Joe Rogan Experience #1435 - Suzanne Santo & Gary Clark Jr.
Suzanne Santo (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Gary Clark Jr. (guest), Suzanne Santo (guest), Gary Clark Jr. (guest), Gary Clark Jr. (guest), Narrator, Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Narrator, Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest), Suzanne Santo (guest), Unknown additional guest (friend/companion) (guest)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Suzanne Santo and Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan Experience #1435 - Suzanne Santo & Gary Clark Jr. explores joe Rogan, Musicians Explore Creativity, Culture, Psychedelics, and Humanity Joe Rogan hosts musicians Suzanne Santo and Gary Clark Jr. for a loose, four‑hour conversation that weaves between live performance, music craft, creativity, and the strangeness of modern life.
Joe Rogan, Musicians Explore Creativity, Culture, Psychedelics, and Humanity
Joe Rogan hosts musicians Suzanne Santo and Gary Clark Jr. for a loose, four‑hour conversation that weaves between live performance, music craft, creativity, and the strangeness of modern life.
They open with an in‑studio performance of Santo’s song “Bad Beast,” then discuss collaboration, artistic ‘vibe’ versus formal training, and how unique guitar voices like Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Clark himself emerge.
The trio ranges widely into topics like downtown LA’s decay, Tarantino’s ultra‑violence, addiction and gambling, fitness and mental health, psychedelics and the ‘stoned ape’ theory, sleep tech, and whether reality is a simulation.
Threaded throughout is a recurring theme: humans are deeply flawed but fundamentally the same, and love, community, and honest self‑reflection are the only real antidotes to fear, confusion, and societal breakdown.
Key Takeaways
Creative ‘vibe’ matters as much as technical mastery.
Santo and Clark repeatedly contrast highly schooled musicianship with the ability to ‘listen,’ tune into others, and serve the collective feel of a performance. ...
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Treat ideas as something you must show up for.
Building on Steven Pressfield’s ‘War of Art’ and Dan Harmon’s ‘gingerbread man’ metaphor, they frame ideas as gifts or external ‘life forms’ that visit those who practice, focus, and keep their creative muscles active—rather than waiting passively for inspiration.
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Physical exercise is a powerful antidepressant.
Rogan and Santo emphasize that regular movement—whether yoga, jiu‑jitsu, circuit training, or even burpees at home—dramatically improves mood and resilience. ...
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We misunderstand addiction and destructive habits.
Stories about gamblers, smokers, and drinkers show that these behaviors operate like self‑administered drugs, not just ‘weakness. ...
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The music industry’s economics have shifted; independence is grueling but viable.
Santo describes self‑releasing music, funding tours, and learning the business side (PR, streaming splits, copyright vs. ...
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Psychedelics and brain tech may be powerful, but they’re not trivial.
The group discusses microdosing to ease post‑tour depression, McKenna’s ‘stoned ape’ theory, and Santo’s experience with a neuro‑feedback sleep technology (Cereset) that finally resolved her decade‑long insomnia. ...
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Our biggest societal deficits are community and honest compassion.
They return again and again to loneliness, homelessness, political tribalism, and welfare stigma. ...
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Notable Quotes
“Guitar riffs change lives, man.”
— Joe Rogan
“Sometimes people are so consumed with giving what they know that they’re not taking the time to sit back and listen to that beautiful inspiration that comes out of nowhere.”
— Gary Clark Jr.
“I started practicing every day because I was afraid of sucking. Now I practice because I really just want to play.”
— Suzanne Santo
“We’re so different than every other thing on this rock. We make music. We can send video through the sky. Everything else is just eating and mating.”
— Joe Rogan
“At the end of the day, the thing that saves me from the deep depths of fear is love. We all need it, we all want it, and we all deserve it.”
— Suzanne Santo
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much of great art is discipline and craft versus something mysterious and ‘channeled’ that artists just try to catch?
Joe Rogan hosts musicians Suzanne Santo and Gary Clark Jr. ...
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What might a healthier, less exploitative music industry look like in practice—for both indie artists and labels?
They open with an in‑studio performance of Santo’s song “Bad Beast,” then discuss collaboration, artistic ‘vibe’ versus formal training, and how unique guitar voices like Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Clark himself emerge.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
If psychedelics and neuro‑feedback can profoundly shift mood and sleep, how should society responsibly integrate them without repeating the mistakes of past drug panics?
The trio ranges widely into topics like downtown LA’s decay, Tarantino’s ultra‑violence, addiction and gambling, fitness and mental health, psychedelics and the ‘stoned ape’ theory, sleep tech, and whether reality is a simulation.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
To what extent can virtual reality ever truly replicate the energy and connection of a live concert or comedy show?
Threaded throughout is a recurring theme: humans are deeply flawed but fundamentally the same, and love, community, and honest self‑reflection are the only real antidotes to fear, confusion, and societal breakdown.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What practical steps can individuals take to build real community and compassion in their own neighborhoods, beyond political labels and online outrage?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
(laughs)
Hello, everybody. (laughs)
That was so natural. (laughs)
(laughs) That's how we do it here on a Monday afternoon. (laughs)
(laughs)
What the fuck has happened? Thank you guys for being here. I'm very excited.
Pleasure.
Thanks for having us. I was, I was looking forward to this one- Me too. ... for like, oh, man, for so ... This is a, an intense one. I'm very excited. (laughs) Giant fans of both of you and I'm glad we could do this.
Same.
Likewise. Likewise.
What? Uh ...
(laughs) It's so much. (laughs)
Um, so you guys wanna start with a song?
Yeah.
Let's start with a song.
We'll start with a song.
Okay, Bad Beast?
Bad Beast. Yeah.
I love this song.
Sure.
All right. Okay. This is the first time we've, like, done this together, so ...
Holy shit.
Yeah. Look out, folks. (laughs)
(laughs)
(laughs)
I'm so scared. (laughs)
(laughs) No, we're good. We're good.
(sighs)
All right. You ready?
(clears throat)
All right. (guitar music) Give you an inch and you go for miles. Dragging me behind you like I'm your child. Kicking and screaming, stuck on your leash. The cat with the cream just licking his teeth. Goddamn. There's a bad beast living in me. Chaining me up and setting me free. So he can do it over and over again and keep me down low. Damned if I give in and damned if I don't. Well, to hell with it then, yeah. Yeah. Ah, to hell with it then. Yeah, I tried to rise above. I tried playing dead. Even tried calling up that ghost in my bed. He just laughed and couldn't catch his breath. Said he wasn't no match for that angel of death. Goddamn. There's a bad beast living in me. Chaining me up and setting me free. So he can do it over and over again and keep me down low. Damned if I give in and damned if I don't. Well, to hell with it then. Yeah. Ah, to hell with it then. Yeah. Here we go. (guitar music) They shall bury me one day, on Sunday. Mama, won't you pray for me? They shall bury me one day, on Sunday. Mama, won't you pray for me? They shall bury me one day, on Sunday. Mama, won't you pray for me? (guitar music) Ooh. I don't think that I'm weak. I don't think I'm unfit. I don't think I've even seen the thick of this shit. So I'll roll with the dirt while he's bulldozing me. It'll hurt like a hearse carrying my grief. Goddamn. There's a bad beast living in me. Chaining me up and setting me free. So he can do it over and over again and keep me down low. Damned if I give in and damned if I don't. Well, to hell with it then. Yeah. Ah, to hell with it then. Yeah. (laughs) That was so dumb. That was so cool. (clapping)
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