Scott Guberman

Today, Daniel speaks with keyboardist/vocalist Scott Guberman! Scott has become an outstandingly important member of the Bay Area music scene in between his shows with Phil Lesh, appearing most often at Terrapin Crossroads. In addition to this, Guberman can be found touring the national circuit joining up with just about every professional level Grateful Dead project out there. 

Scott recalls being obsessed with music since early childhood & shares deeply of his lifelong love for music & how esp. marijuana & LSD helped fuel his curiosity & creative process.

As a teen, Scott luckily had a cool mentor who hooked him up with weed & gave him a copy of the epic “The Psychedelic Experience” by Tim Leary & Ram Dass. This propelled him from his “MTV generation” paradigm into learning all about the psychedelic fueled counter-cultural revolutions of the 1960’s. This leads to his first time seeing the Dead, on acid of course, at Madison Square Garden in the late 80’s which Scott recalls with much excitement. 

Quotes:

Scott: As a teenager in the 80’s it was the height of the war on drugs & I became aware & interested in how even just marijuana can take you to a place where you can make music on a deeper, more meaningful, & overall way better level! I wondered ‘why are we putting people down & arresting them for this, this is crazy! This plant helps people to create art’!

Scott: I read “The Psychedelic Experience” by Dass & Leary three times before I processed the connection that the book about LSD & how to take it in the right way. It was like I found what I was looking for & couldn’t wait to try LSD to see what it does and how it’ll play a role in my mind to help really tap into music.

Scott: I sought out music that was drug oriented. I first found mostly British bands like Cream, The Moody Blues, and The Who. That’s what I’d hear mostly on local classic rock station, & I dug it, but when I found the Dead I was like ‘wow THAT’S what I need.

Scott: The creative ideas & the coloring of sound with them—I know I would NEVER gotten there without using LSD!!!

Scott: We need each other to do things to advance society.