The Shortlist: Auntie Flo | whynow
Published by whynow.co.uk, April 2022
In July 1971, against a backdrop of a billowing counterculture movement, baby boomers with a proclivity for psychedelic experimentation, and bombs being dropped in the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse in the United States ‘public enemy number one’.
It was as much a political reaction to growing unease surrounding the liberation of younger generations as it was a direct response to the rise of heroin addiction figures, but it marked the beginning of the country’s infamous and ongoing war on drugs. And in the process, abruptly halted the first wave of research into the potential benefits of psychedelics.
Over the course of previous decades, thousands of government-backed studies were beginning to carve into the possibilities of using hallucinogens to treat a wide variety of disorders, but they were all stopped in their tracks, bringing an end to the legal exploration of the drugs.
It remained that way for 40 years, but we’re now riding a second wave of research into psychedelic psychotherapy. Drugs including MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine and LSD are all being studied for their potentially restorative properties, especially in relation to conditions such as depression, chronic pain and anorexia.
Trials suggest that psychedelics can alter perceptions of external stimuli, which in turn can challenge our intricately formed ideas of physical and mental self; in a sense, rewiring neural pathways so we’re able to think and perceive in different ways. That probably comes as no surprise to anyone who’s dabbled with acid, but scientific evidence means that psychedelics are à la mode beyond dance floors, and this time positive results mean they’re more likely to stick around.
The Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London is pioneering many of these studies, and recently contacted musician, producer and DJ Brian d’Souza, otherwise known as Auntie Flo, with a collaboration request. “They’ve put together a panel of four DJs,” he explains. “And they wanted us to curate a playlist that can be used as part of a psilocybin experience for people with chronic pain.”
It’s a six-hour experiment in which patients are given high doses of the drug, soundtracked by the playlist, while their undulating responses are carefully studied. “In this particular case, the trial is for fibromyalgia sufferers,” he adds. “They’ve lived with their conditions for a long time, gone through different rounds of unsuccessful treatment, and now come to this point. It’s an interesting challenge to be able to help.”
This particular study is due to take place in the coming weeks, but other trials have proven promising. “All the research that was done in the ‘60s was very academic and got really positive results,” d’Souza says. “The issue was that LSD became the drug of the decade and that resulted in a lot of unease within the government and the mainstream.
“There was a big fear campaign and that wiped out the whole field of research, but the reason it reappeared again is because it was really helping people. Patients haven’t shown signs of addiction or had long-term adverse affects, so it becomes easier to get permissions to study it. It looks like it’s here to stay.”
Indeed, researchers have already shown that in development as an anti-depressive treatment, psilocybin changes the emotions of people listening to music, proving that enhanced emotional processing may be one of the outcomes of combining the drug with carefully selected tunes.
This kind of stuff absolutely fascinates d’Souza’s prismatic mind, and it’s why he dedicates a huge proportion of his time to unravelling the intricate connections between mind, body, soul and music. “Everything is a quest to understand the power of music,” he explains in his soft Scottish lilt.
“But that means I get into something, really try to understand it and then move onto something else. I get lost on tangents that lead to other discoveries and that opens up yet more new worlds or planets! The challenge is that often I don’t shut the door on those worlds. They all still exist.”
Nevertheless, he seems to deftly balance all those open portals, working on multiple projects at once. Post-pandemic he’s back out at clubs performing as Auntie Flo, and relishing a return to the dance floor. “Dance music lost a lot of its meaning for me but coming back has been great,” he says. “I did barely any streams in lockdown because you need an audience. People give you as much as you’re giving them.”
That’s not to say he lost his creative spark entirely though, because during those first few barren months, as Covid-19 swept across the world, he set up Ambient Flo, a subscriber-backed radio station playing fluid tunes and birdsong 24/7.
Fellow psychedelia enthusiast Eris Drew curated the playlist last month and other guest curators are planned, but usually he’s pulling together a selection of at least 300 tracks to play on monthly rotation, a task that’s been both a curse and a blessing. “It can sometimes be a bit of a stress, which is obviously the opposite of what it should be,” he laughs. “But we’re getting amazing submissions. I’ve been really pleasantly surprised. We’re building an amazing international community so it’s getting easier each month as we get content from them.”
This frees up time to concentrate on other passions like the creation of The Soniferous Forest, a sensory exploration into the power of sound that’s taking place in the Immersive Room at Browns Fashion on Brook St in London. Exhibiting until 25 April and described by d’Souza as a form of sonic exploration, it’s been designed to directly oppose our increasing propensity for passive listening.
“The idea was to get people to listen actively,” he explains. “Ninety-five percent of the time listening to music is used to support another activity like cooking or driving or socialising, so this is more intentional. It’s a safe space for someone to step into, to put headphones on and do nothing but listen for 15 minutes.”
To compose the piece, d’Souza borrowed from theories and practices he learned while training as a Sound Therapist. “In Sound Therapy, you are using techniques to reduce the heart rate and number of brain waves,” he explains. “And once the listener is in that slowed down, more relaxed state, you can use a wide, harmonic sound spectrum with lots of overtones and frequencies, which if it works as it’s supposed to, should take you on a journey through consciousness.”
The idea is to bombard the brain with non-repeating rhythms and melodies so that it’s unable to identify structure. Consequently, it shuts off, falling into a deeply meditative state. “If you listen to birdsong there’s no pattern to it,” he adds. “So this composition was about trying to emulate how sounds manifest in nature.”
Somewhat like the derision of psychedelics before research, holistic therapies are often reduced as pointless wellness trends made popular by Insta-famous, Lululemon wrapped yogis who drink matcha lattes while bouncing a bonny-faced baby on one hip. But Sound Therapy has been proven to lower cortisol levels and heart rate and to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, stimulating essential bodily functions when our bodies are at rest.
“A lot of these treatments just have the intention of giving people space,” d’Souza muses. “And the interesting thing is that music can resonate with people who aren’t into typically more spiritual stuff. So there’s an opportunity for them to benefit from it when perhaps they are put off by a guided meditation or similar.”
d’Souza is further exploring this link between sound and wellbeing with another new venture, Swell. The apex of all his music-related endeavours, it’s an app that creates bespoke compositions, field recordings and natural soundscapes for spas and wellness centres, with the aim of providing easy access to therapeutic listening practices. “It’s about creating a paradigm shift by saying that if you take time to just consciously listen, you can feel the benefits,” he adds.
More than 50 years has passed since Nixon spun his world-defining statement on drugs, but there are some strange parallels between then and now: a restless society; an unwanted war; and a jaded sense of not being able to escape history or the confines of our own minds. But thankfully the potential to unlock the caverns of our brains and bodies, whether it’s through psychedelics, holistic therapies or shared experiences, is still vastly unexplored; endless possibilities await tantalisingly on the horizon.
“I think what drives my interest in all this stuff is how music affects the brain and the body,” d’Souza says. “I always thought it was really interesting that music was this phenomena that mankind created that activates all the different parts of your brain. It’s so complex because it’s doing so many different things to different people at the same time.” It’s just one of the many tools available to us providing space to probe beyond physical and mental borders. “There’s always more to discover,” he concludes. “It’s a lifelong pursuit.”
