The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1579 - Suzanne Santo & Gary Clark Jr.
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Psychedelics, live music, and rebuilding life in pandemic-era Austin
- Joe Rogan sits down with musician Suzanne Santo and guitarist Gary Clark Jr. for a sprawling conversation that jumps from psychedelic experiences and spirituality to live performance, parenting, COVID, and moving from Los Angeles to Austin.
- Suzanne shares recent LSD trips used for deep emotional healing, discussions about energy, grief, and ‘sacred pain,’ while Joe connects these to broader ideas about altered states, dimensions, and how psychedelics may reveal hidden aspects of reality.
- Gary reflects on the power of live music, his COVID experience, time at home with family, and diving back into practicing guitar, while all three talk candidly about how the pandemic has forced them to reassess work, touring, and what “home” should be.
- They also cover social media addiction, fame, narcissism, relationships, pets, moving to Texas, physical health habits (yoga, stretching, cryotherapy), and close with Suzanne performing two songs live in the studio.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasUse psychedelics with clear intentions to process trauma, not just to party.
Suzanne describes using LSD in Joshua Tree to consciously work through grief and deep personal pain with a close friend, contrasting it with a purely recreational trip; the intention shaped the depth and usefulness of the experience.
Choose carefully who you take psychedelics with and where.
They stress that set and setting matter: tripping with unstable or very dark people, or in chaotic environments, can greatly increase the risk of a bad trip or psychological overload.
Live music and shared experiences are powerful altered states in themselves.
Joe and Gary describe how a great show can transport both performers and audience to a unique mental and emotional space, offering catharsis and connection many people have been starved of during lockdowns.
The pandemic can be used as a forced reset to reevaluate priorities.
All three talk about losing touring income but gaining time: for Gary, to see his kids grow; for Suzanne, to confront emotional issues and deepen musicianship; for Joe, to reassess where he wants to live and work.
Social media often amplifies mild mental illness and unprocessed anger.
Joe argues that constant online arguing, obsession with tweets, and performative outrage are akin to other compulsive behaviors, worsened by isolation and the lack of real-life human contact during the pandemic.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesWhen you have these altered states of consciousness, it seems more real than regular life. You come back and go, ‘Wait a minute, is this the bullshit?’
— Joe Rogan
There’s this space of sacred pain where we put it, where we had love for each other and were like, ‘I see you. I respect all your shit you’ve been through.’
— Suzanne Santo
At the end of the day, like, we all gotta live our lives. I envy people that have got [COVID] and kicked it and don’t worry about it now.
— Gary Clark Jr.
The more you take care of yourself, the harder it is to find a partner… but that’s also how you stop being basic.
— Suzanne Santo
We’re not individuals really. We are, but we’re really a part of this gigantic superorganism known as the human race.
— Joe Rogan
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