Sometimes we ask our favorite performers to send us a list of their favorite strains or first-hand tales of enjoying cannabis in odd places, and we’re always thrilled that they take the time to do it. Then there’s The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad. Not only is the charming frontman well-versed in all things marijuana, he really loves the leaf. How much? Check out this novella he wrote for us in between promoting TBDM’s forthcoming album, Abysmal, which comes out on September 18 on Metal Blade. And be sure to keep scrolling down to preview their brand-new track, “Threat Level Number Three.”
And with that, Trevor, take it away!
Ode to Weed
Ah, weed… How I do love thee! I do enjoy immensely that I get to be a total weed snob when I’m home. Out in this wide world of ours we (guitarist and other original TBDM member, Brian Eschbach and I) try to adhere to a certain standard of greatness but sometimes it’s hard, even more so when going abroad. If you are in a situation like an Australian or South American tour where you must fly from show to show each morning, you can kiss your hopes of having a constant stash goodbye. Oftentimes in nowhere Europe we’ll be stuck without any weed for days on end, having terrible Vietnam flashback-type nightmares and getting progressively more grumpy as time inches painfully ever on.
When I’m off touring duty, I really like to play around in both worlds of sativa and indica. I have a lot of free time on my hands at home and I’m something of a hermit… since I’m home alone a good bit it’s okay if I get lip locked or get hyped up or whatever it may bring me — there’s no one to either annoy or ignore. I guess in my old age, you could say I get ‘peopled out’ from all the touring I do. I prefer to be alone a lot of the time now and I value it.
Just like I did when I was young, I spend most of my time surrounding myself with music, and there’s no better way for it to take hold of you than to be high. It just seems like whatever the band at hand was intending, it just gets to you. Nothing they are attempting gets by your heightened sensitivity to it… you hear what they meant, exactly. It helps you see the message and appreciate the bigger picture. I think it’s a great tool for enhancing appreciation of the arts.
For me it’s all about connecting with the music and the artwork of an album. When an album has tremendous artwork and a tremendous sound to match, it becomes much bigger than the sum of its parts. I truly believe there is a magic there… that the synergy can help it become a full on transcendental experience, to not just hear but also see what the band has intended at that moment in time. The music should take you into that artwork, and the artwork should bring a pleasant association with memories of the music. That’s one of the reasons I love band shirts so much, especially the album cover ones. I try to think about this association intensely with what The Black Dahlia Murder does. I see it all through the eyes of both a fan and a stoner, and I imagine how it will be judged by the scrutinizing eye of the stoned.
5 Favorite Strains
Cherry Pie – I was recently introduced to Cherry Pie by my go-to dispensary in Michigan called Green River Meds. They were actually so excited about it that they were planning on bringing a shatter version of it to the Cannabis Cup. It hits you lightning fast and does smell and taste slightly like sour cherry; Its nice. I find this to be incredibly relaxing and stress reducing. I am a super anxious person, and this one does the trick to ease my constantly grating nerves. I did, however, notice that my eyes get dry as shit… I thought they were going to be stuck open the first time I smoked it! Don’t forget your eye drops.
Fire OG – Awesome sativa buzz here. This guy is a killer! Absolutely the strongest OG strain I’ve come across… you’ll just have a great time on this stuff. Laughter and smiles will fill your horn of plenty as you submit to this orange-haired demon. Praise the flame!!!
Black Dahlia – Of course, I have to choose Black Dahlia as one of my favorite strains. It’s not the most well-known strain and seems to be exclusive to the northwest, where I was fortunate to smoke some with a fan after a TBDM concert in Portland. It’s probably a good thing it was a nightcap, because it laid me out. Not really the greatest tasting strain in the world but it’ll definitely put you down for the count with its indica heavy makeup.
Chernobyl – One of the recent strains I’ve come across that became an instant favorite was Chernobyl. I was originally drawn to it by its dangerous sounding name; I mean, what could possibly fuck a person up worse than Chernobyl? Like really, what’s it gonna do, blow me to bits? Give me radiation sickness? Look out! Anyway, It’s a hybrid but was on the sativa-heavy end of the spectrum. To put it frankly, it blasted me out of this universe and burnt my shadow to the wall… it was not just a name. I went insane and in the best way possible. Another big relaxer here, put on your radiation suit and dive in!
Double Blue Dream – You can tell just from looking at the buds that you’re in for some fun, they are very blue looking. This weed has majesty. It hits you like a sativa, and a really good one at that. You’ll have a nice clear-headed high that will make you excited to be alive. You’ll be high as shit but not glued to the couch… you can still manage a grocery store run, if need be. I highly recommend this one.
Weird Wild Weed Tales
Jim Breuer – My absolute coolest smoking story would have to be the time Brian (Eschbach, guitar) and I smoked with comedian and ex-SNL alumn Jim Breuer. We were at Wacken or some other outdoor Metal festival in Europe and were all trapped under an awning at some picnic tables, waiting for the torrents of rain that held us captive there to subside. We were packing up the apple when Brian took notice of the Saturday Night Live favorite and self-proclaimed metalhead comedian being amongst us. “Green hit, Jim?” he said, as he offered the freshly drilled and filled apple to him. “Sure! Why not?” he said, quickly making a few rapid Goat Boy-type faces in a deft attempt to quickly satisfy any curious fanboy-dom on our part in one fell swoop… made me think it must be a real bummer to be known for certain impressions.
Attila Csihar – Another killer smoking tale is that of our brutal sesh with Attila from Mayhem, who materialized out of nowhere in our backstage room at TBDM show in Hungary. He said “I heard you wanted to meet me” referring to us in the band, which struck me as pretty funny. “Do you have any weed?” he asked, bluntly. Luckily, we did indeed. It was surreal standing around with a guy who had scared the shit out of me on so many occasions, and also, of course, to engage with him in one of my absolute favorite past times. I mean, this guy is a living legend of the extreme… his warped vocal stylings graced Mayhem’s masterpiece De Mysteriis Dom Sathaanas, for cryin’ out loud! He seemed like a real hard-ass. His accent was thick and he didn’t say or emote much. He just stood there in his black bomber jacket with the Mayhem logo embroidered on the breast and brooded while having at our greens. He was cold. Just as cold as you’d want a black metal figure to be I suppose… not just your weekend Satanist here, but the genuinely pissed off article; a real deal villain. It was bizarre, indeed. Who had sent him this summons from us? Why did he feel so compelled to answer? What does it all mean? The world may never know.
Dark Times – Lastly, in one of our more pathetic moments, I have to talk about the ghetto emergency vaporizer we fashioned in a dire time of need. I want to say we were in the UK on a day off after many days of weedless-ness when we discovered a small pathetic piece of weed crushed at the bottom of Brian’s backpack that made it through customs. After a few minutes of celebrating and hypothesizing how we would ingest our find, we settled on using a metallic tea kettle in the room to vaporize it. We turned the kettle on without any water inside and dropped the weed down into it. We put the straw in and covered what was left of the opening as best we could. We got a couple of weak hits apiece from our MacGuyverism; but it was largely for naught. Not my proudest moment, but weed is a hell of a drug.
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