Dead & Company gave fans an incredible showing over the summer, redefining the Grateful Dead catalog with a fresh cast of musicians for Deadheads nationwide. Joining core members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart were veteran keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and two newcomers: guitarist John Mayer and bassist Oteil Burbridge.

Burbridge has talked at length about his love for the music and the community, but it seems the bassist took one step further into the Grateful Dead canon when the band visited The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA on July 23rd. We’ll let Oteil tell it, as per his Music Aficionado interview.

“Another thing that impacted me tremendously was the one night I did some Owsley [LSD] at the Gorge. Listen to how different that night sounds, because that music and Owsley go together and I found that out.”

Burbridge continues, “I never liked to play tripping. I did all that as a teenager and even then I didn’t like to play. My friends wanted to jam and I just wanted to keep it separate.” Interviewer Alan Paul – who has written biographies of both the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers – then asks the bassist if he was scared for the experience.

“Oh no. The whole point was to see what they were seeing and boy did I! The first thing I realized was the stuff I was doing as a kid was absolute garbage and this was a completely different experience. Playing that music with them on it was eye opening. And I finally caught John, because I don’t know his playing with the same intimacy I know Jimmy Herring, Derek Trucks, and Warren Haynes, whom I’ve played with for many years.

I’ve been chasing John and I caught his ass that night and he knew it. Afterwards, he sat Bill and me down and was like, “What happened? What is this all about?” It was hilarious. I was like, “Yeah I got you.” And I connected to the audience. I felt like an octopus with tentacles connecting to each person in the band—and each person on that vibe in the audience. And it was heavy.”

For those who may not know, Owsley refers to Owsley Stanley, a chemist who helped finance the Grateful Dead in their earliest days by synthesizing and selling LSD. He also helped designed the infamous “Wall Of Sound” system and influenced the song “Truckin’.” Though Owsley passed away in 2011, some LSD that he made still remains.

Oteil even goes back into the history of the Grateful Dead and LSD in the interview. “The beginning of the Grateful Dead was jamming at acid tests, where there were no expectations about how to play—or even to play at all. That level of zero expectations allows for a complete universe of choices with no fear at all for what someone else is going to think of it. They were exploring together and that has carried over all these years through all their projects.”

The full interview sees Oteil talking about his favorite Dead music, emphatically sharing his love for all things Grateful. It’s a mutual love, Oteil! Welcome to the scene.