Welcome to episode one of Set and Setting, Madison Margolin’s psychedelic-infused podcast! Hang with Madison and The Glitch Mob’s Justin Boreta as they explore the merging point of music, entheogens, meditation, & flow states.
The Be Here Now Network is proud to present a new series that focuses on the intersection of psychedelics and spirituality – Set & Setting. Your host, Madison Margolin, is a brilliant journalist and cofounder of DoubleBlind Mag, covering cannabis, psychedelics, and religion. Madison will be bringing in new and familiar faces from the psychedelic scene, like this week’s guest – Justin Boreta of The Glitch Mob & Superposition.
To learn more about Madison Margolin, head over to MadisonMargolin.com. To stay up to date with Boreta’s multitude offerings, please visit Boreta.net & Formless.World
Set, Setting, Satsang, & Superposition
In the premier episode of Set and Setting; before welcoming Justin Boreta (The Glitch Mob, Superposition) onto the show, Madison Margolin sets the stage, offering backstory into her psychedelic and spirituality steeped upbringing, outlining her family’s satsang connection to Ram Dass and his guru Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji) – of whom this Be Here Now podcast network is a blessing and a foundation. Sparking the interview, Madison and Boreta talk DoubleBlind Mag, Ram Dass, music, psychedelics, and meditation.
“In a normal psychedelic experience, maybe if something difficult starts to come up, it can overtake you. Then I would be able to take a deep breath, meditate within the trip, and think, ‘Oh wow, that’s really difficult, and now I’m just gonna come back to my breath here.’ Every time I would do that, the experience would unfold even more. It was almost like the mystical field would respond to this kind of gentle humility, focus and presence” – Justin Boreta
Spelunk the depths of two mind-satiating ambient Boreta tracks feat. Ram Dass guided meditations: Imagine (2018) & Awareness (2020)
Music As Flow State (17:00)
Sharing about her personal experiences finding deep flow states through the combination of electronic music and hula-hooping, Madison invites Boreta to dive into his music creation process and express how that process relates to flow states and the ‘be here now’ presence. Prompting Boreta to dive into his music festival and rave-soaked past, Madison gets to the root of his music’s holographic qualities and mindful nature.
“Music as flow state— I’ve had moments, especially when I first got into hula-hooping in college at Berkeley in this crazy psychedelic co-op; we’d have electronic music parties in a big back yard. I’d be hooping, and I realized through certain types of music, that that in combination with the hula-hoop was this flow state embodied that I had never experienced before.” – Madison Margolin
“A lot of the best ideas in music come from flow states. It’s something that especially when we’re writing music in the world of The Glitch Mob, and the ambient stuff as well, the really good ideas that are outside of the box of where you expect something to go, come from those states of non-judgemental presence.” – Justin Boreta
Look back on how Boreta became a potent entry point for Ram Dass’ wisdom merging with music, on Ep. 250 of Mindrolling
Music is the Medicine (35:00)
Speaking to the adage ‘the music is the medicine,’ Madison asks Boreta to share on the crucial intersection of music with entheogenic & shamanic journeys such as ayahuasca ceremonies. Through this lens, they reflect on the healing properties of music, psychedelics, & nature; before rolling the podcast home by pondering the question: Can you rekindle MDMA vibes while sober by re-listening to your old go-to tripping albums?
“Music is the gateway and the key, and all at the same time.” – Justin Boreta
Boreta collaborates with Madison’s DoubleBlind Mag for this psychedelically curated playlist: The Trip Zone by Boreta
