Dango Rose

Today, Daniel chats with Dango Rose! Dango’s a founding member, upright bassist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in the now-disbanded Elephant Revival. A longtime resident of Nederland, Colorado, Rose is deeply inspired by the natural beauty of his surroundings, and is an ardent environmentalist. 

Dango’s psychonautic journey began as a teen, exploring the Illinois wilderness & playing music with friends.  

The guys probe into the nature of the meditative repetition of rhythm instruments and the role of psychedelics in Dango’s creative process.

Dango promotes the meditation co-op known as Light Club (link below) and reveals how it substantially deepened his musical meditative practice.

Daniel expands upon his tale of getting booted from a Ratdog show, sharing the revelation that “not getting into the show IS the show!”

The guys recall some insanely entertaining back-in-the-day hitchhiking experiences, including the time Daniel gave a lift to a wanted felon. 

Discussed is the music/arts industry’s corrosive effect on the artists themselves and the parallel with the effects that our perpetually extracting, dominating culture is having on the Earth’s ecosystems. 

Quotes:

Dango: I got my start experimenting with mushrooms & LSD & going to the forest. There I heard music in EVERYTHING, which was a prime realization.  I heard music in small creek beds, the trains, trees, birds, and it all came together as a cacophonous symphony.

Daniel: (on present societal turmoils) Don’t mind the times—mind the eternities!

Dango: (on a ideal vision of the music industry) So many venues are closing…I think it comes down to communities supporting their local artists more, having more support systems set up. Canada for example, seems to have more support for it’s artists. In the US it’s like only the top five percent of musicians can even make a living.

Daniel: It’s like your burnout (as a long-time traveling musician) is not dissimilar to the ecological burnout—that the entire system is designed to EXTRACT. On one hand, people are receiving the joy, ecstasy & connection from music—but, at what cost? 

Dango: Music is so powerful! It’s healing, it’s medicine. It’s like the integration of psychedelics…how do we get back to the source of it all, that music is medicine & celebration

Daniel: (on the only benefit of the socially-distanced concert experience) I don’t hafta worry about hitting a small girl with my arms as I flail around 😂

Dango: The qualities of an empowered artist are belief and being able to recognize yourself for the uniqueness that you bring, finding what that is, accentuating the positive and finding the joy & meaningfulness in collaboration.