SHROOM RAVE + MYCELLIUM MUSIC

Finally, a chance for catharsis

Sup shroom sluts!

I did something beautiful on the full moon eclipse last week.

Only a small circle of witches were there to see it.

The idea for a SHROOM RAVE had been fermenting in the muddy swamps of my mind for a minute, and eventually a concept sprouted: a psychedelic trance party in a spooky grove of cedar trees, dancing to mourn all that we have lost in this pandemic. Rave as death ritual—a ritual for release. For too long this sadness has been stagnant in our bodies, so under the full moon, finally, a chance for catharsis.

I was afraid. It felt like the window for renegade parties was closing. After a dystopian punk rave by the LA River, cops have been on high alert—patrolling all the good outdoor spots, ambushing queer ravers with helicopters, even gasing teens at a viral TikTok beach party recently. The LAPD is wilding out, post-Floyd fragility on full display—and this time they don’t even have COVID or protests as an excuse for bullshit military tactics.

Then the night before the eclipse I got super stoned and gazed at the blooming moon. I wasn’t ready for a bacchanalian summer yet; the social whiplash was disorienting, and performative fun doesn’t function when the body still holds so much grief. (I wrote about this in an essay called Grief is An Extended Release—probably the most painful thing I’ve written in years.)

I imagined dancing ecstatically in the forest under the moonlight and knew that this was the medicine.

I just needed to do it.

So when I woke up that morning I tossed a prayer into the sky and conjured a party out of thin air. First I called upon Paige Emery, an artist whose praxis is centered around ritual and plants. Then I manically scoured for a generator and DJ equipment, and wound up at a birthday picnic full of Asian queers and femmes, where someone gave me a bag of orange blossom shroom chocs stamped with a geisha—a good omen.

I texted the invite to a handful of friends: no squares no straights no social media, invite-only please.

At twilight we hiked up a long dark path through the hushed park, lugging a speaker into the grove where people were already gathering. Followers from Instagram showed up with a disco ball. Someone else brought candles. We watched the eclipse to swirling synthy ambient music as the shrooms kicked in. The moon was orange and chaotic.

Then we bowed over the candles and Paige led a ritual, sprinkling wildflower seeds into our hands to bury in the damp soil. I exhaled from my belly and neon mandalas flickered against my closed eyelids. Shrooms bring us so close to death, close enough to understand that death is a chance for rebirth and the scattering of karmic seeds.

At last the dolls and the queers and the queens showed up. Under the spidery trellises we danced to ecstatic elf techno, moving instinctually in the dark. Coats flashing silver under the moonlight, dark silhouettes roaming among the trees. The music grew darker and harder. “Ugh this is so intense, I feel like I’m at Berghain,” whined a queer. “Can you play AceMoma?” I smirked and turned the volume up louder. A psytrance shroom rave in an LA forest under a full moon eclipse—this was some low-key iconic shit.

At midnight we scrambled back down the mountain, sliding down the steep sandy slopes with the speaker held aloft. Two Eastern European ravers were just entering the gates: “We heard there is a rave?” they asked. Too late, but we’d closed the ritual in the knick of time—just then, the red sirens of two cop cars flashed by us, heading towards our rave spot. We quickly slid into our cars and sped off.

Perfect getaway to a cosmic night, just as the rave gods fated.

---

MY PSYCHEDELIC RADIO SHOW IS TODAY @ 12PM PST — ON VANS66!

Dublab asked me to host their monthly show on Vans66—Vans’ new radio channel that’s actually pretty sick (its like they’re trying to be the new Red Bull or something…). My two-hour program will be on psychedelic party culture and mushroom music, and I’m extremely stoked to also feature a live set and interview with MatthewDavid, head honcho of Leaving Records.

I first met Matthew at Leaving Records’ outdoor concert series, “Listen to Music Outside in the Daylight Under a Tree,” in Highland Park. The event embodied LA’s psychedelic music culture at its most vibey—I remember pulling up to the park one afternoon to a jazzy live set by Flying Lotus and his band, as clusters of cute queers in cozy knitwear and young families with little kids sat on picnic blankets sipping (shroom?) teas among the trees. It was very wholesome—and very psychedelic. I remember thinking: forget the warehouses, this is what LA is really giving.

I will be chatting with Matthew about curating trippy music spaces, making music for plants and mushrooms, as well as his upcoming album Mycelium Music.

I’m also super interested in diving into the history/culture of psychedelic raves, starting with The Loft in New York, and spanning contemporary parties like No Way Back and Octo Octa and Eris Drew's T4T LUV NRG. It’s gonna be a banger!

You can tune into Vans66 HERE at 12pm PST, and we’re also gonna stream it on Dublab’s IG (I think). If you miss it—no sweat. I’ll share the highlights in this newsletter another time <3