Sad to see anyone deep-end it like Syd did. Acid doesn't help when you're probably going schizo anyway.
Though what he's saying about past criticisms of your artwork affecting (involuntarily) your current work is a major "issue" for all arts. A past teacher of mine wrote a book on that very subject, in regard to improvisational playing.
I kinda felt like the interviewer totally missed what Syd was saying, but then by 6:30 it seems Syd just spaced the hell out. I wonder where he went.
As I understand it, the problem was his entourage. He was worried about taking too many psychedelics because of his family history of schizophrenia, but the fans who walked freely about his house spiked every foodstuff with LSD, so an English breakfast would be equivalent to 50 hits or so. This constant OD tipped his mental scales.
Most people could handle that, he couldn't. Dave and Rog forever after felt responsible for not watching over him more closely, but it was the 60s and spiking everything around you with acid seemed like a great idea.
"Most people could handle that" uhhhhh I am not so sure that is a true statement, especially in regard to 50 hits. I realize this is an exaggeration, but still... acid is pretty powerful stuff. The most I did was 3 hits at one time. I was pretty sure I was this close to losing my mind. I had friends who would do up to 5 or so, and they would bug the fuck out. One girl we knew did 12 or 14 one night. Of course she had to work her way up to that. It had a serious adverse affect on a relatively normal person. Last time I heard about her she was playing flute in some traveling hippie circus from Nevada or something. No shit.
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