a delicate soap bubble floating in the breeze and the voice of Dr. Jennifer Anderson reflecting on her role as physician. “Being a doctor is a very sacred thing. It allows you to participate in people’s lives at the times when they’re the most vulnerable,” she opines. The theme of vulnerability runs through the narrative thread of the film. The tenuous health of the young patients. The bravery of the parents sharing their fears and hopes. And the risks they have taken by embarking on a contentious—in some places illegal—treatment using cannabis.
With the help of home videos, family photobooks and medical files, Gouthro details Dr. Anderson’s journey from the excitement of expecting twins to the stark reality that her son Nicholas, who suffers from cerebral palsy and intractable epilepsy, could very well die from his near-constant seizures. Frequent trips to the hospital where he was loaded up on antiseizure drugs, turned Nicholas into a zombie with no quality of life, and still his seizures raged on. “Even as a physician, I couldn’t do anything for my own son,” she admits.
As a last resort, Dr. Anderson tried cannabis, and it changed everything. On a Friday night, desperate and exhausted, she gave her son a single drop of CBD oil and the results were nearly miraculous. By Monday morning, the spark had returned to Nicholas’s eyes. From that point on, his seizures decreased significantly, he was able to sleep through the night, and he began to grow stronger and reengage with life. Nicholas’s extraordinary improvement completely changed her outlook on cannabinoids, and her career path. Whereas once sceptical of its value and uneasy with the potentially negative impact it could have on her professional reputation, Dr. Anderson, nonetheless, started treating other patients with CBD who had failed traditional medicines. The results were so startling and the availability of CBD therapy so limited, she chose to dedicate herself to the education of physicians and policymakers, and running a specialized CBD consultation practice.
The audience is introduced to three of Dr. Anderson’s young patients—Levi, Emma and Vincent and their families, all of whom we get to know better as the movie goes on and who contribute different perspectives to the narrative. The parents talk about their shared struggle with the medical establishment before finding Dr. Anderson. Vincent’s mom recalls, “I couldn’t find a doctor who would help us.” They discuss the unexpected benefits of CBD on their child’s health and their journeys of overcoming the stigma associated with cannabis, and finally the gratitude of having access to a medicine that really worked.
Anything Can Happen is an invitation to reconsider cannabis as medicine. For patients who have run out of options it can be a godsend. None of the families tout CBD as a panacea or cure, but are adamant that it has allowed their children to reach their true potential. Gouthro juxtaposes the parents’ fear for their children’s futures with the young patients’ fearlessness to move forward. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, the kids refuse to give up, instead embracing life and striving for independence. As Zachary explains, speaking of his twin brother Nicholas, “He’s not afraid of anything. He’s capable of lots.” This sentiment is repeated as each patient finds relief with CBD: Levi no longer engages in self-harm; Emma is brighter; Vincent can finally concentrate; and Nicholas is unstoppable.
Gouthro’s observational style of filmmaking is as gentle and powerful as CBD itself. He immerses the viewer in the lives of his subjects, inviting us to pull up a seat—on the dock, on the couch, at the local park—and sit with the pain and frustration of the families who have felt powerless to help their children. Levi’s parents urge others to keep advocating: “It’s a hard fight sometimes but don’t give up. It is worth it.” Anything Can Happen is a film all parents need to see—for those with medically fragile children, it will restore hope; for the rest, it will foster understanding, which in itself can be remarkably healing.
Watch the trailer here:
Heads Lifestyle: Hi Chase. Thank you for making the time to chat with us about your new documentary Anything Can Happen. It’s making the rounds of the festival circuit right now, what has the reaction been so far?
Chase Gouthro: It's such a powerful story. People seem to be responding well to it, and as a filmmaker, you can't ask for much more than that.
HL: How did you first meet Dr. Anderson?
CG: That's a good example of the planets and universe aligning, serendipitously. Jen [Dr. Jennifer Anderson] and I were introduced through a mutual friend. I was actively looking for a project that I could really sink my teeth into, and my friend just had it in her head that she should introduce me to Jen. I don't know why and she doesn't even know why—she just thought that a connection needed to be made. So we all went for dinner in the fall of 2019. Jen told me her story and I was honestly just blown away by how far she had come—you know, just hearing the story from her perspective. But a great story doesn't necessarily make a great documentary. After that first meeting, I met her family and spent some time—without a camera or anything—at their cottage. After meeting Nicholas and his brother and sister, I knew that not only would this make a great documentary, but that I had to be the one to do it. I decided that this was my project.
HL: How did you come to documentary filmmaking? Can you tell us a little about your background?
CG: I grew up in a small town in Manitoba and from a young age knew that storytelling in some form of the other would be what I did. I started working in radio when I was in high school, and from there moved to Winnipeg for college and studied communications. That was when I decided visual media was what I enjoyed the most. Out of college, I got hired to work as a photojournalist and editor for CTV Winnipeg and then I started my own company [Bare Hand Films]. This documentary was the catalyst for me wanting to get out of news and move into longer form storytelling.
HL: How did you select the families that were featured in the documentary?
CG: The families are all patients of Dr. Anderson. I discussed with Jen what we were looking for in terms of themes—each family experienced similar things, but I also wanted to show additional perspectives. One family brings the angle that the medical system isn't looking after patients 100%. The next one is that cannabis can help in ways that you might not even think. And then the last family was struggling with the stigma of cannabis and growing up with that message. So we discussed what themes we wanted and Jen contacted the families. Everything just lined up perfectly. Each family adds so much, and I couldn't imagine any of them not being in the film.
HL: Were you familiar with CBD before starting on this project?
CG: I think as much as anybody is nowadays. You hear a lot about it and since legalization in Canada, there are CBD dog treats and CBD bath bombs. But I didn’t realized how profound an effect it can have when applied in the right dosage and under medical guidance.
HL: What was your impression of these four incredible families?
CG: I'm so grateful to them for sharing things that are so personal, and very traumatic to relive. I'm sure it’s a parent's worst nightmare to have a child who is medically fragile. I'm very thankful for their trust, and entrusting me to share their story in such a public way. With the many obstacles that they've had to go through to get this treatment for their children, I think they all feel it just needs to be known that CBD is an option. Sometimes you have to advocate for your own kid, because the medical system isn't necessarily advocating for them.
HL: What do you hope audiences will get out of seeing this film?
CG: I hope that when people watch the film that the journeys of the people who have been through this fight can influence their perspective on cannabis’s role in medicine, and specifically in paediatric medicine. I think we've come a long way in Canada with regards to considering the medical benefits of cannabis, but there’s still a stigma associated with it, especially with children. I really hope that people will see this documentary and either have their perspectives challenged a little bit, or have it reinforce what they already believe.
HL: Anything Can Happen was filmed during the pandemic. What effect did that have on how you made the film?
CG: This is kind of a funny personal story. Growing up I was really good friends and neighbours with my cousin [Adam Carroll]. And when I was about 10 years old, we used to make movies with his little Hi8 video recorder. We would make and edit them and play around. That was my first foray into filmmaking. Fast-forward all these years later and we're making this documentary. I was able to bring on my cousin as my second cameraperson so it was just Adam and I filming. So really it came full circle. The stories of the three families of Dr. Anderson's patients were all filmed during COVID; that was part of the reason why it took so long to get the documentary finished. We wanted to wait until the numbers were at a point that everyone was comfortable, and also that Adam and I had been vaccinated before asking to come into these folks’ homes, especially given the fact that a number of these kids are medically fragile. So we were a very small but very dedicated team. But it's good like that; I think keeping it small lends itself to making everyone a little bit more comfortable.
HL: How long did it take from beginning to end?
CG: From pre-production to finished film, it took just over two years. Aside from the regular challenges of documentary filmmaking and fundraising, the pandemic really put the brakes on it. But I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise, because now is the perfect time for this documentary to be coming out. The delays allowed us to sit with it and think about it, and it really shaped how the story evolved, how you see it now. So I'm very thankful that it ended up taking as long as it did. And documentary filmmaking, in the best of times, is a slow, slow process.
HL: These families have been through so much hardship and yet you were able to spotlight the fact that these are kids just like any others—they have their own interests, hopes and goals. How did you go about putting your subjects at ease?
CG: You just try to ease into it a little bit and get to know the families first before you pull out a camera and start following them around with it. I spent some time getting to know the Anderson family and we filmed with them more than the other families. Nicholas loves the camera. But we only had one day to film with each of the patient families, so I tried to get as much information beforehand through Zoom calls. I introduced myself to the kids and asked them what were some of the things they were interested in. I think that really put them at ease and added to the final piece. For example, Levi showing me all of his Pokémon cards. That's something that was special to him, and it was special to be able to include it. I wasn't able to spend a whole lot of time with these families, but I'm really grateful for how generous they were with their stories, and how comfortable they were letting us into their homes.
HL: What reaction do you get from people when you tell them that your first documentary film is about paediatric cannabis?
CG: People are either excited or just very interested. It's a mix of interest and excitement. I keep getting asked, When can we see it? We have people from all over the country and all over the world that are interested in seeing this. I'm excited and eager to get it out more publicly, but strategically we're doing a slow rollout. I love talking about it, so, you know, I love having those conversations with people telling them about it.
HL: Can you tell us about the slow rollout?
GC: What we're doing now is bringing it to medical conferences, to audiences that are able to make change, but these are built in audiences. Getting it in front of an audience that is not necessarily a captive audience for this subject, an audience that is just there to see a film is important, too, because that's who really needs to see this film.
HL: Right. Absolutely.
CG: It's also neat to see it play alongside similar sorts of films. We're playing in the Yorkton Film Festival at the end of the month [May 26-29, 2022], which is North America's longest running film festival in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. As a filmmaker, it's a good barometer to gauge how it’s received.
HL: What did you learn from making this documentary?
CG: As someone who doesn't have kids myself, the most profound thing that I took away from this experience was seeing how far a parent is willing to go for their kids. That was something that kept coming up with each of these families—the necessity to be their own child's advocate. They would stop at nothing to find something that would work for their kids. And I think that's the underlying message of the film: the profound love these families have for their kids.
HL: Yes, I loved Vincent’s parents’ comments when they said that Vincent is the best kid in the world with the best laugh and a contagious giggle. Where some people may pity them, they feel others are missing out if they don’t get to know their son.
CG: You know, that goes back to the bravery of these families to share their stories.
HL: Do you have any other projects in the works or is this film taking up all your time right now?
CG: I feel like the work on Anything Can Happen is really starting now. We've made this film and now we want people to see it. And we want the right people to see it. So that's taking up a lot of time. I have ideas for other projects, but right now, my focus has been on getting this out to as many people as possible.
HL: There's a whole lot more to being a filmmaker than just making an exceptional film.
CG: The filmmaking part is the fun part. But there's so much to it that is not filming or editing and that is equally as important. I think at the end of the day, anyone who makes something wants people to see it, and, in this case, I think it's very important that people see it.
HL: How is Anything Can Happen different from other cannabis films?
CG: I was asked what genre of film Anything Can Happen is, and the best thing I can come up with is perspective advocacy, insomuch that it’s not an advocacy film that blasts a message in your face. It doesn’t make an argument, it provides a perspective from these families and that was important to me. These are just real, everyday families. They could be your neighbours. Each one of them brings a different layer to this story so that you can come away from it with your own conclusions. I really hope that’s what people do.
HL: Thank you, Chase. It's a deeply moving film with a tender rhythm and a powerful message. We hope a lot of people see it.
BIO
Chase Gouthro is a filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Gouthro began his career in media at 16 years old, working on-air at a local radio station in his hometown of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. While studying Creative Communications at Red River College, Gouthro found his passion behind a camera. After college, Gouthro spent nine years with CTV News, where he worked as a photojournalist, editor, and digital journalist for both CTV Winnipeg and CTV National News. In 2019, Gouthro left CTV and started Bare Hand Films, which specializes in non-fiction film, branded-documentary, television, and commercial media.
His debut documentary, Anything Can Happen, explores the use of cannabis in paediatric medicine in Canada, and has won multiple awards in film festivals across Canada and the United States.
]]>In 1976 London, Don Letts changed the course of music history by single-handedly merging punk rock and reggae. Discover how these strange bedfellows came to be and why we gratefully never looked back.
Stay with us now ‘cause we're going to backtrack to 1976 London and straight to the man who single-handedly merged punk rock and reggae, Mr. Don Letts. The meeting of the two rebel cultures in the UK was really just a matter of time, but Letts definitely sped up the process. Jamaican reggae artists sang about the rough life in the tenement yards while the punks in East London listened thousand of miles away sitting in council housing stewing in the frustration of the day. With the large West Indian population in London at the time, coupled with some of England's most dreary economic days, punks and Rastas quickly found themselves shoulder to shoulder in government-funded flats or in the dole queue.
Cultures soon began to meld further when these black and white young people faced with “no future” started loitering on the same Kings Road. Record stalls on Kings Road would blast out the latest from Lee Scratch Perry and Bob Marley while punk rockers would line up to buy punk rock duds at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s Sex boutique. Down the street in the basement of a pinball repair shop cum clothing store called Acme, a young reggae-infatuated clerk named Don Letts was soaking in this clash of cultures.
Opening its doors in 1976 in East London, The Roxy can easily boast being the first punk club in the UK. Manning the helm behind the club’s single turntable was none other than Mr. Letts. Having attracted all of his friends who were mainly reggae fans, as well as, his new pals from Kings Road like Johnny Rotten and the rest of the ne’er do wells, he played the latest reggae singles from Jamaica. His choice of material was more out of necessity as there weren’t any punk records around at the time. The seed was planted and all of the bands that showed up at The Roxy in those early days began to incorporate reggae grooves into their amphetamine-fuelled take on rock and roll. Even reggae's greatest ambassador, Bob Marley would make appearances at The Roxy and was so bowled over by the safety pin set that he wrote a song called Punky Reggae Party in which he gave shout-outs to the punk bands of the day like The Damned, The Jam and The Clash.
Hugely influential BBC D.J. John Peel was only too eager to grab the baton from Letts by adding reggae songs by Augustus Pablo and Lee Scratch Perry to his set list alongside the early Sex Pistols singles and The Damned. Mr. Letts would later manage minimalist dub/punk all-girl band The Slits until moving on to play in The Clash’s Mick Jones’ Big Audio Dynamite. If you want to dig a little deeper into Letts, search out some of his movies like Legend, his biography on Bob Marley, or Punk Rock Movie, or pick up his amazing compilation records that are culled from his actual set lists back at The Roxy.
Listen on Spotify
A 21-track playlist including Don Letts’ 1976 The Roxy club cuts plus a selection of reggae-influenced punk tunes.
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Connie and Lonnie from Far North Bushcraft and Survival are the creators of countless instructional videos on self-sufficiency in the Alaskan wilderness. Each episode contains nuggets of wisdom that will help you feel more prepared to deal with any crisis. Their soothing tutorials will lower your stress, increase your self-reliance, and may even send you down the path of personal discovery. So pull up a stump, roll a blunt, let’s get started!
Resiliency defined much of 2021. As we begin the New Year, many are looking to bolster their inner strength in the face of ongoing uncertainty. Enter Connie and Lonnie from Far North Bushcraft and Survival, the creators of countless instructional videos on self-sufficiency in the Alaskan wilderness. Let’s be honest, you may never find yourself alone in the woods with nothing more than a knife and a camp blanket, however, a few lessons in practical survival skills will prove invaluable in raising your preparedness to deal with any crisis. Hosts Connie and Lonnie are a genuinely nice couple with exceptional communication skills. Each episode of Far North contains nuggets of wisdom that will help you feel more confident whatever comes your way. Their soothing tutorials will lower your stress, increase your self-reliance, and may even send you down the path of personal discovery. So pull up a stump, roll a blunt, let’s get started!
If you’ve ever spent time in the Far North, you know that nothing beats the cold like a piping hot beverage, and Lonnie’s soft-spoken voice is as soothing as a steaming cuppa. In this episode, Lonnie asserts, “If you’ve never tasted spruce tip tea before, you’re in for a treat.” Indeed, warmth and comfort can be found in a mug of spruce tip tea and the effort to make it is so worth it. Our hosts demonstrate how to identify black spruce from other Christmas trees in the woods. Hint: It’s totally tubular! Black spruce is Lonnie’s personal favourite with its “good clean evergreen smell with a little bit of a citrus smell to it.” Sounds like a fine description of our strain pairing—Superglue showcases its strong piney tones and citrus scents with a happy, creative high. The perfect tea and toke marriage—just like Connie and Lonnie.
Watch it here
In this episode, Lonnie teaches us how to make a boreal shirt—a simple and relatively inexpensive project if you happen to have an old wool blanket lying about. Lonnie might not be a master tailor but when it comes to surviving the elements, he’s got his priorities straight: “I’m very pleased with how the size turned out as well—it makes me look huge!” Once completed, you’ll have a cosy bushman hoodie that can be worn for years and feels just like a warm bear hug. Pair with Animal Cookies for its earthy flavour, sweet aroma, and heavy full-body relaxation. It’s the perfect strain to smoke while snug inside your toasty anorak. You can even tuck a sandwich or two right inside the roomy front pocket in case the munchies hit. Clever!
Watch it here
Panic-buying during the pandemic had many us asking, “Now what?” when faced with empty store shelves. Fret not, life hacks from the Far North have you covered. In this episode, Lonnie makes a TP substitute from the very thing we use to make toilet paper—wood! A sharp knife, a green branch and a little elbow grease is all you need to make an all-natural bog roll. And don’t worry about scratching your fine foufounes, Lonnie promises, “This is real soft, real fluffy, and moist. You’re not going to get slivers off of this!” Pair with OG Kush for its woodsy flavour and proven ability to alleviate tummy trouble and boost appetite.
Watch it here
In this episode, Lonnie turns himself into a human burrito. Using a thick wool blanket, a canvas tarp and an insulated mattress, he demonstrates step-by-step how to fold and tuck your way to a warm sleep system. He emphasizes why proper technique is so important for a comfortable night’s sleep: “If you’ve ever slept underneath a wool blanket like I have, perhaps you discovered the same thing I did and that was—I froze. I froze bad!” Co-star, Buck the dog keeps watch (mostly) on his owner and delights as Lonnie emerges Houdini-style from his wrappings. Pair with a classic couch lock strain like Bigfoot Glue from Humboldt Seed Company with its earthy piney aroma. You may want to sleep with one eye open in case Sasquatch tries to crawl into that cowboy bedroll with you.
Watch it here
In this episode, Lonnie invites us to “pull up a stump” while his wife Connie rustles up some bannock pizza pockets. Cooking on a makeshift rock griddle, Connie fries bacon and onions, and stuffs them along with cheese, olives, mushrooms, and pizza sauce into bannock dough. The homemade pockets fry up crispy and golden in bacon grease, making our mouths water with a vengeance. It just goes to show that you don’t need a lot to make a very, very yummy supper. We sincerely hope Lonnie keeps his promise to “save a bite for ya.” This Far North cooking instructional is simple enough to try in your own backyard. And as Lonnie declares biting into his bannock pocket, it “doesn’t get much better than this!” Pair with GMO Cookies for its savoury flavour profile and relaxed attitude.
Watch it here
While it’s true that most common men will never need a tent wood stove, come along with Connie and Lonnie for a hypnotic look at the different types from lightweight breakdown titanium and stainless steel to affordable homemade units. In this episode, wife Connie expertly mans the camera while Lonnie imparts his savvy on how to make spending time in an extreme environment bearable: “In cold weather, I’m a fan of bigger is better.” We couldn’t agree more—go big if you can’t go home! And while you’re at it, roll a big blunt of something to keep you toasty like Dutch Treat. It smells just like a walk through a boreal forest with its strong coniferous scent. If camping in the middle of winter ain’t your trip, just sit back and listen to the balmy sound of Lonnie’s voice. It will lull you into a deep state of relaxation.
Watch it here
Lonnie and Connie, thank you for your thoughtful and information-packed videos. We appreciate you folks!
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so give it up for Girl in the woods for her playful—and spot on—homage to Connie and Lonnie from Far North Bushcraft and Survival. If you were wondering what Lonnie keeps hidden in his beard, Brooke magically reveals all the essentials. Pair this tongue-in-cheek video with Laughing Buddha for its giggle-inducing effects and herbal sage aroma.
“Lonnie and Connie, a match made in heaven.”
“Best beard on YouTube!”
“Connie seems like such a gentle soul.”
“Y'all are an inspiration to so many people.”
“Lonnie looks more and more like Gandalf. He is a treasure of the bushcraft community.”
“His voice is so relaxing and his energy is so gentle.”
Want more far North Bushcraft and Survival?
Check out the YouTube channel here.
Disclaimer: The views expressed within the content of this article are solely Heads Lifestyle’s and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the YouTube channel Far North Bushcraft and Survival and its creators.
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Take a toke then take a trip on these high-minded virtual rail experiences
Chris X tests the Bushman Suit
Cannabis, Rasta, Fly Fishing and the Scandinavian Way of Life
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To celebrate all the great musical artists we’ve had the pleasure of discovering over the course of 2022, Heads’ music editor has handpicked some of our favourite tracks and compiled them into the Heads Lifestyle’s 2022 Mixtape. Now get comfortable, fire one up and press play.
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."
~ Bob Marley
Our relationship to music is both deeply personal and collectively unifying. What captivates one person’s musical taste is as varied as the people who create and enjoy it. One of the amazing things about music is that it transcends language, borders, cultures and traditions. It brings together diversity in a most wonderful and spectacular way! We love discovering what people are listening to and sharing it far and wide.
To celebrate all the great artists we’ve had the pleasure of featuring over the course of 2022, Heads’ music editor has handpicked some of our favourite tracks from the guest-curated playlists on our Spotify channel and new albums we reviewed, and compiled them into the Heads Lifestyle’s 2022 Mixtape. Thank you to the Heads Lifestyle community including Shalaco and Phoenix from SF in Bloom, Record Crates United's Keith Hadad, Corey and Noah from Color Green, Curation Record's Brent Rademaker, Raven Sings the Blues' Andy French, Lara Bennett of Petal Motel and all those who inspired us.
Get comfortable, fire one up and enjoy!
If you dig these artists, show your support by purchasing their music from them directly or on Bandcamp.
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Gift giving is a celebration of the warmth we feel for the people most dear to us. With Heads Lifestyle's Highly Curated Holiday Gift Guide, you'll find 23 joyous ideas for everyone on your list: the environmentalist, the bookworm, the foodie, the audiophile, the philanthropist, the cannaphile, and those whimsical souls who appreciate the refined, the fanciful, the exotic and the imaginative. Read on for festive inspiration!
Gift giving is a celebration of the warmth we feel for the people most dear to us. With Heads Lifestyle's Highly Curated Holiday Gift Guide, you'll find 23 joyous ideas for everyone on your list: the environmentalist, the bookworm, the foodie, the audiophile, the philanthropist, the cannaphile, and those whimsical souls who appreciate the refined, the fanciful, the exotic and the imaginative. Read on for festive inspiration!
Edited by Eugenia Bone
Written by mushroom aficionados, The Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook features over 100 recipes representing cultures from around the world. With contributions by our favourite mycophile, Chef Sebastian Carosi, it’s the perfect gift for anyone who is curious about the marvellous realm of mushrooms and the magic they can make in the kitchen.
USD $29.99
fantasticfungi
Humboldt Seed Company
What to get for the cannabis connoisseur that has everything? Something they’ve never experienced before! Humboldt Seed Company’s newest strain, Blueberry Pancakes is the product of a collaborative pheno hunt at Wave Rider Nursery. The plants stack heavy, vibrant, bright green, trichome-covered nugs with a sickeningly sweet syrup nose. This new release drops on December 10th at the Emerald Cup.
USD $120.00 (for 10 feminized seeds)
humboldtseedcompany
Winona Hemp & Heritage Farm
Local, organic and led by women, Winona Hemp & Heritage Farm is committed to growing hope by choosing the path that leads to mino-bimaadiziwin—the good life. Winona’s Hemp and the Anishinaabe Agricultural Institute are working to restore foodways, rematriate seeds, and make a new economy based on local food, energy and fibre. Winona’s Hemp Pasta is made with three simple ingredients: organic durum semolina flour, organic hemp flour and water. Cherish the earth, cherish a loved one, give this gift of food for today and the future.
USD $16.00
By Amanda Siebert
Full disclosure, we’ve been crushing on Amanda since she authored The Little Book of Cannabis. Now we’re psyched that she’s bringing the world of psychedelics to the mainstream. Researched with the attention to detail of a veteran journalist and explained in effortless prose, her new book Psyched is breaking down stigmas and educating the uninitiated. Turn on, tune in. For the psychedelic curious on your list.
USD $16.36
Jungmaven
Iconic footware company SeaVees has teamed up with visionary hemp apparel maker Jungmaven for this limited edition collab. Each pair of these hemp surf-style sneakers is thoughtfully made with quality materials in a factory with strict ethical labour standards. A one-of-a-kind gift for your footloose friends.
USD $98.00
Smithey Ironware Company
Smithey Ironware’s skillet is a gift to last a lifetime. Whether used in a chef’s kitchen or over a roaring campfire, this beautifully designed cookware is sure to create gourmet memories. For a distinctive touch, get the skillet engraved with a personal message. Perfect for the foodie or bushcrafter on your list.
USD $295.00
Jane Goodall Institute
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall makes a difference every single day by inspiring us all to follow our passions. You can sow the seeds of future greatness by gifting this Inspiring Women Doll to the youngins (or the young at heart) on your list. Made from recycled ocean-bound plastic.
USD $35.00
Kove Ocean Foods
Salty, crunchy, garlicky, sea-weedy, and absolutely yummy! Grown in the pristine waters of the Pacific Ocean using only sea and sunlight, Kove has partnered with First Nations in British Colombia to create food that is both healthy for people and planet. Seaweed produces the majority of the world’s oxygen and absorbs megatons of carbon, making it a regenerative powerhouse for the Earth. Just a sprinkle uplifts popcorn, avocado toast and anything else with a pop of ocean goodness. For the purposeful snackers on your list.
USD $9.99
by Seth Rogen
As quirky as it is endearing, Yearbook is laugh-out-loud funny. In his own words: “I talk about my grandparents, doing stand-up comedy as a teenager, bar mitzvahs, and Jewish summer camp, and tell way more stories about doing drugs than my mother would like. I also talk about some of my adventures in Los Angeles, and surely say things about other famous people that will create a wildly awkward conversation for me at a party one day.” Nothing is better during the holiday than getting lost in a new book.
USD $28.00
Magic Puzzle Company
Lava-fed hot tubs, sprouting magical mushrooms, frolicking felines and so many other intriguing discoveries await on the Happy Isles. Discover the unexpected fate of the denizens of this bright collection of islands. And just when you think you’ve successfully placed the last puzzle piece—switcheroo! Open the extra envelope and proceed with caution! Perfect for anyone on your list who is ready to unplug and enter a world of the imaginary.
USD $19.99
Marco Benevento
Marco Benevento’s eight studio album, simply titled, Benevento, is 40 minutes of small-batch psychedelia bubbled up from his home studio in the Catskill Mountains. Titled as a nod to Paul McCartney’s first solo album, the record is a similarly loose, low-key affair. Like Macca’s eponymous release, Benevento is a solo work, where song sketches and sunrise jams share space with more constructed tracks. Deeply indebted to the West African psychedelia of artists such as Kiki Gyan, Frances Bebey and William Onyeabor, the songs are rhythmic and hallucinatory, built into thick mosaics of sound. Each track features Benevento exploring the varied keyboard sounds that have earned him a reputation as a modern day keyboard visionary. For the vinyl collector on your list.
USD $30.00
Clean The World Foundation
Ever wonder what becomes of all those bits and bobs of leftover soap after your stay at a hotel or guesthouse? Landfill most likely, but not anymore! Clean The World Foundation collects all those gently used soap bars and recycles them into new lifesaving clean. Make a positive impact on the world by donating to the charity or purchasing a #soapsaveslives Water Bottle. A mindful gift for a thirsty friend.
USD $20.00
Maplejuana
We can’t imagine a more soul-warming holiday breakfast than a stack of fluffy pancakes drenched in real maple syrup. Or maybe we can… Maplejuana offers three varieties of cannabis-infused maple syrup: Elevate, Recover and Balance. This is a great gift for anyone with a sweet tooth and a love of getting sticky. Perfect for THC cocktails. Maple white Russian, Dude?
Dana Wyse
We all have adventurers on our gift giving list and finding that once-in-a-lifetime present can often prove elusive—much like making contact with UFOs and aliens. But artist Dana Wyse has uncovered a guaranteed route to making those shy aliens land by “chemically changing your carbon vibration.” Makes logical sense to us!
USD $10.00
Satori Movement
Satori Movement has been creatively turning out dope skateboard decks for over 20 years. This collab with Talking Trees Farms features a ripe nug shot of their Z-Money strain. Fire! Smoke, skate, repeat. The Cruiser Skate Wheels made with hemp oil compliment this deck for the ultimate high-minded skating experience. For the skater on your gift list—obviously!
USD $58.95
Komuso Design
We can all use a little more mindfulness in our modern lives, so Komuso Design looked to the wisdom of the past and were inspired by the Komuso monks of 17th century Japan who used a flute called a shakuhachi to “blow zen” and find stillness. Made from medical-grade stainless steel, the Classic Shift can be worn like a necklace and used discreetly whenever a return to calmness is desired. Ideal for your stylishly stressed out friend.
USD $115.00
Original Shoe Deodorisers
Fruit for your shoes? You bet your bananas! Boot Bananas are made from naturally absorbent salts, minerals and plant extracts with lavender, lemon, patchouli and tea-tree essential oils all wrapped in a 100% cotton banana skin. Their triple-action active ingredients neutralize odour, absorb moisture and contain natural antimicrobial properties. Perfect for the athletes on your giving list (especially those with, ahem, ripe footwear).
USD $15.00
Lim Heng Swee
Illustrator Lim Heng Swee sees cats for all their feline magnificence and creates graphic images to please and surprise. Museum-quality posters made of thick durable matte paper add whimsy and elegance to your decor. Check out his collections, available in a variety of sizes. For the cat lover on your list.
24” x 36”
USD $75.00
The Highway Distillery
Vodka. Hemp seeds. Texas. Houston, we have NO problem! Roll a blunt and pour a shot of this spirit with distinctive character. For the mixologist on your list with a sense of flare.
USD $27.00
Crochet pattern by Scruffle Crochet
We are obsessed with Morgan Mexcur’s crocheted creations. Chubby mushrooms with cute little butt cheeks send us straight to our happy place. Now you can create your own with her downloadable digital PDF crochet patterns. We can’t think of a better way to stay chill-busy over the holidays. Check out her finished dolls while you’re in her shop. For the crafter on your list or anyone who could use a dose of cuteness.
USD $4.15 (digital download)
Joan Seed
The Collision series by Joan Seed illustrates cars heading for their final destination—a head-on collision of old, gas-guzzlers converging on a single vanishing point as if being sucked into a black hole. Among the cars, a variety of plants, flowers and insects spring upwards as Nature takes back its place. Life bringing hope from behind the rust. Your go-to gift for art enthusiasts and anyone with an attitude.
USD $34.95
Looking for a last-minute gift? How about freedom? Last Prisoner Project is a non-profit dedicated to working tirelessly to achieve the goal of freeing tens of thousands of individuals still unjustly imprisoned for cannabis. Donate now and their positive impact partner Dutchie will match the first $1 million in donations.
Last Prisoner Project
Still can’t find the perfect gift for the stoner in your life? We’ve got your back with our ultra soft Cannivore Hemp Organic Womens V Neck Tee. Made in the U.S.A. from 60% hemp and 40% organic cotton, and certified GOTS, it comes shipped in candy cane striped upcycled yarn cones. And because we’re feeling festive, we’ll include bonus hemp socks and some super stickers.
USD $32.00
]]>Press pause on the existential crisis by “finding yourself” on the slopes of the best steep & deep mountain resorts with Heads’ master class on ski bumming. Everything you need to know to thrive in waist-deep pow, from weighing the pros and cons of classic ski bum jobs, to where to sleep and what to eat on zero bucks, to navigating the sticky truths of slope side safety meetings.
By Roy Vaysmear
It’s dark, and it smells like the couch you’re pretending to sleep on has been used as a latrine. Your skin has developed an inexplicable rash. Something is tickling your face. There is a cat on your face. Take this cat off your face. When you do, you discover it’s still dark only marginally less so. It’s a January morning and your back aches.
Something very heavy falls off something very high in the next room followed by some more smashing around.
“It snowed 10 inches last night,” says your fifth, possibly sixth roommate. He’s gearing up for first chair. “You ready?”
“Yep,” you say, wearing only your undies and some stubble approaching beard territory. He reminds you to bring your butane lighter. Two minutes later, you’re out the door, unbuckled boots a-clonking. Several hours later, when you’re up to your waist in snow and busy with indigenous delicacies, you realize you have missed your shift at work and will surely be fired. You pause and weigh your options; the day is too good to interrupt. Fuck it!
If any of the above sounds familiar, you friend, are a ski bum. How did you get here from there?
Well, let’s start with our fair planet. Earth is a lot like you and me: tilted 23 degrees at all times, mountainous, about 4.5 billion years old, and full of water. The 23-degree tilt gives us seasonal change; the water gives us snow; the mountains give us—you get the idea. Basically, it took a shitload of chance and the guiding hand of Jah to make riding even remotely possible. But if “modern” humanity has existed here for about 35,000 winters, why the hell did it take so long for us to figure out that riding, i.e., one of the few worthwhile things to do in winter, absolutely rules?
Scientists aren’t sure. Crazier still, the ski phenomenon, spawned roughly 4,000 years ago, has only been observed as a religion since the early 1970s, when it first became popular to ditch school, career, family—whatever—and move to the mountains for a winter or 20. Lured by the promise of fresh snow, good herb, and the dimmest prospect of getting laid, thousands of riders the world over began migrating as seasonal citizens—make that tribal members—of what is known as the White Planet. However rich or poor, young or old, devotees flock to the snowiest parts of the globe with nearly singular purpose: to go riding, smoke themselves retarded, work as little as possible, and do it on the cheap.
Romantic? Yes. Idealistic? Sure. Real? Absolutely. But life is not all pow days and blazing up on the lift. For every pow day, there are six nights up to your elbows in the mysterious opacity that is dishwater. For every laughing fit in the trees with new friends, there are five nights of sleeping on crab-infested couches, fetid with moist ski socks “hidden” under the cushions.
There’s a pile of Brussels sprouts under all the gravy of the White Planet, kid. This is your survival guide.
Having ridden in eight different countries across three continents, I can safely tell you, unequivocally, that it taught me one lesson: Don’t bother looking for the world’s best riding outside of British Columbia. No matter where you go, you will find abundant snow, chill locals, and beautiful scenery. Oh, and you may find a few people that may offer to sell you something they grew. That said, there are lots of good spots, too. Here are a few of my favourites.
Perhaps the mother of all things Interior British Columbian, this resort is an absolute powder goldmine. Granted the lift infrastructure has been upgraded extending the inbounds terrain, this resort still has a mom-and-pop-style vibe with massive backcountry terrain. Make friends with experienced locals who know where the backcountry stashes are at, learn how to use an avalanche beacon, carry the appropriate gear, and you’ll be neck-deep in prime Selkirk fluff in no time. Nearby, Nelson is a gorgeous town of 10,500 and arguably the cultural centrepiece of the B.C. interior. It has over 40 restaurants, a thriving arts and culture scene, hot springs, and a winter vibe second to none.
Don’t miss: Oso Negro, arguably the best coffee shop in the province.
A short drive down the highway from Nelson lies Red Mountain, home to the best inbounds terrain east of Whistler. Big dumps are frequent here, but the elevation is a tad lower than Whitewater so when the mercury shoots north, it can occasionally rain. No worries—the next dump is only days away. Fiercely independent with an unpretentious vibes, Red Mountain is the oldest resort in Western Canada with a massive 3,850 acres of terrain! Rossland, population 3,700, happens to be unique, beautiful and interesting. It’s like Nelson, only not at all.
Don’t miss: The Flying Steamshovel for its selection of craft beer on tap.
This once-sleepy town was formerly inhabited solely by coal miners. Since the resort was bought by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies in 1997, the town has been transformed into an international destination. Known for its legendary bowls and steep and deep powder, Fernie gets massive storms that can linger for over a week at a time. While crowded with Calgarians on weekends, Fernie is a local’s paradise midweek. Warning: don’t fuck with the miners unless you enjoy unsolicited dental work sans drill.
Don’t miss: The Northern Bar & Stage for its authentic pub vibe and live music.
“Hey Bradley, remember when what’s-his-nuts from who’s-his-band was, like, totally in lift line beside us? Me neither. If you do go to Whistler for the riding, you’ll stay for…. the riding. If you ignore the bona fide glitterati, air kissing fashionistas, and all the attendant crap that goes with it, you’ll stand to reap the goodness of the biggest vertical in North America, huge coastal dumps (slightly heavier than Interior fluff but still good), the biggest base village, and big parties. The trade-off is that it’s extremely expensive and practically impossible to bum here unless you work for the mountain. Your lifty job may be shit, but at least you’re set up with crappy staff accommodations and a free season pass.
Don’t miss: Paying way too much for everything!
While technically not a ski town (there’s no ski area actually in it), this rapidly developing town is close to Sunshine Village, Lake Louise, and if you’re desperate, Nakiska. The first two are great places to ride, although a little stingy on snow compared to anywhere in B.C. You’ll need a car to access the mountains, but many riders have set up shop here for the choice of resorts, chill locals, and the proximity to Calgary for a city fix.
Don’t miss: Freezing your ass off in January. Oh, and head to The Drake for the best pub grub in town.
“We got married in a fever/hotter than a pepper sprout/We've been talking ‘bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out.” So sayeth Johnny Cash in his epic duet with June Carter. Jackson Hole is nestled in the Tetons—that’s French for “the tits”—and it’s a rugged range with ample snowfall. It has long been fertile breeding ground for some of the world’s best skiers with inbounds test pieces at every turn. It’s also home to proud rednecks, Harrison Ford, and hippies. You can smoke to your heart’s content here, but God help you if you get caught.
Don’t miss: Corbet’s Couloir. It’s arguably the resort’s most classic test piece. There you can watch New York bankers shit themselves prior to dropping in—solely so they can tell their buddies.
When the Mormons pray for snow, Jesus delivers. Hence, Utah license plates have a state motto, “Greatest Snow on Earth.” Hyperbole, but it’s true. Okay, so this resort forbids snowboarding and it’s smack in the middle of the 3.2 percent beer state, but damned if Alta isn’t the coolest resort in the lower 48. Old school attitude, soulful vibes, unpretentious locals, and loads of steep terrain. Plus, when it dumps big, the avalanche-exposed access road is closed indefinitely. This means the Salt Lake City hordes are shut out of your private Garden of Eden.
Don’t miss: The outside world.
Mammoth Mountain, California: Aptly named.
Mount Hood, Oregon: Ski 360-degrees around an extinct volcano.
Mount Baker, Washington: Big, wet dumps, and B.C.-like vibes.
Powder King, B.C.: Far from crowds, and far from average.
It was written: “I’m a skier, not a millionaire, and because of the former, I’m not the latter and vice versa.” If you’ve saved up cash—which you haven’t unless you’re a grower—don’t bother working. On the plus side, it’s a great way to meet people like you, only not as pathetic. Here are a few classic ski bum jobs:
You won’t be able to afford good, clean ski town accommodation. Be the good little Hindu your parents raised and accept your fate. So let’s stroll through the archetypical dirtbag pad, shall we?
It snowed last night but nobody shovelled. Actually, no one has ever shovelled because the shovel has been buried since November. Posthole your way up the walkway or lawn, soaking your socks. A broken axe handle lies on the porch next to a pile of rotting “fire wood.” Open the balsa wood door, braced with sopping towels to keep out the drafts, and walk inside. The first thing you notice is the smell, a symbiosis of everything disgusting: polypropylene long underwear thick with sweat, wet dog, mildew, hippy, and boots that aren’t drying as much as they are slow roasting on the creaking baseboard heaters.
Condensation drips from the windows, mopped up with dark towels rolled up near the walls. Then you remember the towels you bought were yellow. The front hallway has three pairs of skis and two boards leaning against them, dripping melted snow from the bindings. You don’t bother with towels here.
The kitchen is crammed floor to ceiling with dishes. They may be dirty, but at least they’re not chipped. Beige linoleum flooring peels from every corner, revealing a hidden layer of…linoleum.
Down the hall is the bathroom that you share with five others. It hasn’t been cleaned since you moved in. Even if you wanted to clean it in a fit of Howard Hughes psychosis, you couldn’t: you’ve never bought Mr. Clean in your life. Now there’s mould in the corners, mould in the grouting, and mould in the shower. The toilet tank is topped with Club, and a few ski mags with a few missing pages. You don’t read them because you are afraid to touch them. This is where you brush and shit only.
The living room fares no better. The TV is tiny, but surrounded with a PlayStation, DVD player, cable box, ashtrays and dirty dishes. The couch is covered in wet dog hair. (Fuck, Colin promised he’d only be allowed in to eat.) A pile of outerwear, a stained sleeping bag and moist backpack are under the coffee table. Right. The guy we met in the Kootenays—how many days has he been here already?
Your bedroom is your only solace, an oasis of clean, calm privacy in a Sahara of communal everything. This room is your happy place with restorative powers, the love den you vowed to maintain. Bummer you can’t see the floor for the dirty clothes.
At all costs, eat at home and pack a lunch. You’ll be smoking a lot more than usual, so expect to get hungrier, too. Beyond the requisite No-name chips, and other junk, stock up on staples outside town. If possible, hitch a ride and do your shopping out of town because ski town grocery stores cost a goddamn fortune. Get thee to a Costco and buy shit for the whole house for three months at a time.
Buy the usual stuff like pasta, Kraft Dinner, ramen, and anything microwaveable. For instance, two Knorr Sidekicks packs are a solid meal for one and less than $5. Forget about eating meat unless you kill it yourself. But if you can spare the cash, a whole chicken is the cheapest bang for your buck. Cut that shit up, spice ‘er with Jamaican jerk rub, throw it in the oven for an hour at 350º, and you’re dialled. But since there’s not a chance in hell you’ll make chicken, here’s a sure way to get your protein: Mr. Boyardee, meet Mr. Highliner. Nuke, combine, and serve. Or, for a weekly treat, stir a $1.19 can of No-name tuna into a bowl of $0.79 No-name macaroni. Chase with a cold or warm one—whatever you’ve got.
Back in the day, ketchup was the ultimate condiment. Today, only Philistines and five-year-olds put ketchup on Kraft Dinner. And reddening scrambled eggs? Out of the question. So what does one do if one cooks a meal that tastes like open ass?
Douse it in hot sauce. Good hot sauce is expensive at $5 a bottle but worth its weight in preservatives. The food dyes in hot sauce are fucking horrifying, too (more yellow #5, anyone?) but they sure taste good.
If you’re white trash, hot sauce is probably an alien substance. Same goes for WASPs and Quebecois. If so, start small with something like Louisiana Red Hot. Don’t buy the name brand, because they all taste the same. This vinegar-based sauce makes shitty old pasta taste awesome. Also, when you find the crusts you never ate from a week-old pizza (probably behind the couch), you know what to do with them. Go ahead and put it on anything you microwave, too.
People will tell you the next level is Tabasco, but stay away. It’s hot, but it’s bland. Go with something else, like a chipotle-based sauce or something with Chinese characters on it. A good rule of thumb is to avoid hot sauce with a label that would appeal to your dad: a horse vomiting fire, cartoon devils stabbing something, a skull, or anything with Emeril’s fat little face on it. They’re either expensive, bland, or over-the-top hot for macho idiots.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. Five different hot sauces is five times the variety on all the crap you already cook.
Everyone knows that a joint is the second tastiest thing in the world, but given you’re riding and smoking—water and fire—wouldn’t a pipe be the answer?
Of course. A wind-resistant butane lighter, a pipe, and an airtight stash are foolproof. Vaps offer an alternative to smoky-smoky clouds of combustion, while edibles are a stealth way to avoid any unwanted attention a lingering skunky aroma may attract.
But savouring the sweet, sweet taste of burning chemicals and paper are an empty Altoids tin away. Stuff two or three pre-rolled units in there. They may end up curiously minty, but they’ll work.
Smoking on the lift is a generally accepted practice in many resorts, but if you get a cranky patroller on the chair behind you, he may NARC your shit out. Patrollers have also been known to call if you’re not private about it. I’ve seen a kid smoking on the side of the halfpipe get carried away by an on-mountain RCMP officer. Smoking in the trees and out of sight from the chairs is generally fine. If a patroller bumps into you while you’re in the trees, the worst that will come of it is that they’ll want a puff.
Mon dieu, you fucking stoner, you forgot papers and your pipe! The day is ruined. Or is it?
Snow, once thought only good for riding, thwarting German military advances, and building homes in the Arctic is also great for pipe building in a pinch.
Step 1: Find something long and skinny. If you’ve started unzipping your fly, you probably went to Catholic school.
Step 2: Now that you’ve found something like a thin pen, pack a snowball around it.
Step 3: Remove pen. You now have a snow chillum. Add a wide bud whole to one end but make it thin so it’s the dimension of a dime. That’s the one with the boat on it for you Canucks and the X for you Yanks.
Step 4: Place bud on end, but do NOT press it; balance it. Smokey-smokey.
Perhaps the granddaddy rule of them all: When in doubt get friendly with the locals. Don’t talk shit about how rad you are on (or off) the mountain. Don’t be afraid to smile, even if you’re broke and your virginity has grown back. You have nothing to lose, and you’re going to remember this winter forev…
Local friends can help you find the stashes on and off the hill, get you out of a bind, cover your shift at work, and help push your car out of the ditch. Think before you speak, offer to help anyone in a jam, and you should be good to go. After all, you are a ski bum, you got here all by yourself, and you know the rules. Now take that cat off your face.
According to his father, Roy Vaysmear wasn’t planned. “That asshole was an urge at a keg party,” says his proud Papa. Roy had a teary farewell with his family and set forth to ski bum for seven years through the mountains of western Canada. Between winters, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia, where he lost his appendix but replaced it with life-affirming parasites. Blessed with good looks best suited for radio and print journalism, Vaysmear has been published in Toro, Powder, Skier and Bike magazines. He was a finalist at the 2004 National Magazine Awards and has since conquered his mortal fear of Smarties.
]]>Like butter boards trending on TikTok, Humboldt Seed Company’s Garlic Budder strain with its savoury mix of spice, garlic, butter and nuts is winning the hearts of cannabis connoisseurs.
Savoury Garlic Budder surprises with its spicy buttery aromas
Cultures around the world have long prized garlic for its medicinal properties, and Humboldt Seed Company’s Garlic Budder strain is good medicine indeed! Garlic Budder’s unique terpene profile is surprisingly appealing with its perfect mix of spice and garlic with buttery-nutty undertones. Caryophyllene and myrcene are the dominant terpenes responsible for the garlicky flavour. Discovered during the 2019 Phenotype Mega-Hunt, this Indica-dominant, high-testing cultivar tops out at 28-32% THC, making it a prefect choice for off-hours (read: couchlock). With its complex savoury notes, Garlic Budder pairs well with apple cider and snuggling up on a cold night. Expect above-average growth from this high-yielding strain with tall bushy plants flowering in about 70 days. Its crazy dense buds drip with frosty trichomes making it extremely potent. Like butter boards trending on TikTok, Garlic Budder is winning the hearts of cannabis connoisseurs worldwide.
Find out more here.
]]>The South American appetizer ceviche is made by curing raw fish in citrus juice. In this twist on the traditional recipe, Chef Sebastian Carosi uses fresh humanely-sourced octopus, lime, red onions, hot peppers and Super Lemon Haze cannabis for an explosion of bright tangy flavours and relaxing effects. Now get in the kitchen and make something delicious!
By Chef Sebastian Carosi
Having lived half of my life on the East Coast of the United States and the other half on the West Coast, I’ve always been bordered on one side by the ocean and on the other by amazing seafood. Several delicacies are ubiquitous to the residents of both coasts—clams, oysters, gooseneck barnacles and octopus all find their place on the dinner table. As a young, untrained chef, my family vacationed in spots close to our home, yet worlds away gastronomically. Digging clams, quahogs, geoducks, scouring the beaches for oysters, searching for urchin in the tide pools, plucking oysters from the rocks and jigging for squid were all part of growing up around the bays, sounds and coastal waterways. Although octopus wasn’t as popular back then, it was definitely present. After becoming a professional chef, I tried to utilize as many wild, humanely-sourced products as I could find. That means wild octopus, never farmed, usually a bi-catch of the fishermen in the Puget Sound. The difference between the better-known white fish ceviche and the ingredients in this recipe is the fact that the octopus must be precooked in order to be palatable. While it technically may be possible to eat the flesh raw, I really would not recommend it. Octopus should be tenderized by parboiling to make sure it is tender to the tooth. Be sure to use only the freshest octopus you can find for this dish. Uplifting sativas and bright citrus flavours meld well with this marinated octopus. You might want to double the batch for a big group; it is such a crowd pleaser! And yes, it is absolutely okay to make it more Ecuadorian by adding diced fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and tomato juice. Just be sure to serve it with plenty of crispy tortilla chips, popcorn, or corn nuts.
Editor’s note: Although there is no denying that octopus is a culinary delicacy, there are many unanswered ethical questions related to commercial aquafarming, humane slaughter methods, and the negative impact of increased fishing. See here for more information.
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Total THC/CBD: depends on the potency of the products used
Status: swanky octopus salad
From the cannabis pantry: cannabis-infused olive oil, cannabis-infused hot sauce
Chef’s strain recommendation: Super Lemon Haze
Small stockpot, tongs, chef’s knife, cutting board, medium stainless steel bowl, chilled glasses or bowl for service
2 pounds cooked octopus (thin sliced rounds)
1 cup red onion (very thin sliced)
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
¼ cup cannabis-infused olive oil (made in the mb2e)
1 fresh serrano or jalapeno pepper (very thin sliced)
¼ cup fresh cilantro (rough chopped)
2 tbsp fresh young cannabis leaves (rough chopped)
1 tsp Jacobsen sea salt
½ tsp cannabis-infused hot sauce (made in the mb2e)
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add the octopus and cook for 30 minutes over medium heat. Remove from water and let cool completely. Slice into small 1-inch rounds and set aside. Place sliced onions in a bowl, add salt and cover with water. Let rest for 10 minutes, drain and rinse well. Place the octopus rounds in a stainless steel bowl. Add the lime juice, half the onions, chilli peppers, sea salt, olive oil and hot sauce. Let marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Right before serving, add the remaining onions, cilantro and fresh cannabis leaves to the chilled octopus and mix well. Adjust salt as needed. Serve in a chilled glass or your favourite bowl with crispy tortilla chips, popcorn or corn nuts.
Equipment + product source
www.magicalbutter.com (mb2e botanical extractor)
www.jacobsensaltco.com (sea salt flakes)
To learn more about Chef Sebastian Carosi and his approach to cannabis cookery read our exclusive interview, Eat your damn greens! Chef Sebastain talks wildcrafting, cannabis cookery and his respect for the movement’s deep roots. Chef Sebastian generously shared this recipe with Heads Lifestyle. Now get in the kitchen and whip up something delicious!
Photos: Chef Sebastian Carosi and Carla Asquith
More about Chef Sebastian Carosi and his projects here
Follow on Instagram at: @chef_sebatian_carosi
]]>Mint Jelly, Humboldt Seed Company’s newest autoflower is a sweet tooth’s daydream. Displaying an exceptional terpene profile, Mint Jelly tastes of vanilla cake pops filled with jelly and dipped in peppermint frosting. Check out this mind-numbing strain and many more in HeadStash: Exceptional Strain Profiles.
Minty autoflower for the cannabis connoisseur with a sweet tooth!
Cake pops, the playful dessert treats, have been wildly popular for over a decade now and Humboldt Seed Company’s latest autoflower, Mint Jelly is sure to skyrocket to fame with its flavours of sweet vanilla cake batter and jelly filling dipped in peppermint icing. Destined to be a top-shelf choice among cannabis connoisseurs with a sweet tooth, Mint Jelly is a heavy-hitting, mind-numbing strain with all-round great genetics. This cultivar’s parentage includes Hella Jelly, Mountaintop Mint and Sour Apple giving it a very unique terpene profile. Testing at a consistent 27% THC, this new auto has all the qualities you love whether zoning out and relaxing or getting busy during the day. Mint Jelly grows vigorously into a stout plant outdoors or in greenhouse. The dense flowers mature into trichome-dripping green-purple colas in about 70-80 days with just a hint of classic gas. If you’re craving a mouthwatering delight, Mint Jelly takes the cake!
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]]>Having never planned to be the pot doc for kids, Dr. Jennifer Anderson battled bureaucracy, stigma and apathy as she sought care for her dying son. The experienced opened a door to helping patients and discovering her life’s passion. Today she advocates and educates on medical cannabis while watching her son and family thrive. Lesson learned: don’t ever underestimate the power of a mother’s love.
Heads Lifestyle: Good morning. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. When you went into medicine did you ever envisage becoming the pot doc for kids?
Dr. Jennifer Anderson: No. I often joke that if you told me ten years ago I’d be giving marijuana to kids, I would have said you’re crazy. No, I never set out to be a doctor that gave marijuana to kids. I grew up around people who used marijuana for chronic pain so I knew that it worked for some people. The funny thing is that when I started [my practice] some patients, who were on cannabis, had approached me to take them on and I said, “No, I’m just a fresh grad. I know I’m allowed to but I’m not comfortable with it and I don’t know anything about it.” A year later, I was faced with a child that was dying of seizures and I didn’t know what to do.
HL: What was the reaction you got when you first suggested cannabis for your son?
DJA: When I asked about cannabis, my neurologist was like, Oh, well, it might work but we really can’t help you because we’re not allowed. It’s a bureaucracy and the politics were preventing anybody from even touching it with kids. That was frustrating for me. Then when I did try it, it worked so well, I didn’t understand why nobody cared. It seemed like nobody cared that it was working well. All they cared about were the politics of it.
HL: Can you describe that initial experience using CBD?
DJA: My son was seizing all night. He has cerebral palsy and he was having vomiting seizures in the middle of the night. I’d have to quickly grab him and turn him over so he wouldn’t aspirate. I’m doing that multiple times a night and I’m not sleeping ‘cause I’m worried about him. You’re just in this constant state of awareness, and, you know, it was just me, so it was a little bit crazy.
I started it on a Friday night. I was exhausted and I didn’t know what else to do. My friend had a bottle of Charlotte’s Web and I thought, Well, I mean, this is the last thing. I just quit my clinic because I couldn’t work because I was in the hospital all the time. I gave him one drop and he slept the whole night. I thought it was a bit weird because he was always up seizing. So the next day I gave him a drop in the morning and then a drop the second night and he slept the whole night again. Then Sunday night. On Monday morning, I brought him to day care and I’ll never forget because the day care worker said, "Nicholas looks different. He’s bright and he looks like a different kid." And I looked at him and thought, Yeah, he does. What happened was he had slept for three nights, so all of a sudden he was awake. Before he was a zombie. We noticed the change right away. It worked really well immediately.
Within a week or two, my respite worker said, "Nicholas is starting to walk again, and he’s starting to eat again." He wasn’t choking on everything because his seizures really affect his swallowing. So we continued and over the course of six months, the seizures just dropped substantially. It was just such a blur and I didn’t really know what to think of it.
Then in the spring, he started having breakthrough seizures and turning blue. We kept going to ER because nothing was working and they’d load him with whatever and send him home and after three, four weeks of that I thought, Well, this isn’t working. I don’t know, I give up. But then this physician from Montreal, Dr. François Hallé came out to do a talk for veterans and we went for dinner. I just expressed all my frustration to him and he introduced the idea of dosing. His background is physiology and mine is too, so we had a really good conversation about the mechanisms that were already being discovered with the CB1 and CB2 receptors and how it might be working with epilepsy. I started realizing there are actually other people that are exploring this and there’s science behind it. He helped me.
We dosed it based on weight and we put it through my son’s G-tube and Boom! everything stopped. And through that experience I thought, Wow! This can be life changing. If we can figure out a method, we can develop a dose per kilo strategy. Then we can replicate it and maybe this is something that can help a lot of kids.
HL: You’ve had to sacrifice certain aspects of your medical practice. How do you feel about the direction your career has taken?
DJA: I think sometimes things happen in life that, in retrospect, save you. It’s just been a really rough roller coaster. I was always interested in everything and when you’re a new grad, you get offered so much stuff in terms of responsibilities because everybody’s tired and they want to offload onto the new grads. But you become so exhausted and you don’t know how to get off this wheel. That’s how I felt. I loved my practice. I loved everything I did but I didn’t know how to put my kids first and to reorganize my life after I went through a divorce and was now a single mom. I had to close my practice and quit the hospital; the only thing I did was continue emergency because it paid my bills. But it’s made me put my kids first and the only practice I do now is the cannabis practice, which is something that I love and am passionate about.
HL: What does a typical day look like for you?
DJA: Where do I start? I have three kids and I’m a single mom so my schedule really revolves around my kids. I try to book a lot of things during the day when they’re at school. I work in emergency and in hospital and schedule that around my kids. Then there is the cannabis work, which is more my passion. I do clinics during the day, usually once or twice a week by referral—everything from paediatrics to psychiatry to neurology. I have a consult-based practice, which allows me to cater my days to whatever is needed.
HL: Tell us about your patients?
DJA: My youngest patient is about three months old and my oldest patient is probably 105. So I see a wide range of patients. It started with just kids—primarily epilepsy, autism, lots of mental health, cancers and pain related to cancer, symptom management of cancer, sometimes patients, especially in paediatrics, want to explore really high doses of cannabinoids for cancers like glioblastoma. I never make any promises but we try to find strategies that may have worked before. With teenagers, it’s a lot of epilepsy, lots of mental health, lots of risk mitigation. And for adults, it’s everything from chronic pain, anxiety, cancer-related stuff, benzo and opioid withdrawal, addictions—the whole gamut. And with seniors, it’s more sleep and arthritis.
HL: And what is your son Nicholas like today?
DJA: Nicholas is a happy kid. Obviously, this is post-cannabis because before cannabis he was pretty much a zombie. You couldn’t tell sometimes if he was seizing or not. He’d be sitting in his stroller sort of in a daze. Our life really revolved around him and whether he was okay to take out or not. After cannabis, he really came alive. Now he’s a really happy nine-year-old. He still has seizures but we’re talking once every couple days, and they’re very small, nothing to take us to hospital. We haven’t been in hospital for three years now. He loves Paw Patrol and Ninja Turtles. He will watch the same things over and over. He’ll play with his little figurines. He started swimming this year, which was insane, with a lifejacket, but he loves it. I think his brother, who is developmentally neurotypical, really helped him in developing. He just tries to do everything Zachary does.
HL: You must have a pretty complex family dynamic. How do you balance the needs of each family member with the demands of your special needs child?
DJA: That’s a really, really tough thing to do and I am not perfect at it. My kids often say our life revolves around Nicholas. And my answer usually is, Yeah, it kind of does. I’m sorry but it does. It does less and less because we can do more but at the end of the day there are things we don’t do because of Nicholas. I do have a respite worker who is with me probably 40 hours a week on average during the school year and that allows me to go out with my daughter or my other son, or just go out by myself. I’ve always made a point to do that because I think it’s super important. But it has always been difficult.
HL: Speaking of finding balance, how to you carve out time for yourself?
DJA: My parents have been amazing. My mom is really good with my son and has always been someone I can leave him with because, as you can imagine, I can’t leave him with very many people. Before COVID, I was making sure that every couple of months I would book a weekend away. I like to snowboard. So in the winter, that would be getting to the mountains for a couple of days. I also like to surf. So right before COVID, I actually took a two-week trip to Nicaragua and did a surf-yoga retreat. I found out very early on as a doctor that you have to physically leave if you really want a break. You have to be somewhere where nobody can reach you—the middle of the ocean or on top of a mountain.
HL: Surfing?! How did you learn to surf in Manitoba?
DJA: Well, I started with wake boarding back when I was about 20. I had already done lots of snowboarding, so I went from snowboarding to wake boarding to wake surfing. Around 2010, I went to Hawaii on a conference and went surfing with some colleagues. I loved it, so I found conferences every year or two in Hawaii. I would go and take lessons with Brett Sheerin, who runs Maui True North. He also does adaptive surfing and kite boarding. He takes people with special needs and designs surfboards and things like that for them to use. It’s really, really awesome! You meet some really amazing surfers around the world. Brett was one of the first ones I met and he really inspired me. It really is a group of similar people. A lot of them are just easy going. It’s like a culture, it really is. And it goes well with cannabis, it really does.
HL: Why did you decide to make your story public on social media? And how has the messaging changed?
DJA: Well, my Instagram account was named Confessions of a single doctor mom. It started off as something to make me focus outward because, as you can imagine, it was really stressful. You know, share what it’s like to be a single doctor mom—the frustrations, the positives and negatives.
But then about a year and a half before COVID, I had a kid with brain cancer. The family was really desperate and I was terrified. I even talked to Dr. Bonni Goldstein because I didn’t see kids with cancer. I’d never used high doses and she helped me out in terms of dosing. So I started working with this one little paediatric patient. He had glioblastoma with a nine-month life expectancy. So we got him on a really high dose of THC and CBD because there has been some anecdotal evidence that it helps to reduce tumour size. We were just throwing things at it to see, although it was very clear that it might not happen.
The family came to me and said, Oh, by the way, we’re going on a trip to another country in a month. I was like, Well, you can’t travel with this. You can’t take this out of Canada. But this was their dream trip and I didn’t know what to do. He could die. He was on hundreds of milligrams of THC a day. I didn’t know what would happen when you took it all away. I got a little bit panicky. I mean that kid was like my own. All the kids I see I treat them like my own.
So I started making phone calls to some of my colleagues in the industry and various places asking how do get an exemption. How do I get him to be able to travel with this? And everyone was like, Well, that’s not a thing. You can’t travel with it. I actually ended up calling the embassy of the country where they were heading and they redirected me to the governor’s office. I ended up on the phone with the governor and I basically said, Hi, I’m a doctor from Canada. I’ve got a kid with a nine-month life expectancy coming on a dream trip and he could die. I need you to let him take his cannabis because right now it’s controlling his symptoms. And the governor was like, Oh my gosh! That sounds really important so I’m going to put you on with the health minister. So I talked to the health minister and she was fantastic too. Health Canada said that if I could get the other country to agree then they would grant the exemption. It was the day before they left and they were the first ones that any of my colleagues had ever heard of getting an exemption from both countries to travel with cannabis.
It was this experience that made me realize that I had a voice. And I thought, If the government would listen to me and allow a kid to travel, I don’t have to work with just the medical community. So I started to do other things like Instagram and I started putting my story out there. Just slowly because I was already terrified of losing my license or being ostracized, but I had already worked with kids for a few years and my colleagues respected my practice. I just started talking about it to anybody who would listen including my local politicians, because I realized that there are so many more people that can make this happen. It’s not just the medical community. I decided to work at it from the bottom up and the top down, and just try to make things happen. That’s why my Instagram sort of took a turn to really telling my story.
HL: That’s an incredible story of persuasion. What strategies have worked for you to invoke change?
DJA: What I’ve seen as a physician is that when you have a face-to-face conversation with a politician or with people that may be initially against cannabis, when you start talking about real individuals, like my son, they change. I always say this is my son, the face of cannabis. I’ve found that the reception has been way different than over the phone when they can’t see you as a person. I’ve used this strategy a lot to tell my story and to talk about the real issues my patients are having, and to present solutions. I find it’s changed a lot of people’s minds.
HL: Were you ever worried about pushback or repercussions?
DJA: A clinic in Winnipeg had asked me to see kids there because they had opened up a cannabis clinic and all these parents were coming and wanting someone to see their kids with epilepsy. At first I said, "Absolutely not. I’m not going to be the pot doc for kids." But eventually I went back to the clinic and said, "Ok, I’ll see these kids, but only the ones that have failed everything." I was worried about the College coming after me. But then I thought that the College is not going to come after me for kids that are dying. So we started with those kids and there were really successful stories. We got so connected to all these families. It was really special meeting all these families that had kids like my own.
I won’t say that every kid had positive results, but nobody had bad results. The parents just wanted to try. I understood that in them because I knew what it was like to be the parent on the other end, when your kid is dying and the medical community has exhausted all their options. As a parent, you don’t want your child to die unless can you say you got to try everything that you thought might work. And so that’s what we did and year after year we got way more kids. That’s how I developed the practice that I have today.
HL: Are you familiar with the Butterfly Effect, named after an ancient Chinese proverb that says the power of a butterfly’s wings can be felt on the other side of the world? Do you believe sharing your journey with cannabis will contribute to a global change for the better?
DJA: I do and I have decided that I’m all in. After the experience with the young cancer patient, I mentally came to the decision that I’m all in. It’s all or nothing. I am now a physician that gives cannabis to kids and helps other physicians navigate cannabis for their patients. I think this should be allowed for kids who especially have failed traditional therapy and I’m willing to put my career on this. I share my story as a physician because I feel that might help other kids.
HL: How many families have you helped so far by introducing them to medicinal cannabis?
DJA: I would say 50 to 100 families. That’s not including mental health. If you add those, it’s probably upwards of 200. But patients come and go. I offer a trial of usually three to six months and go from there. We have regular follow ups to see if things are working. And if they do, great, I keep them on as patients. If they decide it’s not for them or we’ve exhausted a lot of options, then we can re-explore it some other time. So patients come in and out.
HL: What is the success rate with your patients?
DJA: It depends on the case. I never tell patients this is going to be 100%. If we’re talking about chronic pain in adults, I would say it’s like 80 to 90%. I think we’re understanding more about THC and know more mechanisms for that. If we’re talking about kids, I would say 50-70% of people find something that works really well and stick with it. With epilepsy and autism, we’re still trying to figure out the mechanisms. There’s so much variability in products that it’s a little bit harder.
HL: Can you talk to us a little about the costs of cannabis?
DJA: I operate as a family doctor in Canada so that means that the patients never pay anything and I’ve always been very strict on that. There’s never a charge to the patient [for the consultation]. In Canada, however, the cost of the products isn’t covered. I’ve been meeting with some of the politicians here in Manitoba to talk about, not only the cost savings for kids, but the cost savings for those who come through the revolving door of my emergency with chronic pain, PTSD, and lots of different things. I’ve been able to work with them and their emergency visits drop. So using those examples and cost analysis to promote the idea that covering cannabis could actually save a lot of money. I also pick up the phone and negotiate discounts with the licensed producers for my patients, which has a huge success rate.
HL: Why do you believe there is such hesitancy by traditional medicine to accept cannabis?
DJA: I think it’s the unknown. In the medical system, we like things that make sense. We like things that are studied. We like things that are black and white. We like randomized control trials. And cannabis doesn’t fit into any of that. There’s a massive political backdrop that really influences people whether they think so or not. It influences a lot of our laws. There’s the argument that there’s not enough research. Well, half the doctors don’t even know that we couldn’t study it because it was illegal to study. I think education helps physicians understand it better, but there’s still a lot of older generation physicians who just basically shut the door and don’t want to learn about it.
HL: How do you balance the unknowns of cannabis with the urgency to find effective treatments?
DJA: That’s the struggle because kids like mine would have died waiting. A lot of my colleagues’ arguments are, You don’t know the long-term effects of cannabis on kids. Well, the long-term effect of seizures on kids is death or developmental issues. So when your son is seizing three to four times an hour despite medications, I’m sorry but talking about the potential non-existent risk of psychosis in my son when he’s seizing all the time is not relevant. Family after family after family that I talk to say the same thing. They understand we don’t know the long-term risk but we’re looking at the child in front of us, who has low quality of life and in some cases dying of seizures. Unless you’re a parent of a kid that’s almost died, I don’t think you get it. Or you’ve had a family member that’s failed everything, if you haven’t had that frustration of the system and having to look outside the box for an answer, it’s just really hard to understand. But I think that the time is coming when that’s not going to be acceptable because now we have so much more research happening on cannabis.
HL: What is your biggest pet peeve regarding people’s attitude towards cannabis?
DJA: A lot of times people say, Oh, well, you just use it for everything or it’s not indicated for anything. Aren’t you using a lot of things off-label? The human body is so complex; there are a lot of strategies to try to get an effect, which is what we do in traditional medicine. With cannabis, we have receptors all over our body that we’re still trying to understand and the reason it works is because it interacts with so many receptors, not just our brain or just in one organ.
HL: What has surprised you the most on your journey?
DJA: As much as I’m helping other patients, they’re also helping me. My whole journey started with trying to reach outward to help other people so that I could get through my struggles. It sounds a bit weird but I’ve realized, especially when working with families that we’re all in the same boat. The therapeutic relationship that we were building was helpful on so many levels. The families that I was dealing with were traumatized, like I was, but they didn’t have anyone and neither did I, but now we’ve found each other. I feel like my whole life I’ve always reached out and made community around me and so that was my natural response—to reach out and find people to connect with.
HL: Do you consume cannabis?
DJA: I do, yes. Not at work. I do use cannabis for sleep. I’ve found it such a lifesaver. You know, a low dose THC and I’ve never had a better sleep in my life. It’s really made a big difference and I find that with my patients too. I won’t say I don’t use it recreationally but usually it’s with friends or colleagues. I have quite a few friends that are also working with patients so we get to try all the new products.
HL: What are your goals for the future?
DJA: I’m just here to try to make a difference, sometimes as a physician, sometimes as a mom. I’m trying to help both traditional medicine and up-and-coming cannabis, kind of figure out how we make the two connect. What kind of models do we need to bring these two together so the patients can get what they would like and the physicians can feel comfortable. And how do we become an example in Canada. I feel other countries do look to us as a role model. You know, there are other physicians, like Dr. Evan Lewis in Canada, that work with kids as well. So trying to build bridges and a network across Canada for physicians so that these kids don’t fall through the cracks and always have somewhere to go in every province.
HL: You are working on a new film project. What can we expect?
DJA: It’s called Anything can happen: a look at cannabis in paediatric medicine. It follows my story as a physician with my son and three of my patients—one with epilepsy and two with autism. It’s coming out in 2022 and you can find out more about it at www.anythingcanhappendoc.com.
HL: Cannabis in one word?
DJA: Cannabis is life changing on so many levels. It’s been life changing for me. It’s given me a purpose in my career and obviously saved my son. Yeah, I think it’s life changing.
BIO
Dr. Jennifer Anderson is a Métis Family Physician who graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2014. She started out in a rural community doing family practice including obstetrics, ER and hospital work. In 2016, her four-year-old son with cerebral palsy from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome started seizing uncontrollably after failing all medical options. Finding themselves in hospital 80-90% of the time, she advocated for a trial of medical cannabis for her son. Over the first year with cannabis, his seizures went from two to three an hour to two to three a month. Today, he is a healthy vibrant nine-year-old who enjoys life with his twin brother. His last hospital visit was almost three years ago.
In 2017, Dr. Anderson started seeing paediatric patients with intractable epilepsy as well as other diagnoses that had failed traditional therapies. She now operates a consult-only practice assisting other physicians in adult and paediatric medicine incorporate medical cannabis into a patient’s treatment plan. Her passion is to advocate and educate around cannabis in all age groups. She also strives to set standards of excellence in the field of cannabinoids so that patients can navigate cannabis safely with their physicians. She works with government and the educational system to incorporate cannabis into patient care and collaborates with physicians across the globe to provide support and education through various platforms.
Follow Dr. Anderson on Instagram.
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