Alexandre Tannous on ‘Sound, Music & The Psychedelic Experience’

It’s a very interesting time for psychedelics. Pioneering studies have sparked renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances particularly benefiting those who are resistant to current treatment.

There is also now an increasing number of evolving artists, academics, and entrepreneurs shaping psychedelic research and therapy with music, which of course is not surprising. If you look at the historical and cultural practice of psychedelics, you’ll see that music has been part of the traditions since the beginning of time.

Music has always played a critical role in psychedelic therapy.

However, just how accurate is the information we are being given?

This is an important conversation we have wanted to host at The Future is Sound for some time, and we are excited to welcome Alexandre Tannous who will be sharing his perspective on this topic in a session led by artist, explorer & founder of Tayos Eileen Hall.

Alexandre Tannous is a musician, educator, composer, and ethnomusicologist. He is also the Principal Founder of ResonantMind Collective & is also one of the founding members of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy conceived by visionary Ethnopharmacologist Dr. Dennis McKenna in 2018, the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy explores modern and traditional practices, ideas, and technologies that foster the understanding of nature, consciousness, the cosmos and their interweavings with humanity.

For the past 22 years Alexandre Tannous has been researching the therapeutic and esoteric properties of sound from three different perspectives – Western scientific, Eastern philosophical, and shamanic societal beliefs – to gain a deeper understanding of how, and to what extent, sound has been used to affect human consciousness.

This search has led him to the intersection where art, science, philosophy, and spirituality intersect. His ethnomusicological approach entails a social scientific study of sound use in several traditional contexts—religious, spiritual, holistic, and cultural—for various purposes and occasions in entertainment, worship, meditation, and rituals of healing and trance.

Consequently, his approach in researching, understanding, experiencing, transmitting, and working with sound has always been based on a multidisciplinary approach. The material he transmits about sound is based on thorough research over many years: observations he made during his fieldwork, scientific studies, personal experiences, and data collected from thousands of people he has worked with doing sound therapy. This has led him to a deeper understanding of how sound reveals and unlocks hidden powers we have within us to promote profound inner changes and healing.

Alexandre will be joining us live on stage on September 7th via a live video link and the session will be hosted by artist, explorer & previous FutureSound speaker Eileen Hall

Born in Ecuador and based in London, Eileen’s experiences with psychedelics and plant medicines ignited her fascination with the luminous, liminal, emergent and evolving qualities of consciousness, including the realms of spirit, the subconscious and psychedelia.

Her works are featured in the Jon Hopkins album Music for Psychedelic Therapy