Or classical musicians in general. I’m sure most da general public view this genre of musician as, well, proper, prim…you get da idea.
Now we all have heard sad ztoriez…daHoffman drunk genzui, da poor over medicated HO, I’m sure there iz many of them.
But what about da othahz? I iz zho I’ve read about da pimp and opium CG.
And then on diz very board I think pozzibly a jredmond anecdote of da mofo couldn’t buy everyone drinkz becauze he keep winning comps and spend all da money on blow (wuz dat da MOTEL)
and of courze there iz da ROBBAH
I guezz wut I iz gittin at iz dat diz ztuff can be quite debilitating TRU, but many artists have done incredible things aided by mind altering zheeyat. Zo wut gives? Are they juz more on da DL?
They all took opium back in the day. Da chop’s doc even prescribed it for his TB (to help with the pain). Btw the jredmond story wasn’t about da motel it was about the other Grynyk, Sasha. Samson Francois and tha Gav were huge druggies, Tzimon Barto too if I sheeyat correctly (and not just roids). Grieg used to take sheeyat before concerts as well. There used to be rumours of Volodos being an alco but I don’t know if those were ever substantiated.
Tru…dat iz a worry. A lot of mofoz laugh it off when someone call pot a gateway drug but then they try a dab or zum gud hazh and next thing ya know…unprotected interracial gay sex. All day.
But tru I dun mess with da nazty zheeyat juz da fun common party zubztance
I never did anything except weed, even though practically every young person in Australia does MDMA, LSD or coke (or all three). There’s no quality control and at practically every festival someone dies of an OD. It wasn’t worth the risk. Randomly, I wonder how many pianists take anti-anxiety meds for stage fright? I used to take Xanax and beta blockers but they did fuck all so I stopped. Apart from that I’m sure a lot of them are on anti-depressants.
Not sure I’ve ever seen stats about pianists, but I remember seeing this:
Beta blockers have been common in classical music since the 1970s. Originally prescribed to treat high blood pressure, they became performance enablers when it became clear that Inderal (the brand name) controlled stage fright. As long ago as 1987, a study of the 51 largest orchestras in the U.S. found one in four musicians using them to improve their live performances, with 70 percent of those getting their pills illicitly. Musicians Use Beta Blockers as Performance-Enabling Drugs | Conducting Business | WQXR
I’d imagine the percentage among pianists would be quite high as well.
I’ve never used beta-blockers or any other of these type of drugs, so I wouldn’t know if they help or not. I did hear from some other pianists that they thought that they influenced their performance in a negative way - their interpretation became more “flat” and lifeless.
Personally I think you should either learn to control your anxiety/stage fright by natural means & techniques (breathing, meditation, creating good preparation habits and positive thinking processes etc.) or either just change profession. All drugs are fucking up your health eventually…
too hypochondriac mofo
writin da GE’z