Mushrooms and music: The exploration of psychedelic gigs
At East Forest’s ceremonial concerts, listeners are given the space to lie down on mats to take in the music. You could be looking at a yoga class; a dimly lit room filled with bodies sprawled savasana-style, aromatherapy oils wafting in the air.
It certainly doesn’t sound like a typical music gig.
The US electro-acoustic artist has long been pairing music with psychedelics, leading his first small magic mushroom ceremonies more than 15 years ago. While the use of drugs at his shows is not actively encouraged – in most places around the world this would be illegal – those who enjoy his work are aware they might experience the night differently should they choose to partake beforehand.
This fusion of music and psychedelics is not new, with scientific studies on the combined effects dating back to the 1950s and ’60s – and high-profile artists throughout time, from The Beatles to Miley Cyrus, having spoken about their use of mind-altering substances.
But the therapeutic benefits, rather than the hedonistic element, is something a growing number of artists and DJs have started exploring in recent years.
At the same time, more and more scientists – and even Prince Harry – are arguing the physical and mental health benefits, and laws in some countries are relaxing; Australia became the first country to legalise medical psychedelics earlier this year, Oregon and some US cities have done the same, and there are MPs in the UK also calling for reclassification.
For East Forest, whose real name is Trevor Oswalt, his shows and music are a chance to “give people more openings and options, to say, maybe you can be a little more vulnerable or you can go a little deeper”, whether they have taken anything beforehand or not.
US artist East Forest. Pic: George Evan
“I want it to feel inclusive… It’s not like we’re pushing in one direction or another and whatever entry point you come into it, it should work for you. If you want it to just be a concert, you sit or stand like any concert – great. And if you want to go a little deeper, that doorway is there for you, too.”
He adds: “For many people we see, they don’t do that at all and they have their own equally powerful experience.”
Magic mushrooms are currently a Class A drug in the UK, with the maximum penalty for possession being up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. The maximum penalty for supply or production is life in prison.
Some experts say more research is needed into the benefits of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms. The NHS lists it among the drugs that can potentially trigger psychotic episodes, while anti-drug advisory service FRANK warns of the risks of losing “complete control” and that a “bad trip” can potentially make mental health problems worse.
In October, a US court heard that an off-duty pilot who allegedly tried to shut down a plane’s engines during a flight told police after his arrest he had taken psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.
Pic: Cdigi
But many studies have shown it can have a positive impact on those with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, anorexia and alcohol abuse. Other studies have shown that psilocybin can affect the way the brain reacts to music, enhancing the emotional response.
Oswalt has just released his latest album, Music For The Deck Of The Titanic, which follows previous works including Music For Mushrooms, IN: A Soundtrack For The Psychedelic Practitioner Vol II, and a collaborative album with spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author Ram Dass. He is set to release a documentary, also titled Music For Mushrooms, in 2024.
He is not the only musician who believes in the power of psychedelics. Electronic star Jon Hopkins, who is also known for producing for acts including Coldplay and Brian Eno and has collaborated with East Forest, released the album Music For Psychedelic Therapy in 2021; his almost namesake the Johns Hopkins University has a centre dedicated to psychedelic and consciousness research in Baltimore, Maryland, and has put together one of several psychedelic therapy playlists on Spotify.
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Oswalt says legalisation is “inevitable” and “should happen – because no one should be in jail for a non-violent crime that involves a substance, especially one that’s naturally growing – potentially in your backyard”.
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Now, more thought needs to be put into access, he says. “Some have a lot more support… anything from having the resources to go to another country or see therapists or [pay] thousands of dollars for [legal treatment] centres. What about the people who don’t?
“My interest is in people having positive, safe experiences and I really believe that music is one of the most effective ways to help and guide people and democratise that. Because I can put a five-hour album called Music For Mushrooms on Spotify and it’s out there and people are going to it, just because of a title, they might decide to use that on a journey.”
However, he is aware psychedelics may not work for everyone. “It can be traumatic. These substances are not a panacea to solve any problem. It’s a tool. And it can also cause harm. And so I’m sort of a harm-reduction approach by bringing a tool like music into that space.”
At his shows, his partner, Marisa Radha Weppner, a trained psychedelic therapist in the US, plays a part in the experience to make it “more four-dimensional and immersive”, spraying scents and adding to the soundscape with bells and shakers. But she is also there to offer support if needed. “And maybe we have people in the room who are kind of like sitters, like psychedelic air marshals,” says Oswalt. “They’re kind of quiet, not obvious, but they’re there.”
But problems are extremely rare, he says, and heavy drinking is more likely to lead to difficulties at music gigs.
Plus, he points out, people are taking drugs of all kinds at gigs, festivals and on nights out all the time. “It’s not like this is unusual, right? I think the difference is we’re giving more care and support.”
“AI has changed my life, absolutely,” Lucas Horne tells Sky News. “When I play my music, I’m happy because the words I know mean a lot to me can now be heard by everyone else.”
Lucas was 17 when, in December 2016, with no warning, he suffered a large, traumatic bleed across his brain.
He didn’t wake up until almost four months later.
Unknowingly, he had been living with a defect in the blood vessels known as an AVM (arteriovenous malformation), a ticking time bomb which had ruptured, and the next three years of his life were spent in recovery in a care home.
Lucas spent almost four months in a coma after suffering a brain bleed in 2016. Pic: Fanvue World AI Creator Awards
He couldn’t walk and struggled to talk. Writing down his thoughts, almost like a diary, was something he says he wanted to do from very early on.
“During my care home days when I couldn’t really express myself very well – I still can’t – but I could write about it, it was an outlet for me,” he says. “Since I woke up, I’ve been writing… but for a long time I couldn’t record anything.”
Lucas, now 26, has spent years working on his physical recovery and speech. But when he was eventually physically able to record the songs he had been writing himself, he became frustrated by the way his voice had changed.
“It never sounded how I had [it in] my head,” he says. “I’m very monotone in how I speak, I struggle to really display emotion.”
And so he turned to AI (artificial intelligence). Now, Lucas is also known as The BTO Kid, and is one of 15 creators from around the world, shortlisted from more than 500 entries, for the inaugural Future Sound Awards – celebrating artificial intelligence in music.
DJ David Guetta is among the big-name artists who have embraced AI. Pic: Christoph Reichwein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP July 2025
While some artists such as will.i.am, David Guetta, Grimes, Timbaland and even Sir Paul McCartney have embraced certain aspects of AI, it can be a controversial subject in the creative industries – with concerns raised by many in the about issues including copyright, human replacement, fakes, and regulation.
It was one of the issues behind the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes in 2023 – and the more recent video game actor strike, which ended in June after nearly a year of industrial action.
Despite the criticism, AI isn’t going away. Last year was a “breakout” year for the technology in music, according to the International Music Summit’s latest annual business report, with 60m users using AI software.
Lucas says he is a perfect example of how the technology can be used for good.
“I’ve been able to use AI to express how I’m feeling,” he says. “It’s been big for me to create [music] that I’m proud of. I can see the arguments [against it], but from my view I know AI helped me create something I couldn’t before. I’m not Adele, but I have been able to make something that I’m proud of and that expresses my view point of what’s happened to me.”
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‘AI is lowering the barriers’
BTO stands for Beat The Odds and his shortlisted track is titled AI Gave Me A Voice. “I pinch myself every day because this just can’t be true,” is the opening line – which he says reflects how far he has come from the moment he woke up and discovered what had happened.
“That comes from reality. I do have moments where I think so much has happened that it must not be true… every line means something to me.”
Lucas, who lives in Nottingham, used the AI-powered music production platform TwoShot to create the track, using prompts on what he wanted for the sound alongside his lyrics, inspired by melodic rap.
“I think we’re gonna get quite a lot more people like me that can’t record music and have been given a voice through AI,” he says. “AI is lowering the barriers to entry for a lot of things.” Which can be a negative as well as a positive, he acknowledges. “We’ll have to see where it goes.”
Gallis is among 15 music creators shortlisted for the Future Sound Awards. Pic: Fanvue World AI Creator Awards
Launched by the Fanvue World AI Creator Awards, The Future Sound Awards aim to highlight the ethical use of AI in music, organisers say. Fanvue is a subscription creator platform with more than 180,000 users.
Some 15 artists from the US, Europe, Australia and Asia, as well as the UK, have been shortlisted for prizes, and the winners will be announced later in September.
Lucas is one of two British creators on the list, alongside Gallis, from Essex. The 31-year-old first dipped his toe into the waters of the music industry about 10 years ago, after joining the urban-pop boy band Mr Meanor, but says the industry was hard and “it all got a bit too much”.
He is now a tattoo artist and fine painter, but continued his songwriting and started to try out AI music production tools about 18 months ago.
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AI has ‘made me more creative’
As an artist, he says he had his own concerns about AI before he started using it himself, particularly after image generators started becoming prominent online.
“It was stealing the work that I was doing,” is how he describes his initial feelings. “But I ended up jumping on board with it and for me personally, it’s inspired me so much. It’s made me quicker at what I’m doing, it’s made me more creative. And I think it’s the same with music. I think it’s gonna, if anything, grow the industry.”
However, he says he agrees with criticism about the ethics of how some AI models are trained – following controversy about work by human music artists and authors being used without consent. “And trying to impersonate exactly someone else and using someone else’s voice, I don’t agree with that at all,” he adds.
Gallis’s shortlisted song, Chiropractor emerged from “friendly competition” with a community of creators he came across when he moved into AI, trading feedback and ratings. The genre is Trinibad, which he says there isn’t enough of “in the AI world”, and the track is designed to get people dancing.
“I mainly stick to urban music, but I like writing in a lot of different styles,” he says. “I’ve done house songs, I’ve done UK drill songs, Afrobeats, amapiano. I’m a bit of a vibes man so if it makes me dance and move and smile that’s when I really enjoy it.”
Narcis Marincat, head of AI at Fanvue, says the stories behind the selected songs show a “richness and human emotion” that appealed to him and other judges.
“The impact of AI in music continues to divide opinion,” he says. “But for the first time, via the Future Sound Awards, we’re able to show a different perspective on the positive impact of AI in music – uncovering the real people behind the technology and sharing their stories and music.”
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