Share your Fieldwork
The primary aim of Outreach Ethnomusicology is to share fieldwork research. Below is a list of items that are included for view by members of the community.
Some of these articles are official documents of research which have been submitted to university departments, so they are set "not viewable" by the public, only registered members of outreach can view them. But, we welcome all sorts of articles within the interests of ethnomusicology, so please get in touch on outreachethnomusicology@gmail.com if you think you would like to contribute.
When we receive documents, we usually will have a full read through, and then reply with a formatted version for the internet, ready to publish. How much exposure or access you want for your work will depend on your own needs, and we will publish or unpublish anything upon request.
Thank you,
Patrick
Music and Recreational Drugs
My research was conducted in Limerick. I interviewed a friend of mine who
is not an Irishman, but he has lived in Ireland for many years and most of his friends
are Irish. I also went myself to such gigs in which I saw many differences from the
Athens trend of the 1990’s. I cannot give the real name of the interviewee, as he did
not wish me to.
Excerpt from John’s account5 (2007)
L: How often do you go to parties and clubs?
J: I work, you see, so let’s say I go in the club every Friday and Saturday; and after, there is always
some party around. Usually, there are parties every week.
L: Do you go to these parties because you know that you can find drugs there?
J: Oh yes! Definitely! Last Friday, I went out and then my friend called me and said that there was a
party in the country. I wanted to go and so I went. There were about 30 people there, no more. I knew
some of them. The music was loud when I entered the house; really loud! The tunes were bangin! I
took an E, which as you know it’s not an E… I don’t know what b……. they sale here. When I was in
Manchester, things were different. You could definitely get pure MDMA. The E that dealers give here
just keeps you awake for more hours. Maybe I have already some kind of tolerance in the drug, so
maybe I say b……… again. (he laughed)
L: Why do you take them?
J: Why? Because I enjoy it and I have some kind of control. I do it since I was 17!I’m 33 now.
L: Doesn’t it harm you?
J: Sure it does! Like alcohol and this fag, I smoke at the moment. But for me, Labrini, it is an escape. I
want to walk away from my problems for a while. I’m very stressed with my job, I haven’t seen my
4 That is not his real name, as we agreed that he would remain anonymous in the interviews.
5 I will use the capital letter L instead of my name and J instead of John for abbreviation. This is a translation of the interview.
family for some time. I find this extremely healing for me; coming is such parties, listening to this
music, taking drugs… It’s nice !It’s cool!
L: What do you like about the music?
J: I like the rhythm… The repetition, you know what I mean? You can feel your whole body vibrating;
you feel the chest vibrating from the bass. It’s some kind of spiritual escape.
L: What do you mean by “ spiritual escape”?
J: You know, everybody comes in the parties to take drugs and dance to this music while they are on
drugs. They want to feel the vibe, how can I say it? They want to forget…The whole thing seems to
cure them.
L: Do you really believe that it cures them?
J: I certainly do! It has cured me many times. I forget everything if I’m under the “spell” of the music
and drugs.
L: John, do you think that this music is a drug by itself ?
J: Ah, that’s not something easy to answer. I do not know. I suppose it is… I have never listened to it
without taking drugs. I think it is though. It has great power!
