Danny Mayer

Today, Daniel chats with journeyman musician Danny Mayer about all things related to creativity and psychedelics. Danny’s shared the stage with members of the Grateful Dead, Lettuce, Snarky Puppy, The New Mastersounds, Trey Anastasio Band & many other iconic acts. His main focus these days is with the band Star Kitchen, whose strenuous touring schedule has paused since the Covid-19 pandemic. Another project, the Danny Mayer Trio (DMT!), whose funky psych-rock spurred Jambands.com to call him “the next greatest guitarist on the jamband scene,” is certainly worth checking out. 

Mayer recounts his teenage adventures of exploring psychedelics at Dead shows, and how that special culture has shaped his musical career. 

Shaping his sound, small “museum” doses of psilocybin bonded & fueled the live improv sets of his early bands. “The introduction of small doses of psilocybin was a great equalizer….it  created a beautifully unifying experience that made us smile ear to ear!”

Further discussion of LSD and psilocybin induced telekinetic experiences are explored. 

Mayer navigates the present Covid shutdowns, having to cancel gigs and the loss of opportunity to play with other musicians.  From such deficits tho, he has delved into home-recording and is grateful for this part of his musical journey. The adaptive nature of the human experience endures! 

Qoutes:

Danny: I’m not trying to be like the Grateful Dead, but instead, create my own kind of version of that. The live communal experience of playing shows, feeling the energy in the room, when things are good & everyone knows it & all cylinders are firing, you can really feel that energy from the audience. And being able to reciprocate that energy…there’s no better analogy than it being like wind in the sails. You can do things you’d never be able to do because you have that energy behind you! The goal is to fill the room with as much love as possible. 

Daniel: I had this crazy psychedelic experience once, seeing Ratdog at the Beacon Theatre with a bunch of friends, & we all had stickers for a project we were promoting, and the bouncers caught me & threw me out! I ended up meeting up with some other musicians who invited me to hang back at the studio they were working at. I recall being REALLY high at this studio in Manhattan somewhere & looking at the keyboard player & it was like he’d sold his soul.  It was like he’d made a deal with the devil & he still wasn’t very good!

Links:

https://youtu.be/61gn_W90-7E

https://youtu.be/3gu3XT5bT8k

https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/danny-mayer-discusses-his-many-evolving-projects-including-dmt-on-the-spot-more/