Andy Frasco - Finding Balance with Psychedelics and other Substances as a Touring Musician

In today's episode, Joe sits down with Andy Frasco, a touring rock musician with the band, Andy Frasco and the UN. In the show, they cover what is it like to be a touring rock musician with drugs so available and how to live more healthfully in the space.

3 Key Points:

1. Andy Frasco is a talented, touring music artist a part of the band, Andy Frasco and the UN, as well as a podcast show host. Andy uses psychedelics to help cope with the anxiety that the rock star lifestyle brings.
2. Psychedelics open us up to the possibility that everything we know is wrong. Finding truth and clarity for some people is hard, and people resort to alcohol and other harmful behaviors to suppress the painful reality we live in.
3. Cocaine and uppers only keep a rock star up for so long. It keeps you awake for the partying, but it suppresses all the stresses of the lifestyle. Psychedelics and meditation can help with the balance needed in a stressful, lifestyle of traveling and fame.

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Navigating Psychedelics

Show Notes Intro

• Joe attended a bunch of his live shows and was able to catch up with Andy in his hotel room while he was in town
• Life is tough for a traveling entertainer, so the healthier they are, the better they are to perform for their audience
• Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast

Micro-dosing

• Microdosing is typically 6 weeks on, two weeks off, dosing every 3 days
• 1/10-3/10ths of a gram (of mushrooms) is the typical microdose
  • Once you feel it, it's more of a macro-dose
• Paul Stamets has made mushrooms popular

Mushroom Evolution

• Mushrooms did not leave a mark on bone structure, so it's hard to tell if they actually made a difference in human evolution
  • Drugs have been around for a long time, and people in the past have definitely used them
• There are studies of mushrooms helping to grow nerve cells and brain neurons back
• We are only 50-100 years in on science
  "(Psychedelics) open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong." -Terence McKenna
• Joe says he's been to a therapist a bunch of times, and he says he has enjoyed it
  • Joe's main form of therapy has been Breathwork
  • His most intense experiences have been just as powerful as his Ayahuasca experience

About Andy

• Andy says he is open about taking psychedelics, he takes mushrooms, he doesn't really use cocaine
  • He says he feels more anxious when he isn't taking them than when he is
  • He says he gets really anxious on weed now as he gets older
• Psychedelics show us a lot of truths
• "We are all trying to figure out life, it's hard. Psychedelics help us create a better relationship with our mind." - Andy
• Andy says he has been anxious his whole life
  • He has had very scary panic attacks
  • He became addicted to sex as a crutch for his anxiety
  • He woke up one day, and sex didn't give him the thrill anymore
  • Andy started in the music industry because rock stars get the chicks
• Teen years are just about being super insecure about everything
  • Shame is a huge influence on our relationships with other people
• "The majority of effects from drug use for people are good." - a quote from Carl Hart, a Psychology Professor who studies drug use
• Andy's first psychedelic experience was an 8th of mushrooms at 18 years old

Rock Star Lifestyle

• Andy says he used to be really into coke because he just had to stay up for the shows
  • But he says he doesn't take anything anymore that feels like speed
  • He was coping his exhaustion with drugs and alcohol
• "When you're in a band you're the party for one day of the year in that city." - Andy
  • Life for a rock star can't just be the 2 hour show, the trick is figuring out how to be mindful for the other 14 hours of the day after the party
  • The lifestyle is really hard, its very common to use drugs, sex and alcohol to suppress it
  • Humans were not designed for this
• Andy has begun using transcendental meditation to help with this lifestyle
• He also mentions having his first DMT experience recently

Links

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About Andy Frasco

Andy Frasco, a Los Angeles, CA native singer, songwriter, band maestro, entrepreneur, party starter and everyday hustler, tours with his band, "The U.N." The music has elements of Soul, Funk, Rock and Roots and the shows have been described as orchestrated chaos, an overall great time. Frasco average 200+ dates a year, touring the country dozens of times, creating a loyal following everywhere he goes.