On my radar: Jon Hopkins’ cultural highlights

BBorn in Kingston upon Thames in 1979, singer and producer Jon Hopkins studied piano at the Royal College of Music. He played keyboards for Imogen Heap before releasing his first album Opalescent in 2001. His subsequent albums include the Mercury-nominated ImmunityGrammy nominee Unity and 2021 Psychedelic Music Therapy. His 2010 movie soundtrack Monsters he has been nominated for an Ivor Novello award and has collaborated on various projects with Brian Eno and Coldplay. Hopkins lives in London. His seventh album, Customis out on August 30th via Domino.

1. TV

How to Change Your Mind (Netflix)

The series, based on the book by Michael Pollan, is a guide to the new science related to psychedelics that has emerged after decades of prohibition. These drugs have been a very important tool in my life – I made an album inspired by them – and I feel that Pollan is the perfect bridge builder, approaching the subject in a sensible and sensitive way. The series covers much of the same material as the book, but you’ll actually see and hear from people whose lives have been changed by drugs like psilocybin, which can help with treatment-resistant depression and anxiety. the last one. It’s very moving.

2. Location

Verdant Schooners Beach Bar and Taproom, St Agnes beach, Cornwall

This is a very special place. I became familiar with Verdant brews a few years ago – they make a pale IPA that I feel they do better than any other brewery. Now they’ve opened a tap overlooking a rare beach in Cornwall, in a wild, hard-to-reach area. They have fresh, unpasteurized Verdant beers, which is a dream, and there’s an amazing pizza chef. Sitting there at sunset, it feels like one of the greatest places on Earth to drink beer.

3. Location

Esalen Center, Big Sur, California

I had heard about this place for years and knew that people like Ram Dass and Terence McKenna had taught there. Then, on a month long trip to California, I spent two days there – a friend who grew up in Esalen took me. The center has hot spring baths where you sit and soak for hours in the rich mineral water. You can get massages on the deck with the waves crashing below you and condors flying overhead. And you end up having a lot of interesting conversations. I left feeling clean and completely present.

4. Book

Frank’s book written by Jim Woodring

A friend showed me this book when I was 18 or 19. It might look like a children’s comedy but I think, it comes from the same place as a lot of David Lynch movies – it has the idea of dreams that cannot be described in words. . The central character is a cat-like character named Frank who is doing things that are happening, which are often scary and strange, but there are also some funny moments. There is an antagonist named Whim, who has a head like a crescent moon. Once I showed it to someone who said: “Oh my God, I saw that in my nightmares.

5. Food

Old Airport Road Food Centre, Singapore

Whenever I went on a trip to Australia, I always stopped in Singapore on the way home to eat. This was the first dealership I was taken to by friends who live there, and it’s amazing. In Singapore these places are more interesting than fancy restaurants. All the shops are run by people who have been making the same dish for decades – Hainanese chicken rice, or an omelette with fried oysters – and it’s completely perfect. I would eat this for a good meal every day.

6. Get used to it

Respiratory function

This has been one of the biggest forces of change in my life and it’s great to see it spread so much – James Nestor Book Breathing it opened a lot of people. I was introduced to breathing through Kundalini meditation back in 2001 and later joined the Wim Hof ​​method. These days I mainly practice Patrick McKeown’s methods of calming the nervous system by taking long, slow breaths through the nose. With the breath you can control your posture to an amazing degree. It’s a simple, quiet tool to cope with the madness of modern times.

7. Music

Elve: Emerald (Virtual, 2010)

This is the album that changed the way I listen to music. It takes the form of a ceremonial experience, possibly involving ayahuasca, and uses extensive field recordings. My friend Dan played it for me during one of our clinical experiences and I couldn’t believe that someone had managed to translate something so complex into music. When you lie there and listen to everything, especially if you feel in an altered state, you begin to realize that this guy is a wise man, a shamanic master, who knows nothing. It deserves to be heard.